More than a century after the Herero-Nama genocide, Namibian communities are seeking compensation, land redistribution, and a seat at the table. By Nosmot Gbadamosi March 13, 2024 A general view of land reclaimed by a Namibian farm worker is seen on November 26, 2019 on the outskirts of Ovitoto settlement in the Okahandja district area, Namibia. GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES Namibian leaders from the Herero and Nama communities have called for fresh talks with Germany over the return of ancestral land seized more than a century ago. In the early 1900s, German settlers pushed locals off their lands in what was then named German South West Africa—now Namibia—driving some into what were then the British territories of modern-day Botswana and South Africa. Members of two ethnic groups—the Herero and Nama—resisted and were starved to death or put into concentration camps. Namibian women were made to boil the severed heads of their dead so that the skulls could be sent to Berlin for research. An estimated 80 percent of the Herero and 50 percent of Nama population were killed between 1904 and 1908—with the total number of those killed estimated at as many as 100,000 people. Historians have described it as the first genocide of the 20th century. Germany was the third-biggest colonial power in Africa after Britain and France, at one point controlling 30 percent of the world’s diamonds through its exploitation of Namibia’s resources. But awareness of its colonial-era crimes against humanity has been largely overshadowed by the Holocaust, during which Germany’s Nazi government killed 6 million European Jews. Some Namibians have pointed to double standards in the reaction to these genocides. Germany has paid about 82 billion euros in reparations to Israel—including direct payments to victims—but has refused to directly compensate the Herero and Nama. Ancestral land claims in Namibia are a long-running dispute, although fresh tensions have erupted between Namibia and Germany since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Germany’s backing of Israel in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice prompted an angry response from the Namibian government. Germany’s foreign ministry did not respond to Foreign Policy’s request for comment before this newsletter went to press. Today, white Namibians make up 6 percent of the country’s population of 2.5 million but own more than 70 percent of prime farmland. Analysts say that disparity prevents much-needed variation in the country’s agricultural production and a lack of know-how in certain fields. The most fertile land and commercial knowledge is concentrated among white farmers, who largely rear livestock, while the agriculturally unsuitable “communal land” is primarily used by Black subsistence farmers. Persistent and worsening drought conditions have seen the profits of livestock farmers decline—yet, due to the disproportionate focus on livestock production, 80 percent of food consumed by Namibians is imported. “The levels of food insecurity are exceptionally high for Namibia’s GDP per capita and compared to peer countries” concluded one 2023 Harvard University study. “[I]deally the most fertile land would be allocated to the most productive land use types.” To strike a balance, the Namibian government sought to redistribute about 43 percent of fertile land to landless Black communities by 2020, doing so through purchases from white farmers willing to sell. However, by 2018, the government had only succeeded in buying 3 million out of a target of 15 million hectares. The program ended up raising prices, and land was acquired by Russian billionaires and the Namibian elite. Many small-scale Black farmers were also not supported with the commercial training or equipment needed to succeed. “The biggest problem with the land [reform] is that it is not going to the descendants of the survivors of the genocide, but it is going to rich politicians and rich foreign individuals because of the market prices,” said Ina-Maria Shikongo, a co-founder of the Windhoek chapter of the climate justice group Fridays for Future. Germany agreed in May 2021—when it officially recognized the Herero-Nama genocide for the first time—to fund 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) worth of Namibian projects. The money was to be disbursed into existing aid programs over 30 years. However, many Indigenous leaders said they were excluded from the talks, regarded the amount as too small, and did not back the deal. Protests broke out in the capital, Windhoek, denouncing the plan, and the affected communities sued Namibian authorities. A United Nations report published in February 2023 concluded that the joint declaration between Namibia and Germany lacked “meaningful participation” from descendants of genocide victims and did not meet international standards. The original joint declaration from the two governments did not call the payout funds as “reparations” or “compensation” but described them as “grants” over fear of legal claims from other African nations. A class-action lawsuit brought by members of the Herero and Nama communities against Berlin was dismissed by a U.S. court in 2019 because Germany had sovereign immunity. Survivors cited incidents such as a victims’ bones being sold by the wife of a German anthropologist to the American Museum of Natural History as evidence of a U.S. link to the genocide. Germany’s lawyer, however, argued that the country was not obligated to atone because the Genocide Convention did not exist when the atrocities occurred. The German parliament reiterated that position last March, saying that “in the absence of a legal basis, there would be no individual or collective compensation claims of individual descendants of victim groups such as the Hereros or Namas.” Germany and Namibia are co-hosting the U.N. Summit of the Future in New York City in September. That is why Germany “should really think and be able to say what they are going to do for the future generations of the Herero and Nama people” Shikongo said. “Even if they have to redo the whole process, it has to be transparent and not behind closed doors.” “If nothing works out, the only thing that we can lay our hands on is the land because we know where that is,” Mutjinde Katjiua, the leader of a faction of the Ovaherero Traditional Authority, told Reuters. “We know the names of the rivers, we know the names of the farms.” ©2024 Graham Digital Holding Company

