The UN's top human rights official on Feb. 5 demanded that Burkina Faso end its clampdown on civic freedoms, including an announced ban on political parties. In his comments, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk emphasized that the government's decision to prohibit political parties marks a serious setback for the freedoms of expression, association and political participation in Burkina Faso. He stated:

A military drone strike in western Niger killed at least 17 civilians, including four children, and injured at least 13 others when it hit a crowded market on Jan. 6, according to an investigation by Human Rights Watch (HRW) released Feb. 9.

Amnesty International reported Jan. 5 that Ugandan security forces have unlawfully targeted opposition rallies with excessive force and arbitrary arrests, with some detainees subject to torture and other mistreatment.

At an air base in Bamako, Mali's military ruler Gen. Assimi Goita presided over a ceremony Dec. 21 marking the launch of a unified force for three Sahel states to fight the rising tide of jihadist insurgency across their borders. The move comes after the three countries—Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, all now ruled by military juntas—collectively withdrew from the West African regional bloc ECOWAS to form their own Alliance of Sahel States (AES). Burkina Faso's ruler, Gen. Daouda Traoré, was named to head the force, which will maintain a command base in Niamey, Niger's capital.

A group of 21 Arab, African and Islamic nations on Dec. 27 issued a joint statement formally rejecting Israel's recognition of Somaliland as an independent state. The statement asserted that recognizing Somaliland as a nation independent of Somalia constitutes a grave violation of international law, emphasizing the "serious repercussions of such [an] unprecedented measure on peace and security in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea, and its serious effects on international peace and security as a whole."

With his Christmas air-strikes on Nigeria, Trump is blundering into a conflict fundamentally driven by desertification related to the very climate change that he denies, and which now threatens democratic rule throughout the West African region. And while the Muslim-Christian sectarian strife that Trump hypes is a large element of the situation, the violence has gone both ways—and also targeted Muslim minorities such as Shi'ites, and even indigenous Jews. Furthermore, making Christians the perceived beneficiaries of imperialist intervention is only likely to exacerbate the tensions and make Christians more of a target. In Episode 310 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes an in-depth and unsparing look. 

Following through on threats made last month, President Donald Trump announced Dec. 25 that he had ordered air-strikes against Islamic State targets in Nigeria, ostensibly in retaliation for the group's targeting of Christian communities.

The UN Human Rights Office published a report on Dec. 18 detailing its findings of atrocities committed during a three-day assault by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the Zamzam camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sudan's Darfur region.