Elections affected HRDs and journalists in Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Sudan. In Rwanda, Presidential elections were held in August 2010 and were preceded by a crackdown on political opponents, independent media outlets and human rights defenders. Around 30 news media outlets were closed down, one journalist was murdered, three were sentenced to prison terms, three were arrested, two had to flee, and an international group was expelled from the country. In Burundi, at least four journalists were arrested and one of them remains in detention without trial more than eight months after his arrest in July. Several members of local human rights groups were threatened and put under surveillance, and an international group had the work permit of its staff withdrawn.

The constitutional reform process was the cause of increased insecurity for HRDs in Zimbabwe, where harassment was again on the increase particularly in the first half of 2010. Front Line reported on seven organisations which had several of their members arrested or threatened during a four-week period in February. During the year, several other NGOs had their members harassed, intimidated, detained, prosecuted, or had their offices searched. Farai Maguwu from the Mutare Centre for Research and Development was arrested in June and put on trial due to his work in documenting the involvement of the army in illegal mining operations.

Journalists are perhaps one of the categories more consistently targeted in most countries of the region. Front Line reported on cases of retaliation for raising human rights concerns in Burundi, Cameroon, Kenya, and Uganda. In Cameroon, the targeting of journalists increased in 2010. Five journalists from Le Messager, Le Devoir, Cameroun Exprès, Bebela, and La Nation were arrested in February. One of them reported being subjected to water boarding, sleep deprivation, exposure to cold, and beating on the soles of the feet. Another journalist, Germain Ngota Ngota, died while in prison in circumstances which were never entirely clarified. Six more journalists faced trial for their reporting on human rights violations, unfair trials, corruption and the embezzlement of public funds.

In Burundi, Cameroon, Gabon, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, HRDs working on economic, social and cultural rights, faced harassment and attacks. Trade unionists, those monitoring corruption, good governance and the management of natural resources were particularly vulnerable. In Tanzania, human rights defenders defending the rights of pastoralist communities unlawfully evicted from their ancestral land were harassed, intimidated and threatened.

Defending LGBTI rights continued to be a risky endeavour in many countries, including DRC, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe. In DRC, a new bill criminalising homosexuality and which would affect the work of LGBTI rights defenders was tabled before parliament in October. In Uganda, religious groups and sections of the media who were supporting the 2009 bill continued to work against LGBTI HRDs including by publishing the photos and names of LGBTI human rights defenders. Attacks have increased as a result and David Kato, a prominent HRD, was murdered in January 2011. Several LGBTI HRDs were assaulted, had their homes broken into or were evicted from their homes.

In Kenya the situation has improved after the wave of violence that hit HRDs in 2009. However, harassment and intimidation continued. In April a member of Release Political Prisoners (RPP) was arbitrarily arrested, subjected to severe ill-treatment and questioned about RPP work on extrajudicial killings, the Mt. Elgon military operation and whether they had passed information to the UN. The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigations into the post election violence may spark further retaliation against HRDs for their role in documenting violations, especially after the issuing of an ICC summons in December 2010.

Last year we reported on new legislation passed in Ethiopia restricting space for independent human rights work. The system put in place proved extremely effective. Many groups did not re-register as human rights organisations. A significant number of HRDs fled the country for fear of arrest and attack. The very few remaining human rights groups had to dramatically cut their activities and presence on the ground, which significantly affected their capacity to document and report on human rights violations.