July 26 2024: JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African police arrested 95 Libyan nationals in a raid on a suspected secret military training camp on Friday and authorities said they were investigating whether there were more illegal bases in other parts of the country. The camp was discovered at a farm in White River in the Mpumalanga province, about 360 kilometers (220 miles) northeast of Johannesburg, police said. National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said in a post on the social media site X that the Libyans stated they had entered the country on study visas to train as security guards, but police investigations suggest they have received military training. The Newzroom Afrika TV news channel broadcast pictures of the site of the arrests, showing a military-style camp with large green and khaki tents set up in a row. Dozens of men were seen lining up as they were arrested. They were wearing civilian clothing. Local government official Jackie Macie said investigations were ongoing and the owner of the farm would be questioned. He said authorities received information that there were similar secret camps near two other towns in Mpumalanga province. The province borders neighboring countries Mozambique and Swaziland and is an area of concern for South African authorities with regards to illegal immigration. Police and authorities have not said whether the camps are suspected of being connected to a particular group or conflict. Macie said investigations would establish if there was a network of camps in South Africa and show “why they are here doing military training in our country.” Police said the men may be linked to crimes reported in communities close to the farm in recent months. “We have serious cases which have been opened with the police, including cases of rape and armed robberies, which complainants claim were committed by unknown foreigners who seem to be of Asian descent,” said police spokesman Donald Mdhluli. “We take what we have found here today very seriously because we don’t know who was training them, what were they being trained for and why that training is happening here in South Africa. It may be a threat not only to South Africa but also to the entire southern Africa region.” Police said the operation to arrest the Libyans and close down the camp began two days ago. Macie said the Libyan nationals had been in the country since at least April. “The 95 individuals taken into custody are all Libyan nationals and are currently being questioned by the relevant authorities,” Mpumalanga acting provincial police commissioner Maj. Gen. Zeph Mkhwanazi said in a statement. Mdhluli, the police spokesman, said the country’s security regulator had confirmed that the kind of training that appears to have been taking place at the camp was well beyond the scope of training for security guards. “The kind of equipment we found here shows that there was intense military training taking place here. This was basically a military base.” All contents © copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

By Dr. Gregory H Stanton, Founding President, Genocide Watch Presentation to the IAGS/Educators Institute for Human Rights/Alliance Against Genocide Conference on Teaching About Genocide April 25, 2024 Dr. Gregory H Stanton, Founding President of Genocide Watch and Chair, Alliance Against Genocide Using AI to Answer Hate Speech A Proposal for an Artificial Intelligence Corporation to build AI to answer hate speech By Dr. Gregory H. Stanton[i], Founding President, Genocide Watch July 25, 2024 The problem of unanswered hate speech In Myanmar, Facebook facilitated the spread of hate speech and incitement which directly led to the Rohingya genocide and the forced displacement of over a million refugees. Hatred in Myanmar against Rohingya was spread on Facebook and ignited genocide and forced deportation there. Hundreds of thousands of refugees remain in camps in Bangladesh. Meta's WhatsApp is currently being used to spread hate speech and incitements to hate crimes in India. WhatsApp is being used to spread the conspiracy theory of “Love Jihad,” which portrays every mixed marriage as an insidious conspiracy that threatens the “purity” of Hinduism. It is an electrical charge intended to polarize Indian Hindus and Muslims against each other. Kidnapped Yezidi women are still being sold by ISIS on Facebook today. Rohingya and Yezidi plaintiffs and lawyers in Bangladesh and France are filing lawsuits to hold Meta accountable for its role in these genocides. Taking on a giant organisation like Meta will require enormous resources. It may take such lawsuits to hold Meta, X, and other social media accountable for publishing hate speech on their platforms. Lawsuits on behalf of Rohingya and Yezidi victims may put Meta and other social media on notice that they will be held accountable for their complicity in genocide. But lawsuits may not be the best way to convince Meta, X, and other social media to respond to hate speech. I am convinced that Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk and their employees do not really want to be complicit in genocide. They just want to maximize use of their platforms and increase their profits. One of the failures of Meta, X, Google, YouTube, and other social media is that their owners are too often absolutists about free speech. They do not seem to understand that incitement to genocide (or to commit any crime) is not protected speech. Meta has appointed a “Review Board” that always acts too slowly to take down hate speech and incitement in time to prevent it from “going viral.” The “Review Board” may be well intentioned. But it is too slow to prevent hate speech from creating cultures of genocide. The solution is to instantly answer hate speech. Only AI is fast enough to do that. The Genocide Watch Proposal Genocide Watch proposes to start negotiations with the executives who control Artificial Intelligence corporations to jointly establish a non-profit corporation that will build, train, and reach agreements with the major social media platforms to include AI software that will instantly recognize and answer hate speech. These AI programs will be trained to recognize hate speech and incitement in hundreds of languages. They would instantly answer hate speech, rather than just take it down. Only AI is fast enough to do that. AI software that can recognize hate speech in hundreds of languages will cost billions of dollars. Founding and running this corporation will require the enormous resources of OpenAI, Anthropos, Google, X, Microsoft, Meta, and other Silicon Valley corporations. Only the giant IT companies have the money necessary to finance this project. Convincing the owners of social media companies to incorporate such software into their platforms will require that they adopt this corporation and this project as their own. That is why it is necessary to create the corporation as a joint venture that draws on the strengths and expertise of the social media and AI companies themselves. The companies that will use the AI software will own it. The project will be organized by Genocide Watch, the Alliance Against Genocide, and other partners in conjunction with the AI and social media companies that will own and invest in this non-profit corporation. The Alliance, AI, and social media companies and their associated law and venture capital firms have the legal skills and international organizational and financial networks to launch this corporation. The Alliance Against Genocide is uniquely qualified to propose this project to the Silicon Valley corporations. The Alliance has 119 member organizations in thirty-one countries. Its member organizations have hundreds of staff in sixty more. Their staffs speak most of the world’s major languages. The Alliance Against Genocide will work with the social media companies themselves to build this corporation. Social media and AI companies are the only organizations with the global capacity and financial resources to build and staff this AI corporation. The corporation will be funded by investments, not by donations. Although it will be a non-profit, it will be run like an ordinary software company by business professionals. Its products will be adopted by AI and social media companies at the cost of producing them. The AI programs to combat hate speech and incitement will require a vast reach because the AI programs will have to be trained in hundreds of languages. The Alliance has established a partnership with the International Religious Freedom Roundtable which has members from many of the world’s religious denominations, including the Roman Catholic Church, which has churches in nearly every country. Churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples of the world religions have hundreds of thousands of priests, pastors, rabbis, imams, and staff in every country. We will seek help from the Roman Catholic Church, the World Council of Churches, and Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Chinese, and African traditional leaders, as well as from unaffiliated or non-religious academics, ethicists, social scientists, businesspeople, and AI experts. The corporation will recruit the staff that will train the AI software to recognize and answer hate speech. The AI programs that this corporation develops will have to be voluntarily incorporated into dozens of social media platforms. The AI corporation we envision will be a joint venture of the AI and social media companies brought together by Genocide Watch, the Alliance Against Genocide, and other partners.. Genocide Watch will propose founding this non-profit anti-genocide AI corporation with the creators and owners of the major social media platforms and AI software companies. AI could make social media a guardian rather than a threat to mankind. Dr. Gregory H Stanton Founding President, Genocide Watch president@genocidewatch.org [i] Dr. Gregory Stanton is a Yale Law educated corporate lawyer who practised international corporate law with a major U.S. law firm, Foley and Lardner of Milwaukee and Washington, DC. As a practising lawyer, Stanton specialized in establishing joint ventures across international legal systems. He then taught international business law and international human rights law at Washington and Lee University School of Law. During his six years in the U.S. State Department, he worked with the United Nations to establish international tribunals for Rwanda and Cambodia, for which he wrote the statutes and procedural rules. He proposed and lobbied for creation of the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide. He was a Research Professor of Genocide Studies at George Mason University and the James Farmer Professor in Human Rights at the University of Mary Washington.

