Arrest of Félicien Kabuga in Paris has energised search for others accused of playing role in 1994 genocide By Jason Burke Published by The Guardian on November 3, 2020. Félicien Kabuga was detained in Paris on 16 May 2020 after more than two decades on the run. (AFP) No one paid much attention to the stooped old man who lived in the third-floor apartment of the comfortable but unexceptional block in Asnières-sur-Seine, a suburb on the outskirts of Paris . He shuffled off for his daily walks, and muttered inaudibly to those who greeted him. Then one morning in late May, 84-year-old Félicien Kabuga’s neighbours woke up to the startling news that they had been living next to an alleged mass killer. The arrest of Kabuga after a hunt lasting more than the quarter of a century made headlines around the world. Now Kabuga faces charges of playing a key role in the murders of about 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus during the Rwandan genocide in 1994 and is set to face a trial by a special UN tribunal next year. If convicted, he will spend the rest of his life in prison. The arrest has given new energy to the hunt for others on the run and accused of playing significant roles in the genocide. “People think that fugitives are living on an island in luxury but Kabuga was in a [one-bedroomed] apartment for years. Finding them is not rocket science … Justice is slow but will prevail, if there is political will and enough investigative resources,” said Serge Brammertz, the prosecutor who led the hunt . There is now hope that the arrest of Kabuga will not just shock those still fleeing justice, but anyone who is protecting them, particularly officials and policymakers. “We are trying to use the momentum [generated by the Kabuga arrest] to increase cooperation [which] remains very difficult. Replies to request for assistance are very slow,” Brammertz said. An uneducated small trader who became the richest man in Rwanda and close to the elite clique which ran the genocide, Kabuga is accused of raising funds to buy the machetes used by militias to kill hundreds of thousands. He also co-owned an infamous radio station which broadcast messages charged with ethnic hatred, at one point telling armed gangs to “get to work” because mass graves were only “half full”. Kabuga fled Rwanda in the aftermath of the genocide but was forced out of Switzerland after he was identified as he attempted to apply for asylum. He then spent time in what was then Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and eventually in Kenya, where he supported powerful politicians and repeatedly evaded arrest. By 2007 he was back in Europe, and was narrowly missed by investigators when seeking medical treatment in Germany. More recently, Kabuga lived in a series of modest homes around Paris, remaining unidentified despite a $5m (£3.9m) reward offered by the US state department, which named him among the most wanted fugitives in the world. But investigators were closing in. Working with police across Europe , Brammertz used new technology to monitor the movements, finances and communications of the relatives who provided Kabuga’s essential support network. “We had been tracking the movements of all the phones and 15 family members. We could determine that of all of them, one was locked on to one cell tower in Paris. I concluded that this was the hiding place of Kabuga,” Brammertz, who was appointed prosecutor of the UN tribunal in 2016 after successfully tracking Serbian war criminals Ratko Mladić and Radovan Karadžić, said. The Covid-19 lockdown ordered by French authorities meant gendarmes from a newly created unit focused on crimes against humanity could devote more resources to the Kabuga case, and also meant there was little chance of the wanted man moving before a raid could be organised. Though the empty streets made surveillance in the final stages of the investigation harder, the raid was successful. Policemen and prosecutors smashed in the apartment’s door, identified Kabuga with a DNA test, allowed him to make an omelette for breakfast and then took him into custody. Kabuga’s detention was welcomed by victims of the genocide, such as Valerie Mukabayire, leader of AVEGA Agahozo, a group of female survivors. “We were worried that [Kabuga’s] age would impede justice but now we are happy,” Mukabayire, who lost family members including her husband, said. With the arrest of Kabuga and DNA confirmation of the death of the former defence minister Augustin Bizimana, prosecutors have now accounted for two of the three major fugitives indicted by the tribunal. Taking Kabuga’s place at the top of the wanted list is Protais Mpiranya , who was a commander in Rwanda’s presidential guard in 1994. Brammertz last year informed the UN security c ouncil that his office had developed “credible evidence” of the whereabouts of key fugitives and said he deeply regretted South Africa’s longstanding failure to execute an arrest warrant on one important individual, reported by local media to be Mpiranya. “My office is generating valuable intelligence and leads: telephone numbers, places of residence, identification documents, travel details and more. We have submitted numerous urgent requests for assistance – particularly to countries in east and southern Africa – to follow up on these leads … [which] remain unanswered for more than a year,” the prosecutor told the UN. Brammertz told the Guardian that the issue with South Africa was still pending. “I am always careful in publicly blaming and shaming but … [all countries] have an obligation under the UN charter to assist [the tribunal],” he said. One problem faced by investigators is that fugitives often use genuine travel documents issued in false names. Investigators are now trying to establish the motives of those who provided the more than 20 different passports used by Kabuga during his years on the run. These may have been obtained through bribery, or given to Kabuga on the orders of powerful individuals who wanted the accused man to stay hidden and silent. “Some of the people we are looking for are coming from a military background. Some have been involved in exploitation of natural resources. Some have been fighting together [with potential protectors] in the region,” Brammertz said. In September the French supreme court refused Kabuga’s appeal against extradition, which means he will be transferred to the custody of the UN tribunal, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands and Arusha, Tanzania. Last month judges decided he would be sent to a detention unit in The Hague out of health considerations amid the coronavirus pandemic, and be brought before an international judge there for an initial appearance in his war crimes case. At a hearing 11 days after his arrest, Kabuga denied the charges against him. “I have done nothing wrong,” he said. “These are lies. I never killed a Tutsi.” © 2020 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

