human rights

AS TOLD TO During the March/April xenophobic attacks in Durban, a group of Congolese men in Philani, uMlazi Y section were attacked, allegedly because that they had killed a perosn. A month later, those who had to flee the area returned…

We are one day away from the long-anticipated general elections, and millions of people are expected to come out in numbers to cast their votes. The Daily Vox spoke to youth in Durban to find out if they will be voting and their reasons. …

We still don’t understand why human rights and Palestinian solidarity organisation Boycott Divestment Sanctions South Africa (BDS SA) held a presser for Shashi Naidoo. The South African TV personality and model was publically lambasted…

Activism comes in its different shapes and forms, and it’s often the everyday citizens that have the greatest impact on their communities, like the youth of Orange Farm. The Daily Vox caught up with a panel of young people whose activism…

This week, some 900 civil society activists and thinkers have descended upon Bogota to discuss the role of civil society in making a better tomorrow. CIVICUS Secretary General DHANANJAYAN SRISKANDARAJAH explains why the summit comes at such…

Although conditions in Gaza remain dire, residents remain committed to resisting the occupation, writes YOUSEF ALJAMAL. At the beginning of the second Intifada in 2000 Palestinians would rush to the market to stock their needs, fearing…

Dear men and boys, Here's some good news – all of you men who measure less than 15cm will get a special bursary to study at the university of your choice. Don’t fit the bill? How about a reward for men who are circumcised? After…

Another week, another silly patriarchal idea. Last week, it was announced that a Kwazulu Natal municipality had awarded bursaries to young women who remain virgins. SISONKE MSIMANG lists five reasons why virginity testing should never be a…

The statement below was drafted by academics at the University of Johannesburg on Thursday, 5 November, the day before the mass arrest of students and cleaning staff at the university’s Kingsway campus. We the undersigned UJ…

Early on Friday, the management of the University of Witwatersrand said it had obtained an interim interdict from the South Gauteng high court to prevent disruptions on its campuses.  According to the statement, the interdict will…

Human rights group Amnesty International has renewed efforts to secure the release of 16 Angolan activists, including rapper Luaty Beirão, who have been in detention for over 100 days, after being arrested and charged with planning to…

After decades of conflict and “disappeared people”, Kashmiri women are now making their voices heard, demanding to know the whereabouts of their missing family members. PARVEENA AHANGER shares her journey of perseverance and hope with…

The ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) recently rescinded its earlier calls for the abolition of cultural practices like ukuthwala and virginity testing, saying that people’s beliefs, cultures and choices should be respected. ZILUNGILE MNISI…

Most of us find comfort during the bitter Johannesburg winter from knowing that we have a warm place to return to every night. However, this is not a privilege for everyone, as residents in Berea, who were evicted from their homes last…

In July 1995, Bosnian Serbs entered the town of Srebrenica. They rounded up the men and teenage boys from the town, and shot them dead. Some 8,000 people were murdered over two days in what is Europe’s biggest atrocity since World War…

The High Court in Pretoria ruled on Wednesday that allowing Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir to leave South Africa last week was a clear violation of the law. Al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on two separate…

Parliament is this afternoon set to debate the alleged government-hastened exit of Sudanese autocrat Omar al-Bashir from the country last week and, given the recent shenanigans in the house, it will be interesting to see how the session…

Many of the foreigners from Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique who fled to camps around Durban following the xenophobic violence of the past month were repatriated. But those from war-torn Burundi and DRC are stuck – the can’t go back to…

Many of the foreign nationals in South Africa are refugees, who have fled their own countries due to war, only to find they aren’t safe here either. AMURI DJUMI from the Democratic Republic of Congo told Doctors Without Borders (MSF) he…

This week Lawyers for Human Rights went to court to sue for access to hundreds of immigrants detained following a raid on the Central Methodist Church last Friday. The dawn raid was conducted by the SAPS, with support from the SANDF,…