Africa 2024

While Africa’s armed conflicts caused relentless civilian suffering, including increasing levels of sexual and gender-based violence, and death on a massive scale, international and regional responses remained woefully inadequate, with civilians feeling forgotten.

The cost-of-living crisis deepened as prices of food, fuel and other basic necessities spiralled. High taxation levels, unsustainable public debts, widespread and unchecked corruption, escalating conflicts and extreme weather events exacerbated the crisis.

Protesting meant putting one’s life in danger. Demonstrations were too often brutally and lethally dispersed and attacks on the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association remained rampant. Repressive tactics used by governments included enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests and detentions of opponents, human rights defenders, activists, journalists and their critics.

Conflict and climate-induced shocks remained the main drivers of forced displacement, and Sudan continued to suffer the largest displacement crisis worldwide. The number of refugees from conflict zones continued to soar; many refugees lived in squalid conditions or in fear of forced return.

Discrimination and gender-based violence – fuelled by societal norms – remained a daily reality for women and girls.

High income countries with primary responsibility for causing climate change failed to make adequate funding available for loss and damage and for adaptation measures. Consequently, communities continued to bear the brunt of protracted droughts, recurrent floods and extreme storms and heat which were likely exacerbated by climate change.

A culture of impunity continued to embolden perpetrators of crimes under international law and other serious or gross human rights violations.

Unlawful attacks and killings

Unlawful attacks and killings by government forces and armed groups were reported across the region, including in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan.

Operations by government forces often left a trail of civilian death. In Burkina Faso, the military reportedly killed at least 223 civilians, including at least 56 children, in the villages of Soro and Nodin in February. Hundreds of civilians were reportedly killed in May by the military and its proxy forces during a supply operation against besieged towns in the east. In Ethiopia, following armed clashes in January between government forces and militias in Merawi town, Amhara region, government forces rounded up scores of civilian men from their homes, shops and the streets and executed them.

In several conflicts, airstrikes or drone attacks by government forces resulted in civilian casualties. In Mali, army drone strikes killed at least 27 civilians, including 18 children in March, and eight civilians, including six children, in October. In Niger, an army drone strike in January reportedly killed around 50 civilians in the village of Tiawa, Tillabéri region. In Nigeria, military air strikes in Kaduna state killed 23 people in a village, including worshippers at a mosque and shoppers at a market. In Somalia, two strikes in March by Turkish-made drones, supporting Somali military operations, killed 23 civilians, including 14 children, in the lower Shabelle region.

Armed groups were responsible for some of the deadliest attacks against civilians. In Burkina Faso, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM) reportedly killed around 200 people, including civilians, in Barsalogho in August. In the DRC, most civilian killings occurred when armed groups, including the March 23 Movement, the Cooperative for Development of the Congo and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), battled with government forces in the east and west. In June the ADF killed more than 200 civilians in two separate attacks. In Somalia, the UN Assistance Mission reported that Al-Shabaab was responsible for 65% of the 854 civilian casualties recorded in the country between January and September. In Sudan, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continued its attacks on civilians, some of which were ethnically motivated. In October the RSF launched retaliatory attacks on towns and villages in eastern Gezira state, after one of its commanders defected to the Sudanese Armed Forces, killing at least 124 civilians in seven days according to the UN.

Armed groups frequently targeted places of worship, schools, hospitals and other civilian objects. In Burkina Faso, an armed group killed 15 worshippers at a Catholic church in Essakane, Sahel region on 25 February. On the same day, another armed GSIM group killed at least 14 worshippers at a mosque in Natiaboani, Est region. In August, GSIM killed 26 civilians at a church in Kounla, Boucle du Mouhoun region. In February, armed groups in Mozambique burned down three churches and two schools and set fire to a hospital in the Chiúre district.

Parties to armed conflicts must respect international humanitarian law, including by protecting civilians and religious and educational institutions and other cultural property, and ending targeted and indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure.

There was an alarming surge in cases of conflict-related sexual violence. In CAR, more than 11,000 cases of gender-based violence were reported in the first half of the year. In the DRC, the number of reported cases doubled in the first quarter of 2024, in comparison to the same period in 2023. In Sudan, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan found that RSF members perpetrated widespread sexual violence during attacks on cities in the Darfur region and in Greater Khartoum. They frequently raped and gang-raped women and girls in front of their family members, particularly in the Darfur region and in Gezira state. Conflict-related sexual violence was also prevalent in Somalia and South Sudan. In one incident in Somalia, two members of the Somali National Army allegedly raped two sisters aged 15 and 16 years.

