Pambazuka News 529: If Sexuality were a human being...
Pambazuka News 529: If Sexuality were a human being...
The Niger River, which runs for 550 kilometres through the southwest part of Niger, has for decades been faced with the phenomenon of siltation of its bed, accelerated by the severe desertification of the catchment areas, according to environmental experts. A programme is focused on slowing this phenomenon, which is seriously compromising socio-economic activity around the river. The measures taken include building berms, stabilising sand dunes, and planting trees.
In a move that casts doubts over the legitimacy of Morocco's national press dialogue, the government put prominent opposition journalist Rachid Nini on trial. Nini, whose trial began on Monday (2 May) in Casablanca, was indicted in late April for Al Massae articles 'in which he criticised the administration of law enforcement institutions and accused some public figures of breaking the law', lead prosecutor Abdellah Belghiti said.
World Trade Organisation (WTO) director-general Pascal Lamy has once again urged WTO members not to weaken the organisation, as members continue to stall on the final hurdles challenging the Doha development round of negotiations. South African Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies has continually stated that South Africa would not make agreements under the round, which does not have a developmental agenda at the forefront. Other developing country member States have agreed that the Doha round has lost much of its developmental focus, with industrialised countries not willing to concede much to developing nations.
Almost everyone on an overcrowded ship carrying about 600 African migrants to Europe is believed to have died when the vessel broke apart within sight of the Libyan capital, the United Nations said. The UN accused the Libyan government of complicity in a rising number of deadly smuggling incidents, many involving workers from sub-Saharan Africa who had moved to Libya to find work before war broke out there in March.
Salim Vally makes the case for the University of Johannesburg to severe ties with Ben Gurion University of Israel. ‘In the case of violent occupation, apartheid, genocide and gross human rights abuse, academic freedom must surely bear some reference to these very conditions for the criteria of its determination,’ he argues.
The launch of an Africa Carbon Exchange is unlikely to meet the goals of curbing carbon emissions and financing adaptation needs, writes Shefali Sharma.
Will al-Qaida select Osama bin Laden's successor democratically, ponders Gado.
In these 1965 writings, Amílcar Cabral, the Guinea-Bissau leader assassinated in 1973, discusses the responsibilities of those involved in revolution.
Cameroonian human rights organisations Association for the Defense of Homosexuals (ADEFHO) and Teenagers Against HIV/AIDS (SID’ADO) are reporting that Mbede Roger Jean-Claude has been sentenced to 36 months in prison for homosexuality.
Ayanda Kota of UPM defends the Cutting Edge television programme's portrayal of terrible sanitation conditions in Grahamstown, South Africa.
Profiling the words of Senia Bachir Abderahman, a Saharawi activist from occupied Western Sahara, Peter Kenworthy writes of the need for genuine international support for Saharawi self-determination.
A report released by the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has revealed that several countries hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic are improving HIV treatment to reduce deaths and illness – but a lack of support from donors prevents many from making vital changes. This fragile progress needs sustained support, but the two biggest AIDS donors, the US and UK, are opposing a critical HIV treatment target ahead of next month’s AIDS Summit in New York at a time when mounting evidence shows that HIV treatment can also prevent HIV infections.
The 4th Forum on the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) was held between 18 and 20 March 2011 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. As is customary, the Forum was organised ahead of the 17th Ordinary Session of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) also taking place in Ethiopia. Ninety-seven activists from 23 countries (of which 19 were in Africa) attended the Forum, which is a framework for strategic partnership to improve child rights in Africa. The document available through the link provided gives a summary of the meeting.
This UNDP paper explores the scale and composition of illicit financial flows from the 48 Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Illicit financial flows involve the cross-border transfer of the proceeds of corruption, trade in contraband goods, criminal activities and tax evasion. In recent years, considerable interest has arisen over the extent to which such flows may have a detrimental impact on development and governance in both developed and developing countries alike. The study’s indicative results find that illicit financial flows from the LDCs have increased from US$9.7 billion in 1990 to US$26.3 billion in 2008 implying an inflation-adjusted rate of increase of 6.2 per cent per annum.
