Full Coverage: North Africa

30.03.2005 The UN Security Council is due to vote today on a resolution addressing the crisis in Darfur. It has some catching up to do if credibility is to be restored.

30.03.2005 On 31 March 2005, members of the IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG) will highlight the worrying state of freedom of expression in Tunisia at a panel discussion in Geneva during the annual session of the UN Commission on Human Rights.

29.03.2005 Alla vigilia del voto del Consiglio di sicurezza dell'Onu sulla proposta della Francia di deferire alla Corte penale internazionale (Cpi) le persone accusate di "atti di genocidio" contro la popolazione civile in Darfur, il ministro degli Esteri sudanese ha ribadito oggi l'intento del governo di "fare tutto il possibile per fermare la risoluzione dell'Onu". "Non consegneremo mai un nostro connazionale sia esso un fuorilegge, un ufficiale dell'esercito o un rappresentante del governo, per un processo al di fuori del Sudan" - ha detto il ministro. Gli Stati Uniti - tra i primi ad accusare di "genocidio" il regime di Khartoum - sono intenzionati a bocciare la proposta francese pur di non riconoscere la Cpi.

18.03.2005 It is with a sense of shock and profound sadness that we have received news of the departure of Zouhair Yahyaoui, a genuine fighter for human rights and freedom of expression.

15.03.2005 Concerns about the suitability of Tunisia as the venue for November's World Summit on the Information Society will not be allayed by the death of the country's leading cyber-dissident at the age of 36. Zouhair Yahyaoui had been active in drawing attention to the country's poor record in freedom of expression on the internet.

15.03.2005 Fighting and famine have been a large part of the lives of the South Sudanese, but differences are being channeled into healthy competition during a regional sporting competition and festival. "There is less fighting between the tribes and people are learning to resolve their differences without resorting to guns and violence" as a result of the event, said one local organizer.

10.03.2005 Kansainvälinen avustusjärjestö Lääkärit ilman rajoja on hoitanut viimeisen viiden kuukauden aikana lähes 500 raiskauksen uhria Sudanin Darfurissa. Arvioiden mukaan vain pieni osa uhreista on hakeutunut hoitoon. Tilanne on erittäin paha myös Kongossa, selviää tuoreesta raportista. Järjestö vaatiikin, että uhrien auttamiseen ja syyllisten tuomitsemiseen on varattava lisää resursseja.

09.03.2005 Il Sudan non è solo il Darfur. Passato il festival di Sanremo, c'è il rischio che l'opinione pubblica si ricordi solo dell'emergenza umanitaria nel Darfur e si dimentichi della pace che quest'anno si tenta faticosamente di costruire nell'intero Sudan. Quale pace per il Sudan? La parola alla società civile. È il titolo del forum in cui analisti ed esponenti della società civile italiana e sudanese che in modi diversi hanno contribuito alla pace si ritrovano venerdì 18 marzo e sabato 19 marzo 2005 a Milano a Palazzo Isimbardi, via Vivaio 1, ospiti della Provincia, per valutare il percorso compiuto finora e quello ancora da compiere. La campagna italiana per la pace e il rispetto dei diritti umani in Sudan presenterà la giornata in una conferenza stampa pubblica che si terrà venerdì 18 marzo.

08.03.2005 The international aid group Doctors Without Borders treated over 500 rape victims in the last six months alone in Darfur Sudan, and this is believed to be just a small fraction of the total number of victims. The situation is no better in the Congo. More must be done to treat the victims and hold the perpetrators accountable, the group said Monday.

07.03.2005 International dithering over the deteriorating situation in Darfur is in part caused by disagreement as to whether the Sudanese government's actions should be classed as genocide. This analysis examines how the intricacies of history and politics stand in the way of any clear-cut definition of the genocide word.

07.03.2005 The website of Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), the opposition party in Tunisia, is blocked by the government authorities. PDP’s website is the latest in the long list of websites, including Reporters Sans Frontiers’ (RSF) http://www.radionongrata.org , blocked by the Tunisian government.

04.03.2005 Väestön pakkosiirrot ja hyökkäykset siviilejä vastaan jatkuvat Darfurissa niin kauan kun rankaisemattomuuden ilmapiiri vallitsee Sudanissa, uskovat avustustyöntekijät. Refugees International -järjestön mukaan YK:n turvallisuusneuvoston tulisikin pikaisesti siirtää 51 sotarikoksista epäillyn tapaukset tutkittavaksi kansainväliseen rikostuomioistuimeen.

03.03.2005 As long as Sudanese government officials believe that they are immune from punishment for the ever-rising tolls of death and destruction in their country, the attacks on villages, killings of civilians, rapes, pillaging and forced displacement will continue, say humanitarian aid workers. Refugees International offers several recommendations to move forward and end the atrocities.

02.03.2005 International freedom of expression organisations have expressed grave concern about the poor state of freedom of expression in Tunisia, host country for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which is to be held in Tunis in November 2005.

02.03.2005 IFEX members are calling for open debate on freedom of expression in Tunisia as the country prepares to host the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis in November 2005. This comes in response to a decision by the WSIS organisers to restrict the distribution of a report on free expression in Tunisia at the recently concluded preparatory committee meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.

01.03.2005 How many more appeals will it take for the UN Security Council to recognise that it must intervene in Darfur? Jan Engeland, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, has repeated his message that violence and displacement continue unchecked.