It seems to be the week of the video in my Google Reader newsfeed. Short ones, long ones, some I’ve seen, some I haven’t – all covering human rights issues in various ways.

Last week, PBS showed a documentary on the International Criminal Court, The Reckoning. Both Texas in Africa and Wronging Rights are critical of the film in their reviews; while TIA concedesthat the film provides some worthwhile background, WR mocks itsone-sidedness with sarcastic glee, even creating a...

It’s been over a decade since the outbreak of war in the Congo. Although the Second Congo War ended in 2003, the Kivu region in the east of the country has been plagued with localized and sometimes regional violence since.

This month, two major policy groups tried their hands (yet again) at finding solutions. The International Crisis Group (ICG), which recently appointed Canadian Louise Arbour as its director, outlines a strategy to disarm and demobilize the FDLR – an army of some...

Whether or not you watched Obama’s twenty-minute speech in Ghana on Saturday, you’ve no doubt come across an article or two claiming to understand its significance. Indeed, the post-speech banter has quite possibly exceeded the pre-speech hype.

In his letter grading of Obama’s speech, Professor William Easterly assigns gapingly different grades to various sections in the speech, which leads him to suggest, “the speech seems to be written by different people with different...

In The Hague today, lawyers began their defense of Charles Taylor at the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone. The former Liberian president is facing eleven charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including child conscription, enslavement, rape, sexual slavery and “outrages upon personal dignity.” Taylor is pleading not guilty to all charges. He testifies tomorrow; his lawyers began today:

"No one who has seen the procession through this courtroom of hurt human beings...

This Friday, Barack Obama will spend the night in Africa. It’s a limited visit, to be sure – only two days and one country, Ghana. For such a fleeting stopover, however, the trip is creating quite a stir. 

Anticipation about an Obama visit to Sub-Saharan Africa began long before the presidential elections concluded last November. Many hoped Obama would grace Kenyan soil first, paying homage to his paternal ancestry – but a disastrous election and persistent corruption ruled out the...

1) Last month, Shell agreed to pay $15.5 million for human rights abuses it committed in Nigeria’s oil-rich Ogoni land. Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr., the Canadian-Nigerian son of one of the murdered activists, reflects on the settlement:

“Anti-climax doesn't quite describe this moment because you know, deep down, that the settlement is only the beginning of a process that you hope will lead to a better outcome for all the stakeholders in this issue but it is the end, for sure, of a...

Fans watching Zambia's "Chipolopolo" defeat Togo in Chililabombwe, Zambia, September 10, 2008.

Last September, I had the pleasure of attending a World Cup qualifier match between Zambia and Togo. If the enthusiasm and dedication of the fans in Zambia – an as yet undistinguished soccer country – is any prelude for what’s to come in South Africa next summer, brace yourself. It’s going to be a memorable World Cup.

This week, the Confederations Cup, seen largely as a test run for the...