Central African Republic held presidential and legislative elections Sunday amid fears of violence after a campaign period marked by fighting between rebels and government forces By Jean Fernand Koena Published by ABC News on December 27, 2020 Queue outside a Bangui polling station, December 27, 2020. (Antoine Rolland/Reuters STRINGER/REUTERS) BANGUI, Central African Republic -- Central African Republic held presidential and legislative election s Sunday amid fears of violence after a campaign period marked by fighting between rebels and government forces. Voters came out in large numbers in the capital, while in other parts of the country fewer people went to polling stations because of fears of violence or boycotts by the rebel coalition. Some polling stations remained open late to allow more voters to cast their ballots. Despite calls from the opposition to delay the vote amid the insecurity, the Constitutional Court rejected a postponement. President Faustin-Archange Touadera, seeking a second term, tried to reassure candidates and voters that the voting would be secure. This is the central African country’s first election since a peace deal was signed between the government and 14 rebel groups in February 2019, although fighting continues. “The vote is a right, a right for Central Africans. Each person has the power in the constitution of this country ... each citizen has the right to freely choose his leaders,” Touadera said after casting his ballot. “This is quite important for the Central African Republicans who are searching to get out of these moments of crisis ...the right way ... for the development, the well-being of our country and our population. It is democracy, it is the free choice of the leaders by the people.” Touadera criticized the perpetuation of violence, saying it has dragged the country into chaos and adding that measures will be taken accordingly. Three peacekeepers from Burundi were killed and two others wounded Friday by armed combatants. The U.N. retook the town of Bambari last week from rebels. Rebel groups have also seized several towns near the capital, Bangui, and after forming a coalition, boycotted the vote in some parts of Central African Republic. The U.N. Special Representative for Central African Republic, Mankeur Ndiaye, said he considered the elections in the capital of the country a “success.” “We have observed that the process is going very well, with calm and serenity in Bangui. The population has gone out in large numbers to exercise their right to vote,” Ndiaye said. He said, however, that there were incidents in some regions where ballot boxes were burned and rebel groups tried to prevent people from voting. Catherine Samba-Panza, who was Central African Republic’s transitional president from 2014 to 2016 voted. “I came to prove my determination in a context where there are a lot of rumors. I voted and I encourage my children to vote,” she said. The presence of international forces gave many voters reassurance, according to voter Ousmane Haroun. “The presence of the MINUSCA (U.N. mission) soldiers reassures us,” he said. “There is security, and I think it will be a stimulus for the undecided.” One of the main opposition candidates, Anicet Georges Dologuélé, voted Sunday at Bangui’s Town Hall. “We are determined to turn the Touadera era,” he said. However, in other parts of Central African Republic, violence kept voters from the polls. Many residents of the town of Bangassou in the nation’s southeast were fleeing because of the fighting, residents said. “My wife and children crossed to the other side of the bank towards Congo because of the violence,” said Christian Kombro a teacher from the town. The government blames the unrest on former President Francois Bozize, who returned from exile a year ago and has been blocked from running in the election. He has been accused of joining up with armed groups to destabilize the country and launch a coup. Bozize on Sunday stated his support for the coalition and their boycott of the vote. “Stay home I beg you all ... The organization of botched elections is dedicated to its failure,” he said, calling for dialogue. Rwanda and Russia have each sent hundreds of troops to the country to support the government. Sixteen candidates are running for president, including three women. More than 1,500 candidates are running for 140 seats in the national assembly. More than 1.86 million voters are registered, but more than 598,000 refugees in neighboring countries will not be able to vote, according to the U.N. Parties in the Democratic Opposition Coalition known as COD-2020 last week said seven of its candidates pulled out of the election, citing the violence. The parties had wanted the vote to be delayed, alleging poor preparations and an electoral body influenced by the president. Experts warn of a strong chance of further violence if the opposition doesn’t accept the election results. The mineral-rich Central African Republic has faced deadly inter-religious and inter-communal fighting since 2013, when predominantly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power from Bozize after long claiming marginalization. Resistance to Seleka rule eventually led to Muslims being targeted en masse, with some beaten to death, mosques destroyed and tens of thousands forced from the capital in 2014. Despite a 2019 peace agreement between the government and 14 rebel groups, intermittent violence and human rights abuses have continued. The most recent insecurity began after the Constitutional Court rejected the candidacy of Bozize, on the grounds that he did not satisfy the “good morality” requirement. Bozize, who took power in a coup in 2003 and ruled until 2013, faces an international arrest warrant for “crimes against humanity and incitement of genocide.” He also faces U.N. sanctions for his alleged role in supporting the anti-Balaka groups that resisted the Seleka in 2013. AP journalist Carley Petesch in Dakar, Senegal contributed to this report. Copyright © 2020 ABC News Internet Ventures. All rights reserved.

