The Sudanese government dismissed as "ridiculous" a rights groups' report saying officials at the highest level of government were responsible for abuses in Darfur and should be investigated for war crimes. New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report on Sunday (December 11) saying Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and 20 other government and army officials and militia leaders should be scrutinised for ordering, condoning or carrying out atrocities. HRW said it based its report on eyewitness accounts, government papers and its own investigations. Senior Foreign Ministry official Mutrif Siddig responded on Monday (December 12) saying, "This report is highly politicised. ... This report is ridiculous, it is baseless, it depends on the propaganda and the campaigns of the rebel groups."

An AIDS epidemic as severe as the one plowing through South Africa will change society. But how and along what lines? 'Buckling: The impact of AIDS in South Africa', tackles the question in distinctive and critical-minded fashion – and arrives at disquieting and surprising conclusions. A detailed, multidisciplinary review of research evidence, this short book adopts a unique perspective which reveals more clearly the contingency and complexity of the epidemic's effects. It shows how conventional conceptions of AIDS impact (and programme responses) tend to reflect dominant ideological fixations – particularly the overriding emphasis on productive processes and economic growth, governance and security – and how the wellbeing of humans typically is refracted through those preoccupations.

A move to reintroduce school fees in Botswana is causing controversy, with politicians and education experts warning that it may be a step backwards. Opposition parties have called on parents to defy the government's decision to reintroduce fees when the new term starts in January 2006. In October, Botswana's parliament approved legislation reintroducing school fees for pupils at junior secondary and senior secondary schools in 2006. Fees were abolished in 1987 in a bid to get more children into schools, and enrolment rates soared. However, the government has said it would have to cut high annual expenditure on basic education. Education Minister Jacob Nkate noted although the state was still committed to the principle of equal access to education, it was no longer economical to continue a wholly subsidised education system.

On Human Rights Day, Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) officially launched its online Human Rights Learning Centre. It is the result of many years of labour by HREA staff and volunteers in making our large collection of learning tools available in an interactive format. The Human Rights Learning Centre provides activists, educators, students and interested citizens with introductions to hundreds of human rights topics. Visitors can read daily human rights news, find human rights documents, take quizzes, complete opinion polls, or find suggestions for further action or how to teach about a specific human rights issue.