Parties to armed conflicts should issue clear orders to their members or forces, prohibiting acts of sexual and gender-based violence.

Right to food

Large proportions of the region’s population continued to face hunger. In the Southern Africa region, Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe were affected by the worst El Niño-induced drought in a century, and some of which responded by declaring a state of emergency. The drought destroyed crops and livestock, threatening food security for millions. In August the Southern African Development Community announced that 17% of the population of the Southern Africa region (68 million people) needed aid.

Severe food insecurity was experienced in other parts of Africa, including in CAR, Somalia and South Sudan. In CAR, more than 2.5 million people were affected, with more than 50% of the population in Mbomou, Haute-Kotto and other regions living in a situation of emergency or crisis food insecurity. In Somalia, at least 4 million people faced crisis or emergency food insecurity, and an estimated 1.6 million children aged between six and 59 months faced acute malnutrition. In South Sudan, approximately 7.1 million people (56.3%) were projected to face crisis-level or more severe food insecurity during the year, and more than 2.5 million children and women experienced acute malnutrition.

Right to education

While the AU committed to build resilient education systems, conflict and insecurity kept millions of children out of school. In violation of the Safe Schools Declaration (an intergovernmental agreement for the protection of education in armed conflict), hundreds of schools in conflict zones were destroyed in attacks or became shelters for the displaced. In Sudan, more than 17 million children remained out of school, with Save the Children reporting in May that attacks on schools had increased fourfold since the start of the conflict in April 2023. In West and Central Africa, UNICEF reported that more than 14,000 schools were closed due to conflict as of September, affecting 2.8 million children. In Burkina Faso, conflict forced the closure of 5,319 schools as of March, affecting nearly one million children.

Right to health

Governments continued to fail to uphold their pledges made in the Abuja Declaration over two decades earlier to allocate 15% of their national budgets to healthcare. With governments spending on average only 7.4% of national budgets on healthcare, public health systems struggled to deliver quality services. Meanwhile, healthcare costs remained high, while the WHO warned in December that governments’ heavy reliance on people to pay for their own healthcare was pushing more than 150 million people into poverty across the region. In Kenya, a new national health insurance system created difficulties in accessing healthcare for many patients. On a positive note, Ghana expanded its malaria vaccine roll-out while the Niger government announced a 50% reduction in patients’ fees for medical treatment, laboratory tests, imaging and medical and surgical procedures, and abolished fees for childbirth and dialysis in public hospitals.

An Mpox outbreak affecting countries including Burundi, Cameroon, CAR, Congo, the DRC and South Africa, caused alarm throughout the region. By 30 July, 14,250 Mpox cases and 456 deaths were reported in 10 countries, representing an increase of 160% and 19% respectively, in comparison to the same period in 2023. The DRC accounted for over 96% of all cases and deaths reported. In August the WHO declared the region’s Mpox outbreak “a public health emergency of international concern”.

Forced evictions

Thousands of people were left homeless and destitute after governments carried out forced evictions in several countries, including Congo, Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya. In Congo, residents of Mpili, Kouilou department, were forcibly relocated to make way for potash extraction by a Chinese company. In Kenya, the government demolished the homes of at least 6,000 households in the Mathare and Mukuru Kwa Njenga settlements of Nairobi amid heavy rainfall and flooding.

Governments must immediately act to address socio-economic hardships, including by taking swift action to prevent hunger, and addressing the underlying causes of food insecurity; endorsing and implementing the Safe Schools Declaration and ensuring access to education for children in conflict zones; prioritizing public spending on healthcare in line with the Abuja Declaration; ending forced evictions and adopting moratoriums on mass evictions pending the establishment of adequate legal and procedural safeguards for those threatened with eviction.

Repression of dissent

Freedom of assembly

Excessive use of force by security forces was common. Police killings and mass arrests of protesters were documented in countries including Guinea, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria and Senegal. In Guinea, a 17-year-old protester was shot dead in February during a trade union strike. In March, two boys aged eight and 14 were shot dead when a power cut in the city of Kindia sparked protests. In Senegal, security forces killed four people, including a 16-year-old boy, during protests in February objecting to delayed presidential elections. In Kenya, the national human rights institution documented 60 deaths in June and July during anti-Finance Bill protests. More than 600 protesters were arrested between June and August. Following Mozambique’s disputed October elections, security forces unleashed the worst crackdown on protests in years. At least 277 people died, including children and bystanders. In Nigeria, at least 24 people were killed during the #EndBadGovernance protests in August while more than 1,000 were detained.

