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Court Diary: Thulani Maseko and Bheki Makhubu Appeals Criminal Justice

Court Diary: Thulani Maseko and Bheki Makhubu Appeals

On Monday 3 November 2014, the Swazi Supreme Court heard two appeals in the Thulani Maseko and Bheki Makhubu series of litigation. Maseko, a human rights lawyer, and Makhubu, the…

Staff Writer4 November 2014

SA’s power at work in Zimbabwe judgment ArticlesInternational JusticeInternational Justice ArticlesInternational Justice NewsInternational Justice TortureInternational Justice Torture ArticlesSouth AfricaZimbabwe

SA’s power at work in Zimbabwe judgment

Business Day By Nicole Fritz NELSON Mandela remarked in 1993 in the journal Foreign Affairs that SA’s future foreign relations would be based on the belief that “human rights should…

Staff Writer4 November 2014

COURT DIARY: THULANI MASEKO AND BHEKI MAKHUBU APPEALS Criminal Justice

COURT DIARY: THULANI MASEKO AND BHEKI MAKHUBU APPEALS

On Monday 3 November 2014, the Swazi Supreme Court heard two appeals in the Thulani Maseko and Bheki Makhubu series of litigation. Maseko, a human rights lawyer, and Makhubu, the…

Caroline James4 November 2014

Torture in Zim is in SA cops’ ambit International Justice ResourcesInternational Justice TortureSouth AfricaZimbabwe

Torture in Zim is in SA cops’ ambit

The Mail & Guardian The Constitutional Court says the police must investigate all crimes against humanity brought to their notice. The Zimbabwe Exile Forum said it is “ecstatic” with the…

Staff Writer3 November 2014

NEWS RELEASE: NAMIBIA’S HIGHEST COURT FINDS GOVERNMENT FORCIBLY STERILISED HIV-POSITIVE WOMEN Equality Rights HealthEquality Rights WomenNamibia

NEWS RELEASE: NAMIBIA’S HIGHEST COURT FINDS GOVERNMENT FORCIBLY STERILISED HIV-POSITIVE WOMEN

Windhoek-Today the Namibian Supreme Court affirmed that HIV-positive women have been forcibly sterilised in public hospitals in Namibia. “This decision by the country’s highest court is a victory for all…

Staff Writer3 November 2014

Namibia: Coerced sterilisation of HIV-positive women Equality RightsEquality Rights Completed CasesEquality Rights HealthEquality Rights Health Completed CasesEquality Rights WomenEquality Rights Women Completed CasesNamibia

Namibia: Coerced sterilisation of HIV-positive women

SALC is working with the Namibia Women’s Health Network and the Legal Assistance Centre to challenge the coerced sterilisation of three HIV-positive women at public hospitals in Namibia. In July…

Staff Writer3 November 2014

ConCourt-SA police obliged to probe Zim torture International Justice ResourcesInternational Justice TortureSouth AfricaZimbabwe

ConCourt-SA police obliged to probe Zim torture

The Constitutional Court has ruled that the SAPS are obliged to investigate claims of torture committed in Zimbabwe. The Constitutional Court in a landmark case ruled unanimously that the South…

Staff Writer30 October 2014

NEWS RELEASE: ZIMBABWE TORTURE CASE-VICTORY IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT International JusticeInternational Justice TortureZimbabwe

NEWS RELEASE: ZIMBABWE TORTURE CASE-VICTORY IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

Johannesburg – In a ground-breaking judgment, the South African Constitutional Court has unanimously ruled that the South African Police Service (SAPS) must investigate crimes against humanity perpetrated in Zimbabwe in 2007.…

Staff Writer30 October 2014

Denmark questions Mwwati on human rights Civic Rights ExpressionCivic Rights ResourcesEswatini

Denmark questions Mwwati on human rights

27 October 2014 Denmark has raised the questions of political freedom, human rights, and the trial of political activists Mario Masuku and Maxwell Dlamini with Swaziland’s government and absolute monarch…

Staff Writer28 October 2014

Unlawful evictions in Swaziland signal more disrespect for the rule of law EswatiniSocio-Economic RightsSocio-economic Rights Land RightsSocio-economic Rights News

Unlawful evictions in Swaziland signal more disrespect for the rule of law

On Thursday last week Swazi government officials unlawfully evicted families and demolished homes in Nokwane. This is just the latest incident that illustrates the flagrant disregard for the rule of…

