We, the undersigned Sudanese and international civil society groups have come together to sound the alarm on future atrocities being committed in Sudan, based on the patterns of atrocities that have occurred in the previous seven months of war. We call on the...
Request for support of ICC investigation in Palestine by African ICC member states
16 October 2023 Dear Excellencies, The Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) is a regional non-governmental organisation based in Johannesburg, South Africa. SALC’s mandate is to promote human rights and protect the rule of law in the Southern African...
Where is the UN on Sudan?
A woman and her family displaced by war seek shelter. Photo credit: UN Photo/Tim McKulka SUDAN TRIBUNE General Burhan Speaks Before the General Assembly By Dismas Nkunda and Janet Sankale On Friday, September 22, 2023 afternoon, General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan...
Human rights and humanitarian organizations are calling upon the United Nations to take immediate action to address the crisis unfolding in Sudan.
Joint Statement Urging More Aid, Solidarity and Attention to Sudan Crisis Displaced Sudanese Women and Children from the ongoing war face harsh conditions. Photo credit: @UN/Albert Gonzalez We, the heads of over 50 human rights and humanitarian organizations are...
54th session of the UN Human Rights Council: Ethiopia – Renew the mandate of the ICHREE
Jaurocks, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons To Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations Human Rights Council Excellencies, Ahead of the Human Rights Council’s 54th regular session (September 11- October 12, 2023), we, the...
The Human Rights Council should establish an independent mechanism on Sudan
To Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (Geneva, Switzerland) 1 September 2023 The Human Rights Council should establish an independent mechanism on Sudan Excellencies, Following the outbreak of armed...
EVENT: Dissecting the latest trends in military takeovers in Africa
Join us for an insightful online event via Twitter Spaces, where we will delve into the pressing issue of ongoing military takeovers in the continent. Our expert panel will lead a thought-provoking discussion, analyzing the geopolitical implications, humanitarian...
JOINT LETTER TO THE ACHPR ON THE PREMATURE TERMINATION OF THE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON THE SITUATION IN TIGRAY
Dear Honourable Members, JOINT LETTER RE: CONCERNS REGARDING THE PREMATURE TERMINATION OF THE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON THE SITUATION IN THE TIGRAY REGION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA We, the undersigned civil society, and human rights organizations are alarmed...
In an exclusive interview with Tigrai TV, Dismas Nkunda, CEO of Atrocities Watch Africa, highlights significant discoveries from the “Ethiopia Watch: CSO Monitor Report.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEtHmJSKevw A newly released monitoring mechanism has revealed disturbing evidence that the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) reached eight months ago between the Ethiopian Federal Government and Tigray People’s Liberation Front...
Outcome Statement of the High-Level Dialogue with Sudanese Civic Actors on the Situation in Sudan
On 15 July 2023, in partnership with the Government of Kenya, the Africans for the Horn of Africa Initiative (Af4HA), a coalition of African civil society groups committed to working collectively on the crises in the Horn, convened a High-Level Dialogue on the...
ETHIOPIA WATCH Civil Society Monitor of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement
Download full report here.
First-of-its-Kind Civil Society Monitor Finds Disturbing Gaps in Tigray Peace Deal
‘Ethiopia Watch’ Report Urges the African Union to Build on the Historic Agreement Reached in Pretoria Eight Months Ago A newly released monitoring mechanism has revealed disturbing evidence that the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) reached eight months ago...
UN Human Rights Council: urgently convene a special session and establish an investigative mechanism
In light of the unfolding human rights crisis in Sudan, and notwithstanding efforts to stop the fighting by the African Union (AU), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and other regional and international actors, non-governmental organisations wrote...
CIVILIANS UNDER ATTACK IN SUDAN: A ROBUST AU RESPONSE REQUIRED
19 April 2023 “I believe the drafters of the Constitutive Act anticipated scenarios similar to the one obtaining in Sudan, when they coined article 4(h). Africans can not stand by and continue to watch atrocities being committed in Sudan without taking all necessary...
THE AFRICAN UNION MUST ACT NOW TO AVOID FURTHER LOSS OF LIFE IN SUDAN
15 February 2023 “60 years into Africa’s unity, the African Union cannot afford to sit back and watch conflict harm and affect the lives of Africans again and again. Silencing the guns and taking decisive action against autocracy, to protect African lives must be the...
Letter to the UN Human Rights Council on the threats to terminate the mandate of the ICHREE
Re: Threats to Terminate the Mandate of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia To: Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations Human Rights Council Excellencies, We, the undersigned civil society and human...