Brutal repression of protests by security forces was also reported in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea and Uganda. In other countries, including Chad, Tanzania, Togo and Zambia, authorities banned protests. In Tanzania, more than 500 people affiliated to the opposition Chadema party were arrested in August for allegedly violating a ban on a youth conference. In September the police announced a ban on all Chadema protests. In Togo, demonstrations and meetings planned by opposition political parties and civil society to discuss proposed constitutional changes were routinely banned.

Freedom of expression

Governments targeted critics with intimidation, arrest and judicial harassment. In Cameroon, the minister of territorial administration banned in October “any media debate on the state of the President” following rumours about President Biya’s health. In Eswatini, authorities continued to use a 2008 anti-terrorism law to target government critics. In Madagascar, authorities used Predator spyware to monitor political opposition members. In Senegal, politician Ahmed Suzanne Camara was arrested and charged in July with “offending the head of state” after he called the president and the prime minister liars. Another politician, Cheikhna Keita, was arrested in September after speaking on TV about tensions between the president and the prime minister.

In Uganda, eight musicians were arrested by military officials in April when they were overheard during a public event complaining about a speech by President Museveni. Also in April, a court barred social media activist Ibrahim Musana from mentioning on social media the names of several government officials, including President Museveni, pending the determination of a case against him on charges including promoting hate speech. In July a court sentenced Edward Awebwa to six years’ imprisonment for sharing videos mocking the president. In Zambia, authorities filed flimsy charges against several critics for exposing allegations of corruption or criticizing government officials. For example, Raphael Nakacinda, secretary general of the opposition Patriotic Front party, was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment for “defaming the president” under a law that was repealed in 2021.

Several governments sought to introduce new restrictions on the right to freedom of expression. In Equatorial Guinea, parliament began debating in March a cybercrime bill that would introduce new restrictions on social media use. In Gambia and Lesotho, there were fears that cybercrime bills before the respective parliaments would lead to abuses of and restrictions on the right to freedom of expression if passed without amendments. In Niger, authorities reinstated jail sentences for defamation and related offences, reversing progress previously made on the right to freedom of expression.

Governments ignored a call by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) in March to refrain from interrupting telecommunication and internet services and/or blocking access to digital platforms. Such practices were reported in countries including Comoros, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Senegal and Sudan. In Sudan, a near-total telecommunication blackout in February posed serious risks to the coordination of emergency assistance and humanitarian services to millions of people caught up in conflict.

Media freedom

Crackdowns against journalists fostered a climate of fear leading to self-censorship. Journalists were threatened, physically assaulted and/or arbitrarily arrested in Angola, Chad, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Nigeria, Tanzania, Togo, Zimbabwe and other countries. As of 10 December, eight journalists had been killed in Africa, five of them in Sudan, according to the International Federation of Journalists. Chadian journalist Idriss Yaya was murdered, together with his wife and four-year-old son, in March after receiving threats, likely linked to his reporting of escalating communal conflicts in the Mongo region.

More than two decades after Eritrea’s free press was dismantled, there remained no form of registered, privately owned media. In Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Tanzania, Togo and elsewhere, authorities suspended or threatened to suspend the operations of media houses and newspapers. In Burkina Faso, authorities suspended the broadcasters TV5 Monde, BBC and Voice of America, as well as access to the websites of nine Burkinabe media organizations, for two weeks in retaliation for their reporting on the Nodin and Soro massacres. In Guinea, the government ordered the revocation of operating licences for several radio and TV stations for alleged “non-compliance with content specifications”. In Tanzania, regulatory authorities suspended for 30 days the digital platforms of The Citizen, claiming that the platforms had published material that disrupted “national unity and social peace” in connection with a video about missing or murdered people. In Togo, authorities suspended the accreditations of all foreign journalists for the coverage of the April elections.

Freedom of association

Civil society organizations’ ability to organize and freely conduct their activities were curtailed. In Côte d’Ivoire, the government adopted an ordinance regulating such organizations’ activities, sparking fears that it would be used to interfere in their finances and control their activities. The Ethiopian authorities arbitrarily suspended the licences of five national human rights organizations and four of the suspensions were still in place at the end of the year. In Guinea, the government suspended the renewal of NGOs’ operating licences for four months pending an assessment of their activities. In Rwanda, a new law imposed restrictions on budgeting and management decisions of national NGOs.

