During the 38th summit of African Union (AU) heads of state and government in Addis Ababa on 15 February, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, Foreign Minister of Djibouti, was elected president of the AU Commission. In a tight race against Raila Odinga of Kenya and Richard Randriamandrato of Madagascar, he secured a two-thirds majority of the votes […]

Since 27 January, fighting has erupted between the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and the March 23 Movement (M23) rebellion in Goma, the main city in Eastern DRC. These new clashes have resulted in 2,900 deaths, according to a report from the UN. 2,000 bodies have already been buried, while 900 […]

On 12 January, the poet and human rights defender Sokpor Sitsopé Honoré, also known as Affectio, was arrested. This human rights advocate, known for his engaged posts on Facebook, was accused of undermining the internal security of the state. According to witnesses of his arrest, Mr Honoré was the victim of an ambush set by […]

On Tuesday, 7 January 2025, the correctional court of Conakry sentenced the opposition leader, Aliou Bah, president of the Mouvement Démocratique Libéral (MoDeL), to a two-year prison term. This latest sentencing  of political opponents, pro-democracy activists, civil society actors, artists, and journalists adds to the long series of abuses and violations of fundamental freedoms in […]

Journalist Habib Marouane Camara, the general manager of the news website lerevelateur224.com, was violently abducted on the evening of Tuesday, December 3, by gendarmes near the home of businessman Kerfalla Person Camara, known as “KPC”, in Lambanyi, a suburb of Conakry, Republic of Guinea. A statement from his editorial team informs that the “gendarmes allegedly […]

On Thursday, 31st October, access to social media platforms, particularly WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook, was interrupted amid electoral protests and at a time when the opposition called for demonstrations. On 25th October, the country had already experienced a general Internet outage across various mobile operators. A week earlier, on 24th October, the electoral commission announced […]

On September 29th, while engaging with Togolese citizens during a meeting organised in Lomé by the Dynamic for the Majority of the People (DMP), Senegalese member of the ECOWAS Parliament, Guy Marius Sagna, was violently assaulted and injured by unidentified thugs. He was subsequently carried to a nearby clinic for treatment. Several other injured are […]

On 1 August, four pro-democracy activists were charged in Zimbabwe for demonstrating in support of opposition leader and head of the Coalition for Change (CCC) party Jameson Timba and dozens of that same opposition party, who were arrested in mid-June for taking part in an “illegal meeting”. The human rights activists arrested include human rights […]

On Tuesday June 25, more than twenty protesters lost their lives and more than 300 injured during protests against the Kenyan government’s 2024-2025 Finance Bill after police fired live ammunition at protesters opposing the bill. government law, which provides for new taxes. The protests were concentrated in the capital, Nairobi. But other gatherings were held […]

In Togo, the President of the Republic will no longer be elected by direct universal suffrage. A new Constitution was adopted on second reading on Friday April 19th, with 87 votes out of 87 in a Parliament largely dominated by the ruling majority. The text was approved  on first reading late on March 25th.  Once […]

On Wednesday April 10th, the President of Mali’s transitional government, Assimi Goïta, decreed the suspension “until further notice” of the activities of political parties and associations throughout the country. Since then, several opinion leaders, organisations and political parties have denounced an “unprecedented” act that “violates” all the country’s constitutional and legislative texts, while undermining democratic […]

On Sunday, March 15th , 2015 members of citizens’ movements in Senegal Fadel Barro, Aliou Sane, rapper Malal Talla alias Fou Malade (members of Y EN A Marre) and in Burkina Faso Oscibi Ouedraogo (Balai Citoyen) as well as Congolese artists, representatives of some youth organizations and activists Miyangu Kiakwama, Floribert Anzuluni, Ben Kelem, Franck […]

Human rights organizations ARTICLE 19 Senegal and West Africa, Amnesty International Senegal, the Senegalese League for Human Rights (LSDH), the African Meeting for the Defense of Human Rights (RADDHO), AfrikaJom Center and AfricTivistes strongly condemn the physical assault against the journalist and Director of the television channel 7TV, Maimouna Ndour Faye. We demand that an […]

Dakar, February 13 2024  AfricTivistes and Senegalese journalists, Moussa Ngom and Ayoba Faye, have petitioned the ECOWAS Court of Justice (ECOWAS Court). challenging the Senegalese authorities’ shutdown of the Internet in June, July and August 2023.  The action was filed in collaboration with Media Defence and Stanford Law School’s Rule of Law Impact Lab in […]

The days when Senegal was held up as an example of democracy in West Africa seem to be fading fast. On Saturday 3 February, a few hours before the official opening of the electoral campaign, President Macky Sall, delivering a speech to the nation, decided by decree to cancel the February 25th  presidential election. This […]

Access to social networks has been restricted in and around the capital Conakry in Guinea since Novembre 24th. Users are forced to use virtual private networks (VPNs) to access the applications affected namelyWhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook, Telegram, YouTube and Twitter). However, some towns in-country are not affected  by this restriction. Guinean media such as Fim FM […]

The inauguration of the National Gendarmerie High Command Headquarters in Dakar was an opportunity for the President of Senegal Macky Sall,  to once again blast social media, calling the platforms “new forms of disruption of public order and national destabilisation.” This statement, made in the presence of the cabinet and the security forces,  comes a […]

AfricTivistes aims to “redefine good information as a pillar of a strong health system” through the pilot phase of the Health Lab project. The training workshop, held from October 9th to 13th, provided health media professionals from Senegal and the sub-region with techniques in health investigation. The five-day training workshop on health-sector online investigative journalism […]