Armenian Weekly July 24, 2024 By Dr. Gregory H Stanton The genocide we can’t afford to ignore Forced deportation of Armenians from Artsakh (Photo: Siranush Sargsyan) Genocide, alas, has never been more popular. Turn on the news, and you’ll hear supporters of Palestine arguing that Israel’s relentless attack on Gaza, which has flattened the narrow strip and left tens of thousands dead, is a classic case of genocide. In rebuttal, Israelis argue that Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023, which left more than 1,200 dead, was a brutal act of genocide, the single worst massacre of Jews since the ovens of Auschwitz cooled. In Darfur, Sudan, the Rapid Support Forces, the uniformed Arab Janjaweed, massacred 28,000 Massalit people in just one town, El Geneina. They now surround El Fasher, the capital of Darfur. If they take El Fasher, they’ll massacre thousands more. I’m no expert on the complex conflict in the Middle East, which has been raging for more than three millennia. But I am an authority on genocide, having founded Genocide Watch in 1999, written the U.N. Security Council Resolutions that created the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 1994, written the rules for the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in 2006 and served as president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars in 2007-2009. I have an urgent warning: If you truly care about justice, you must pay attention to the world’s most ignored genocide, the one being perpetrated right now by Azerbaijan against Armenians. It’s a bitter irony that Armenians once again find themselves the victims of genocide. This year we commemorated the 109th anniversary of the first widely-recognized genocide in the 20th century, in which more than one million Armenians were slaughtered by the Ottoman Turks. Now, their descendants are again living under genocide’s dark shadow. It’s a sobering reminder of how little we’ve learned from history and how vulnerable we still are to relentless evil. The wars in Gaza and Ukraine have dominated the headlines these last two years. It’s likely that many people haven’t even heard of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), an area claimed by Armenia and Azerbaijan, where 120,000 ethnic Armenians have been subjected to one of the most sweeping forced deportations in recent history. Azerbaijani aggressors deployed genocidal killings and persecution to drive Armenians out of their homeland of thousands of years. It’s Azerbaijan’s systematicity that should give us pause. If you want to understand the genocidal process, and if you’re committed to stopping it wherever it occurs, you’d do well to study the genocidal campaign of Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh. Now Azerbaijan is invading Armenia itself, nibbling away at its border provinces and threatening to seize Armenia’s southernmost province altogether. The genocide claim against Azerbaijan is based on extensive documentation of atrocities committed against ethnic Armenians, including forcible displacement, targeted killing of civilians and prisoners of war and virulent hate speech dehumanizing Armenians. President Ilham Aliyev and other Azerbaijani officials have employed a toxic rhetoric that portrays Armenians as “rats” and “dogs,” creating a culture in which genocide and persecution are not only condoned but encouraged. In December of 2022, Azerbaijan blockaded the enclave, denying vital supplies to Armenian civilians. In an August 2023 report, Luis Moreno Ocampo, former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), described this blockade as attempted genocide, a position since backed by other leading genocide scholars and jurists. Shortly thereafter, in September of 2023, Azerbaijan escalated its persecution by directly attacking the starving, exhausted population, causing the flight to nearby Armenia proper of all 120,000 Armenian residents. It was a massive war crime and crime against humanity. The scale of the forced deportation and aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan should have shocked the world. They should have prompted calls for international intervention to halt Azerbaijan’s aggression and hold those responsible accountable for their crimes. But the U.N., U.S. and E.U. stood by and watched as Azerbaijan invaded and seized Nagorno-Karabakh, forcing its Armenian population to run for their lives. The allegations of genocide against Azerbaijan carry profound implications for international law. They raise disturbing questions about the responsibility to protect civilians in times of conflict and the limits of state sovereignty in the face of genocide. They also underscore the need for a robust and effective international legal framework to address crimes of such magnitude. An Armenian advocacy group, the California-based Center for Truth and Justice, has asked the ICC to investigate the leaders of Azerbaijan. The filing asks the ICC to initiate a preliminary examination into