In Uganda, an amendment to the NGO law paved the way for the dissolution of the semi-autonomous NGO Bureau and its re-establishment as a department within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, signalling a move towards centralized decision-making, control and increased government oversight of NGO affairs. In Zimbabwe, the Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Amendment Bill 2024 – pending before the Senate at the year’s end – contained provisions that could be used to restrict civic space and threaten the existence, independence and operations of civil society organizations.

Governments must ensure law enforcement agencies comply with international human rights law and standards, including on the use of force; end all forms of harassment against those exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly; and create a safe and enabling environment for civil society organizations to function.

Arbitrary arrests and detentions and enforced disappearances

Arbitrary arrests and detentions of opposition activists and human rights defenders were witnessed in many countries, including Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In Angola, the health of detained activists Adolfo Campos and Gildo das Ruas deteriorated drastically when they were denied medical care. In Chad, following the killing of opposition leader Yaya Dillo in February during an assault by security forces on his party headquarters, 25 of his relatives were arrested, most of whom were detained in a high-security prison without access to legal representation or medical care. In July, 14 were sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment and 10 others acquitted, while one remained in detention without charge. However, in November and December, they were all released without explanation. In Mali, the gendarmerie arrested 11 politicians in June for holding a meeting in Bamako, the capital. Accused of “disturbing public order and plotting against the state”, they were released in December.

Elsewhere in the region, authorities increasingly used mass arrests, rounding up hundreds of people. In Congo, 580 people were arrested in May and June after Brazzaville authorities launched Opération Coup de Poing to combat crime. In Ethiopia, hundreds of people were arrested nationwide on the pretext of enforcing a state of emergency. In the Amhara region, the federal army and security forces launched a new mass arrest campaign in September, detaining thousands of people in four days. In Mozambique, hundreds were arrested ahead of the October general elections for their support or membership of the opposition Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique. Thousands more were arrested in the post-election period. In Zimbabwe, authorities intensified their crackdown on peaceful dissent, arresting more than 160 people, including opposition members, union leaders, students and journalists, ahead of the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community held on 17 August in Harare, the capital. Earlier, in June, police had arrested 78 people during a raid on a private gathering at the home of Jameson Timba, party leader of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change.

Enforced disappearances remained pervasive, including in Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Sierra Leone and Tanzania. In Kenya, the Law Society reported that at least 72 people were forcibly disappeared in connection with the anti-Finance Bill protests. In Guinea, Omar Sylla and Mamadou Billo Bah, members of the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution, arrested in July, and journalist Habib Marouane Camara, arrested in early December, remained forcibly disappeared at the year’s end.

Governments must end the use of arbitrary arrests and detentions, and enforced disappearances of human rights defenders, activists, journalists, opponents and government critics; immediately and unconditionally release anyone detained solely for peacefully exercising their human rights; and disclose the fate and whereabouts of anyone subjected to enforced disappearance.

Rights of internally displaced people, refugees and migrants

With more than 11 million internally displaced people, of whom 8.6 million had been displaced since April 2023, Sudan suffered the largest displacement crisis in the world. Other countries with staggering numbers of internally displaced people included the DRC (7.3 million), Burkina Faso (2 million), South Sudan (2 million), Somalia (552,000), CAR (455,533) and Mali (331,000). Living conditions in internally displaced people’s camps remained deplorable, with continuous attacks by armed groups exacerbating the situation. In August, the UN declared famine conditions in Zamzam camp for internally displaced people in Sudan’s North Darfur region.

The number of refugees from conflict zones continued to soar. Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries exceeded 3.2 million. They lived in dire conditions, including in Egypt where hundreds were arbitrarily detained pending their forced return to Sudan. Between January and March, Egyptian authorities forcibly returned an estimated 800 Sudanese nationals.

More than 20,000 migrants from various countries were expelled from Algeria to Assamaka, a town in Niger’s Agadez region, between January and August. In May, several people died of apparent exhaustion en route to or on arrival in Assamaka.

Governments must end the arbitrary detention of refugees and migrants on the basis of their migration status and protect them from forced returns and mass expulsions.

Discrimination and marginalization

The rape and murder of seven-year-old Heaven Awot in Ethiopia and the death of three girls after undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM) in Sierra Leone became emblematic of the prevalence of sexual violence against women and girls across the region. However, positive developments were recorded in several countries. In Côte d’Ivoire, the National Assembly adopted an amendment to the Criminal Code to allow abortion in cases of incest. Equatorial Guinea’s government adopted a declaration outlining measures to address gender disparities and promote women’s empowerment. Gambia’s parliament rejected a bill to overturn the ban on FGM. Sierra Leone enacted a law banning early and child marriage. In South Africa, the High Court in Pretoria declared sections of a law dealing with sexual offences unconstitutional for providing a subjective test for criminal intent where sexual violence is not criminalized if a perpetrator wrongly and unreasonably believed that the complainant consented.

