The run-up to Angola’s elections in August was marked by human rights abuses – journalists and human rights defenders were repeatedly intimidated for exposing corruption and human rights violations. Protesters faced arrest and excessive use of force by police. Political repression was rife in Burundi, with unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests, and enforced disappearances across the country. ARMED CONFLICT AND VIOLENCE Although the nature and intensity of Africa’s conflicts varied, they were generally characterized by gross human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law – including acts constituting crimes under international law. Amid the paralysis of regional efforts to resolve the political deadlock, intense suffering and loss of life continued in South Sudan’s four-year armed conflict, which forced millions from their homes. In the Upper Nile region, tens of thousands of civilians were forcibly displaced as government forces burned, shelled and systematically looted homes; sexual violence continued unabated. A cessation of hostilities agreement was signed in December following the forum launched by the intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to revitalize the previous peace agreement. However, soon after, renewed fighting broke out in different parts of the country. In Sudan, the security and humanitarian situation in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan states remained dire, with widespread violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. There was renewed conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR), which led to large-scale human rights violations and abuses and crimes under international law. Outside the government-controlled capital, armed groups carried out a range of abuses, and reports of sexual exploitation and abuses by UN peacekeeping troops continued. In DRC, unprecedented violence in the Kasaï region left thousands dead and as of 25 September 1 million were internally displaced; over 35,000 people fled to neighbouring Angola. Congolese army soldiers used excessive force, killing scores of suspected members and sympathizers of the armed insurgent group Kamuena Nsapu, which, in turn, recruited children and carried out attacks on civilians and government forces. The government proxymilitia group Bana Mura was responsible for dozens of ethnic-based attacks including killings, rapes and destruction of civilian property. In response to threats by the armed group Boko Haram and its ongoing commission of war crimes, security forces in Cameroon and Nigeria continued to commit gross human rights violations and crimes under international law. These included extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detentions, torture and other illtreatment, which, in some cases, led to deaths in custody. People accused of supporting Boko Haram were sentenced to death in Cameroon following unfair trials in military courts, although none were executed during the year. In Nigeria, the military arbitrarily arrested and detained incommunicado thousands of women, men and children in harsh conditions. In Niger – where the government declared a state of emergency in the western areas bordering Mali and renewed the state of emergency in the Diffa region – more than 700 suspected Boko Haram members went on trial. ABUSES BY ARMED GROUPS Armed groups including al-Shabaab and Boko Haram perpetrated abuses and attacks against civilians in countries including Cameroon, CAR, DRC, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Somalia. In some cases, the attacks constituted serious abuses of international humanitarian and human rights law. Amnesty International Report 2017/18 21