Women in conflict-hit Northwest and Southwest regions speak of a pervasive fear of sexual assault and violence perpetrated by armed separatists, military personnel and civilians. By Jess Craig Buea, Cameroon – Every day, Gladys, a 33-year-old vendor in Buea, the capital of Cameroon’s Southwest region, heads to Muea market to sell vegetables, sweets and other food items. “But only after the sun rises,” she said. “All day I worry it will be the day I am attacked by those boys [or] the military.” Gladys’s fear and anxiety are shared by many women across Cameroon’s Anglophone Northwest and Southwest regions, where an armed conflict between separatist groups and government forces has been ongoing since 2016. Al Jazeera interviewed women across the regions, including victims, who spoke of a pervasive fear of sexual assault and violence perpetrated by armed separatists, military personnel and civilians. “Children and women are becoming more and more targeted,” said Esther Omam, a peace advocate based in Buea. “They are becoming the soft spot for this war.” Nkongho Christy Ayuk, a gender-based violence case manager at Reach Out, a local humanitarian organization, said after nearly five years of low-level fighting, the regions have devolved into a state of “lawlessness”. Consequently, sexual and gender-based violence including rape, sexual assault and abduction have become commonplace, according to several local and international human rights and aid groups. And the situation is worsening. Between January and March of this year, there have been nearly 500 cases of rape and sexual or physical assault documented in the two regions, and more than 500 other cases of gender-based violence including forced marriage, denial of economic resources and emotional abuse, data provided by the United Nations showed. Last year, between February and December 2020, the UN documented 4,300 incidents of sexual and gender-based violence across the two regions. Almost half of those were cases of sexual or physical assault or rape, and in more than 30 percent of those cases, the victims were children. In 2019, the UN had documented only 1,065 cases, 289 of which involved sexual assault or rape. “Girls and women will just be walking around; I have witnessed it, my daughter has witnessed it, you just see the uniformed people and they have their guns with them, and they are calling you. You are helpless, you are scared, because they can just pull the trigger,” said a local human rights advocate in Bamenda, the capital of the Northwest region, who asked not to be identified. “So you approach them to hear what they are saying and it’s about ‘Oh you are beautiful,’ or they create a motive asking, ‘Where is your ID card?’ or something that will put you with them and they corner you – they do what they want to do with you.” Civilian toll The Anglophone conflict began in late 2016 when the government used lethal force to put down peaceful rallies by lawyers and teachers protesting against perceived marginalisation by the country’s majority Francophone government. In response, dozens of armed separatist groups formed to fight for an independent nation they called Ambazonia. The UN and the International Crisis Group estimate that more than 700,000 people have been displaced by violence, and at least 4,000 civilian casualties have been recorded. Both sides have been accused of committing atrocities against civilians. Government security forces have razed hundreds of houses and markets across the two regions while separatist groups have carried out abductions and attacked schools and police stations, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the UN. In late February, HRW reported that at least 20 women in Ebam village in the Southwest region were raped by Cameroonian security forces in an attack on March 1, 2020. In a statement last month, Cameroon’s Ministry of Defence acknowledged that the military had carried out operations in Ebam and detained 34 residents for questioning. The statement discredited HRW stating that “this organization has, to the detriment of its credibility, never reported objectively on events in the North-West and South-West Regions, but always opting [sic] at the slightest opportunity for a systematic relentlessness and demonization of the Cameroon’s Defence Force,” but it did not explicitly deny the allegations of rape and human rights abuses. Cyrille Serge Atonfack, the head of the ministry’s communication division, declined to provide further comment to Al Jazeera about this incident or any other allegations that government security forces have carried out sexual or gender-based violence. Armed separatists have also increasingly targeted girls and women, according to rights groups, while gender-based violence perpetrated by civilians has also spiked in the past year, perhaps due in part to national lockdowns imposed by the government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; similar pandemic restrictions have caused an increase in gender-based violence worldwide. Nancy Bolima, executive director of the Bamenda-based Health Development Consultancy Services NGO, said in the face of growing economic hardship due to the prolonged crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, struggling girls and women have been looking “for any kind of business”. “Just anything that they can do in order to have money or have food. And because of that, they have been violated. Even women who are elderly,” said Bolima. Meanwhile, many traditional rulers who would normally enforce law and order in their villages have fled to major cities after being targeted by separatists, leaving a gaping security gap behind. A representative from Cameroon’s Ministry of Women Empowerment and the Family (MINPROFF) also cited rising poverty, homelessness, and widespread school and business closures as factors contributing to an increase in sexual and gender-based violence in the conflict-hit areas in recent years. “The women suffer more when it happens like that because all the anger that the men have is geared towards the women,” the representative said. “And we also have this issue of rape. Because so many houses have been burned down, many young girls are homeless and … are looking for means to earn a living. And so they have this issue of the separatists – some violating them, sleeping with them and even impregnating them,” the representative added. “And then there is this other issue where you also have the military who come and settle in a particular area because of the crisis to guard whatever thing that is happening in that area. They fall into the hands of these young men who sleep with them randomly and