As activists marked the 10th anniversary of the ACHPR resolution 275 on protection from violence of LGBTI people, authorities continued to weaponize legal systems to target and discriminate against them. In Mali a new Criminal Code was adopted under which consensual same-sex sexual conduct was punishable by imprisonment and a fine. In Burkina Faso, a draft family code threatened to criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations. Ghana’s parliament passed a bill which further criminalized LGBTI people. In Malawi and Uganda, courts ruled to uphold bans on consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults. In Eswatini, the government continued its refusal to register an LGBTI organization. In contrast, positive developments elsewhere included the introduction in Botswana of a constitutional amendment bill that could protect intersex people from discrimination. The Namibian High Court struck down legislation outlawing consensual same-sex sexual conduct.

Governments must combat all forms of discrimination and gender-based violence against women and girls, including by addressing the root causes, and increasing efforts to eliminate harmful practices. Governments must repeal anti-LGBTI laws and refrain from efforts to criminalize consensual same-sexual conduct.

Right to a healthy environment

High income countries with primary responsibility for causing climate change failed to make adequate funding available for loss and damage and for adaptation measures. Consequently, millions of people endured drought while thousands were affected by torrential rain and floods. Deaths from flooding were reported in countries including Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar, Mali and Niger. In Niger and Mali, at least 339 and 177 people died in floods, respectively. In Madagascar, Cyclone Gamane resulted in 18 deaths, displaced 20,737 people and damaged vital infrastructure including roads and bridges.

The securing by several governments of funding to address the climate change crisis came at the cost of increasing debt burdens. Côte d’Ivoire secured USD 1.3 billion to improve its climate resilience and transition to renewable energy. Namibia secured USD 10 billion to develop so-called “green hydrogen”. Meanwhile, the South African government announced the establishment of a climate change fund to respond to the impacts of climate change and build resilience. In Madagascar, the government committed to a 28% reduction in greenhouse emissions by 2030. Other developments included the Congolese government’s suspension of operations at the Metssa Congo recycling company in Vindoulou, Pointe-Noire department, due to potential risks to the health of the surrounding populations and environment. Senegalese authorities suspended until mid-2027 all mining activities along the Falémé river because of health and environmental concerns relating to the use of chemicals during mining.

Governments must take immediate measures to protect against the effects of climate change and strengthen their preparedness for extreme weather events, including by seeking international assistance and climate finance from higher income countries, especially those most responsible for climate change.

Right to truth, justice and reparation

Impunity remained entrenched in many countries. In Eswatini, the government failed to investigate extrajudicial killings carried out between 2021 and 2024, including the killing of human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko in 2023. In Ethiopia, the government continued to dismiss crimes documented by human rights bodies while its “transitional justice” initiative, limited to reconciliation, remained largely a paper exercise. In Senegal, an amnesty law passed in March halted prosecutions for the killings of 65 protesters and bystanders between March 2021 and February 2024.

However, measures to promote justice and accountability for crimes under international law were recorded in several countries. In CAR, the UN-backed Special Criminal Court arrested two suspects and issued an international arrest warrant for former president François Bozizé for alleged crimes against humanity linked to actions by his presidential guard between 2009 and 2013. Gambia’s National Assembly passed laws in April to establish the Special Accountability Mechanism and the Special Prosecutor’s Office. In December, ECOWAS agreed to establish the Special Tribunal for the Gambia, demonstrating progress towards accountability for crimes committed under former president Yahya Jammeh. In South Sudan, laws to establish truth and reparations commissions were enacted, but the establishment of the Hybrid Court for South Sudan remained stalled.

In a few cases, prosecutions of suspected perpetrators resulted in convictions. In Guinea, the Dixinn Criminal Court convicted eight people, including former president Moussa Dadis Camara, for crimes against humanity in connection with the September 2009 stadium massacre. The ICC sentenced Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz to 10 years’ imprisonment for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Mali between May 2012 and January 2023.

Governments must strengthen measures to prevent and combat impunity by undertaking prompt, thorough, independent, impartial, effective and transparent investigations into crimes under international law and other serious or grave human rights violations and abuses, bringing suspected perpetrators to justice and ensuring victims’ access to an effective remedy.

Africa Regional Overview