News Round Up 1/4/16

News from HART

• The shortlist for the HART Prize for Human Rights has been chosen! Thank you to all entrants who participated – we have thoroughly enjoyed the broad spectrum and extremely high quality of your work ranging from art and essays to documentaries and musical compositions. Click here to book your free ticket for the Exhibition and Prize Giving on 12th April 2016.
• Click here to read an article featuring Baroness Cox on the de facto genocide which is being perpetrated by the Sudanese army in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan areas of Sudan.

Burma

• Myanmar’s new president has been sworn in, the first elected civilian leader in more than 50 years. This historical event has marked the end of decades of military rule in Burma.
• However, in light of this recent shift, Time Magazine has stated that “Burma’s Transition to Civilian Rule Hasn’t Stopped the Abuses of Its Ethnic Wars”

India

• The BBC has published an article questioning whether India is facing its worst-ever water crisis.
• A 17-year-old Dalit boy was allegedly tortured in illegal detention by Ramanathapuram police for five days on a murder charge, after which he was released when proven innocent.
•  Students at the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus have been campaigning against the festival Holi, describing it as an “anti-women” festival.

Nagorno-Karabakh

• Secretary of State John Kerry has called for “an ultimate resolution” of the decades-old Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It seems like the frozen conflict is finally gaining the attention of the international community.
• [UPDATE 02/04/16] Clashes have erupted in Nagorno-Karabakh and the present situation is extremely tense.

Nigeria

• One of the girls arrested for carrying explosives in northern Cameroon claims to be one of the 270 school children abducted by Boko Haram in Chibok, north-eastern Nigeria.
• Nigerian troops captured the northeastern town of Alargano, considered the “spiritual” base of Boko Haram, after a 10-day siege.
• Nigerian troops have freed more than 800 people held by Boko Haram fighters in multiple villages in Borno State.

South Sudan

• Heightened food insecurity and growing unrest in parts of South Sudan, especially in the north-western States of Northern Bahr El Ghazal and Warrap, have resulted in the flight of some 38,000 people into East and South Darfur since the end of January.
• This week, the UN Human Rights Council announced the formation of the three-person body to investigate civilian attacks, gang rapes, and destruction of villages after some nations raised concerns over the future of the violence-ravaged nation if a transitional government is formed.
• The Commissioner of Twic East County reported that around 21,000 IDPs are living under deplorable conditions in the northern part of the County. Both IDPs and returnees in the area are sheltering under trees.

Sudan

• Sudan Government forces attacked at least six rebel held locations across the Nuba Mountains this week, sparking the largest battles the region has seen in more than a year.
• The SPLM-N Secretary General Yasir Arman renewed their rejection for the Roadmap Agreement and described the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) brokered framework text as ‘government document’.
• Sudanese authorities officially closed the border with South Sudan.

Timor Leste

• Estimates suggest that up to 12% of the population of Timor Leste may be affected by extreme drought brought on by El Niño.
• Timor Leste has been reported as one of the three countries with the lowest Body Mass Index in the world.

Uganda

• Uganda’s Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to the presidential election held in February, issuing a ruling on Thursday that secured President Yoweri Museveni a mandate for another five-year term. He has been in office since 1986.
• Uganda has one of the world’s most liberal refugee policies. This article tells the story of how refugees from neighbouring countries are able to start afresh and find new opportunities in Uganda.
• With its first mobile library, Uganda is making great improvements in building a reading culture.