the genocide and crimes against humanity it believes are still being perpetrated by Azerbaijan’s armed forces against ethnic Armenians. This appeal is based on extensive evidence documenting systematic crimes, including forcible displacement, killings of civilians and extrajudicial executions of Artsakh’s elected officials, ordered by Azerbaijan’s leadership under President Aliyev. The ICC’s involvement in the case of Azerbaijan is crucial for several reasons. It sends a powerful message that impunity will not be tolerated and that those responsible for genocide will be held accountable for their crimes. Moreover, the ICC provides a forum for victims to seek justice and redress for the crimes committed against them. Finally, it helps to deter future genocides by demonstrating that the nations of the world are committed to upholding the principles of justice and the rule of law. We cannot be bystanders while Armenians are again subjected to religious persecution and genocide. If we take genocide seriously — not as an empty accusation to lob at our foes but as a reminder that past genocides must never again be repeated — NATO, the U.S., the E.U. and the U.N. must come together to defend people who are victims of genocide. It’s time for world leaders to demand that Azerbaijan stop its genocide and stop its invasion of Armenia. Gregory H Stanton Dr. Gregory Stanton is the founding president of Genocide Watch and chair of the Alliance Against Genocide. He was a research professor in Genocide Studies at George Mason University and James Farmer Professor in Human Rights at the University of Mary Washington. He is the author of The Ten Stages of Genocide. In 2007-2009, Stanton was president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars.

A humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the north of Ethiopia, driven by drought, crop failure and continued insecurity in the aftermath of a brutal war. With local officials warning that more than two million people are now at risk of starvation, the BBC has gained exclusive access to some of the worst affected areas in Tigray province, and analysed satellite imagery to reveal the full scale of the emergency the region now faces. The month of July is a critical period for food security, when farmers need to plant crops to take advantage of the seasonal rains. The satellite images we have identified show that reservoirs, and the farmlands they help irrigate, have dried up because the rains failed last year. They now need to be replenished by seasonal rains if farmers are to stand any hope of a successful season later in the year. The images below are of the Korir dam and reservoir, about 45km (28 miles) north of the regional capital, Mekele. A small lake with an artificial barrier, known as a micro-dam, is clearly visible in the first photograph, taken in June 2023. Below the dam is fertile land irrigated by the reservoir. Systems such as this have been able to support more than 300 farmers growing wheat, vegetables and sorghum - a grain crop. The lower image shows the same area in June 2024, with the reservoir empty and parched fields. Without adequate rainfall, the irrigation system cannot operate and farmers are unable to survive off the land. “Even though our dam has no water, our land will not go anywhere,” says Demtsu Gebremedhin who used to farm tomatoes, onions and sorghum. “So we don’t give up and we hope we will go back to farming.” Food and Security Tigray’s population is estimated to be between six and seven million. Until the end of 2022, the region was engulfed in a bitter two-year war pitting local Tigray forces against the federal government and its allies. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people were killed in the conflict, or died because of starvation and lack of health care. Dozens of displacement camps were set up to provide refuge, and humanitarian support. Now the war is over, some have been able to return home - but most have remained in camps, reliant on food aid being delivered there because the lack of rainfall has meant they have no crops to harvest and eat. One of these camps is near the town of Shire about 280km (174 miles) by road to the west of the Korir dam. Set up by UN agencies, it now provides shelter to more than 30,000 people. The blue tents seen in this satellite image have been provided by the International Organization of Migration (IOM) and the white by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). Tsibktey Teklay looks after five of her children in the camp. Her husband was killed in the war. “We had animals. We used to harvest crops in winter,” she told the BBC in May. “In short, we had the best lifestyle. Now we are down to nothing.” In the camp, she does some cooking and some handicraft work to earn money, but some of her children have had to beg. “I hope I will get my land back at least. Food grown on our land is better than food aid,” she says. “If we can return to our home town, our children can work or go to school. “So I hope that after our miserable life here, this will be the best future for them.” Children Facing Malnutrition The BBC has spoken to doctors at a hospital in the town of Endabaguna, some 20km (12 miles) south of Shire about their growing concerns. “We’ve been treating increasing numbers of children in recent months,” says the hospital’s medical director, Dr Gebrekristos Gidey. One woman - 20-year-old Abeba Yeshalem - gave birth prematurely as a result of malnutrition, he says. At the hospital, Abeba told us: “My husband went away to study, leaving me on my own, and he was unable to help me financially. I don’t have enough food to feed either myself or the baby.