Caroline James29 September 2014

NEWS RELEASE: SETBACK FOR INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY AS COURT RULES THAT SUSPECTED WAR CRIMINAL ENTITLED TO REFUGEE STATUS Criminal Justice Criminal Law ReformInternational Justice

NEWS RELEASE: SETBACK FOR INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY AS COURT RULES THAT SUSPECTED WAR CRIMINAL ENTITLED TO REFUGEE STATUS

Pretoria: On Friday, 26 September 2014, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled that Rwandan General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa is entitled to refugee status in South Africa, despite a…

Staff Writer29 September 2014

Senate Masupha pursues women’s right to chieftainship : Senate Masupha and Others v Kingdom of Lesotho Equality RightsEquality Rights Ongoing CasesEquality Rights WomenEquality Rights Women Ongoing CasesLesothoSocio-Economic RightsSocio-economic Rights Land RightsSocio-Economic Rights Land Rights Ongoing CasesSocio-economic Rights Ongoing Cases

Senate Masupha pursues women’s right to chieftainship : Senate Masupha and Others v Kingdom of Lesotho

On 9 September 2014, Senate Masupha, the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA-Lesotho) and the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) submitted a complaint to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’…

Staff Writer29 September 2014

CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS CONDEMN SECURITY SWEEP Criminal Justice Criminal Law Reform

CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS CONDEMN SECURITY SWEEP

Civil society organisations (CSOs) and a constitutional law expert have condemned the joint security operation conducted last weekend, saying it is a violation of people’s rights. Malawi Police Service (MPS)…

Staff Writer18 September 2014

CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS CONDEMN RECENT POLICE USE OF SWEEPING EXERCISES: JOINT STATEMENT Criminal Justice Criminal Law Reform

CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS CONDEMN RECENT POLICE USE OF SWEEPING EXERCISES: JOINT STATEMENT

The undersigned organisations condemn the sweeping exercises which were conducted by the Malawi Police Service, the Malawi Defence Force and the Immigration Department on 12 and 13 September 2014. The…

Staff Writer18 September 2014

Botswana court defies court order on ARV access for foreign inmates BotswanaEquality Rights HealthEquality Rights Resources

Botswana court defies court order on ARV access for foreign inmates

Star Africa 12 September 2014 The Botswana government has not yet complied with a recent High Court ruling that ordered it to provide anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment to HIV-positive foreign prisoners,…

Staff Writer15 September 2014

MEDIA ADVISORY: BOTSWANA HIGH COURT TO ADDRESS ADOPTION OF CHILDREN BORN OUT OF WEDLOCK BotswanaCivic Rights

MEDIA ADVISORY: BOTSWANA HIGH COURT TO ADDRESS ADOPTION OF CHILDREN BORN OUT OF WEDLOCK

Gaborone–On Monday 15 September 2014, the Botswana High Court will hear a constitutional challenge to the Adoption of Children Act. The Act permits a child who is born out of…

Staff Writer12 September 2014

Chief’s daughter challenges male succession Equality Rights ResourcesEquality Rights WomenLesotho

Chief’s daughter challenges male succession

Citizen A complaint has been lodged with the African Commission about a law providing for male-only succession to chieftainship in Lesotho, the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (Salc) said on Tuesday.Citizen…

Staff Writer10 September 2014

Angola: Presidential move denies justice for two men abducted and killed by state agents AngolaCivic Rights Association & AssemblyCivic Rights ExpressionCivic Rights Resources

Angola: Presidential move denies justice for two men abducted and killed by state agents

A man mysteriously disappears while heading to a demonstration he has helped organise. Two days later his colleague receives a call from someone purporting to know what has happened to…

Staff Writer8 September 2014

JUDGMENT IN TAPELA AND OTHERS V ATTORNEY GENERAL AND OTHERS: HIGH COURT UPHOLDS RIGHTS OF FOREIGN PRISONERS Criminal Justice

JUDGMENT IN TAPELA AND OTHERS V ATTORNEY GENERAL AND OTHERS: HIGH COURT UPHOLDS RIGHTS OF FOREIGN PRISONERS

On 22 August 2014, Judge Sechele of the Botswana High Court delivered a landmark judgment affirming the right of foreign prisoners to access HIV treatment at state expense. Summary The…

Staff Writer1 September 2014

Quiet death of an important SADC Institution Civic Rights Judicial IndependenceCivic Rights ResourcesSADC

Quiet death of an important SADC Institution

The Mail & Guardian President Jacob Zuma is party to a regional pact that makes the application of law discriminatory. In the pomp and ceremony surrounding the 34th Southern African…

Staff Writer29 August 2014