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Up in arms over the Egyptian President's state visit to France, around 20 protesters gathered outside the Paris National Assembly late on Monday, shouting "down with dictatorship".
The demonstration outside the parliament painted a very different picture to earlier in the day when France welcomed President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi with a cavalry parade through Paris.
Before the three-day visit, rights groups accused France of indulging President al-Sisi's "brutal repression of any form of dissent".
"We've come across a President of the Republic who welcomes the butcher of Cairo, the butcher of Egypt, in great pomp, on a state visit, with the Republican Guard," said François de Roche, chief of the NGO Justice and Rights Without Borders.
"We have fallen on our heads. This is unacceptable. France, the country of Human Rights, cannot accept this."
But French President Emmanuel Macron refrained from direct criticism of former army general Sisi, who has cracked down on supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, as well as on leftists and liberals.
Macron told a joint press conference with Sisi that he would not condition the sale of weapons to Egypt and trade ties on human rights as he did not want to weaken Cairo’s ability to counter-terrorism in the region.
"I think it is more effective to have a policy of dialogue than a policy of boycott which would reduce the effectiveness of one of our partners in the fight against terrorism and for regional stability," he said.
To force the issue of human rights would be both "ineffective on the subject of human rights and counter-productive in the fight against terrorism, that's why I won't do it," he added
Nationwide protests have taken place since October 7 despite the disbanding of the controversial Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police unit.
The demonstrators have been accused of attacking police stations and personnel.
The rallies which are mostly attended by young people have become avenues to vent against corruption and unemployment.
Rights groups say at least 15 people have been killed the demonstrations began in early October.
In October 2007, the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) quit the national unity government, leaving the peace agreement signed in 2005 on the brink of collapse. The SPLA claimed that the governing party, the National Congress Party, had ignored its concerns over boundary between the north and south and how to divide the countrys oil wealth.
Sudan faced international criticism once again in January 2008, when Musa Hilal, a Janjaweed leader, was appointed to a top government position as an adviser to the minister of federal affairs. Human Rights Watch called Hilal the poster child for Janjaweed atrocities in Darfur.
Government forces and the janjaweed resumed their attacks in the Darfur region in February 2008, forcing as many as 45,000 people to flee their homes. The government claimed it was targeting the Justice and Equality Movement, a rebel group that has become increasingly powerful and is believed to be linked to the government of Chad. Civilians in the region, however, say the attacks have continued after the rebels escape. The Justice and Equality Movement launched a bold attack in May, coming within a few miles of Khartoum before being repulsed by government troops. It was the first time that the conflict in Darfur has threatened to spill over into Khartoum.
In July 2008, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), indicted Bashir with genocide for planning and executing the decimation of Darfurs three main ethnic tribes: the Fur, the Masalit, and the Zaghawa. Moreno-Ocampo also said Bashir purposefully targeted civilians and used rapes, hunger, and fear to terrorize civilians. Many observers feared that Bashir would respond to the charges with further violence. The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Bashir in March 2009, charging him with war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur region. An indictment for genocide was rejected by the court, and Moreno-Ocampo appealed the decision. Bashir responded by shutting down the 13 aid agencies that operate
Death of Mary McLeod Bethune (79), educator and civil rights leader, Daytona Beach, Florida.
Mary McLeod Bethune was the fifteenth of seventeen children of Samuel and Patsy McLeod, slaves on the McLeod Plantation in Mayesville, South Carolina. Born after the Emancipation, Mary McLeod was a free woman. Seeing the overriding importance of real freedom and equality, she became a powerful force in the emerging struggle for civil rights. Beginning as an educator and founder of a school which bears her name, she became the valued counselor to four presidents, the director of a major government agency, the founder of a major organization for human rights (the National Council of Negro Women), and a consultant to world figures seeking to build universal peace through the United Nations.
Mrs. Bethune obtained prominence as an educator. She Founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls (now Bethune-Cookman College) in 1904, and served as president from 1904-1942 and from 1946-47. Her work, building the Daytona Normal School for Negro Girls into Bethune-Cookman College, brought her into contact with important political and financial figures. Under President Cavin Coolidge, and later Herbert Hoover, the national government began utilizing Mrs. Bethunes considerable experience for the National Child Welfare Commission.. However, it was Franklin Delano Roosevelt who recognized the important role Mary McLeod Bethune could play in the implementation of his New Deal policies. Roosevelt created the office of Special Advisor on Minority Affairs in 1935. This position later became a part of the National Youth Administration (NYA).
Was a leader in the black womens club movement and served as president of the National Association of Colored Women. Was a delegate and advisor to national conferences on education, child welfare, and home ownership.Was Director of Negro Affairs in the the National Youth Adminstration from 1936 to 1944. Served as consultant to the U.S. Secretary of War for selection of
Tens of millions of people in Africa could become destitute as a result of COVID-19 and its catastrophic impact on fragile economies and health systems across the continent, human rights chiefs from the United Nations and the African Commission warned on Wednesday.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, and Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, Solomon Dersso, issued a joint call for urgent measures to mitigate the ripple effects of COVID-19 on the most vulnerable.
Poverty, lack of social protection, limited access to water, poor sanitation infrastructure, pre-existing disease burden, conflict and overstretched health systems, have created heightened risk for spreading the disease.
Ms. Bachelet and Mr. Dersso called for equitable access to COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines, urging creditors of African countries to freeze, restructure or relieve debt.
\"It is a matter of human rights necessity that there must be international solidarity with the people of Africa and African Governments,\" they said.
[UN News] The UN human rights chief called on Friday for the de-escalation of violence and military clashes across parts of Ethiopia, urging all those involved to \"engage in a genuine, inclusive and credible dialogue to solve any differences through peaceful means\".