“ The dozens of children being treated are not only from families living in the camps, but also those from the nearby towns. “We don’t have the resources to care for all those in need,” says Dr Gebrekristos. Waiting for the Rain The region is facing its most critical time of the year, known as the “peak hunger season” according to Dr Gebrehiwet Gebregzabher, head of the Disaster Risk Management Commission in Tigray. It is a time when food supplies traditionally run low - and crops must be planted to be ready for the October harvest. “There are 2.1 million people that are at risk of starvation,” he tells the BBC, “with a further 2.4 million relying on an uncertain aid supply.“ Data obtained from the Ethiopian government’s meteorology agency shows the consequence of poor rains last year. Tigray’s northern regions and neighbouring Afar both suffered from drought. To the south of Ethiopia, heavy rains caused flooding, with damage to crops and livestock. Rainfall in January and February this year was also below normal in large parts of Tigray, although it improved in some areas in March. Political Tensions Famine “creeps up in the darkness” warns Prof Alex de Waal, executive director of the advocacy group, the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University. He says too little attention is being paid to the crisis. “Famines are man-made, so the men who make them like to conceal the evidence and hide their role,” he says. He says the current situation in Tigray has echoes of the catastrophic famine of 1984 in which as many as a million people died of starvation. “In 1984, the Ethiopian government wanted the world to believe that its revolution heralded a bright new era of prosperity, and foreign donors refused to believe warnings of starvation until they saw pictures of dying children on the BBC news.” Aid agencies have mapped the scale of the crisis facing Ethiopia based on a range of factors, including failed rains, ongoing insecurity and a lack of access for aid distributions. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (Fews Net) describes parts of Tigray, along with neighbouring Afar and Amhara, as facing an emergency. The federal government in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa disputes these warnings of critical food shortages. Shiferaw Teklemariam, head of Ethiopia’s national Disaster Risk Management Commission, told the BBC that based on official assessments “there are no looming dangers of famine and starvation in Tigray…[or] elsewhere in Ethiopia.” He added that officials were “doing their best” to address the challenges facing the country and that “beneficiaries most in need” would continue to be prioritised. Relations between the Ethiopian government and aid agencies have been strained in recent years, amid allegations from the UN that food aid was being blocked from reaching Tigray during the conflict there. In 2021, the federal government denied reports of hunger in Tigray and expelled seven senior UN workers, accusing them of “meddling in the internal affairs of the country”. Then in June last year, the UN’s World Food Programme and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) suspended all food aid to Ethiopia, saying they had uncovered evidence that government and military officials were stealing humanitarian supplies. Deliveries were only resumed in November. There have also been public disputes within Ethiopia about the severity of the situation. In February, after Ethiopia’s ombudsman reported nearly 400 deaths from hunger in the country, including in Tigray, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said: “There are no people dying due to hunger in Ethiopia.” In response to these political tensions, Alex de Waal says aid agencies which are “strapped for cash and averse to controversy” have been slow to respond to the current crisis. A spokesperson for USAID told the BBC they “continue to urge the government of Ethiopia and other donors to increase funding to the humanitarian needs of the most vulnerable”. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) says the funding currently available is “insufficient to meet the extensive humanitarian needs”, but the resources available are channelled “to the most urgent, life-saving response.” Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved.

