Human Rights Archive

MOMBASA, Kenya — Following a barrage of accusations that the Rwandan government is fueling conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the presidents of the two nations met Sunday to broker a deal authorizing an African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in the conflict-prone region. Held on the sidelines of an AU summit in Addis Ababa, the face-to-face talks constitute a rarity for the central African neighbors. In recent years, each side has repeatedly blamed the other for arming various insurgencies in the mineral-rich and chronically chaotic territory of the eastern DRC. The U.N. released a report in June […]

Twenty Ethiopian journalists and opposition figures accused of trying to topple the government will now spend between eight years and the rest of their lives in prison. As the New York Times reported, these defendants, who were convicted on terrorism charges, were the victims of security concerns being used “as an excuse to crack down on dissent and media freedoms.” The Horn of Africa country, located between Sudan and Somalia, is seen by the U.S. as a source of stability and as a key regional partner in the war on terror, explained Claire Beston, the Ethiopia researcher at Amnesty International. […]

In 2000, when Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel formed a coalition government with Jörg Haider’s far-right populist Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), the 14 member states of the European Union immediately agreed to sanction the country. Acting on the basis of bilateral relations, as the EU Treaty did not justify such sanctions, the EU member states froze diplomatic relations and sought to isolate Austria in international institutions, despite the fact that Haider and his FPÖ had been democratically elected. Today, with populism on the rise across the member states of the EU, this kind of forceful reaction is no longer even […]

The International Criminal Court sentenced Thomas Lubanga, a former militia leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to 14 years in prison Tuesday. The sentence, which was the first imposed by the ICC since it was launched in The Hague 10 years ago, established the use of children in war as an international crime. “The verdict and sentence underscore the gravity of the crimes charged — the recruitment, enlistment and use of child soldiers — and the determination of the international community to hold accountable those who commit them,” James Goldston, founding executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative, […]

In El Salvador, a dispute between the Constitutional Court and the National Assembly has led to two separate groups of judges claiming to be the country’s lawful Supreme Court. In an email interview, Linda Garrett, a senior policy analyst for El Salvador at the Center for Democracy in the Americas, discussed El Salvador’s constitutional crisis. WPR: What is the immediate background to El Salvador’s constitutional crisis? Linda Garrett: The confrontation between the Constitutional Court and a majority coalition in the legislature is as political as it is institutional, a reflection of the deep polarization that still divides El Salvador 20 […]

Fears of violence are rising in Libya on the eve of the country’s first free election in more than 50 years. Saturday’s National Assembly elections could determine whether Libya continues to suffer discord along ethnic and regional lines or consolidates its moves toward becoming a new, democratic state. “It is important to keep in mind that in a postconflict election like [this one], the main concern is usually about credibility,” Ayman Ayoub, regional director for Western Asia and North Africa at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, told Trend Lines. “What really matters is that the elections are […]

NAIROBI, Kenya — In Kenya, a country with a history of institutionalized impunity for politicians, the attempt last week by parliament to pass legislation seemingly designed to safeguard incumbency might be considered par for the course. The proposed bill, which among other things mandated that members of parliament have university degrees, highlighted the challenges facing political reform efforts two years after the passage of what was hailed as arguably the most progressive constitution on the continent. Significantly, however, the move by parliament was greeted with popular outrage and criticized by media outlets and prominent officials alike. Sensing the political fallout, […]

In the past few decades, Latin America has emerged as the world’s unlikely laboratory for democracy. No other region has produced the sheer diversity of democratic configurations and permutations, including some that at times appear to undermine the very essence of democratic principles. The region that for so many years made news due to violence and authoritarianism is now an active workshop, tinkering with and sometimes transforming the shape of democracy. Latin America became the stage for the rise of iconic figures such as former Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, to name just […]

On June 16, students at the University of Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, began protesting against austerity measures enacted by the government of President Omar al-Bashir. Now staging near-daily protests, the students, along with their fellow demonstrators, are calling for the fall of Bashir, who took power in a 1989 coup, and his National Congress Party (NCP). Sudanese security forces have responded forcefully to the protests, drawing international concern. Observers inside and outside Sudan, meanwhile, wonder whether the protests might force Bashir to step down. Whether or not Bashir endures these protests, their intensity demonstrates the unsustainability of the political […]