Full Coverage: East Africa

30.03.2007 Zimbabwe's powerful religious elites have stepped in where African leaders failed to act this week, reprimanding the country's leadership for its oppressive tactics and warning that only "a new people-driven Constitution" can avert a mass uprising.

28.03.2007 The leader of Zimbabwe's opposition was arrested Wednesday as the country's president prepared to attend a regional summit meeting that will address Zimbabwe's crisis. Human rights lawyers have not yet been able to access the detainees.

28.03.2007

27.03.2007 After years of inaction, leaders from 14 Southern African nations will hold crisis talks later this week to try to halt Zimbabwe's slide into "full-scale humanitarian, social, and political crisis."

27.03.2007 In his second dispatch from Harare, Ontibile Kababongwe says that police are closely monitoring University of Zimbabwe students for fear that they might demonstrate in solidarity with arrested civil society leaders.

26.03.2007 UNITED NATIONS, Mar 26 (OneWorld) - Cautiously optimistic about the prospects for peace in northern Uganda, leading international aid groups are welcoming the United Nations' efforts to bring the warring parties in that country to the negotiating table.

26.03.2007 Luonnonkatastrofien koettelema maa selvisi maaliskuun pyörremyrskystä aiempaa paremmin ja pienemmillä vahingoilla. Kiitos kuuluu hallitukselle ja yhteistyökumppaneille, jotka ovat parantaneet maan katastrofivalmiutta ja opastaneet ihmisille oikeita toimitatapoja muun muassa tulvien sattuessa.

23.03.2007 The Rwandan government has announced a new national family planning program, but aid organizations warn this program must be voluntary, and should not offer any incentives or disincentives when it comes to childbearing.

22.03.2007 NAIROBI, Mar 22 (IPS) - Kenya's capital, Nairobi, takes its name from a Maasai word meaning "place of cool waters". In parts of the city, however, this term is less descriptive than ironic -- as demand for water is outstripping supply.

21.03.2007 Ana Chico, 36, gave birth to a boy as she was fleeing recent floods in Mozambique. She is now staying with her family in a relief aid camp.
From: ActionAid International

21.03.2007 Isse Abdi Isse, a well-known human rights advocate and Chairman of the Kisima Peace and Development Organization, was shot dead last week in front of a Mogadishu hotel.

21.03.2007 Väkivaltaisuuksien lisääntyminen ja heikentynyt turvallisuus ajoivat pelkästään helmikuun aikana yli 40 000 ihmistä pakenemaan Somalian pääkaupungista Mogadishusta. YK:n avustusjärjestöjen uusin arvio paenneista on huomattavasti korkeampi kuin mitä aiemmin on ilmoitettu. Maaliskuun alussa paenneita arvioitiin olevan vuoden alusta laskien noin 30 000.

20.03.2007 Somalia is the world's most dangerous country for minority communities, overtaking Iraq, says a new global survey.
+ OneWorld Guide to Somalia

20.03.2007 Kansainvälisen ay-liikkeen verkosto on aloittanut sähköpostikampanjan tukeakseen Zimbabwen ammattiyhdistysliikettä ja oppositiorintamaa, jotka kamppailevat presidentti Mugaben vallan alla. Viestissä vaaditaan maan hallitusta kunnioittamaan ay-liikkeen oikeutta järjestäytymiseen ja mielenilmauksiin.

16.03.2007 A series of quotes from those involved in last week's police clampdown and from other rights activists over the past few years demonstrate the seriousness of the situation in Zimbabwe today.
From: Pambazuka News

16.03.2007 "The consequences of Zimbabwe falling down are grave - maybe a collapse of the country, Zaire-style, or Tsvangirai’s death in police custody, apartheid-style." James Waters on why events there "are more than a little embarrassing - they make me look stupid."

15.03.2007

14.03.2007 In his second dispatch from Harare, a journalist who must remain anonymous because of the danger faced by independent reporters says that police are closely monitoring University of Zimbabwe students for fear that they might demonstrate in solidarity with arrested civil society leaders.

14.03.2007 Zimbabwen turvallisuuspoliisi teki tiistaiaamuna väkivaltaisen iskun ammatillisen keskusjärjestön ZCTU:n keskustoimistoon Hararessa. Poliisi pahoinpiteli henkilökuntaa ja pidätti talouspäällikön. He myös takavarkoivat dokumentit, jotka koskivat huhtikuun alkuun kaavailtua yleislakkoa.

14.03.2007 The headquarters of the Zimbabwe Trade Union Congress were raided by security forces yesterday as part of a "concerted effort to try and crush all civic organisations", according to the organisation's president, Lovemore Matombo.
+ EYE-WITNESS REPORT: 'It is a sorry sight for Zimbabwe but we pray that freedom will come'