GENOCIDEWATCH

[Photo Credit: Noorullah Shirzada/AFP/Getty Images] In 2001, the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan dislodged the Taliban from power and after elections, installed a civilian government. In the two decades since, Taliban militants have waged a violent insurgency against the Afghan government. Taliban attacks have resulted in more than 100,000 civilian casualties since 2010. Afghan government and NATO attacks have also killed many civilians. In 2018, Taliban terrorist attacks intensified, resulting in a record number of civilians killed. The Taliban’s genocidal massacres include widespread and systematic violence against women, Afghan government police, and ethnic and religious minorities, incl

South Africa often makes the headlines for violent attacks against immigrants. Xenophobia has now reached a new level with the creation of a group calling itself Put South Africa First. The movement Put South Africa First, which first appeared on social media, is seen as a cause for alarm by human rights defenders and foreign nationals, especially after it mobilized dozens of people for a march to the Nigerian and Zimbabwean embassies in Pretoria last week. The protesters demanded that undocumented immigrants, or those involved in criminal activities, leave South Africa. One of the protest organizers, Nandisa Gschwari, warned that more demonstrations were to come. She told DW that she didn't

Canada and the United Kingdom have announced sanctions on several senior officials in Belarus, including its authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka, as international pressure continues to build over a disputed presidential election last month and subsequent police crackdown on opposition members, media, and protesters. The two Commonwealth nations announced on September 29 joint sanctions including a travel ban and asset freeze “to send a clear message” to Lukashenka’s “violent and fraudulent regime." "We will hold those responsible for the thuggery deployed against the Belarusian people to account and we will stand up for our values of democracy and human rights," U.K. Foreign Secre

Amnesty International says it has been forced to halt its India operations due to "reprisals" from the government. The watchdog says it has had to suspend its campaign and research work in India (file photo) [Getty Images] The watchdog has also accused the government of indulging in a "witch-hunt of human rights organisations". Amnesty says its bank accounts have been frozen and it's been forced to lay off staff in the country, and suspend all its campaign and research work. The government is yet to respond to the allegations. "We are facing a rather unprecedented situation in India. Amnesty International India has been facing an onslaught of attacks, bullying and harassment by the governmen

A simmering conflict on Russia's volatile southern border is threatening to escalate into an all-out war, with the potential of drawing in NATO ally Turkey. Fighting continued for a second day in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, claimed by Armenians as well as by Azerbaijanis. Dozens of service members on both sides have been reported killed in a flare-up of violence that began Sunday morning. The ethnic Armenian majority in the region fought a bloody war of secession from Azerbaijan as the Soviet Union fell apart three decades ago. A tense cease-fire — but no lasting peace — has since kept tensions high in the Caucasus, an area where Russia, Turkey and Iran have historically competed.

In his UN General Assembly speech, Pakistani leader also denounces India’s moves to cement control of Muslim-majority Kashmir. Khan also spoke about Pakistan's coronavirus response and called for debt relief for poor nations amid the pandemic [Aamir Qureshi/AFP] In a speech to the United Nations, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called India’s Hindu-nationalist government a sponsor of hatred and prejudice against Islam, while denouncing its moves to cement control of Muslim-majority Kashmir. Addressing the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday, Khan said Islamophobia prevails in India today and threatens the nearly 200 million Muslims who live there. “The one country in the world today whe

Armenia and Azerbaijan declared martial law on September 27 after both sides reported heavy destruction and casualties in clashes in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said the government decided to declare martial law and a total mobilization after Azerbaijan launched an air and artillery attack on civilian settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh, including in the regional capital of Stepanakert. Azerbaijan's parliament followed with its own introduction of martial law across the country along with curfews, said Hikmet Hajiyev, an aide to the president. The moves come after morning clashes between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces over the breakaway regio

In a live digital summit hosted by In Defense of Christians (IDC), Founding President of Genocide Watch, Dr. Gregory Stanton received the 2020 Charles Malik Human Rights Award. IDC recognized Dr. Stanton for his tireless work in genocide prevention, specifically for his work with Christians being persecuted worldwide. "Christians in the Middle East and Africa are still persecuted today, driven out of their homes in a plan by ISIS, from Syria by the Neo-Ottoman and Russian invasion, and massacred in Nigeria by Boko Haram and Fulani jihadists. Yet, America and Europe seem powerless to stop this genocidal persecution... We appease the dictators that run Russia, China, North Korea, Turkey, and S

There is no end in sight to the crisis in Cameroon's North-West and South-West regions despite initial ceasefire talks with rebels seeking independence from the government in Yaoundé. The Cameroonian government launched secret talks with jailed Anglophone leader Ayuk Tabe and nine others at the beginning of July in an effort to negotiate a ceasefire with separatists after a four-year bloody civil war that the United Nations says has killed at least 2,000 people. But the crisis is unlikely to be resolved until all the major forces get around the negotiating table and hammer out a deal that responds to the rebels concerns about the English-speaking regions’ marginalisation and governance. Litt

Six decades after effectively gaining independence from France, Mali facing political uncertainty, major security woes. Sixty years since independence, Mali, once again, stands at a crossroads. The new military rulers who last month overthrew embattled President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita named on Monday former Defence Minister Bah Ndaw president of a transitional government, tasking him with leading the country to elections. Colonel Assimi Goita, head of the group of soldiers behind the August 18 coup, was appointed vice president. The announcement, made on state television on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the proclamation of the independent Republic of Mali, marked the latest twist in a d