make them pregnant.” The MINPROFF representative declined to comment further on specific allegations of sexual and gender-based violence perpetrated by government security forces and separatists. Fombat Forbah Dieudonne, a United Kingdom-based spokesperson for the Ambazonia Restoration Forces, one of the major separatist groups, said any allegations that separatists were perpetrating sexual or gender-based violence against civilians are “false”. Before 2018, Reach Out documented about one case of gender-based violence per month across the Southwest region, but since 2019, they have documented about 3 cases per week. Any statistics on the number of sexual and gender-based violent crimes are likely a severe underestimation of the true burden. Crimes go unreported because of fear and social stigma and a lack of access to health facilities in which to seek care. Some 40 percent of healthcare facilities in the Southwest region are not functioning, according to UNICEF, and many of those that are, do not have protocols or infrastructure to treat victims of sexual and gender-based violence. “People are scared to report because they are not sure they will be protected. So when someone reports an issue, it is more or less because they need to seek medical help,” Bolima said. “Myself, I am living scared,” she added. “Somebody is just looking at you and you are just so scared, you don’t know what is going to happen next. You don’t want to be by a stretch of road by yourself because you are afraid that somebody can just come up and just [kidnap] you and those kinds of things.” In Ekona, a hard-hit village in the Southwest region, the community has banned girls and women from travelling to their farms alone to prevent further attacks in the area, according to a local resident and Reach Out. “Life has just become something else. The frustrations that people are having, they are letting it out on others, maybe through rape, through gender-based violence. And those who are most affected are the girls and the women,” Bolima said. For Gladys, the Buea vendor, freeing women from the constant fear of being attacked will take a long time. “No matter what is the resolution of this crisis, how it ends, women in this place will be scarred,” she said. “Every day we are living in fear.” © Al Jazeera 2021

By Jessa Mellea Indigenous groups marching during a protest in Bogotá. Federico Rios for The New York Times Genocide Watch is issuing a genocide emergency for Colombia. Armed militias are carrying out massacres and targeted killings of civilians and human rights defenders. Police forces are killing and detaining protesters. Despite the 2016 peace agreement, which aimed to end the over five decades of conflict between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), violence remains pervasive in many areas of Colombia . Several rebel groups remain active, including Patriotic Forces of National Liberation (FPLN) , National Liberation Army (ELN) , and offshoots of the FARC formed by dissidents who refused to demobilize, such as the Martín Villa 10th Front. These armed groups function as the de facto police in some regions of the country , imposing stringent rules—including curfews and limits on everyday social and economic activities. Armed groups exact brutal punishments for those who do not comply with their rules: forced labor, sexual violence, and murder. Violence in regions controlled by these groups escalated in 2020, reaching record levels . Since these armed groups lack the military might for direct confrontation with the Colombian army, they frequently retaliate against civilian populations . Armed groups carry out mass killings of civilians. Human rights groups have reported 158 murders of civilians in 2021 alone. Civilians in rural areas are particularly vulnerable to landmines , left behind by armed groups. The Colombian government has been unsuccessful in ensuring the security of civilians, particularly in rural areas, and the deployment of military force has been focused primarily on protecting oil infrastructure . Colombian security forces have also been perpetrators of grave human rights abuses, including opening fire on civilians . In late April 2021, protests broke out , sparked by a now canceled tax bill and driven by rising poverty , unemployment, and corruption. Colombian police forces have used excessive force against demonstrators. Both government sources and NGOs have reported dozens of deaths, disappearances, sexual abuses, and serious injuries related to protests. Police have fired at and killed protesters . Indigenous groups are disproportionately impacted by the violence in rural areas. Most of the clashes between armed groups take place in rural areas of the country, displacing Indigenous groups from their ancestral lands. Many armed groups finance their activities through coca production, causing environmental degradation and humanitarian crises . Human rights defenders and activists, many of whom are Indigenous or Afro-Colombian, are particularly vulnerable to attacks from armed groups. So far in 2021, 67 social leaders and human rights defenders have been killed. Of the solved murders of social leaders, armed groups committed 59% of the killings, unknown perpetrators carried out 39%, and military personnel committed 2%. Due to armed groups' disregard of the 2016 peace agreement and continued forced displacement, sexual violence, and extrajudicial killings of civilians, Genocide Watch considers Colombia to be at Stage 5: Organization and Stage 8: Persecution . Recommendations: · The Colombian government should implement the programs laid out in the 2016 peace agreement: invest in rural areas, provide pathways out of coca production for farmers, and support the reintegration of ex-FARC fighters. · The Colombian government should strengthen protection for human rights defenders and Indigenous groups to permit them to remain in their communities and continue their work. · Donor nations should support efforts to promote human rights and the removal of landmines.

By Jessa Mellea & Faith Marie Stahl Genocide Watch staff have published the twenty-first Timestream in a series of critical genocides in the world. This Timestream covers the Nanjing Massacre of December 1937 in which Japanese forces carried out systematic killings and rape against Nanjing, China's civilians. The estimated death toll is 200,000-300,000, and hundreds of thousands of women were raped. Despite significant and clear evidence of this massacre, Japan has never formally acknowledged this event and continues to deny that genocide occurred in Nanjing. See the full Timestream here and view our other Timestreams here .

