First War Crimes Complaint against Sudan’s Paramilitary Forces Filed in Kenya
Victims of alleged atrocities linked to the war in Sudan on Tuesday asked prosecutors in Kenya to investigate allegations of torture and sexual violence by members of a notorious paramilitary group. It is the first attempt to prosecute members of the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, the paramilitary group fighting against the Sudanese military for over three years, outside Sudan. The group, which has been accused by rights organizations of committing atrocities amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, has ties with Kenya’s government, while Kenyan President William Ruto has previously hosted RSF leader Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo for talks that he said were aimed at advancing peace efforts in Sudan, a move that sparked diplomatic tensions. The complaint filed by the Switzerland-based global legal organization Legal Action Worldwide details torture and sexual violence committed by RSF members at various locations in and around Khartoum between April 2023 and March 2025 when the Sudanese capital was controlled by the paramilitaries. … According to this latest complaint, the victims were held in inhumane conditions, with little or no food, limited access to water, and inadequate sanitation facilities. They allege that they were beaten, burned, suffocated, subjected to electric shocks, and sexually abused, including through rape. Some were reportedly forced to transport dead bodies from detention facilities. Legal Action Worldwide founder Antonia Mulvey said Kenya should consider prosecuting the alleged crimes under the country’s International Crimes Act of 2008. AP
Sudan War: Drone Attacks Damage Key Aid Routes
Escalating attacks on bridges, roads and other civilian infrastructure in Sudan are disrupting humanitarian access and putting civilians at further risk, the United Nations said on Tuesday. The warning comes after overnight explosions reportedly struck the crucial Ardamata bridge in West Darfur state, as fighting continues between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and former allies the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). … The bridge links the city of El Geneina to areas near the border with neighbouring Chad. It is a vital route for commercial traffic and humanitarian supplies entering the Darfur region. The situation was further underscored in South Kordofan state, where two key bridges along the road between the cities of Kadugli and Dilling were reportedly destroyed over the weekend. This has disrupted the movement of civilians and aid operations as the rainy season begins, UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters in New York. “Humanitarian partners warn there will be no viable alternative routes once seasonal rains intensify,” he said. UN News
In Mozambique, the Regime Imposes a Blackout on Journalists
[In Mozambique, the] same party has ruled unchallenged for half a century, and the last general elections in October 2024 were heavily disputed by the opposition and criticized by international observers, sparking a popular uprising. Since then, repression has intensified across the country, with opposition members and journalists continuing to face attacks amid widespread impunity. The list of unsolved cases involving journalists is staggering. … The situation is most concerning in Cabo Delgado, where the authorities are attempting to impose a media blackout on the conflict. “The media haven’t really been able to cover the situation properly. Local journalists who attempt to do so are being targeted,” [Angela Quintal, Africa regional director for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)], told Forbidden Stories. … To break this silence, Forbidden Stories is publishing “Mozambique Exposed”: the culmination of nearly 100 interviews and five months of work by 10 media outlets and 30 journalists. Part of the consortium traveled to Cabo Delgado to interview victims of the conflict, who have also experienced the collateral effects of the major gas projects reshaping the northeast coast of their traumatized region. Forbidden Stories worked alongside partners to reveal the inner workings of the machinery designed to silence opponents and journalists in the country. Forbidden Stories
Uganda: Kizza Besigye Challenges Detention, Treason Trial
Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye has petitioned court seeking orders to stop his detention and prosecution. Besigye who has been in detention since his abduction from Kenya’s capital in November 2024 argues that the Ugandan state has violated his rights. In an application to the High Court, he names the chief of Uganda’s military – also the son of the president – Muhoozi Kainerugaba as a respondent. In statements on X last year, Kainerugaba threatened to hang Besigye for what he called an attempt on his father’s life. Besigye and an aide have been charged with treason with the trial set to kick off on Thursday. Human rights groups and the Ugandan opposition say the charges are politically motivated. Besigye, a former personal doctor to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his political opponent for more than 25 years, has been in and out of jail since he first challenged Museveni in 2001. Africanews
South Sudan Graft Whistleblower Abducted in Kenya
A South Sudanese whistleblower has been abducted in Kenya, according to a police report seen by AFP, with activists fearing he could be deported back to his country and killed for exposing corruption. Athorbey Al-Gaddhaffy-Dit also has Kenyan citizenship and lives in Nairobi, where he had repeatedly warned his life was in danger because he was exposing corruption linked to South Sudan’s ruling elite. Police told Al-Gaddhaffy-Dit’s wife on Tuesday that he had been abducted at gunpoint in the early morning by men in masks driving a white vehicle as he walked out of a casino in Nairobi. “They blocked him, seized him, and bundled him into the vehicle,” according to the police report seen by AFP. South Sudan is one of the world’s poorest and most corrupt countries. … Multiple activists and opposition figures from neighbouring countries have been abducted in Kenya in recent years. AFP
M23 and Rwandan Army Committed War Crimes — HRW