RISK OF INCREASED VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA’S 2023 ELECTIONS
Nigerians were promised free, fair and transparent general elections in 2023, but what seems clear now is that the electoral process will be flawed and violent. However, action can still be taken to avoid the worst outcomes. Atrocities Watch Africa (AWA) and Global...
Discussion on the Ethiopian Peace Process: filling in the gaps
After two years of fighting the Ethiopian federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) signed a Cessation of Hostilities Agreement,[1] on 2 November 2022 in Pretoria South Africa. This was followed by the signing of an Executive Declaration on...
ACHPR: strengthen the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry on Ethiopia
To the Commissioners and Special Mechanisms of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) 25 October 2022 The ACHPR should strengthen the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry on Ethiopia and adopt a strong resolution condemning ongoing human rights...
ACHPR: continue to support the Sudanese people and call for the installation of a civilian government
To the Commissioners and Special Mechanisms of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights 25 October 2022 The ACHPR should continue its strong support of the Sudanese people and call for the installation of a civilian government in the wake of the 2021...
Letter to UN Member States on the re-election of Sudan to the UN Human Rights Council
To The Permanent Representatives All UN Member StatesUNGA, New York 06 October 2022 Sub: Re-election of Sudan to the UN Human Rights Council (2023-2025) Excellency, We, representatives of the undersigned non-governmental organization are writing to you this letter...
Letter to the UN Human Rights Council to extend the mandate of the ICHREE
Extend the mandate of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia. 21 September, 2022 Your Excellencies, The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) and Atrocities Watch Africa (AWA) urge the UN Human Rights Council (from now on...
SUDAN: Letter to President of the US, Establishing a Line of Defense for Democracy in Sudan through Targeted Sanctions
August 31, 2022 RE: Establishing a Line of Defense for Democracy in Sudan through Targeted Sanctions Dear President Biden, We, the undersigned 101 human rights organizations, scholars and leading activists, urged you in May of this year to impose targeted sanctions on...
NIGERIA 2023: A MAJOR TEST FOR DEMOCRACY IN NEED OF CRITICAL SUPPORT
Nigerians will head to the polls on 25 February 2023 to select a new president and national assembly, and on 11 March to select new governors and State Houses of Assembly. Current President Buhari is set to step down after serving eight years in office. He has...
CSO letter to the South African President C. Ramaphosa on the eve of the 47th G7 summit
HE President Cyril RamaphosaPresident of the Republic of South Africa 23 June 2022 H.E. President Cyril Ramaphosa, As you prepare to meet with the Leaders of the G7 at Schloss Elmau this weekend, we, the undersigned group of African and international civil...
Hate speech and incitement of violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Kampala, Uganda23rd June 2022 Atrocities Watch Africa (AWA) is deeply concerned about recent hate speech in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Discourse instigating hatred, violence and discrimination of Kinyarwanda speakers both Rwandan and Congolese, calling on...
African Civil Society’s letter to the United Nations Security Council on the ongoing situation in Ethiopia
18 May 2022 Your excellency, We, the undersigned, write on behalf of our members across the African continent and concerned Africans everywhere to ask you to provide leadership in ending the ongoing war in Ethiopia. Since November 2020, the federal government under...
“We will erase you from this land,” Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International joint report reactions.
From Atrocities Watch Monitor N° 4, May 2022Read full newsletter here. On 5 April 2022, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch released a joint report based on information collected between November 2020 and March 2022 through 427 interviews and other...
Letter to UN Human Rights Council on Sudan: Ensure continued public debates on the human rights situation
To Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (Geneva, Switzerland) 19 May 2022 Sudan: Ensure continued public debates on the human rights situation Excellencies, Following the military coup of 25 October...
Africans Caught Up in the Ukraine War
From Atrocities Watch Monitor No. 3 April 2022. Read full newsletter here Six weeks on from the start of Russian military advances in Ukraine, the crisis has sparked Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II. More than 4 million Ukrainians had fled the...
Letter to US Congress – The Sudanese Revolution Stands with the Ukrainian People
The Sudanese Revolution Stands with the Ukrainian People | February 26, 2022 Dear Members of Congress, The people of Sudan recognize and support the courage the world admires in the people of Ukraine as they risk their lives to save their country from defeat by a...
Sudan: Letter to Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the UN Human Rights Council
26 Jan 2022 To Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, Geneva, Switzerland The Human Rights Council action at Sudan’s UPR Excellencies, Ahead of the 3rd cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Sudan on...