The extent of tuberculosis and HIV co-infection rates in South Africa has firmly placed tuberculosis on the agenda of the South African National AIDS Council. This, after studies have shown that in some parts of the country, like in Khayelitsha in the Western Cape for example, about 73 per cent of HIV-infected people also have TB. The South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) took a decision to include tuberculosis as part of its mandate after a World Health Organisation (WHO) review in 2009 of South Africa’s national TB Control programme. The review found that the levels of TB and HIV co-infection in South Africa were enormously high.
Baton-wielding riot police waged a brutal crackdown recently on peaceful Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) demonstrators in Bulawayo, with witnesses saying dozens of people were injured. WOZA said thousands of protesters gathered in central Bulawayo to express their frustration at the persistent daily ‘18 hour power cuts,’ when riot police arrived and began to indiscriminately beat the peaceful activists. The protest was aimed at the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) for what WOZA termed was daylight robbery by the utility company.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) election posters, which feature party leader Helen Zille, Cape Town mayoral candidate Patricia de Lille and party spokeswoman Lindiwe Mazibuko, do not necessarily mean that a vote for the party is a vote for women, analysts say. Amanda Gouws, a political analyst from Stellenbosch University, says a vote for the DA, the country’s official opposition, would not be a feminist vote or victory for women. 'The DA is not a feminist party and many of their women members in government are not either. De Lille and Zille do not have a feminist rhetoric - and let’s not forget that she appointed 10 men to her cabinet,' she said.
A 13-year-old lesbian has become the latest victim of 'corrective rape' in South Africa, prompting activists to call for direct retaliatory action. The girl, who is said to be open about her sexuality, was raped in Pretoria, a government spokesman said. Campaigners say so-called corrective rape, in which men rape lesbians to 'cure' them of their sexual orientation, is on the increase in South Africa. Last month, a 24-year-old woman who belonged to a gay and lesbian rights group was stoned to death after an apparent gang rape.
Egypt's former Tourism Minister Zuhair Garranah has been jailed for five years on charges of corruption, an Egyptian judicial source has said. Garranah had handed out tourism licences illegally, the source said. Last week, ex-Interior Minister Habib al-Adly was jailed for 12 years for money-laundering and profiteering.
Niger's appeals court has dropped all corruption charges against ousted President Mamadou Tandja and ordered his release from jail. It said that under the country's law it was not possible to try a head of state after he had left office. Soldiers led the coup in February 2010 - angered that after 10 years in power, he was seeking a third term in office. Tandja was accused of embezzling state funds worth $1m (£670,000). He was also linked to a corrupt fertilizer deal worth between $9m and $10m.
On the surface, Namibia's education sector would appear to be doing just well, with about 19,000 teachers teaching some 550,000 children in 1,550 schools. About 80 per cent of the country's two million people are literate, and 90 per cent of children of school-going age are enrolled in primary schools. But scratch below the surface and one discovers there is more than meets the eye to these figures. In fact, critics have been insisting on a complete overhaul of the current education system, which they blame for having failed to produce quality graduates that can compete with the rest of Africa.
Patrick Bond makes a stinging critique of the recent report of the African Development Bank that claims that ‘one in three Africans is middle class’ and as a result, Africa is ready for ‘take off’.
‘African Sexualities’ is a groundbreaking new volume, forthcoming from Pambazuka Press. As well as using popular culture to help address the ‘what, why, how, when and where’ questions, the book’s contributors provide a critical mapping of African sexualities that informs readers about the plurality and complexities of sexualities on the continent – desires, practices, fantasies, identities, taboos, abuses, violations, stigmas, transgressions and sanctions. At the same time, the contributors pose gender-sensitive and politically aware questions that challenge the reader to interrogate assumptions and hegemonic sexuality discourses, thereby unmapping the intricate and complex terrain of African sexualities.
The following article by ‘African Sexualities’ editor Sylvia Tamale comprises the book’s introduction.
Hundreds of farmers in El-Gezira state in central Sudan staged demonstrations to reject what they described as injustice inflicted upon them by the government in evaluating rental price of land plots they own. The protestors marched in Barakat town and set up tents in front of the headquarters of the El-Gezira agricultural project and threatened an extended sit-in until their demands are met. They chanted slogans including 'No for sale, Yes for rental' and 'Your land is your honour'.