AFC/M23 rebels and the Rwandan army have committed numerous war crimes in eastern DR Congo, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch. In the aftermath of the capture of the city of Goma on January 30, 2025, when 11 trucks left the Unity Stadium with approximately 1,700 people on board and headed north towards Rutshuru, a campaign of forced recruitment began. Soldiers of the Congolese armed forces (FARDC), police officers, civil servants or ordinary civilians were rounded up in neighborhoods, hospitals or churches: all were forcibly taken to the camps of Rumangabo and Tshanzu where the NGO estimates that hundreds of people died during the year 2025. Witnesses reported mass graves in Rumangabo and ground disturbances have been detected by satellite imagery, the report says. HRW also accused the Congolese government of backing armed groups responsible for serious abuses. The report documents FARDC support for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda and Wazalendo factions accused of violence, arbitrary detention and extortion against displaced people around Goma. Africanews with AFP
Congo Colonel Sentenced to Death over Murder of UN Experts
A Congolese military court has sentenced an army colonel to death for taking part in a conspiracy to murder two U.N. experts in central Congo nearly a decade ago, in a case that continues to raise questions about state involvement. At his first trial in 2022, Colonel Jean de Dieu Mambweni received a 10-year term for failing to assist persons in danger and disobeying orders. Military prosecutors appealed, arguing that he bore greater responsibility. The High Military Court in Kinshasa agreed, finding Mambweni guilty on Friday of the war crime of murder for actively orchestrating the killings, and sentencing him to death, according to a ruling reviewed by Reuters and the sister of one of the victims. Congo has not carried out an execution since 2003, meaning the sentence will in practice become life imprisonment. U.N. experts Zaida Catalan, a Swedish-Chilean, and Michael Sharp, an American, were investigating mass killings in the Kasai region when fighters from the Kamuina Nsapu militia stopped them on March 12, 2017 at a bridge near the village of Moyo-Musila. They were marched into the bush and shot. Their bodies were found 16 days later. The ruling, which closes nearly nine years of proceedings, also upheld death sentences against dozens of militia fighters handed down in 2022. Prosecutors initially dismissed suggestions that state agents were involved, but later arrested the colonel and other officials who they said had been working with the rebels. Reuters
Nigeria, U.S. Expand Counter-Terrorism Partnership to Joint Military Operations — Defence Headquarters
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has disclosed that Nigeria and the United States have deepened their military partnership beyond intelligence sharing and capacity building to include coordinated operations against terrorist groups, particularly in the North-East region. Director of Defence Information, Major General Samaila Uba, revealed this during a virtual X Space discussion titled “Strengthening Security Through Strategic Information Sharing: United States and Nigerian Military Partnership Against Terrorism,” which featured representatives of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), government officials, security experts, and members of the public. … The Defence spokesman explained that the collaboration has significantly enhanced Nigeria’s counter-terrorism operations through improved intelligence gathering, surveillance capabilities, operational planning, and precision targeting of terrorist hideouts. … Beyond operational cooperation, Uba disclosed that hundreds of Nigerian military personnel are currently benefiting from specialised training programmes facilitated through the bilateral security partnership. … Also speaking during the discussion, AFRICOM’s Director of Public Affairs, Colonel Rebecca Heyse, reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to supporting Nigeria’s security efforts while respecting its sovereignty and operational independence. PR Nigeria
Zimbabwe under Spotlight over US$1bn African Illegal Weapons Industry
Zimbabwe could be emerging as a key hub in a blossoming illicit arms trade sweeping across southern Africa, according to a new report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC). The report, released [last] week, painted a grim picture of a country struggling with porous borders, compromised law enforcement systems and entrenched corruption that criminal syndicates are exploiting for profit. Zimbabwe occupies a strategic position along the vital North-South Corridor, which connects southern African ports to inland markets further north, making it vulnerable to organised cross-border criminal syndicates. The GI-TOC report claimed the flourishing illegal firearms market is rooted in decades of regional conflict and political instability. “The arms trafficking market in Zimbabwe is linked to the country’s historical conflicts, including wars in Angola, Mozambique and South Africa,” the Global Initiative said in its Global Organised Crime Index 2025 report. “No dominant criminal group controls arms trafficking but independent criminal networks, security companies and former combatants contribute to the illegal trade.” The Independent
Ethiopia: Draft Tigray Proclamation Mandates Compulsory Mobilization, Penalizes Anti-recruitment Speech and Media
A draft proclamation reportedly prepared by the Legal Standing Committee of the region’s pre-war council, which has recently been reinstated by the TPLF, is drawing scrutiny over provisions that would make military mobilization a legal obligation while imposing harsh penalties on individuals and media organizations accused of discouraging recruitment, criticizing mobilization efforts, or disseminating information deemed harmful to security interests. … At the center of the draft is a requirement that citizens called upon for national mobilization must comply with recruitment orders. The law outlines penalties for individuals who evade service, fail to report when summoned, assist others in avoiding mobilization, or otherwise obstruct recruitment efforts. … Another article criminalizes the publication or dissemination of information authorities deem false or misleading regarding military operations, casualties, security threats, or wartime developments. Critics say the language is broad and could potentially expose journalists and media organizations to prosecution for reporting on controversial issues related to recruitment, battlefield developments, or public grievances. … The proposed law comes as reports of forced military recruitment continue to emerge from various parts of Tigray. Addis Standard