Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) warned that the Chinese government’s repressive population control measures against Uyghur and other Muslims—including forced sterilization—might meet the legal criteria for genocide under international law. “It’s evident from the Chinese government’s own data that the Communist Party’s policies are clearly designed to prevent population growth for the Uyghur, Kazakh, and other Turkic Muslim peoples,” said USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel. “We urge the State Department to investigate whether the Chinese authorities’ deliberate and systematic attempt to genetically reducing the Turkic Muslim population in
Thousands of people are marching in cities and towns across Sudan, demanding greater political reforms. Civil society groups say the protest is intended to make sure the goals of last year’s revolution, which deposed Omar al-Bashir as president, are achieved. Security forces have been deployed in the capital, Khartoum, and neighbouring towns as well as on major roads leading to the army headquarters. Crowds have gathered singing and chanting, blaring car horns and carrying placards. These are scenes similar to the ones during months of protests which ended Bashir’s decades-long rule and led to the formation of a joint civilian and military government. But there is growing concern that the co
Nearly 1,000 people have been killed, and more than 200,000 displaced by an armed group in northern Mozambique. The fighters say they reject the government and want to establish political Islam. The army has failed to contain it, and has itself been accused of rights abuses. Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb reports. ©Al Jazeera 2020
International and regional powers agreed at talks on Tuesday to intensify a military campaign against Islamist militants in the West African Sahel region, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying victory over the jihadists was within grasp. Militant attacks in the Sahel have increased over the last two years, especially in the tri-border region of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali known as Liptako-Gourma, where local authorities have been overrun. Mauritania hosted a meeting of the leaders of five Sahel nations plus France and Spain to plot future strategy in the scrubland south of the Sahara where since 2013 thousands of French troops have been helping countries counter insurgencies. “The he
Click here to watch the full event discussion. A meeting hosted by In Defense of Christians (IDC) for reporters to learn more about Christian persecution and genocide in Nigeria. Archbishop Ben Kwashi, Bishop Matthew H. Kukah, Congressman Frank Wolf, Dr. Gregory Stanton, and Rev. Johnnie Moore provide introductory remarks about the situation in Nigeria and Steven Howard facilitates questions from members of the press to the panelists. The purpose of the meeting is to improve everyone’s understanding of an ongoing genocide that has not been widely covered in western media.
The Belarusian authorities must end their crackdown on political opposition, activists and critics, and fully respect, protect, promote and fulfil the human rights of everyone in the lead up to presidential election on 9 August, Amnesty International said today. In a statement Belarus: Growing Crackdown on Human Rights ahead of Presidential Election, the organization documented a wave of reprisals against political opponents, activists, critics and independent media. “There is no safe environment for political debate in Belarus, and there is a growing crackdown on human rights in the context of the forthcoming election. The wave of activism currently taking place in Belarus is unlike anythin
The United Nations on Sunday said it was concerned by the humanitarian impact of fighting in western Myanmar's Rakhine and southern Chin states. The UN cited reports of increased fighting between Myanmar's armed forces, the Tatmadaw, and the Arakan Army, an insurgent group fighting for more autonomy for ethnic Rakhine Buddhists. Civil war Both factions have traded allegations of abuse. An increasingly bloody civil war between government troops and the rebels erupted in January last year, displacing some 150,000 people and forcing them to flee their homes while dozens have been killed and hundreds wounded. The UN urged both sides to "take urgent measures to spare civilians." It also called fo
The Chinese government is taking draconian measures to slash birth rates among Uighurs and other minorities as part of a sweeping campaign to curb its Muslim population, even as it encourages some of the country’s Han majority to have more children. While individual women have spoken out before about forced birth control, the practice is far more widespread and systematic than previously known, according to an AP investigation based on government statistics, state documents and interviews with 30 ex-detainees, family members and a former detention camp instructor. The campaign over the past four years in the far west region of Xinjiang is leading to what some experts are calling a form of “d
Migrants say Houthi Militias that control northern Yemen are brutally forcing them out of their territory and into dangerous situations. Ethiopian migrants in the Yemeni capital, Sana, being forced to quarantine by security forces in April, over fears that they could spread the coronavirus. (Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images) BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Yemeni militiamen rumbled up to the settlement of Al Ghar in the morning, firing their machine guns at the Ethiopian migrants caught in the middle of somebody else’s war. They shouted at the migrants: Take your coronavirus and leave the country, or face death. Fatima Mohammed’s baby, Naa’if, was screaming. She grabbed him and ran behind her husband as b
China is forcing women to be sterilised or fitted with contraceptive devices in Xinjiang in an apparent attempt to limit the population of Muslim Uighurs, according to new research. The report, by China scholar Adrian Zenz, has prompted international calls for the United Nations to investigate. China denies the allegations in the report, calling them "baseless". The state is already facing widespread criticism for holding Uighurs in detention camps It is believed there are about one million Uighur people and other mostly-Muslim minorities detained in China, in what the state defines as "re-education" camps. China previously denied the existence of the camps, before defending them as a necess
Experts have said that the violence in Nigeria is escalating and the government is failing to stop the violence. Nigeria is nearing a tipping point. In a column for the Christian Post, Stephen Enada said, “Nigeria has been sitting on this powder keg for a while now, with civil unrest building. Western nations have a vested interest in making sure that things get better from here.” We cannot let violence continue in Nigeria. Every single crime committed creates a devastating ripple effect that impacts more things, events, and people far and wide more than we will ever truly know – and sadly, the insurgent groups are relentless. We need to send a Special Envoy as soon as possible - before more
Genocide Watch's Eric Ross has created a video showing the spreading genocidal massacres by jihadist terrorist groups such as Boko Haram, Fulani jihadists, and the Islamic State West Africa Province. The massacres have killed over 27,000 people, including thousands in 2019 and 2020, making them the deadliest genocidal massacres committed by any terrorists since 2010, more than by ISIS in Iraq and Syria. They have especially targeted Christians. The map was compiled using authenticated data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. https://acleddata.com To view the video click HERE.
