Janessa Schilmoeller

Janessa Schilmoeller is a Mint Press correspondent and staff writer based in Southern Africa. Janessa has worked with intercultural education programs for several years and focuses on topics of international relations, social change and human rights. She has previously lived in Jordan and has traveled to various countries in the Middle East. Janessa is currently reporting from Southern Africa where she coordinates study abroad programs focused on nation building, liberation theology and decolonizing the mind while reporting on social and political issues in the region. Follow her on Twitter at @jschilmo

SA Miners Still Suffer Under Economic Apartheid Despite Dropped Apartheid-Era Charges

(NAMIBIA) MintPress — South African prosecutors provisionally dropped charges over the weekend after previously charging 270 platinum miners with the murder of 34 colleagues who were shot by police in the Aug. 16 shootings at the Lonmin platinum mine in Marikana, northwest of Johannesburg. The charges, based on apartheid-era law, added to the rage and controversy […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller
Police surround the bodies of striking miners after opening fire on a crowd at the Lonmin Platinum Mine near Rustenburg, South Africa, Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012. South African police opened fire Thursday on a crowd of striking workers at a platinum mine, leaving an unknown number of people injured and possibly dead. Motionless bodies lay on the ground in pools of blood. (AP Photo)

(NAMIBIA) MintPress — South African prosecutors provisionally dropped charges over the weekend after previously charging 270 platinum miners with the murder of 34 colleagues who were shot by police in the Aug. 16 shootings at the Lonmin platinum mine in Marikana, northwest of Johannesburg. The charges, based on apartheid-era law, added to the

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UN Failure To Pass Arms Trade Treaty Contributes To More Violence In Darfur

(NAMIBIA) MintPress – Schools closed in Darfur’s largest city in past weeks after at least eight people were reported killed following the region’s worst violence since demonstrations sparked by high inflation erupted earlier this summer. “Eight citizens were killed and 24 injured including three police who are in a serious condition,” according to police quotes […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller
A section leader from the Sudan Liberation Army, center, wearing a captured Sudanese officer's uniform with three stars, and other rebels are pictured along the Chad-Sudan border on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2007. (AP Photo/Alfred de Montesquiou)

(NAMIBIA) MintPress – Schools closed in Darfur’s largest city in past weeks after at least eight people were reported killed following the region’s worst violence since demonstrations sparked by high inflation erupted earlier this summer. “Eight citizens were killed and 24 injured including three police who are in a serious condition,” according

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Despite Billions In International Aid To Combat HIV, Africans Question Local Management Of Funds

(NAMIBIA) MintPress — As the XIX International AIDS Conference ended in Washington D.C. on Friday, Namibians in southern Africa brainstormed ways to implement policies on the ground that would truly begin to “turn the tide” against HIV, carrying out the message of this year’s conference. The Namibian Women’s Health Network held workshops in Windhoek, the […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. speaks at the 2012 International AIDS Conference, Friday, July 27, 2012, in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

(NAMIBIA) MintPress — As the XIX International AIDS Conference ended in Washington D.C. on Friday, Namibians in southern Africa brainstormed ways to implement policies on the ground that would truly begin to “turn the tide” against HIV, carrying out the message of this year’s conference. The Namibian Women’s Health Network held workshops in

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Palestinian Ends 102-Day Hunger Strike, Israeli Administrative Detention Persists

(NAMIBIA) MintPress — Palestinian hunger striker Akram Rikhawi has ended his 102-day hunger strike after reaching an agreement with the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) for an early release date. Rikhawi ended his strike Sunday evening after over three months without food, thought to be the longest Palestinian hunger strike in history. While Rikhawi is scheduled […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller
Palestinians hold posters showing Mahmoud Sarsak, center, a former player with the Palestinian national football team, Akram Rikhawi, right, and Samer Al-Barq, left, during a demonstration in support of Palestinians prisoners held in Israeli jails, in the West Bank town of Jenin, Saturday, June 9, 2012. (AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas)

(NAMIBIA) MintPress — Palestinian hunger striker Akram Rikhawi has ended his 102-day hunger strike after reaching an agreement with the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) for an early release date. Rikhawi ended his strike Sunday evening after over three months without food, thought to be the longest Palestinian hunger strike in history. While Rikhawi

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Arrest of Saudi Shiite Cleric Raises Questions of Stability in House Of Saud

(MintPress) – Two men were reported killed on Monday after protests erupted in the oil-rich Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia following the arrest of prominent Shiite cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. The deaths of the two men follow some of the biggest protests in the region since November and December last year – a reminder the […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller

(MintPress) – Two men were reported killed on Monday after protests erupted in the oil-rich Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia following the arrest of prominent Shiite cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. The deaths of the two men follow some of the biggest protests in the region since November and December last year - a reminder the anti-government protests

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Foreign Governments Using Child Soldiers Continue to Receive US Military Funding

(MintPress) – The State Department recently released its annual Trafficking in Persons Report, listing governments in seven countries that continue to recruit child soldiers – nearly all of which receive military financing from the United States despite provisions in place against it. The Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008 (CSPA) prohibits the U.S. government from […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller
Young soldiers from a Ugandan supported Congolese rebel movement group, sing liberation songs waving their rifles in this photo in the north eastern Congolese town of Bunia. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)

(MintPress) - The State Department recently released its annual Trafficking in Persons Report, listing governments in seven countries that continue to recruit child soldiers - nearly all of which receive military financing from the United States despite provisions in place against it. The Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008 (CSPA) prohibits

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Labor Practices Questioned As Coca-Cola Workers Protest Unfair Policies Worldwide

(MintPress) — Employees at the Namibian Beverages bottling company, a unit of the Coca-Cola Company, returned to work last week after a national strike over wages and salary increases threatened to disrupt the supply of soft drinks in the southwest African nation. Namibian Beverages released a statement in response to the strike, saying, “Service delivery to […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller
Muhtar Kent, left, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company watches during a meeting in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

(MintPress) — Employees at the Namibian Beverages bottling company, a unit of the Coca-Cola Company, returned to work last week after a national strike over wages and salary increases threatened to disrupt the supply of soft drinks in the southwest African nation. Namibian Beverages released a statement in response to the strike, saying,

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