By Idrees Ali Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Logan, a Pentagon spokesman, told Reuters that Thailand had invited Myanmar to take part in the annual Cobra Gold exercise, which involves thousands of U.S and Thai military personnel and participants from other Asian countries. Myanmar had been invited to observe the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief portion of the exercise, Logan said. A senior officer at the Directorate of Joint Intelligence of the Royal Thai Armed Forces told Reuters it was unclear whether Myanmar had accepted the invitation but Thailand was eager for them to join. Asked why Thailand decided to invite Myanmar despite concerns over the crackdown against the Rohingya and whether this issue was part of their deliberations, the official said: “That never came up in the discussions. We separated that issue (the Rohingya). We focus on training, on education, on military cooperation. That is our wish, to have Myanmar involved.” “That is politics. We are soldiers. This is a military exercise,” added the official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The Myanmar military did not respond to several requests for comment. When asked whether the U.S. military had attempted to apply pressure on Thailand not to invite Myanmar because of the international condemnation of its crackdown, the Pentagon declined to comment on internal deliberations. Myanmar’s military cracked down on Muslim Rohingya from Rakhine state following Rohingya militant attacks on an army base and police posts in August. The crackdown has caused around 650,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh in recent months. The United States and the United Nations have described the campaign as ethnic cleansing of the stateless Rohingya people. The Myanmar military has said its own internal investigation had exonerated security forces of all accusations of atrocities in Rakhine. But earlier this week, the United States imposed sanctions on 13 “serious human rights abusers and corrupt actors” including Myanmar general Maung Maung Soe, who oversaw the crackdown against the Rohingya. Zachary Abuza, a professor at the U.S. National War College, said inviting Myanmar to the exercise was “outrageous” and sent the wrong message. “To invite them after what the U.S. government has labeled ethnic cleansing, when the Treasury Department just yesterday designated the commander for these egregious violations of human rights, just seems wrong, and that is putting it too mildly,” said Abuza, who focuses on Southeast Asia and security issues, including human rights. In the 2017 Cobra Gold exercise, 29 nations either participated or observed the exercise, including Myanmar. It included about 3,600 U.S. personnel. Cobra Gold is an annual exercise in Thailand. The 2018 war games are expected to be held in February. The United States and Thailand have carried out joint war games for decades, even though Bangkok’s record on human rights and democracy has often been criticized in Washington. The U.S.-Thai relationship cooled when the Thai military took power in a 2014 coup but has improved under President Donald Trump. Two Reuters journalists were arrested in Myanmar on Dec. 12 and on Thursday appeared in court and have been remanded in custody. Reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been in detention for nine days with no detail on where they are being held. They have not had access to visitors or lawyers. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-thailand-myanmar/myanmar-accused-of-crackdown-invited-to-u-s-thai-military-exercise-idUSKBN1EH0PK?rpc=401& (c) 2017 Reuters

By Hyonhee Shin The United Nations’ independent investigator into human rights in Myanmar has called for international pressure on China and Russia to try to get them to oppose human rights abuses in Myanmar. U.N. special rapporteur Yanghee Lee, who was last week barred by the Myanmar government from visiting the country, singled out China and Russia because they had failed to back some moves in the U.N. aimed at trying to halt the Myanmar military’s crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim community in Rakhine province. “I’d like to ask the international community to continue to work with China and Russia to persuade them to stand on the side of human rights,” Lee told Reuters in an interview. Neither has joined the United States, the European Union, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in condemning the crackdown that has led to the exodus of what aid agencies estimate to be 655,000 refugees into Bangladesh. In response to Lee, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that “external actors” adding pressure over human rights will not help to resolve the issue, and may make it more complicated. This would not be in the interests of Myanmar, its neighbors or the international community, she said at a regular news briefing in Beijing on Thursday. “We hope that countries or individuals external to the issue can create a positive environment that is more conducive to Myanmar resolving the issue for themselves,” Hua added. The Russian foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment. The Russian government has previously warned against interfering in Myanmar’s internal affairs. Russia’s ambassador to Myanmar, Nikolay Listopadov has said it is “against excessive intervention, because it won’t lead to any constructive results.” BARRIER TO ICC The Myanmar armed forces are accused by members of the Rohingya community and human rights advocates of carrying out killings, rapes and village burnings, in what top officials in the United Nations and United States have described as ethnic cleansing. The Russian and Chinese stance is particularly important because either of them can block the U.N. Security Council from referring allegations of crimes against humanity to the International Criminal Court in the Hague. The ICC cannot act against Myanmar without a referral because Myanmar is not an ICC member. Myanmar has denied human rights abuses, saying its military is engaged in a legitimate counter-insurgency operation. The military exonerated itself of all accusations of atrocities in an internal investigation, which published its findings on Nov. 13. Myanmar’s foreign affairs ministry has said Lee was not objective or impartial in a report she issued in July, and it wanted a fair investigator. Lee said there had to be a fair, partial and independent investigation. “The families of the victims have a right to know what happened, and I think the people of Myanmar need to know what happened, because we’re seeing, in front of our eyes, the worst humanitarian crisis.” Surveys of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh by aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres have shown at least 6,700 Rohingya were killed in Rakhine State in the month after violence flared in late August, the aid group said last week. The special rapporteur also criticized recent government crackdowns on media in Myanmar, including the arrest this month of two Reuters journalists who had reported on the crisis in Rakhine. She said that the authorities were creating “a national gag” that would prevent journalists from reporting what they see. “That will have consequences on the general public too - people will not be able to speak as freely.” Myanmar has said the reporters “illegally acquired information with the intention to share it with foreign media.