Genocide

Spain joins S. Africa’s Gaza case at UN top court

Spain said on Thursday that it will join South Africa's case at the UN's top court in which Pretoria has accused Israel of "genocide" in the Gaza Strip. "Our sole goal is to put an end to the war and to advance on the road of applying the two-state solution", Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said at a press conference. His statement came a week after Spain, […]

6 June, 2024

Africa

Rwanda’s role in eastern DRC conflict: why international law is failing to end the fighting

By Kerstin Bree Carlson, Roskilde University The power of international law lies in its potential to offer alternatives to force and violence. The ideal is that states submit their grievances to a court rather than duke them out on a battlefield, or carry them out against civilians. As concerns armed violence, there are two international courts that countries can engage. The first is the International […]

20 May, 2024

Africa

Sudan’s descent into chaos sets stage for al-Qaida to make a return to historic stronghold

By Sara Harmouch, American University “Sudan’s moment has come; chaos is our chance to sow the seeds of jihad,” warned Abu Hudhaifa al-Sudani, a high-ranking al-Qaida leader, in an October 2022 manifesto. His words may have seemed premature at the time, but a year of brutal civil war has now plunged Sudan into the kind of chaos in which terrorist groups thrive. The risk of […]

14 May, 2024

Africa

30 years after genocide: Rwanda’s older generations fear a return of ethnic tensions, but youth feel more united

By Jonathan Beloff, King's College London It’s 30 years since a genocide ripped through Rwandan society, leaving up to a million Tutsi and non-extremist Hutu dead. Every year in early April, the country enters a 100-day period of commemoration during which Rwandans are asked to remember and reflect on historical divisions between the country’s main ethnic groups: Tutsi, Hutu and Twa. This is done under the banner […]

5 April, 2024

World

Malta Urges the ICC to Hurry Up Its War Crimes Probes in Palestine

Ambassador Vanessa Frazier of Malta detailed to the press her country’s plans presiding over the Security Council in April 2024. Frazier is one of five women envoys in the Council, and she successfully led a resolution calling for a pause in fighting in Gaza in November by focusing on the plight of children. “Children are affected more in Gaza, and as women, it affects us too,” she said in […]

2 April, 2024

World

The UN Security Council Is Struggling ‘Day by Day,’ Japan Says

Secretary-General António Guterres, left, and Kazuyuki Yamazaki, permanent representative of Japan and president of the Security Council for March, before a recent meeting on Sudan and South Sudan. Only three months in the UN post, Yamakazi leads the Council on a range of crises this month, from the wars in Gaza and Ukraine to conflicts in parts of Africa, as Japan also highlights its own two signature debates: building peace […]

13 March, 2024

World

How Haiti became a failed state

By Nicolas Forsans, University of Essex The US military started airlifting embassy staff out of Haiti overnight as the Caribbean island descends further into chaos. Rival gangs have joined forces to overrun the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, in an attempt to force the resignation of the acting president, Ariel Henry. The gang leader behind the violence, Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, has warned there will be a “civil war that […]

11 March, 2024

World

Rights experts call for arms embargo on Israel

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and experts have warned countries against the “transfer of weapons or ammunition to Israel” as this could violate international humanitarian law if these weapons are used contrary to the Geneva Conventions, referring to Israel’s alleged failure to adhere to international law in Gaza. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch says Israel has failed to comply with the International Court of Justice order […]

27 February, 2024

Namibia

It is high time to tender an apology to the Namibian people: Steinmeier

Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier says it is high time that Germany apologises to Namibia for the genocide it inflicted on the Nama and Ovaherero people between 1904 and 1908. He was speaking at the memorial service of the late President Hage Geingob here on Saturday. Geingob died on 04 February and is set to be buried on Sunday. Steinmeier said he spoke to Geingob late last year and the Namibian […]

25 February, 2024