NAIROBI, 17 February 2012 (IRIN) – The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) boasts sufficient arable land and water sources to produce food well beyond its own needs, yet it has the world’s highest rates of malnutrition, as the following data illustrate … 48 percent: Cases of infant mortality due to malnutrition. 45.8 percent: Children of [...]

A year ago, thousands of Libyan civilians became soldiers overnight. Opposed to the rule of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, they took up arms, many of them for the first time in their lives, and joined a ragtag rebel army. Now, after eight months of brutal violence, they are struggling to return to their former [...]

The Malawian authorities must comply immediately with a court order to free former Attorney General Ralph Kasambara on bail, Amnesty International said after he was rearrested on Wednesday night, just hours after his release from detention. Ralph Kasambara was first arrested on Monday after a scuffle broke out when a group of five men allegedly [...]

Almost a year after the start of the Libyan uprising that led to the ousting and killing of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, new research suggests more than a third of its citizens would rather return to being ruled by a strongman than embrace democracy. Despite thousands of deaths in the revolt against Colonel Gaddafi’s 40-year rule, [...]

The United States is considering additional assistance to the African Union military mission in Somalia (Amisom) in the wake of an announced merger between Al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda. “Obviously, it’s bad and it’s dangerous,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Friday in response to reports of a linkup of the two groups. “And it’s further [...]

Representatives of about 100 militias from western Libya said Monday they had formed a new federation to prevent infighting and allow them to press the country’s new government for further reform. The move was a blow to the National Transitional Council, which helped lead the eight-month uprising against longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi that ended with [...]

The South’s secession in July 2011 deprived Sudan of three-quarters of its output, about 350,000 barrels a day. Between July and December 2011 production was worth US$3.2 billion. The oil is piped northwards to marine terminals in Sudan, making an as-yet elusive agreement on how to share revenue and costs crucial to post-war relations between [...]

2011 was a year without precedent for the people of the Middle East and North Africa. This animation gives a quick introduction to a year of change and rebellion. For more on this story, visit: A human rights revolution on Vimeo.   A human rights revolution from Amnesty International on Vimeo.

TRIPOLI, Libya — As the militiamen saw it, they had the best of intentions. They assaulted another militia at a seaside base here this week to rescue a woman who had been abducted. When the guns fell silent, briefly, the scene that unfolded felt as chaotic as Libya’s revolution these days — a government whose [...]

The International Criminal Court with its selective justice has become a vehicle for enforcing neocolonial interests in Africa. ICC has proven that it is beholden to countries that are not even signatories to the Rome statute that set it up. Once again, the spotlight is on Africa as four Kenyans – three political leaders and [...]