IMAGE: (L-R) Professor of practice at Syracuse University College of Law David Crane, United Nations Representative from France Gerard Araud, and forensic pathologist Dr. Stuart Hamilton give a report on allegations of torture in Syria at the United Nations on April 15, 2014 in New York City. About 55,000 pictures were taken of victims during the Syrian civil war, which by that point had claimed the lives of about 150,000 people. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) The Netherlands announced on Sept. 18 that it had notified Syria of its intention to hold that government accountable for torture under the United Nations Convention against Torture. The Syrian government responded by sayin

President Ouattara’s former ally says his candidacy is ‘unchangeable and irrevocable’ despite rejection by top court. Former rebel leader Guillaume Soro has warned that Ivory Coast is teetering on the edge after a court invalidated his candidacy amid rising tensions over incumbent President Alassane Ouattara’s contested bid for re-election next month. Ivory Coast’s top court this week rejected 40 presidential candidates, leaving only four in contention in the highly anticipated October 31 election. The Constitutional Court validated Ouattara’s candidacy bid but sidelined both Soro and former President Laurent Gbagbo on the grounds that they had been handed jail terms in absentia. On Thursday

The EU has said it does not recognise Alexander Lukashenko as the president of Belarus, a day after he was sworn in for a sixth term at a secret ceremony. The bloc's diplomatic chief said the unannounced inauguration, as well as his disputed re-election last month, lacked "any democratic legitimacy". The opposition says the poll was rigged in Mr Lukashenko's favour. Mass protests continued in the capital, Minsk, after the inauguration. There were reports of violence by police. The country's electoral commission said Mr Lukashenko, who has been in power for 26 years, won more than 80% of the vote, triggering weeks of protests in the former Soviet republic. Several hundred people attended Mr L

Since 2012, Genocide Watch has issued Genocide Warnings for Nigeria because of Boko Haram, an Islamist terrorist group bent on genocide. In fact, it has been the deadliest genocidal group in the world, with at least 27,000 murders. Boko Haram has now pledged its allegiance to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Until 2020, Genocide Watch has said that Fulani jihadists have been carrying out "genocidal massacres." The term indicates killing based on identity, but without centralized organization. "Genocide," like that being committed by Boko Haram, requires some organization. That's because of the Genocide Convention's requirement that the destruction of a national, ethnic, raci

On September 18, 2020, Genocide Watch partnered with The Antiquities Coalition and Blue Shield International to submit an Amicus Curiae brief to the ICC. The observations were submitted in the appeal for the Prosecutor v. Bosco Ntaganda case. Bosco Ntaganda, the Former Deputy Chief of Staff and Commander of Operations for the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), was accused of 13 counts of war crimes and 5 crimes against humanity committed in the Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Ntaganda's charges for crimes against humanity included murder and attempted murder, rape, sexual slavery, persecution, forcible transfer and deportation. His war crimes c

China appears to be expanding its network of secret detention facilities for Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, despite official claims that all detainees have been released from the camps. New research from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) suggests that China has continued to build new detention centres in Xinjiang, with a focus on what the thinktank said were high-security "prison-style" facilities. Researchers for ASPI's International Cyber Policy Centre have used satellite imagery to locate and analyse a total of 380 suspected detention facilities in Xinjiang. And despite Beijing's claim late last year that all detainees had "graduated" from the facilities,

Syria's ten-year civil war has killed more than 400,000 people, including over 116,000 civilians. Six million Syrians are internally displaced. Five million more fled Syria and became refugees. Military interventions by Russia, the U.S., and Turkey have prolonged the war. The Assad regime tortures and murders its opponents. Syrian prisons killed up to 13,000 prisoners in just four years according to Amnesty International.  The systematic persecution continues. From 2013 – 2019, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), also called Rojava, successfully created a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society led by Kurds. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), allied w

More than century on, descendants of survivors who returned home open a museum to celebrate and preserve their culture Vakifli, a village in Hatay, the small wedge of Turkey sandwiched between the Mediterranean and the border with Syria, has the melancholy honour of being known as the country’s “last Armenian village”. These days, it is home to just 100 people, but Vakifli’s orange groves and traditional stone houses are rich with history. Every summer, thousands of visitors in search of a connection to their Armenian past descend on the tiny village to visit its church, buy locally made jams and soap, and listen to the West Armenian dialect. Lora Baytar, a journalist and art historian, deci

For Sama, a new documentary from award-winning Syrian journalist Waad al-Kateab, has won global acclaim. She talks about filming and family life on the frontline. The camera focuses on Sama’s face. She is the sweetest baby and looks, at first glance, as though her life might be ordinary. Her eyes are a transitory newborn colour, greyish green, waiting to turn brown. Her gold earrings look over-large in her tiny ears. Sama means sky in Arabic – a sky, as her mother imagines it, where no bombs fall, with ordinary clouds and sunshine. So far, this is footage that could be the work of any doting parent, but Sama’s mother is journalist Waad al-Kateab and this is her documentary For Sama, filmed d

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday to that would block imports from in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) unless proof can be shown that they are not linked to forced labor. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act was introduced in March, amid growing evidence that internment camps in the region have increasingly transitioned from political indoctrination to forced labor, with detainees being sent to work in cotton and textile factories. The House vote of 406-3 for the bill, which requires the Secretary of State to determine if imposing forced labor on Uyghurs and other Muslim Turkic groups constitutes crimes against humanity or genocide unde