AFRICA: Human Rights

Human Rights

AFRICA: SUPPORT FOR CREATION OF NEW RIGHTS COUNCIL
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/06/06/global11082.htm
Replacing the discredited United Nations Commission on Human Rights
with a standing Human Rights Council would be a major step forward
for the protection of human rights worldwide, says Human Rights
Watch. On Friday the president of the U.N. General Assembly,
Ambassador Jean Ping of Gabon, presented a draft outcome document for
the General Assembly Summit in September which included a commitment
of support for a Human Rights Council. The proposed Human Rights
Council would operate year-round to allow it to act both preventively
and during urgent crises.

ETHIOPIA: CRACKDOWN SPREADS BEYOND CAPITAL
In the wake of last week's election- related protests, the Ethiopian
government's crackdown on potential sources of unrest has spread
throughout the country, Human Rights Watch says. While international
attention has focused on events in Addis Ababa, opposition members
and students in other cities are increasingly at risk of arbitrary
arrest and torture. The current wave of arrests followed a chaotic
week in Addis Ababa that saw security forces put down a series of
election-related protests with excessive force.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=28603

GHANA: FINAL REPORT FROM GHANA'S NATIONAL RECONCILIATION COMMISSION
AVAILABLE ONLINE
http://www.ghana.gov.gh/NRC/index.php
On April 22, 2005, the government of Ghana released the final report
of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC). The commission was
appointed in 2002 to investigate human rights violations that took
place between 1957 and 1993, particularly during the periods of
military rule. Over the course of 18 months of hearings, NRC heard
testimonies from more than 2000 victims and 79 perpetrators. Victims
reported a wide range of violations, including abductions, beatings,
detentions, executions-style killings, sexual abuse, torture, and
seizure of property. The Commission offered the first opportunity for
Ghanaians to publicly relate their experiences of abuse, uncover the
truth about the past, and seek redress.

RWANDA: TRIAL OF TOP RWANDA GENOCIDE SUSPECT STARTS
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L09005424.htm
The trial of a former Rwandan minister suspected of playing a key
role in the 1994 genocide of some 800,000 people started at the
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) last Thursday.
Prosecutors accuse Andre Rwamakuba of drawing up lists of Tutsi
people to be killed and allowing militiamen with him to kill women
and disembowel those who were pregnant. The former doctor also
allegedly walked around a hospital with an axe hanging from his belt,
striking any ethnic Tutsis he found in wards or corridors.

TOGO: UN RIGHTS TEAM TO INQUIRE INTO HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=14555&Cr=togo&Cr1=
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, is
sending a fact-finding team to Togo next week to investigate
allegations of rights violations in the wake of the West African
country's recent elections. Arbour has appointed human rights expert
Doudou Diene to head the mission, which is expected to arrive in Togo
on 13 June and stay there for two weeks, the Office of the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said.

UGANDA: PARTIAL VICTORY IN PRISONERS' BID TO END DEATH PENALTY
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47623
Uganda's constitutional court on Friday rejected an appeal by
hundreds of death row prisoners to outlaw capital punishment, but
ruled in favour of putting an end to laws prescribing death as a
mandatory sentence for certain crimes. "The death penalty is not
unconstitutional because it is given by the laws as punishment after
due process," Galdino Okello, who headed the team of constitutional
court judges, said.
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