An Islamic State-linked group appears to be regaining strength in northeastern Nigeria and is now warning it will target civilians who help the military or even humanitarian organizations. The Islamic State in West Africa Province, which broke away from Boko Haram in 2016, had appeared weakened earlier this year by internal feuding, said Nnamdi Obasi, the senior adviser for Nigeria at the International Crisis Group. But earlier this month it killed more than 120 people in a single week, including 40 in Monguno, a town housing an estimated 150,000 displaced people and a U.N. humanitarian base that was only able to repel the jihadists after hours of fighting. “The new attack now suggests that
580 civilians have been killed so far this year in central Mali, as a deteriorating security situation and widespread impunity undermine efforts to protect civilians, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Friday. Violent disputes between the Peulh and Dogon communities, have increased in recent months, with community-based militias, initially formed to defend communities becoming increasingly violent and involved in attacks against other communities. From 1 January to 21 June 2020, the Human Rights and Protection Division of the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) documented 83 incidents of violence across communal lines in Mopti regi
Survivors from boat crammed with 300 refugees say bodies were thrown in the sea during the tortuous four-month voyage. Survivors from a boat crammed with more than 300 Rohingya refugees have recounted to Malaysian authorities how dozens had perished during a tortuous four-month voyage and their bodies thrown in the sea. The head of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) described the ordeal suffered by Rohingya whose damaged boat had made land on the Malaysian island of Langkawi on June 8, with 269 people on board. He also recounted how the Rohingya had been transferred from a larger "motherboat" to a smaller vessel half-way through a voyage that began close to the Myanmar-Banglade
The United Nations Security Council is expected next week to renew the mandate of its peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA. Often dubbed the UN's most "dangerous mission", MINUSMA will enter its eighth year at the centre of a multilayered and complicated conflict that has spread across the Sahel, a semi-arid region directly south of the Sahara desert in northwestern and central Africa. Its challenges are myriad: a volatile environment that often proves deadly for UN forces, restricts peace-building initiatives and keeps the mission on a defensive footing; an inconsistent Malian ruling class; and a shifting and complex crisis that has exploded in the centre of the country that lacks an adequ
More than 30,000 Nigerian refugees have arrived in Niger’s Maradi region during the past two months alone, tripling the number who have fled there since last year. They are fleeing growing insecurity and atrocities across north-western Nigeria, most of it at the hands of armed gangs that rob, loot, rape and kill. The latest population movement was triggered by an extremely violent attack on the village of Gangara. As soon as they heard the first gunshots, Habsou and her younger sister Mariama* grabbed their children and ran for their lives. Mariama was heavily pregnant. Childbirth was triggered by running away, stress and fear. She died but her child initially survived. Habsou managed to car
Local officials say at least 19 people killed in the eastern part of country in two separate attacks by ADF fighters. At least 19 civilians have been killed in the restive eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo at the weekend in attacks blamed on a notorious armed group, local officials said. Nine people were kidnapped on Friday by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), and their bodies were found in the province of North Kivu, which borders Rwanda, regional administrator Donat Kibwana said on Sunday, adding that their burials were under way. In the neighbouring Ituri region, ADF fighters attacked the village of Bukaka late on Saturday and killed 10 civilians, local official Bananilao Tchabi
A ten-count indictment has been filed against Kosovo's President Hashim Thaci charging him with crimes allegedly committed in the independence war of the late-1990s, including murder and torture. The Hague-based Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, SPO, according to a press statement on Wednesday, has filed a ten-count indictment with the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, KSC, charging Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, the Kosovo politician Kadri Veseli, and others with a range of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, enforced disappearance of persons, persecution, and torture. “The indictment alleges that Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, and the other charged suspects are criminally respon
Call for other African countries to reopen for refugees, after crossings were shut to stem the spread of coronavirus Uganda has temporarily opened its border to thousands of people fleeing deadly ethnic clashes in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Ugandan government closed its reception centres at border crossings in March in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus. But last week President Yoweri Museveni instructed the minister of relief, disaster preparedness and refugees to provide asylum to an estimated 10,000 men, women and children who have been stuck in no-man’s land between the two countries since late May, after fleeing violence. Dozens of people are