African Citizens’ Letter to the United Nations Secretary General On the risk of genocide in Ethiopia
Dear Mr. Secretary-General, Concerning the Need to Take Urgent Action to Prevent Genocide in Ethiopia We, the undersigned, write on behalf of ourselves, our members across the regions of the African continent and the Diaspora and on behalf of concerned...
Open Letter to the United Nations Security Council
Your Excellencies, As concerned citizens from Africa standing in solidarity with the people of South Sudan, we write to you as you approach a critical decision that could have lasting implications for the fragile peace and the future stability of Africa’s youngest...
Sudan – Political Agreement
On November 21st, 2021, a political agreement was signed between military coup leader, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. The agreement reinstates Hamdok as Sudan’s Prime Minister, calls for the release of all political prisoners as well...
Letter to the AU and IGAD on the Sudanese Military Coup
We stand in solidarity with the people of Sudan and we demand more resolute action from the African Union (AU), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the United Nations (UN) We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, are deeply concerned...
Dear Ethiopia
Not the Nobel Prize: Giving war criminals the attention they deserve
War criminals don’t get the recognition they deserve, believes Dismas Nkunda, a Ugandan journalist and activist who has covered the war in South Sudan extensively. So he decided to do something about it. “I had to find a way of shaming those who were bottlenecks to...
Public encouraged to nominate the worst peace spoilers in South Sudan
January 9, 2020 Public encouraged to nominate the worst peace spoilers in South Sudan (Kampala) – A Ugandan-based organisation, Atrocities Watch Africa, has today called on the wider public to nominate individuals and entities from, or linked with, South Sudan for a...
Road to the Burundi Referendum 2018
On May 17 2018, Burundians will go to the polls for a referendum in which the people will decide whether or not the president’s term of office should be extended from five to seven years. The opposition in Burundi has seen this as a violation to the constitution and...
DAY 5 OF AGE LIMIT PROCEEDINGS
After its adjournment on Thursday 12 April, the court hearing on the age limit petition resumed on 17 April for the cross examinations of the witnesses that had been summoned by the court. The list of witnesses to be cross examined included Betty Nambooze, the Mukono...
Age Limit Petition day 4: Defense presents their case
The fourth day of the age limit petition carried both a serious and hilarious tone, being the first day the defense was to present its case to the court. The deputy attorney general Mwesigwa Rukutana with his team of lawyers including Christine Kawa, the solicitor...
Day two of the Age Limit Petition
The second day of the constitutional amendment petition hearing started off with the court house being made available to the public to follow the proceedings. The petitioners continued to present their case they pointed out that the clause to extend the MPs term of...
Mutilation and brutality
One of the enduring images of the Free State was the severed hands which became "the most potent symbol of colonial brutality". The practice was comparatively common in colonial Africa (by the Portuguese in Cabinda, for example)[28] and originated in connection with...
The Rwandan Genocide (1994)
On April 6, 1994, the airplane carrying Juvénal Habyarimana, the President of Rwanda, and Cyprien Ntaryamira, the Hutu President of Burundi, was shot down as it prepared to land at Kigali. Both presidents were killed when the plane crashed. Military and militia groups...
20th century’s first genocide
Namibia, then known as South-West Africa, became a German colony in 1884 under the rule of Otto von Bismarck and was lost to the British during the First World War. In 1904 the Herero and Nama people launched a rebellion against German colonial rule, over the specific...
Red Rubber system and forced labour
With the majority of the Free State's revenues derived from the export of rubber, a labour policy (known by critics as the "Red Rubber system") was created to maximise its extraction. Labour was demanded by the administration as taxation. This created a "slave...
The 1972 and 1993 Burundi genocides
In April of 1972, a rebellion broke out in Burundi led by Hutu army officers against the purge by the mainly Tutsi government of President Michombero. In response to the rebellion, the government using youth militias went on a killing spree that led to the death of...
The 1959 Genocide in Rwanda
One of the most contested version of a genocide was the event of 1959 in Rwanda. Was it genocide against Tutsi or was it a genuine national peasant revolution? When the Hutu rebelled against the Belgians and Tutsi elites that resulted in the death of about 20,000...
The Herero People in Namibia
It took 100 years after genocide for the German perpetrators to say « sorry » to the Herero and Namaqua tribes of Namibia. While the United Nations classified the atrocities to the two tribes as genocide in 1985, it was not until 2015 that the Germans said: “We...