Senegalese opposition leaders are protesting a delay in issuing identification cards to youth, a move they say was calculated to deny them votes in the forthcoming elections. In the election to be held in February next year, President Abdoulaye Wade will face three former prime ministers and other veteran politicians in what promises to be the hottest political contest in Senegal since independence. On Tuesday, the opposition accused the ruling party of instituting technical delays in issuing the new identification cards, saying it was intended to sideline thousands of youths from registering.
Yash Tandon explains the contradictions of ‘imperial finance capital’ in controlling neo-colonial states like Libya. While Gaddafi was being ‘accommodated’ by imperial powers, the ‘Arab Spring’ forced their hand, he says.
A new, post-Mubarak Egypt has given both Egyptians and other Arabs alike, hope that Egypt can once again reclaim its role as the focal point from which Arab culture and politics emanate, says this article on Jadaliyya, an independent ezine. 'The opening up of the Rafah border crossing into Gaza and the active promotion of a unity government in the Palestinian Territories are both indications that this is slowly happening. However, Egypt’s regional affiliation is not only with the Middle East, but extends towards its riparian partners along the Nile as well. And on that front, events in the immediate months after the fall of Mubarak indicated that an Egypt in transition, unable to take firm political positions, could be taken advantage of by upstream Nile riparian countries that have for years tried to gain the rights to greater use of the Nile’s water flows.'
Uganda is short on data on HIV among the country’s sex workers, but a new study shows that in the capital, Kampala, HIV prevalence among female sex workers could be more than four times the city’s average prevalence. The study, published in April in the Journal of the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STI) Association, recruited 1,027 women from the city’s red-light areas, and found 37 per cent to be HIV-positive, while 13 per cent had gonorrhoea and 10 percent had syphilis.
The rainy season is just beginning in Ivory Coast. But in many places, the rain will fall on unplanted ground. Although the post-election fighting is mostly over, many farmers, especially in western regions, have not yet returned to their land. The UN refugee agency estimates that one million people have been displaced in and around Abidjan, with at least 200,000 displaced in the west. Few people remain on their farms to cultivate the land.
The blog Africa is a Country features a new documentary called Colour Bar. It is the story of Roland Gust, who was born to a Congolese mother and a Belgian father. He grew up in Congo, believing he was white until his family decided to return to Belgium when he was twelve. The documentary follows him as he attempts to describe his past. The blog post also has a Q&A with Gust.
The ongoing public servants' strike in Botswana has seen that country's state-owned media cover only one side of the story, writes Thapelo Ndlovu on Free African Media. 'Despite being denied the opportunity to air their views in the state media, the striking Botswana public service workers have not effectively used the new media, especially social network sites. The Internet is largely available in Botswana, but workers and the public in general don’t yet fully use it. Facebook is the most popular, but largely among the savvy youth, most of whom are not interested in labour or political issues.'
Zogbo Blé Denis of the state-owned Ivorian Broadcasting Service (RTI) and Claude Kipré of Top Visages, a weekly magazine, have gone into hiding after reportedly receiving death threats from unknown persons. The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)’s correspondent reported that Zogbo Blé, a producer and presenter of 'Excellence' a popular programme on RTI, received two calls on 8 May from a caller who only identified himself as 'Commandant F' and threatened to storm his home.
EG Justice and other civil society organisations have credited UNESCO’s Executive Board for soundly rejecting a petition by the government of Equatorial Guinea to reinstate a prize funded by and named after its president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. In a decision on 9 May 2011, the Executive Board declined to consider a 4 May request by the Obiang government to reverse its prior decision and award the prize without delay. UNESCO indefinitely suspended the $3 million UNESCO Obiang Nguema Mbasogo International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences in October 2010 after an unprecedented global outcry seeking its cancellation.
For the first time since former President Jerry Rawlings burst onto the Ghanaian political scene in 1979, his much talked about charisma and hold over the ordinary people in the country is to be put to the test on 8 July when his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings stands against President John Atta Mills for the right to lead the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in next year’s election. Already signs that the Rawlings myth has been broken has emerged, reports the Daily Nation.
The farmers of Makeni, in central Sierra Leone, signed the contract with their thumbs. In exchange for promises of 2,000 jobs, and reassurances that the bolis (swamps where rice is grown) would not be drained, they approved a deal granting a Swiss company a 50-year lease on 40,000 hectares of land to grow biofuels for Europe. Three years later 50 new jobs exist, irrigation has damaged the bolis and such development as there has been has come 'at the social, environmental and economic expense of local communities', says Elisa Da Vià of Cornell University in this article from The Economist about land grabbing.
