Africa Horn Now

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Africa Horn Now

Archives for June 2015

KENYA

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Kenya's General Service Unit (GSU) policemen watch over youths protesting the killing of Muslim cleric Aboud Rogo Mohammed in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa, August 31, 2012. © 2012 Reuters Kenya’s efforts to tackle a wide array of security threats have been marred by ongoing patterns of serious human rights violations by Kenyan security forces, including extrajudicial … [Read more...] about KENYA

RWANDA

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The 20th anniversary of the 1994 genocide was commemorated in ceremonies and other events across Rwanda, and in many other countries. Progress in economic and social development remain impressive, but the government continues to impose severe restrictions on freedom of expression and association and does not tolerate dissent. Political space is extremely limited and … [Read more...] about RWANDA

SOMALIA

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The warring parties in Somalia’s long-running armed conflict continue to displace, kill, and wound civilians. Restrictions on humanitarian access exacerbate the human rights and humanitarian crises. The Islamist armed group Al-Shabaab abandoned several towns after a joint military offensive by the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) and the Somali National Armed Forces … [Read more...] about SOMALIA

SOUTH SUDAN

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Horrific attacks on civilians began within 24 hours of the start of South Sudan’s new war in mid-December 2013. Thousands of civilians have been killed and large parts of key towns, including civilian infrastructure such as clinics, hospitals, and schools, have been looted, destroyed, and abandoned. An estimated 1.5 million people were forced to flee their homes; 100,000 people … [Read more...] about SOUTH SUDAN

SUDAN

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Sudan saw no progress in its abysmal rights record in 2014. Instead, new episodes of conflict in Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile states resulted in large numbers of civilian deaths and displaced; security forces repeatedly suppressed protesters demonstrating against government policies; and authorities continued to stifle civil society and independent media. The ruling … [Read more...] about SUDAN

UGANDA

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President Yoweri Museveni, in power for 28 years, and his ruling National Resistance Movement party continue to curtail freedom of expression, assembly, and association, among other basic rights. In February and July respectively, Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act and the HIV Prevention and Control Act into law, after five years of parliamentary debates. Although the … [Read more...] about UGANDA

Didn’t the Texas police officer know he was being recorded?

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By Marc Fisher and Peter Hermann, 8 June 2015, Washington Post A police officer slams an unarmed 15-year-old girl in a bikini to the ground, pulls his gun and kneels on her as teens on either side of him shout and, of course, record the encounter. Within hours, millions watch the video: Some see a defenseless black teen being manhandled by an out-of-control white cop; others … [Read more...] about Didn’t the Texas police officer know he was being recorded?

UN accuses Eritrea of crimes against humanity

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By Harriet Alexander, 08 Jun 2015, The Telegraph (UK) Eritrea - the home country of many of the migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean - has been accused by the UN of human rights violations on a "scope and scale seldom witnessed elsewhere" The UN has accused Eritrea of crimes against humanity in a damning report into human rights abuses in the east African … [Read more...] about UN accuses Eritrea of crimes against humanity

Army ‘purge’ follows failed coup in Burundi

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BY AGENCY STAFF, JUNE 07 2015, Bsiness Day (South Africa) BUJUMBURA — Once a symbol of ethnic unity in post-civil war Burundi, the army is now deeply divided and faces a growing climate of fear after a failed coup by generals in the central African nation. Burundi was plunged into crisis when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced a controversial bid for a third term in … [Read more...] about Army ‘purge’ follows failed coup in Burundi

UN probe finds ‘systematic’ rights abuses in Eritrea

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2015-06-08, France24 Eritrea may have committed crimes against humanity, a year-long UN human rights inquiry said in a report published on Monday describing extrajudicial killings, widespread torture, sexual slavery and enforced labour. “The commission finds that systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations have been and are being committed in Eritrea under … [Read more...] about UN probe finds ‘systematic’ rights abuses in Eritrea