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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 1, 2008
10:05 AM

CONTACT: Human Rights Watch (HRW)

Ethiopia/Kenya: Account for Missing Rendition Victims

Secret Detainees Interrogated by US Officials Are Still in Custody

WASHINGTON - October 1 - At least 10 victims of the 2007 Horn of Africa rendition program still languish in Ethiopian jails and the whereabouts of several others is unknown, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Several of the detained men were interrogated by US officials in Addis Ababa soon after they were secretly transferred from Kenya to Somalia, and then to Ethiopia in early 2007.

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Posted in Human Rights, Politics, War/Empire, Africa, Torture

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2008
11:41 AM

CONTACT: Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

Malaria: From Good Intentions to Effective Action

Getting life-saving malaria care to many more patients

JOHANNESBURG/BRUSSELS - September 30 - In a new report launched today, the international medical organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said many more lives can be saved if newer effective strategies to tackle malaria are more widely implemented. The report, titled "Full Prescription; better malaria treatment for more people, MSF's experience,"describes the organization's work in Sierra Leone, Chad and Mali, and shows that unnecessary deaths can be avoided with simple, affordable treatment and diagnostic tools available today.

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Posted in healthcare, Africa, Public Health/Safety

The Pentagon's New Africa Command Raises Suspicions About US Motives

NAIROBI, Kenya - The U.S. Africa Command, the Pentagon's first effort to unite its counterterrorism, training and humanitarian operations on the continent, launches Wednesday amid questions at home about its mission and deep suspicions in Africa about its intentions. U.S. officials have billed the new command, known as Africom, as a sign of Africa's strategic importance, but many in Africa see it as an unwelcome expansion of the U.S.-led war on terrorism and a bid to secure greater access to the continent's vast oil resources.

Posted in Africa

Why Are Mothers Still Dying in Childbirth?

Osman, a six month old baby whose mother died during childbirth in Sierra Leone. (Photograph: David Levene)

It is one of the world's greatest hidden epidemics, but the search for a solution is hopelessly underfunded. On average, every minute of every day a woman somewhere dies in childbirth or pregnancy, the overwhelming majority in developing countries.

It is estimated that they number more than half a million every year, in what Norway's Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg, told the United Nations last week was 'the biggest expression of brutality to women I can imagine'.

Posted in healthcare, Africa, Women's Rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 26, 2008
5:23 AM

CONTACT: Oxfam International
In Washington, DC, for Enough, Colin Thomas-Jensen (English): +1-202-682-6136

Renewed Fighting Displaces 100,000 More Civilians in Eastern Congo

WASHINGTON - September 26 - Renewed combat in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has caused a drastic deterioration in the humanitarian situation and immense suffering for civilians, the Congo Advocacy Coalition, a group of 83 aid agencies and human rights groups, said today. The coalition called for urgent action to improve protection of civilians and an immediate increase in assistance to vulnerable populations.

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Posted in Africa

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 25, 2008
8:05 AM

CONTACT: Human Rights Watch (HRW)

DR Congo: Humanitarian Crisis Deepens as Peace Process Falters

Renewed Fighting Displaces 100,000 More Civilians in Eastern Congo

GOMA - September 25 - Renewed combat in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has caused a drastic deterioration in the humanitarian situation and immense suffering for civilians, the Congo Advocacy Coalition, a group of 83 aid agencies and human rights groups, said today. The coalition called for urgent action to improve protection of civilians and an immediate increase in assistance to vulnerable populations.

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Posted in Africa

The World Bank Takes the Money and Runs From Chad

Now that the World Bank has announced its withdrawal of support for the $4.2 billion Chad-Cameroon pipeline, I can't help but remember the eyes of that boy. We were racing back from the Doba oil fields to the Chadian capitol city of N'Djamena in July 2006, traveling by van after dark.

Posted in Environment, Human Rights, Africa, Oil

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 15, 2008
2:17 PM

CONTACT: Human Rights Watch (HRW)

Zimbabwe: Rights Reform Vital to Lasting Stability

Power-Sharing Deal Should End Abuses, Bring Justice

JOHANNESBURG - September 15 - Any transition to democracy following the power-sharing agreement in Zimbabwe will remain fragile unless the political leadership takes steps to address human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. Any deal should immediately end ongoing violations and hold to account those responsible for past abuses.

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Posted in Human Rights, Politics, Africa

Militant Group in Niger Delta Declares War on Oil Industry

A naval officer assembles his machine gun before starting to patrol the restive oil-rich Niger Delta region. The most prominent militant group in oil-rich southern Nigeria, MEND, said it had declared an \"oil war\" and threatened all international industry vessels that approach the region. (AFP/File/Pius Otomi Ekpei)

LAGOS - The most prominent militant group in oil-rich southern Nigeria on Sunday said it had declared an "oil war" and threatened all international industry vessels that approach the region.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta ( MEND ) said in an email to the media it has code-named its operation Hurricane Barbarossa.

Posted in Africa, Oil

Assessing the Republican Party Platform

While the foreign policy segments of the Democratic Party platform as outlined in my most recent article is disappointing in many respects, the Republican Party platform is downright scary.

Among the more frightening aspects of the platform is its unconstitutional assertion that the president has sole prerogative to make decisions on matters of war, rejecting any role for Congressional "interference" in foreign policy matters.

Posted in military industrial complex, Politics, War/Empire, Afghanistan, Africa, Iraq, Israel/Palestine
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