The African Iceberg attempts to sketch the interconnections between conflict, identity, and gender in Africa. Of course, in addressing these issues, this blog is merely the tip of an enormous iceberg. Yet I hope that by exposing elements below the surface, a conversation about some very real problems and possible solutions in and about Africa is fostered.
Confronting the Criticisms of those Kony 2012 Ads
Views of the Kony2012 campaign launched by Invisible Children (IC) have drastically fallen after its initial premiere on 5 March and the subsequent backlash. On 16 March, IC founder and star of the video Jason Russell was back in the news after having a breakdown in San Diego. The rhetorical space for advocacy around the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has been eroded. The work of IC, in its own right, has largely been discredited and oversimplified.
Egypt, Virginity Tests, and Phase Two of the Revolution
On 27 December Judge Aly Fekry of the Cairo Administrative Court banned virginity testing of female detainees.
Gambling on Elections: Congo’s Presidential Problem
Originally scheduled to take place on 28 November, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)’s legislative and executive elections bled into the 30th following logistical issues in delivering ballots, widespread irregularities, and long lines on the first day of polling. With over 30 million voters, thousands of polling stations, and lack of basic infrastructure, DRC’s elections were a logistical nightmare.
Too Taboo to Address?
A population-based assessment completed recently by the Journal of the American Medical Association found that nearly 40% of women and 23% of men in three Eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had been subjected to gender based violence (GBV) since conflict reignited in the mid-1990s. Though some INGOs operational in the region have questioned the methodology of the survey, no one has questioned the existence of GBV against men.
Cease and Desist in Rwanda? (Part 1)
Invocation of the “Ceased Circumstances Cessation Clause”: Is Rwanda Fundamentally Altered Enough?
Where Humanitarian Imperatives and Representation Collide
Ending mass violence involves simultaneous analysis of factors, and often occurs in an information vacuum. Frequently, there’s moral imperatives that cannot be weighted appropriately.
Consider the following episode monitored by Human Rights Watch:
To Speak One's Own Cause
On "Illegal Gatherings” and Organising
The capacity to create real and durable change in efforts at democratisation is often forged through struggle. Even in countries that would call themselves democratic and where freedom of expression and association are guaranteed constitutionally and by international commitments, demonstrations are regularly dispersed by police and security and their participants arrested, tortured, and charged under vague legislation that sometimes makes little distinction between peaceful demonstrations and riots.
Where Humanitarian Imperatives and Representation Collide
Ending mass violence involves simultaneous analysis of factors, and often occurs in an information vacuum. Frequently, there’s moral imperatives that cannot be weighted appropriately.
Consider the following episode monitored by Human Rights Watch:
Libya and the Uglier Side of the Arab Uprisings
In February 2011, rebellion spread to Libya. Muammar Gadaffi vowed to “cleanse Libya house by house,” allegedly recruiting black African mercenaries. There’s no doubt that social media has served the opposition well, but it’s also incited Libyans through implicit racial messaging, and revealed a darker side of social media that has condemned Africans trapped in Libya.
