Sub-Saharan Africa – FoRB in Full

The international community must not allow the Nigerian government to fail Leah Sharibu any longer

Posted on 14/05/2025 by cswpress in Nigeria, Sub-Saharan Africa

Today is Leah Sharibu’s 22nd birthday.

Anyone who has been following the work of CSW for some time will likely be familiar with some of the details surrounding her case: the fact that this is the eighth consecutive birthday that she has marked as a prisoner of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP); the fact that she was one of 110 girls abducted from the Government Girls Science and Technical College in Dapchi in Nigeria’s Yobe State on 19 February 2018; the fact that she was the sole Christian among them and was therefore denied her freedom because she refused to convert to Islam as a pre-condition for release – even as government negotiations saw all of her surviving classmates returned to their families in March 2018.

Over the past seven years, successive administrations have failed to deliver on official promises to secure Leah’s release, including a personal pledge by former President Muhammadu Buhari made directly to Leah’s mother Rebecca. In January 2022 – over three years ago – Nigeria’s then Chief of Defence Staff General Lucky Irabor assured Nigerian media that there were plans and processes in place ‘to ensure that not just Leah Sharibu but every other person held captive is released.’

And yet she remains in captivity, having been declared a ‘slave for life’, renamed, forcibly ‘married’ to ISWAP fighters, and given birth to three children.

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Pope Francis leaves a legacy of standing up for freedom of religion or belief. His successor must build on it.

Posted on 28/04/202528/04/2025 by cswpress in Burma, Central African Republic, China, Iraq, Nicaragua, Syria

‘There can be no peace without freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of expression and respect for the views of others.’

It is both fitting and moving that Pope Francis included these words in what was to be his final public address, delivered on his behalf by Master of Liturgical Ceremonies Archbishop Diego Ravelli to a crowd of over 20,000 people at the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday.

Throughout his 12-year papacy, Francis was a committed friend to the poor and the marginalised, a vocal advocate for freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) and other fundamental human rights, and a man who spoke truth to power right up to the final days of his pontificate.

At a time when leaders of such humility and integrity appear to be in increasingly short supply, it is essential that his successor follows his example.

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Control of Khartoum may have changed hands, but Sudan’s nightmare is far from over

Posted on 15/04/2025 by cswpress in Sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan

In late March the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) claimed a significant victory. After months of fighting, the army declared that it had seized full control of the Sudanese capital Khartoum from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia.

Visiting the presidential palace for the first time since conflict broke out between the two forces almost two years ago, the leader of the SAF Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said, ‘Khartoum is free, it’s done.’

Some residents of the city may have even breathed a small sigh of relief. While both the RSF and SAF stand accused of the gravest of international crimes, it is generally accepted that conditions are marginally better in areas under SAF rule, perhaps because it is the party to the conflict that currently occupies Sudan’s seat in international arenas.

But the country’s nightmare is far from over.

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The case for EU sanctions on Sudan’s military leaders

Posted on 06/03/2025 by cswpress in European Union, International Arenas, Sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan

With over 14 million people displaced, the world’s largest humanitarian crisis is currently taking place in Sudan. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (“Burhan”), leader of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF, i.e. the national army); and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (“Hemedti”), leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, have vested interests in the continuation of conflict, and were this larger one to settle, there would likely be other domestic conflicts with armed groups in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile which have not taken a side in this war. Additionally, the current conflict has seen the formation of a coalition of militias that have joined with either the SAF or RSF.

The international community must therefore seek concertedly to secure a lasting ceasefire, and to bring an end to this war in such a way that neither Burhan nor Hemedti is in a position to play a role in the country’s future governance. There have been moments in recent history when the international community has fallen for compromises that appeared to offer stability in the short-term, for example the civilian-led transitional government that gave both Burhan and Hemedti prominent positions in a power sharing Sovereign Council following the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir in 2019, only for their October 2021 coup to remove civilian leaders and effectively install a military-controlled government, which has been in place since then. The only path toward a viable and stable future for Sudan is through an unencumbered civilian leadership.

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Caught between two paranoid and barbaric military forces, nowhere is safe for the people of Sudan

Posted on 11/12/202410/01/2025 by cswpress in Sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan

‘We live under miserable conditions and lack all basic needs.’

– A resident of Al Thora Mobe village, which has been under RSF control since December 2023

It has been 20 months and counting since a conflict broke out between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) in April 2023, described by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as ‘marked by an insidious disregard for human life.’

The grim toll of the violence so far is at least 14,600 dead and 26,000 injured, with civilians trapped between the warring sides and bearing the brunt of the casualties. One study estimates that the true death toll could be as high as 61,000.

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