20 April 2023
Kenya & Homosexuality: The article explains how decriminalisation of same-sex relations among adults would have positive effects economically, in terms of health, safety & security of the concerned minorities and the acceptance of diversity and equality. But of late, homophobic and transphobic rhetoric has a lot been used by political and traditional leaders “with the tacit approval of (the) law enforcement apparatus”.
https://theconversation.com/kenya-should-decriminalise-homosexuality-4-compelling-reasons-why-203767
Sudan: Created in 2013 to counter threats to the (then al-Bashir’s) regime, the Rapid Support Forces under former Janjaweed commander Hemedti grew fast, numbering between 75,000 and 100,000 men in 2021 (Armed Forces: 120,000 to 200,000), many of them Darfurians picked by Hemedti. Since their creation, they have committed human rights abuses. With their Janjaweed roots, RSF continue to behave “as a self-interested militia that operates outside of the law”, pursuing “a different pattern of violence to the Sudanese police and military. They target civilians and commit atrocities” including the forced the displacement of communities, the use of food as a weapon of war, torture, extrajudicial killings and mass rapes. “They have also been accused of murder and rape during the civilian 2019 protests in Khartoum.”
https://theconversation.com/sudan-created-a-paramilitary-force-to-destroy-government-threats-but-it-became-a-major-threat-itself-203974
Illegal Logging: 17 billion USD are estimated to be lost each year because of illegal logging in Africa. Besides economic loss, human security and the environment suffer. To stop it, the high-level criminal networks driving it need to be dismantled and collusion of government-embedded actors needs to be stopped. The article gives lots of examples from various African countries and describes how most measures against illegal logging have been unsuccessful so far. “Oversight and accountability are (…) vital. Here, civil society can play a role.”
https://theconversation.com/illegal-logging-in-africa-is-a-threat-to-security-202291
19 April 2023
Sudan: For those who know nothing about the country and the ongoing war, this article provides an overview.
https://theconversation.com/sudan-crisis-explained-whats-behind-the-latest-fighting-and-how-it-fits-nations-troubled-past-203985
Egypt: Because Cleopatra has been depicted as black in a Netflix docudrama, Egyptian identity is under threat of being erased – no joke: a lawyer has filed a complaint, accusing the docudrama of just that and of “violating media laws”. There has for a long time been speculation that Cleopatra’s unknown mother may have been black, the queen herself thus “of mixed race” – like the actress (Adele James) who embodied her in the docudrama.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-65322821