Human Rights Watch has accused security forces in Chad of killing at least 13 people and injuring more than 80 others as they violently dispersed thousands of protesters in the east of the country. January’s demonstration in the city of Abéché was against plans to appoint a new traditional chief. …
Read More »Cameroon: HRW accuses army of having killed and tortured deportees from US
Dozens of Cameroonian asylum seekers deported from the United States are abused on their return home, an international pressure group says. Some were arrested, tortured and raped, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. “Their national identity cards were confiscated and their relatives abused,” it said. The US was failing Cameroonians with …
Read More »Burundi: Rights group calls for transparent investigation into prison fire
Human Rights Watch says hundreds of inmates may have died in last month’s prison fire in Burundi, and is calling for a “transparent investigation”, the BBC reports. The authorities have said no more than 46 people lost their lives. Survivors told Human Rights Watch the blaze engulfed several prison blocks …
Read More »Ethiopia: HRW accuses Tigrayan forces of summarily killing civilians
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused the Tigrayan rebels of summarily killing dozens of civilians in “apparent war crimes” in two towns they controlled in Ethiopia’s Amhara region. “Tigrayan forces showed brutal disregard for human life and the laws of war by executing people in their custody,” said Lama Fakih, …
Read More »Tanzania: HRW warns against ban on pregnant schoolgirls
Human Rights Watch has called on the Tanzanian government to reverse its ban on pregnant students and adolescent mothers attending school. The campaign group describes the ban as discriminatory and inhumane. The policy was imposed four years ago by former President John Magufuli and is still in place under the …
Read More »HRW accuses DRC authorities of ignoring mass rape during riots
Human Rights Watch says the authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo repeatedly ignored security warnings which preceded a prison riot last year in which inmates raped dozens of female detainees, including a teenage girl. Nearly 2,000 prisoners in the city of Lumumbashi rioted in September 2020, setting fire to …
Read More »HRW accuses Tigrayan, Eritrean forces of raping and killing refugees
An international rights organization has accused the Eritrean soldiers and Tigrayan militias of raping, detaining and killing Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray. Human Rights Watch’s report detailed attacks around two camps in Tigray, where local forces have battled the Ethiopian government and their Eritrean allies since November …
Read More »“Hunger has doubled in Nigeria because of covid-19”, HRW
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the number of Nigerians experiencing hunger has doubled because of the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. In its report Between Hunger and the Virus, the Organization suggested that government cash transfers to vulnerable strata had failed to mitigate the effects of the pandemic …
Read More »HRW calls for investigation into Jammeh’s role in murder of migrants
Human Rights Watch has called for a criminal investigation into the role of the former president of The Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, in the killing of dozens of migrants in 2005, BBC News reports. Recent testimony at the country’s truth commission implicated him in the summary execution of 59 people from …
Read More »Three days of national mourning after deadly explosion in Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea has begun three days of national mourning after the deaths of at least 105 people following explosions at a munitions depot on Sunday. Flags in Equatorial Guinea will fly at half-mast for the next three days. 105 are dead and more than 600 people are still in hospital …
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