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-un/u-n-rights-investigator-calls-for-pressure-on-china-russia-over-myanmar-abuses-idUSKBN1EM0OJ?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FworldNews+%28Reuters+World+News%29&&rpc=401 (c) 2017 Reuters

By Harriet Sherwood April 11th, 2018 Feelings of insecurity are widespread among European Jews as a result of the resurgence of the extreme right, a heated anti-Zionist discourse on the left and radical Islam, according to a global study of antisemitism. Last year the number of recorded violent antisemitic incidents fell by about 9% compared to 2016 – and by almost 50% compared with the 2006-14 average – but there was a notable increase in harassment and abuse, according to a survey published by the Kantor Center. The report highlights a strengthening of the extreme right in some European counties, “accompanied by slogans and symbols reminiscent of the 1930s” and “the intensity of the anti-Jewish sentiments expressed in a variety of ways [...] especially on street demonstrations”. It says this may explain a discrepancy between the levels of fear among European Jews and the actual number of incidents. “Expressions of classic traditional antisemitism are back and, for example, the term ‘Jew’ has become a swear word,” it says. The 105-page report examines the prevalence of antisemitism in Europe, the post-Soviet region, the US, Canada, Australia, South America and South Africa. It records 327 major incidents of violence, vandalism and desecration in 2017, compared with a peak of 1,118 in 2009 and a low of 78 in 1989, the year the study began. It found 30% of attacks were directed at individuals, 20% at cemeteries and memorial sites, and 17% at synagogues. It attributes the decrease to better security and intelligence, more government spending, fewer Jews identifying themselves as such on the street, and the attention of rightwingers diverted to rising immigration. It adds: “But – and this is a major point – this situation is not necessarily perceived in Jewish communities as a sufficient positive development, because the presence of security measures means that they are a necessity, and mainly because it is overshadowed by the many verbal and visual expressions, some on the verge of violence, such as direct threats, harassments, hateful expressions and insults. These take place in working places, schools, universities, playgrounds, near Jewish homes and institutes, on football/soccer fields, during demonstrations in the streets, and all the more so in the social networks.” In the last weeks of 2017 and the first months of 2018 a number of demonstrations took place in different countries after Donald Trump’s controversial announcement that the US would henceforth consider Jerusalem the capital of Israel, the report notes. Reactions to the move included attacks on Jews, antisemitic slogans, including calls for murder, and the burning of the Israeli flag. “These incidents do not necessarily originate in Muslim and Arab circles and countries, but rather come from a variety of groups and circles, from most of the political spectrum, leftwing groups included.” The report says: “The rise of leftist antisemitism that supports radical Muslim anti-Israeli attitudes expressed in antisemitic terms such as in the BDS [boycott, divestment and sanctions] and Antifa [militant anti-fascist] movements, and certainly in the UK Labour party led by Jeremy Corbyn.” Many Jews in the UK were “losing their traditional political home” as a result of feeling betrayed by Labour, it adds. As result of insecurity, an increasing number of Jews were no longer wearing identifying items in public or attending synagogues on Jewish holidays. “Once some Jews do not participate in Jewish traditional gatherings, do not appear in the public sphere identified as Jews, avoid mentioning their real name on the internet, do not openly support Israel, if communities run out of the financial resources given heavy security costs and not much is left for culture and education activities – the ability to live a full Jewish communal and individual life is jeopardised, and so is Jewish identity,” the report says. © 2018 The Guardian

By Harriet Sherwood A Holocaust survivor who became known as the Bride of Belsen after she married a British soldier involved in the liberation of the Nazi death camps has died aged 95. Gena Turgel, who survived the Kraków ghetto, a death march, Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, spent much of her life teaching British schoolchildren about the horrors of the Holocaust. Karen Pollock, the chief executive of the Holocaust Education Trust, said Turgel was “the most beautiful, elegant and poised lady. Her strength, determination and resilience were unwavering, her powerful and wise words an inspiration. “Gena dedicated her life to sharing her testimony to hundreds of thousands in schools across the country. Her story was difficult to hear – and difficult for her to tell, but no one who heard her speak will ever forget. “A shining light has gone out today and will never be replaced.” Gena Turgel is greeted by the Queen at a Buckingham Palace garden party in May 2015. Turgel was 16 when the Nazis bombed her hometown of Kraków, Poland, in September 1939. Two years later, she, her mother and four of her nine siblings moved to the ghetto, with only a sack of potatoes, some flour and a few personal belongings. One brother was shot by the SS in the ghetto; another fled and was never seen again. A sister and her husband wereshot after being caught trying to smuggle food into the Płaszów labour camp, where they had moved. In the winter of 1944-45, Turgel, her mother and sister were sent to Auschwitz. Later she and her mother were forced to join a death march, leaving behind the sister, who they never saw again. They eventually arrived at Bergen-Belsen, where Turgel worked in a hospital. “When I arrived in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, I saw heaps