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	Africa: Hundreds of Thousands evicted across Continent by AllAfrica.com South Africa   Cape Town. 24 May 2007   Hundreds of thousands of Africans in many different countries were deliberately rendered homeless last year, Amnesty International has reported.   The international NGO said in its 2007 annual report that evictions, often accompanied by "disproportionate use of force and other abuses," took place in Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria and Sudan.   It added: "By forcibly evicting people without due process of law, adequate compensation or provision of alternative shelter, governments violated people''s internationally recognized human right to shelter and adequate housing."   Human rights remained precarious in many parts of the continent in 2006, Amnesty said. At least a dozen countries were afflicted by armed conflict. Achieving economic, social and cultural rights remained "illusory" in nearly every country.   HIV/Aids threatened millions, with women and girls more vulnerable than men. Violence against women and children was pervasive. Tuberculosis and malaria were a serious threat.   Dissent was repressed in many countries, Amnesty added. "The authorities in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe were among those that used a licensing/accreditation system to restrict the work of journalists and consequently impinged on the freedom of expression."   Law enforcement officers continued to abuse human rights, killing, torturing and ill treating people with impunity. But in one of the few rays of light in a litany of gloom, Amnesty said important progress had been made in efforts to hold abusers accountable under international law.
	Serbia jails Djindjic killers by Agence France Press (AFP) Serbia   24.5.2007   A Serbian court has sentenced the sniper and mastermind behind the 2003 assassination of prime minister Zoran Djindjic for 40 years. Ten other men were convicted for up to 35 years for the killing of Mr Djindjic, an act which stunned the Western world as it sought to encourage Serbia out of isolation after the fall of strongman Slobodan Milosevic.   "This was a political murder, a criminal deed aimed against the state," said presiding judge Nata Mesarovic reading the verdict to a packed court, which included Serbian President Boris Tadic and former Djindjic cabinet members.   Former police commando unit leader during Milosevic''s rule, 39-year-old Milorad Ulemek — known as "Legija" for having once been a French Foreign Legionnaire — was given a maximum 40-year sentence for organising the assassination.   Another unit member, Zvezdan "The Snake" Jovanovic, 41, was also jailed for 40 years. He was accused of firing the fatal shot that felled Mr Djindjic on the steps of his Belgrade office on March 12, 2003.   Ten other defendants were sentenced for between eight and 35 years, though five are on the run. Charges were withdrawn against a 13th accused under a plea bargaining deal. The group was guilty of "endangering constitutional order" in a bid to "gain power and influence on authorities" by killing the prime minister, Mr Mesarevic said.   "The most painful thing is the knowledge that we live in a country where the prime minister can be killed by an organised criminal group in order to gain political power," the judge said.   Ulemek was a veteran of the Bosnian and Kosovo wars. His red beret special police unit became notorious during Milosevic''s rule for its links with organized crime and attacks on his political rivals. He has already been sentenced to 40 years in jail in a separate trial for his role in the 2000 murder of former Serbian president Ivan Stambolic, Milosevic''s political foe.   Jovanovic had confessed to the murder during the investigation, but said in closing statements last month it had been given to police "under duress". He had told police "Djindjic''s assassination was politically motivated" to hamper attempts to arrest suspects wanted by the United Nations'' war crimes court.   The court case, which began in December 2003, was plagued by problems including the murder of a witness, the resignation of a judge, and the sacking of a prosecutor.   Outside the court, police cordoned off youth activists of Mr Djindjic''s Democratic Party who whistled and booed as the guilty were driven off to a high-security Belgrade prison.   Vladan Batic, the Djindjic government''s justice minister, said he was "satisfied" with the ruling. "The executors have been sentenced, but now we have to establish who the inspirers of the assassination were and they should be looked for on the political scene, among the anti-war crimes lobby," Mr Batic told reporters.   Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly president Rene van der Linden, on a visit to Belgrade, also praised the verdict. "What counts is that your country is back on its way towards further European integration. This is probably the best way of honouring the memory of Zoran Djindjic," he said.   Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said Mr Djindjic''s assassination "had dealt a very strong blow on Serbia."   "The verdict is of great significance and sends a message that the state and justice will reach all those who have committed crimes," Kostunica said in a statement.
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