Tag Archives: rights

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The European Union late Wednesday suspended a large-scale water conservation project in Kenya after evictions of local indigenous people turned fatally violent this week. The indefinite suspension of the $38 million (31 million euro) project follows the reported killing of a member of the local Sengwer …

Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema has rejected opposition claims that one of its activists died in custody after being tortured, and that some 200 of their number are under arrest. In an interview late Tuesday with French radio station RFI and France 24 television, …

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Saudi Arabia allowed women to enter a football stadium for the first time to watch a match Friday, as the ultra-conservative kingdom eases strict decades-old rules separating the sexes. The new measure comes after Riyadh, long known for imposing harsh restrictions on women, announced …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Africans reacted angrily Friday after US President Donald Trump reportedly referred to their nations as “shithole countries”, with many lashing the US president for racism and ignorance. The 55-nation African Union condemned the remarks while the southern African state of Botswana hauled in the US …

  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP |  Ethiopia’s leader promised Wednesday to release “politicians” from jail and shut down a detention centre where human rights groups allege torture is routine. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn made the undertaking in comments to reporters in the capital Addis Ababa, although he did not …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Three pro-democracy activists have been released after spending five months in prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo over a protest march against President Joseph Kabila, their organisation said Friday. Jean Mulenda, Jean-Pierre Tshisitshabu and Patrick Mbuya have left Kasapa central prison in the …

Hanoi, Vietnam | AFP | A Vietnamese court has jailed nine people for “attempting to overthrow the state”, official media reported Friday, the latest heavy sentence doled out in a harsh crackdown this year against activists in the one-party state. Communist Vietnam routinely jails its critics, but 2017 has been …

Washington, United States | AFP | Free speech activists and opponents of Donald Trump on Friday welcomed the acquittal of six protesters charged over unrest on the US president’s inauguration day. They were among more than 200 people accused in connection with the January 20 protests, some of whom have …

Washington, United States | AFP | The United States slapped sanctions on Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov on Wednesday, accusing Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s key regional ally of personal involvement in repression, torture and murder. Kadyrov was added to the US Treasury’s blacklist along with Chechen security official Ayub Kataev and …

Activist points out key issues that require urgent action Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Human Rights Day is observed every year on December 10, the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – a milestone document that proclaimed the inalienable rights which …