of bodies lying around. Not just one or two, but mountains as high as a tree in the garden,” she told the Sun in 2015. “You could not distinguish if they were men or women – bones, skeletons, children’s bodies. You can’t possibly imagine the state of the place, it was horrendous.” She helped care for Anne Frank, who was dying from typhus. “She was delirious, terrible, burning up. I gave her cold water to wash her down,” Turgel said. “We did not know she was special, but she was a lovely girl. I can still see her lying there with her face, which was so red as she had a breakout. And then she died.” Gena Turgel with a picture of her husband, Norman, one of the first liberators to enter the Belsen death camp on 15 April 1945. On 15 April 1945, the British army liberated Bergen–Belsen. Among the soldiers was Norman Turgel, whom Gena married six months later wearing a wedding dress made from a British army parachute – now in the Imperial War Museum in London. The British press called her the Bride of Belsen. Jonathan Sacks, a former chief rabbi, said Turgel was “one of the most remarkable Holocaust survivors I had the privilege to know”. He said: “She was a blessing and inspiration to our community. Her work to educate generations about the horrors of the Holocaust was as powerful as it was tireless. “Throughout her life, she lit countless candles in the human heart and helped bring much light to the world.” Turgel’s memoir, I Light A Candle, was published in 1987. © 2018 | The Guardian

Could Burkinabe president’s second term see a new approach to security or could spiraling violence trigger civil unrest? By Henry Wilkins On November 26, Roch Kabore won a second term as Burkina Faso’s president, securing a solid mandate for himself and his party in an election deemed by international observers to be mostly free and fair. Kabore’s re-election in the conflict-hit country came despite poor approval ratings for the government’s performance on tackling spiralling violence that has caused a snowballing displacement crisis involving more than one million people and prevented hundreds of thousands of citizens from casting ballots last month. The biggest challenge in his second five-year term will be tackling the insecurity, which hampered the ambitious development goals he set out on coming to power and continues to tear at the social fabric of the country. So, what has defined Kabore’s security policy so far and could there be a change of direction in view of the government’s failure to halt the violence in its first term? Security ‘bubble’ Since 2015, armed groups linked to banditry, al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) have overrun large portions of the country’s north and east. More than 2,000 people have been killed due to the conflict this year alone. Commentators say Burkina Faso has become the epicentre of the wider war against armed groups in the western Sahel. One of Kabore’s crucial political and military strategies has been the creation of a security “bubble” around the country’s major cities. The military has fortified Burkina Faso’s central plateau region, a natural bulwark between the capital, Ouagadougou, and the conflict raging in the north. Abdoulaye Kabre, a taxi driver in Ouagadougou, said he was almost killed when two bullets narrowly missed him when fighters attacked a hotel in the centre of the city in early 2016. Kabre said that although there has not been a similar attack in Ouagadougou for almost three years, he still feels the effects of the conflict. “There is a lot of control over us now. We can’t go [to the north] and [people from the north] can’t come here either. Worse still, because of this situation, we have lost a lot of our clients. Tourists and businessmen aren’t coming anymore,” he said. One group of new arrivals to the city he has noticed is those displaced by the fighting elsewhere. “Just have a look at the traffic lights in Ouaga 2000 [the capital’s most affluent neighbourhood] or the Palace Hotel. There are a lot of [internally displaced people] forced to beg,” said Kabre. Ministers talk openly about wanting to keep displaced people away from the major cities, but observers say in order for the government to address the root cause of the displacement crisis it must pull settlements in the north and east back within the security “bubble”. In June, Kabore visited Djibo – a northern city surrounded by hostile armed groups – in an attempt to reassure citizens they had not been abandoned after a litany of attacks that have severely disrupted supply routes, among others. A local aid worker and resident of Djibo, who spoke to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity, said security in the city has improved somewhat in recent months. Indeed, across the whole country, the number of deaths due to conflict has been going down very slowly since March. Asked whether he felt abandoned by the state, the aid worker replied: “More or less, as our primary needs like food and fuel are really expensive, 1000CFA (US$1.85), for one (33.8fl oz) of fuel … The government is doing a lot but they still need to improve the situation with other methods of peacekeeping … I personally think they should go for negotiation [with the armed groups].” Rejecting negotiations Even though many citizens in rural areas feel disenfranchised and want to see an end to the year-long conflict, during the election campaign, Kabore said he would continue his strategy of refusing to negotiate with the fighters. His political opponents, on the other hand, touted negotiations and, according to analysts, had even taken steps to open channels with rebel leaders. Across the border in Mali, where some of the same armed groups have been operating for longer, the government is bringing armed group leaders to the negotiating table. Rinaldo Depange, West Africa Project Director at the International Crisis Group think-tank, said Kabore’s first term was defined by a “muscular”, confrontational approach to dealing with the armed groups. This was in deliberate contrast to the previous government, which is believed to have prevented attacks in the country by forming a non-aggression pact with the armed groups. Deaths have increased by 8,800 percent ever since this came to an end in 2014. “For Kabore, anything that meant negotiating [with the armed groups] would be, politically speaking, difficult to sustain and to present to his core electorate,” said Depange. “The question now is the ability of Kabore and the government to control the vigilantes he created, especially the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland.” Encouraging vigilantism In January, the government passed a law allowing it to arm and train civilians as auxiliaries