As Ugandan citizens take to the streets in protest against rising food and energy prices, Museveni’s government has once again wheeled out its Anti-Homosexual Bill in an attempt to divert attention from the real source of the problems the people face.
At least nine unarmed Ugandans were shot dead - many of them in the back – by government security agents in the recent walk-to-work protests despite not being involved in rioting, a new report says. In its report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called for a 'prompt, independent, and thorough investigation' into the use of lethal force by security forces to counter the protests against the rising cost of living.
This brief available from the website of the Refugee Studies Centre analyses the challenges and opportunities - after 35 years of protracted displacement and encampment - for the Sahrawi refugees, their political representatives and international actors. It calls for a careful analysis of the diverse alternative solutions to encampment in Algeria that have been adopted or proposed and of the relevant protection concerns which may arise.
While months of political stand-off between two self-proclaimed Ivorian presidents may have come to an end, genuine political and economic liberation for the country’s people is far from being achieved, writes Maurice Fahe.
Ethiopia should build on its long and proud history as a nation rather than allowing itself to be fragmented by ethnic divisions, argues Mammo Muchie, in a reflection on the country’s past and future.
Makerere University law professor Joe Oloka-Onyango made a presentation at the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) post-election 2011 conference in Kampala on 27 April 2011. President Museveni, who closed the conference, was very critical of Professor Oloka’s presentation, accusing him of poisoning the minds of ‘our children’. Uganda’s
In the wake of President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election in Nigeria, the government is faced with the tricky task of how to diffuse the violent northern Boko Haram sect, writes Cameron Duodu.
The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) has welcomed the decision by Parliament to set up a national task team to tackle hate crimes against lesbians and gays.
Sudanese armies were due to begin the pullout of unauthorised troops Tuesday (09 May) to allow for the deployment of the officially-recognised Joint Integrated Units, the only military force allowed in Abyei under UN monitoring. The Abyei Joint Technical Committee (JTC), under the chairmanship of the UN Mission In Sudan (UNMIS), is monitoring the withdrawal of the troops by both sides involved in the Sudanese conflict for years in line with the 2005 deal on security arrangements.
Cocoa speculators are among the few to benefit from the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire, as disruptions to the supply chain drive up global prices of the commodity, writes Khadija Sharife.
Egypt's transitional government moved quickly to defuse tensions after Muslim-Christian clashes in Cairo left 12 dead and cast a cloud over hopes for peaceful post-revolutionary change. Angry demonstrations erupted in the capital after a Coptic church in the Imbaba neighbourhood was burned down on Saturday night. Military police separated opposing camps at one protest reminiscent of the dramatic events that overthrew the regime in February.
After the arrest in the city of Abidjan on 11 April 2011, of Laurent Gbagbo, former president of Cote d'Ivoire, and his wife Simone, some confusion remains regarding the process that led to his capture. Website Abidjan.net has published a series of videos entitled, 'The film of Laurent Gbagbo's arrest: New elements', divided into four videos of 10-14 minutes each. The videos, some of them included in this Global Voices post, show the sequence of events of the Gbagbos' arrest, from the bombing of their residence by French Special Forces, to the transfer of the Gbagbo family to the Hotel du Golf.
The New York Times has reported on a wave of execution-style murders of former Libyan government internal security personnel in Benghazi. The bodies of two men, Nasser al-Sirmany and Hussein Ghaith, were found within days of each other. Both men had reportedly worked as interrogators for Muammar Gaddafi’s brutal internal security agencies. At least four similar attacks are now under investigation by authorities in Benghazi, while it is unclear how many more killings have gone unreported. The so-called Transitional National Council (TNC) has denied that its security forces are responsible.
‘Are we witnessing a new era of restricted media, or will Angolans find a way to report their news in an objective and truthful forum?’ asks Rafael Marques de Morais, as government strategies to silence investigative journalists kick into action.
‘The history of Sudan is a complex one which can’t be reduced to a linear narrative of south versus north,’ writes Yohannes Woldemariam. Can South Sudan resolve the sticking points standing in the way of successful secession?
