Tag Archives: rights

Banjul, Gambia | AFP |  Gambia’s dreaded former spy chief — whose watch was marred by allegations of killings and torture — and eight subordinates were charged Thursday with killing a leading opposition member in April. Yankuba Badjie headed the National Intelligence Agency, which rights groups say carried out arbitrary …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  A Kenyan court on Friday issued an order blocking the deportation of two South Sudanese opposition figures after an outcry by rights groups over treatment they would face at home. The families of prominent lawyer and activist Dong Samuel Luak and opposition member Aggrey Idri …

Paris, France | AFP |  When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 there were 16 major walls protecting borders around the world. In 2016 that number had grown to 66, according to researcher Elisabeth Vallet of the University of Quebec. As US President Donald Trump took the first step …

Soma, Gambia | AFP | They breathed a sigh of relief when strongman Yahya Jammeh finally left The Gambia. But supporters of the new president, Adama Barrow, say he has a lot to do to get the country — one of Africa’s poorest — on its feet. “At the end …

Istanbul, Turkey | AFP | Aydin Sefa Akay is one of over 41,000 people arrested and awaiting trial in Turkey in the wake of the unsuccessful July 15 coup plot to unseat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But Akay is no ordinary prisoner. A former Turkish ambassador, he is a top …

Brussels, Belgium | AFP | Ninety-three journalists and media staff were killed around the world in the course of their work in 2016, with Iraq and Afghanistan the deadliest countries, the International Federation of Journalists said Friday. The IFJ said the figure, 19 less than in 2015, was for journalists …

United Nations, United States | AFP | The UN General Assembly on Monday rejected a bid by African countries to block the appointment of the first-ever UN expert tasked with investigating violence and discrimination against LGBT minorities. It was the second time that the African group had tried to push …

Juba, South Sudan | AFP |  UN human rights experts on Thursday said “ethnic cleansing” was under way in South Sudan after visiting the country where violence has soared since a peace deal collapsed in July. “There is already a steady process of ethnic cleansing underway in several areas of …

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP |  An outspoken billionaire Saudi prince wants an “urgent” end to his country’s ban on women driving, saying overturning the law was a matter of women’s rights and economic necessity. “Stop the debate: Time for women to drive,” Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said on his …

Rabat, Morocco | AFP |  A public television station in Morocco has apologised after uproar on social media followed its broadcast of an item on makeup to hide the facial bruises of battered women. The sequence — marking last week’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women — …