Ralph Kasambara, former Attorney-General and lawyer who has brought many of the most recent important human rights or rule of law cases in Malawi to court, has been detained in prison after defending himself from petrol bombers.
News
Overworked investigating judges and a lack of lawyers leads to inordinate delays in Bafang, Cameroon.
Forty foreign NGO workers to be charged and 19 banned from leaving the country.
The Minister of Youth and Civic Education in Republic of the Congo, Anatole Collinet Makosso, spent New Year's day with young offenders in Brazzaville prison and delivered civic education materials to the prison.
On 13 December, following International Human Rights Day, the Article 5 Initiative (A5I) was launched at the Breakwater Lodge in Cape Town. The Article 5 Initiative aims to support African institutions to improve domestic compliance with international law obligations, norms and procedures under the United Nations Convention against Torture (UNCAT) and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR).
On 30 November 2011, CSPRI’s Project Coordinator Lukas Muntingh presented a submission on the prevention and eradication of torture in South African prisons to the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services (PCCS).
The "Clean hands in prison" campaign is focused on raising awareness on the importance of washing hands, reducing the prevalence and transmission rates of diseases brought about by a lack of hygiene and sanitation in jails.
Up to 32 million Congolese are due to head to the polls on Monday 28 November after a weekend marked by deadly street clashes and allegations of cheating
Human Rights Watch calls on Moroccan authorities to stop harassing those campaigning for a boycott of elections.
Top judge condemns the practice of filing holding charges against accused persons and “trial by public parade of suspects on pages of newspapers and on the television” and blames the practice for congestion in prisons.
On 14 November, CSPRI researcher, Gwénaëlle Dereymaeker, presented the CSPRI submission on the Implementation of the Geneva Conventions Bill B10-2011 before Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans.
Human Rights Watch called on the Guinean government to investigate the role of two high-level officials in the apparent illegal detention and intimidation of members of a prominent Guinean human rights group.