By Craig Tarasoff

As Ethiopian Airlines continues its expansion, Africa is seeing an increase in trade not only within the continent, but also in the global economy. The lack of transportation options in Africa has caused a trade deficit far below that of other regions. However, this is about to change. Ethiopian Airlines is in discussions to set up national airlines in Nigeria, Uganda, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda. Find more details at the National Law Review’s website.

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April 23, 2015

By Lucy Lei, GIELR Online Staff Editor

Currently valued at US $213 billion, wildlife crime has escalated dramatically in recent years, and many species are in crisis as a result of poaching and illegal trafficking of their parts. The magnitude of the problem is particularly prominent in African countries with elephant and rhino populations. In this year alone, more than 700 rhinos have been killed in South Africa for their horns, partly as a consequence of many Asian countries using rhino horns as part of traditional medicine. Likewise, more than 35,000 elephants are killed across Africa each year for their tusks, which are prized for their use in making decorations and trinkets.

Even more troubling is the current trend in poaching carried out by organized criminal groups rather than poor villagers who kill the occasional animal to help feed their families. Income from ivory allegedly supports militia groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army, which some may recognize as the group led by Joseph Kony.

* Published in collaboration with the Georgetown International Environmental Law Review (GIELR). To read more, check out GIELR's blog here.

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December 11, 2014

By Katie Bacharach

The Libyan Cabinet has issued a decree that would put women raped during Libya’s 2011 uprising on the same level as wounded veterans by recognizing them as war victims.  

Pro-Gaddafi forces are alleged to have used rape of women as a weapon against rebel forces during the uprising. The decree, which still would need congressional approval to go into effect, contains 12 measures, including financial assistance and physical and psychological health care. Recognizing rape victims is unprecedented in the conservative North African country, and the hope is that this will help with reconciliation efforts.

See the BBC for more details.

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February 26, 2014

By Aliza Kempner

African elephant tusks | WikiCommons

Last month, the deafening crunch of nearly six tons of ivory trumpeted in a new era for international crime fighting and conservation. The United States had seized the massive haul of ivory, illegally harvested from endangered African and Asian elephants, over several years. U.S. agents had seized the ivory from airports and cargo ships, often discovering ivory hidden in the false bottoms of suitcases and shipping crates or disguised by dark brown stain to disguise its young age.

Pursuant to an executive order from President Barack Obama, the “ivory tower” of carvings and trinkets met its demise in massive rock crushers on a sunny Colorado morning – a fate far removed from the gilded displays that many of these pieces had occupied previously. By destroying the ivory, the Obama administration hopes to send the message that the fruits of illegal poaching will not ripen in America, which had previously offered one of the world’s largest illegal ivory markets.

Ivory has long held a place in both Eastern and Western societies as a luxury good, used to fashion items like combs, piano keys, jewelry, and religious figurines. While bringing ivory into the United States is illegal, a complex loophole allows some ivory to sneak into the domestic market legally.  Meanwhile, demand is up in countries such as China due to a rapidly expanding upper class that sees ivory as a symbol of social status.

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December 07, 2013

By Julie Inglese

Palm oil mill by Marufish, on Flickr

While high demand for palm oil in Africa and Southeast Asia is widely known for being a large environmental concern, Voice of America (VOA) reports that there also is an underlying human rights issue that is being neglected. 

VOA spoke with Norman Jiwan, the executive director of Transformation for Justice Indonesia and the co-editor of a new report on the issue. Jiwan told VOA that the expansion of the palm oil industry in Indonesia "has created serious land conflict because of the land grabbing" from indigenous peoples without consent. This in turn is threatening the food supply of some communities.

The same issues have emerged in Africa and advocates are working with palm oil companies in hopes of settling land disputes.

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November 18, 2013

By Katie Bacharach

The BBC reported that Ivory Coast ministers decided to file a motion to dismiss the ICC’s arrest warrant for Simone Gbagbo, the former first lady. Mrs. Gbagbo is being prosecuted for crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, and torture allegedly committed following the disputed presidential election in the Ivory Coast in 2010. The cabinet instead plans to bring Mrs. Gbagbo to trial by Ivorian courts. Her husband, former President Laurent Gbagbo, is already in The Hague awaiting trial at the ICC for charges of crimes against humanity. This announcement came shortly after the African Union announced it will hold a summit next month to discuss a mass withdrawal from the ICC in protest to the trial of Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto.

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September 23, 2013

By Julie Inglese

There have been relentless human rights violations in Western Sahara of the Sahrawi people, and both the United Nations (U.N.) and the international community have refused to act. Despite Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Center’s continual push at getting the U.N. to act and “send a clear message” that the extensive violations will not be tolerated, the U.N. Security Council “renewed the mandate of the U.N. mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara without adding a human rights monitoring component.” The Moroccan government has signed onto many treaties that prohibit this type of behavior, but they have refused to abide by the standards provided. If no one affirmatively puts an end to this behavior it will continue for the foreseeable future.

AllAfrica further explains the situation. 

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September 20, 2013