African countries increased defence expenditure to $40bn in 2021 April 26, 2022 MILITARY expenditure by African countries increased overall by 1.2 per cent in 2021 to an estimated $39.7 billion, according to new data on global military spending published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on April 25. It said this total was […]
April 4, 2022 A GOVERNMENT militia leader in Sudan is to become the first person accused of alleged crimes committed in the Western Sudanese region of Darfur to face trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Ali Kushayb will appear before the Court on April 5 charged with 31 counts of war crimes […]
March 18, 2022 MAXIME Mokom, a former leader of Anti-Balaka forces in the conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR), is to make an initial appearance at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on March 22 to answer to charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes. Mokom was surrendered to the ICC […]
March 7, 2022 THE former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, has been asked to lead a three-member team to investigate alleged human rights abuses in Ethiopia committed by all parties to the conflict that erupted in Tigray on November 3, 2020. The President of the UN Human Rights Council, Federico Villegas […]
February 14, 2022 JUDGES at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague have rejected a claim for compensation by Charles Blé Goudé, a former Minister of Sports and Youth in Cote d’Ivoire, who was acquitted by the Appeals Chamber in April last year for crimes allegedly committed during post-electoral violence in the country between […]
February 9, 2022 THE African Union (AU) has suspended debate on Israel’s Observer Status at the pan-African body that was granted in July 2021. The AU has now established a six-member committee, which includes South Africa, to examine this issue and report back in a year’s time. Israel had Observer Status during the existence of […]
February 1, 2022 RWANDA is to host the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Africa in 15 years, the last having been held in Uganda in 2007. The meeting in Kigali will take place during the week of June 20, the Commonwealth Secretariat has announced in London. Rwanda was supposed to have hosted […]
January 27, 2022 A ZAMBIAN youth activist who was accused of defaming Edgar Lungu when he was president in November 2020 has had the charge dropped by the prosecution. Lawrence Kasonde was arrested for posting a video on a Patriotic Front (PF) WhatsApp group that allegedly defamed Lungu, according to the police. Lungu lost the […]
December 13, 2021 GLOBAL concerns continue to grow over the continued use of sexual violence in conflicts despite the establishment of international criminal courts that deal with such cases. In November, 12 governments – including those of Liberia, the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Indonesia and Hungary – issued a joint statement on preventing sexual-based violence […]
December 2, 2021 HUMAN rights groups in Central African Republic have been taken by surprise following the unexpected release from detention of Hassan Bouba, the country’s Minister of Livestock and Animal Health, who was being held on war crimes and crimes against humanity charges. Bouba was arrested on November 19 and was expected to appear […]