to the army. Human rights groups have expressed serious concerns that this will cause more violence than it prevents. Vigilantes have already been accused of killing citizens they suspect of “terrorism”, yet made prominent appearances at Kabore’s rallies during the election campaign. The army and military police, have also been accused of a draconian approach to justice in dealing with terror suspects, including widely reported extrajudicial killings. Al Jazeera has received multiple reports of people, especially ethnic Fulanis, arbitrarily detained by security forces and police on dubious “terrorism” charges. No trial for such crimes has ever taken place in the country while hundreds of suspects languish in prisons. If Kabore fails to address these issues and tackle security in his second term, some observers said there is a strong possibility he will face protests – or even a coup. In neighbouring Mali, growing insecurity in large parts of the country contributed to former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita being overthrown earlier this year by the army in the wake of mass anti-government demonstrations. “We can’t exclude [a coup],” said Siaka Coullibally, a Burkinabe analyst. “Burkina is familiar with them. Since 1960, the county has seen a lot of coup d’etat and political crises.” © Al Jazeera 2020

By Haruna Umar MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Attacks by gunmen suspected to be from Nigeria’s Boko Haram jihadist rebels have killed at least 10 people in Borno state in northern Nigeria, according to local residents. The attackers hit four villages, according to the Borno state government which confirmed the attacks but put the casualty figure at three dead. However, residents said at least 10 people were killed. The first attack was on the town of Azare, where insurgents hit government offices and burned down a police station. Heavy gunfire was heard as soldiers fought the attackers. A soldier, officer and a local self-defense fighter were killed in Azare, residents said. Another attack was on Shaffa, said resident Ibrahim Buba, who said he spent the night hiding in the nearby bush area. He said his uncle, a friend, and five others were killed in the attack . The governor of Borno state, Babagana Zulum visited Shaffa and other villages on Sunday. The attackers targeted schools, shops and places of worship in four villages, according to a statement by the governor’s spokesman, Isa Gusau. “Thousands of bags of farm products recently harvested by farmers were looted by the insurgents who also emptied shops and market stalls,” the statement said. “The governor inspected all destroyed property and ordered the immediate reconstruction of property which includes a police station, market stalls and others.” In Shafa, the governor commended efforts to protect the village by the head of the local defense unit. The governor ordered six patrol vehicles and other surveillance equipment to replace those pillaged by the suspected jihadists. The attacks on these villages are the first in years in the southern part of Borno state. © AP News 2020

By Holly Scala Genocide Watch Country Report: El Salvador February 2021 Monument to the victims of the massacre of El Mozote. Photo: Ernesto Zelaya, Wikimedia Commons Since independence in 1841, El Salvador has experienced endemic violence. Its civil war from 1979 to 1992 between government death squads and leftist insurgents cost 75,000 lives. It has a corrupt national police force. El Salvador has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Over 60,000 gang members control entire cities. El Salvador’s two primary gangs, MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) and Barrio 18, committed over half of El Salvador's 93,000 murders between 1993 and 2017. The El Mozote Massacre of 1981, wiped out an entire village of 978 people, including 533 children. Its perpetrators have not been brought to justice, though a trial against them began in 2016 after a report by a UN Commission of Inquiry. A National Reconciliation Law was vetoed by President Bukele in 2020 because it would have granted impunity for crimes against humanity during the civil war. Women and LGBTQ+ persons are often victims of murder and rape. One woman is murdered every 18 hours. Two out of three (67%) women experience sexual violence in their lifetimes. Abortion is a criminal offense . LGBTQ+ marriage is prohibited. Transgender individuals cannot change their gender on official documents. The Roman Catholic Church supports these restrictions. Violence against transgender persons has resulted in a 41-year lower than average life expectancy for this group. In 2011, El Salvador passed the Law for a Life Free of Violence against Women . It criminalizes various forms of violence against women , such as domestic violence, including marital rape , psychological abuse, and economic abuse. However, it is seldom enforced. Gang terror in many cities and towns has spurred the flight of hundreds of thousands of Salvadorans to the U.S. The U.S. State Department estimated in October 2018 that there are over 71,500 Internally Displaced Persons in El Salvador due to gang violence. Because El Salvador’s violence disproportionately affects women and members of the LGBTQ+ community, Genocide Watch considers El Salvador to be at Stage 3: Discrimination . Besides rampant domestic abuse against women, most of the violence is perpetrated by armed gangs and the corrupt army and police, a sign of Stage 5: Organization and Stage 8: Persecution . Perpetrators of the El Mozote Massacre and other crimes against humanity during the civil war have not been brought to justice, placing El Salvador at Stage 10: Denial . Genocide Watch recommends: · El Salvador’s law “For a Life Free of Violence Against Women” should be enforced after replacement of many of the country's corrupt police. · El Salvador should resume the “El Mozote Trial” of perpetrators of the El Mozote massacre. · The U.S. government should release essential documents from its archives to assist trials for crimes committed during El Salvador's civil war. · El Salvador should vigorously investigate and prosecute cases of femicide. · El Salvador should hire more female police, and it should provide ombudspersons for women to police and the justice system in cases of rape and domestic violence. · The reign of terror of El Salvador's gangs must be defeated by arrests, trials, and imprisonment. · El Salvador should pass legislation prohibiting discrimination against the LGBTQ+ population. GENOCIDE WATCH is the founder and coordinator of the Alliance Against Genocide E-mail: president@genocidewatch.org Website: www.genocidewatch.com Tax exempt EIN: 26-1672589 Download Report