UN HRC 30 Side event: The Role and Challenges of Women Human Rights Defenders and Journalists in Somalia

Sudan: don’t let the military regime use a UN event to legitimise itself

The international community should not allow Sudan’s military regime to

Call for Applications: Ttaala Digital Skills Building Workshop

DefendDefenders calls for applications from Uganda based human rights organisations to the Ttaala Digital Skills building Workshop 2022. Ttaala is a comprehensive

ACHPR69:Statement under Item 5: Working Group on Extractive Industries, Environment and Human Rights Violations in Africa

AfricanDefenders and DefendDefenders welcome the report of the Working Group.

ACHPR69: Statement on the report of the Chairperson of the Working Group on the Rights of Older Persons and People with Disabilities in Africa

Honourable Chairperson, Honourable Commissioners, Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, DefendDefenders and

ACHPR69: Sub regional update on democracy, rule of law and human rights in East and Horn of Africa

The last six months have seen increased repression, including in

Human Rights Defender of the Month: Anny Kapenga

As a young student, Anny Kapenga used to cringe at the cult-like worship of Mobutu Sese Seko, the then Zaire’s President. By then, in the early 1990s, Zaire was still under one party rule, and calls were increasing for Mobutu to open political space to allow other parties to operate. In the meantime, however, all Zairians were expected to show affection for Mobutu wherever they gathered in public.

Students across Zaire’s schools were required to sing and dance adoringly before his (Mobutu)’s portrait every morning before they went to class, and all school scholastic materials were emblemed with his portrait. A young Anny never really appreciated the obsession: