Basic HTML Version
Summer 2017
DEFENDERS
35
Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea,
Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Togo and Zimbabwe.
In many of these protests and more, including in Chad, Republic of the Congo
(Congo), DRC, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Lesotho and Uganda, there was an
increasing crackdown on social media and patterns of arbitrary restriction or
shutting down of access to the internet.
• Attacks on Human Rights Defenders and Journalists
Human rights defenders and journalists were frequently in the front line of
human rights violations, with the right to freedom of expression suffering
both steady erosions and new waves of threats. Attempts to crush dissent
and tighten the noose around freedom of expression manifested themselves
across the continent, including in Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Côte
d’Ivoire, Gambia, Kenya, Mauritania, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan,
Tanzania, Togo and Zambia.
Beyond imprisonment, human rights defenders and journalists also faced
physical assaults, intimidation and
harassment in many countries including
in Chad, Gambia, Kenya, Somalia and
South Sudan.
• Armed Conflict
Civilians in Africa’s armed conflicts –
including in Cameroon, Central African
Republic (CAR), Chad, DRC, Mali,
Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan
and Sudan – faced serious abuses and
violations. Gender based and sexual
violence was widespread, and children
were recruited as child soldiers.
In west, central and eastern Africa,
armed groups such as al-Shabaab and Boko Haram continued to perpetrate
relentless violence and abuses, with hundreds of civilians killed and abducted
and millions forced to live in fear and insecurity, both within and outside their
countries.
Despite the signing of the peace deal in South Sudan between government and
rival forces, fighting continued in different parts of the country throughout
the year. During the fighting, armed forces, particularly government soldiers,
committed human rights violations including targeted killings and attacks
including against humanitarian personnel. The UN mission in South Sudan
(UNMISS) was criticized for its failure to protect civilians during the fighting.
A UN Security Council resolution to establish a regional protection force was
not implemented. The UN Special Advisor on the prevention of Genocide and
Human rights defenders and
journalists were frequently in
the front line of human rights
violations, with the right to
freedom of expression suffering
both steady erosions and new
waves of threats