Human rights groups welcomed the decision by Joyce Banda, who succeeded Bingu wa Mutharika on Saturday 7 March after his death from a heart attack.
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Rioters went on a rampage in central Nigeria and burnt down a police station to protest the detention of their friends, police said on 2 April 2012.
On 25 March, Clare Ballard wrote an opinion editorial on a case being heard by the North Gauteng High Court, in which the Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) and the Zimbabwean Exiles Forum have applied for the review of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the South African Police Services' decision not to investigate or prosecute Zimbabwean officials, resident in South Africa from time to time, for alleged act of torture carried out on MDC supporters in March 2007.
John Kapito, the Chairperson of the Malawi Human Rights Commission, was detained on Friday 16 March by eight policemen who accused him of possessing guns, holding seditious meetings and printing seditious T-shirts, which insulted President Bingu wa Mutharika. On Sunday security forces prevented people from attending an opposition meeting, leading to violence.
Constitutional and legislative protocols breached during press conference held after recapture of three prisoners attempting to escape by climbing over a wall at Pretoria Central Prison on 16 March 2012, says Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative (CSPRI).
The Kenyan Ministry of Home Affairs has announced proposals to improve prison conditions by decongesting the prisons.
The President of Mozambique's Supreme Court, Ozias Pondja, on 13 March 2012 said that the country needs to train more judges, since the 293 who currently exist are insufficient to meet the growing pressure on the courts.
Poor court infrastructure is contributing to poor performance of the court system in Cunene, says the presiding judge. The Minister of Justice for Courts has promised improvements this year.
On 12 March 2012 Angolan police seized 20 computers from the offices of the publication 'Folha 8' and questioned its editor two days after attempts to stage demonstrations in the Luanda and Benguela were broken up by armed gangs and heavily armed police.
A report released by Amnesty International in February 2012 says that a year after the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's militias are "largely out of control", with the use of torture ubiquitous and the country's new rulers unable – or unwilling – to prevent abuses.
A report released by Amnesty International in February 2012 says that a year after the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's militias are "largely out of control", with the use of torture ubiquitous and the country's new rulers unable – or unwilling – to prevent abuses.
More than half of the cases heard on a daily basis in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court and its ten satellite courts demand foreign language translators, and there are not enough of them to meet demand, reports Beeld newspaper.