[JURIST] The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights [official website], the human rights arm of the African Union (AU) [official website], has cited Sudan, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo for rights violations in a unusually-critical report leaked to the press but not yet formally made public. The report coincides with the AU annual summit [JURIST report] now underway in Khartoum, Sudan. The commission criticized the Zimbabwe government of Robert Mugabe for threatening the independence of the country's judiciary, called on Ethiopia to release political prisoners, and urged Sudan to stop attacks on civilians and aid workers in Darfur and co-operate with a probe by the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website]. Some observers say that the harsh reviews of local governments are a sign of maturity in the regional body. Reuters has more.