Sudanese authorities should immediately release Hawa Abdallah or formally charge her with a credible, recognized offense, Human Rights Watch has said. Abdallah, who was arrested on 6 May, is a community activist from the Abu Shouk displaced persons camp in North Darfur and a staff member of the United Nations/African Union peacekeeping mission (UNAMID). On 8 May, Sudan's state news service published an article accusing Abdallah of 'christianising' children in displaced persons camps and of links to a rebel group.
In this statement, the South Centre provides a counter argument to the idea that lower developed countries (LDCs) are not integrated in the world economy as the reason for their marginalisation. 'This is not true. Many LDCs have higher exports to GNP ratio than some developed countries. It is the way in which the LDCs are integrated in trade that has been a disadvantage. LDCs are too dependent on raw materials export, and prices of commodities have had a long-term trend decline, thus causing major revenue and income losses for LDCs.'
‘Cheche: Reminiscences of a Radical Magazine’ should ‘be read by the younger generation of pan-Africanists from Cape to Cairo, so that they may dream, and also so that they may learn,’ writes Yash Tandon.
‘It seems illogical that to me government should be the enemy. Yes it’s good that we’re all questioning them more but there’s a difference between scrutiny and suspicion, and what we seem to have now is more of the latter than the former,’ writes H. Nanjala Nyabola.
South African shackdwellers’ movement Abahlali baseMjondolo has issued a statement in support of the Makhaza back yard dwellers, whose homes are being demolished by the City of Cape Town without a court order.
'Man dreams
of far away lands
unknown,
thoughts yearnin'
of unconcealed gems
to fetch and be fetch'd,
to reach the field
of the unknown
but to be desecrat'd
by projects
of food stamps and sorts
yet unknown...'
'Mama, was it a mistake
That I existed without your consent
Something you could not avoid...'
While European interpretations of the events of Egypt’s Tahrir Square see the uprising’s roots through a lens of ‘coloured’ revolutions following the decline of the Soviet Union, Mahmood Mamdani instead stresses the resemblance to South Africa’s Soweto in 1976, a struggle ‘identified with the onset of community-based organisation’.
The purpose of agricultural futures contracts is to reduce risks for farmers and the people they supply. But as speculators in search of safe investments pour capital into soft commodities markets, they are driving ‘price inflation way beyond the effects of demand and supply pressures,’ writes Khadija Sharife.
Following the ‘brutal and often excessive manner’ with which the Ugandan state and law enforcement agencies have responded to citizens' demands for government action to address increased prices, cost of living, growing poverty, inequality in distribution of resources and corruption’, Uganda Women’s Civil Society Organisations have issued a statement highlighting their concerns.
Uganda has a sense of déjà vu...
‘As the public, we all have a right to know what rules and regulations govern the financial behaviour of our public officials and how they spend our public monies so that we can hold them accountable,’ writes Dale T. McKinley. So why is the South African government so keen to keep the contents of its ministerial handbook out of the public eye?
Reflecting on the life and work of Bob Marley, Horace Campbell discusses the positive messages of hope, mobilisation and self-esteem at the core of the legendary reggae artist’s music.
‘Music was not an end result for Bra’ Zim, it was the means to provide healing.’ Aryan Kaganof reflects on the life of South African musician and mentor, Zim Ngqawana, ‘one individual whose life was not going to fit into an obituary.’
‘View from Somewhere’, the new album from singer/songwriter Amira Kheir is now available through her . Originally from Sudan but having lived in Italy for many years and now residing in the UK, Amira 'draws from her own multicultural background to create music that explores themes of home, belonging and transcendental spirituality.' If you are lucky enough to be in London this weekend, catch her performance at the Green Note in Camden on Sunday 15 May.
Weaving together the stories of three generations of women from the same family, this novel is a patchwork of love, jealousy and human frailty set against a backdrop of war and political ambition. It is a remarkable journey that takes us deep into the heart of a family both fractured and bound together by their love of one man.
Since January 2011, over 1,000 migrants have drowned while attempting to reach the fortified coasts of the southern shores of the European Union. These figures must be added to the 15,000 victims of the 'war against migrants' which reaches these days new peaks of inhumanity. According to informations, a boat carrying over 600 people is lost in the high seas off the Libyan coast, amidst general indifference.
In this week's edition of the Emerging Powers News Round-Up, read a comprehensive list of news stories and opinion pieces related to China, India and other emerging powers...
Global Civilians for Peace in Libya is embarking on its second fact-finding mission into the war-torn country. The delegation is comprised of academics, professionals, journalists and ex-military personnel from Europe, North America, England, Middle East and Africa. The delegates are independent and not allied to any government or official body. An Italian camera crew will be embedded with the group, a TV producer from Britain and a French journalist.
The Executive Council of the African Union (AU), at its Eighteenth Ordinary Session in January 2011, adopted a decision on organic farming. In particular, the decision requests the AU Commission and its New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA) to initiate and provide guidance for an AU-led coalition of international partners on the establishment of an African organic farming platform based on available best practices; and to provide guidance in support of the development of sustainable organic farming systems and improve seed quality.
A large number of Egyptian women participated in a march entitled 'No to sectarian strife' which appeared with its ugly face in the district of Imbaba. They participated in this march to stress the values of citizenship and tolerance and to prevent the strife that has been witnessed in the district and in many different places in Egypt after the revolution. The Egyptian Center for Women's Rights affirms that the incidents that happened between Muslims and Christians are a clear attempt to abort the 25th of January revolution.
Employment wise, in sub-Saharan Africa women occupy just one in three paid jobs outside agriculture, and it comes as no surprise that women are typically paid less than their male counterparts and have less secure employment. Despite this, there is an increase in women entering the labour force throughout their child-bearing years, finding ways to juggle the pressures of their unpaid family work and paid employment.
New Readers Publishers (NRP) is a nonprofit publishing project based in the Centre for Adult Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban. NRP supplies readers with adult content and simplified language in Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sesotho sa Leboa, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, TshiVenda and Xitsonga. NRP is conducting an intensive residential workshop for writers and editors from 24-27 July 2011 in East London.
'In response to the woes of our dispossessed masses and the aspirations of our popular classes and in the name of the Great Revolution of the Egyptian People on January 25th, 2011, we are founding The Egyptian Socialist Party, the Party that aims to be the flag of the Egyptian popular classes. We invite you to join us for the inauguration of our party on Saturday, 4 June, 2011. There will be a good chance to meet and interact with all Left and progressive political forces and unions of Egypt and the Arab World as well as many other countries of the World. Our comrades will be glad to help you booking the suitable room and to manage the logistics. For organisational purposes we appreciate your timely confirmation or response to our invitation positively or negatively.' Contact: [email][email protected]
The edition highlights the recent BRICS Summit, held in China. An article by Mr John Bailey provides commentary on the event following his media coverage of the proceedings. A second article by Peter Konijn then provides a review of the second international roundtable on health collaboration between China and Africa that took place in Beijing. Mandarin translations of original articles published through the newsletter are also to be incorporated into future newsletters. Three translated articles on China-Africa civil society cooperation within FOCAC, South Africa’s inclusion into BRICS and the recent World Social Forum are available in this month's edition. The April edition is available .
In the context of the International Year for People of African Descent, the Anti-Discrimination Section of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is launching a Fellowship Programme for People of African Descent from 10 October to 4 November 2011.
In preparation for the upcoming 2011 International Labour Conference (ILC), the International Domestic Workers' Network (IDWN) has prepared a pamphlet to rebut common arguments against passing the ILO Convention enabling rights and protections for domestic workers. Visit their website to read the full document.
The European Union, one of the major financiers of Amisom and the Somali Transitional Federal Government, has threatened to cut further support if the current office holders do not relinquish power when their term of office comes to an end in August. This has not gone down well with the East African Community, whose members Uganda and Burundi are providing the boots on the ground in Mogadishu, and feel that the proposed extension of the TFG’s mandate for another year, would help consolidate achievements in service delivery. Being a major financier, EU’s withdrawal will severely hamper efforts to pacify the war-torn country.
Highly sensitive documents revealing the torture of Mau Mau Kenyans at the hands of the British authorities were a 'sort of guilty secret' for the UK Government, a report has found. Foreign Secretary William Hague said the documents, which detail how detainees were castrated, beaten and sexually abused while in British camps, should now be made public. His announcement comes as a High Court judge is set to decide whether the UK Government, which sanctioned 'systematic violence' in the detention camps, is liable for the torture of the Mau Mau people between 1952 and 1961.