Sudanese refugees in Adré Chad on June 18, 2023 (Chadian presidency photo) July 23, 2024 (GENEVA) –  The United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan said it recently documented disturbing patterns of grave human rights violations in Chad, calling on the international community to urgently step up efforts to end the country’s ongoing conflict. A statement said the mission, which visited Chad from 30 June to 18 July, met with victims and survivors of the conflict in Sudan as well as members of Sudanese civil society, the diplomatic community and the UN country team. The mission travelled to eastern Chad, including to Adre, Farchana and Abeche. The Fact-Finding mission stressed the need for support while acknowledging the efforts made by Chadian authorities, UN entities and other humanitarian actors. “This crisis requires the support of the international community as a whole,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission, adding “UN entities and humanitarian groups are in dire need of greater financial and other assistance to ensure Sudanese refugees and Chadian returnees have access to basic facilities, including nutrition, hygienic needs, health care, and education.” The Fact-Finding Mission, in a statement Sudan Tribune obtained, also called on the international community to boost humanitarian support to the Chadian communities hosting refugees, citing the immense pressure they are under. Adre, a Chadian border town currently hosts over 200,000 Sudanese refugees. Also contained in the report are accounts of horrific acts of killings, sexual violence including gang-rape, arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances, looting, the burning of houses, and the use of child soldiers. According to the mission, many of the violations appear to be particularly targeted against professionals such as lawyers, human rights defenders, teachers, and doctors. In addition, however, forced displacement was seen as a common feature. “I admire the courage of the many widows we have encountered in the camps,” Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, a member of the UN team said, adding “No one deserves to go through such cruel life-changing experiences. In addition to losing their husbands and partners, these women are assuming alone the responsibility of feeding, educating, and caring for their multiple children, while losing their homes and means of livelihood. They need support at all levels.” There were numerous calls for accountability over various atrocities committed. “It was disheartening to hear the testimonies of the victims of sexual violence,” explained Expert Member, Mona Rishmawi, adding that “This violence appears to take place during captivity and while the women and girls are fleeing. Sometimes it is to punish a woman who is actively standing up for her community. Sometimes it is random and opportunistic. These brutal acts must stop and the perpetrators must be brought to justice. The victims also need strong physical and psychological support, which is unavailable to them now.” Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed thousands of people since it began in mid-April last year. According to the UN, more than 26 million people urgently need aid and are food insecure while more than 10 million civilians have been displaced internally. Copyright @ 2021 | Sudan Tribune. All rights reserved.

The western city of Zawiya was once again the site of armed clashes between rival militias with civilians trapped inside their homes as a result July 24 2024: Clashes broke out between armed groups in Libya’s western city of Zawiya between armed groups late on Tuesday, trapping families inside residential neighbourhoods, medical officials and activists said. Videos and images shared online showed heavy gunfire being exchanged between fighters and streets empty streets due to combat. Activists also circulated video clips showing fearful civilians stuck inside their homes appealing to authorities for help. The Libyan Red Crescent in Zawiya issued pleas for the fighting to "stop immediately", and for a truce so emergency teams can evacuate families stuck in affected areas. "We hope that the security authorities will cooperate with us, as well as the involved parties in this conflict. The families are crying out for help and it is not their fault," the NGO said as cited by the Turkish Anadolu agency. Meanwhile, the Libyan Health Ministry’s Ambulance and Emergency Services warned that "the entirety of Zawiya's coastal road is a source of danger to citizens". No injuries or deaths have been reported so far. As of 21:50 GMT on Tuesday, no information was available concerning the identity of the fighters or the cause behind the clashes, Anadolu said, while the governing entity in western Libya, the Government of National Unity (GNU), did not publish any official statements on the matter. Clashes took place along the main market and Bir Al-Ghanam Road, before extending to Al-Daman Street, the ambulance service said. They later stated that a "safe corridor had been opened for the entry of emergency teams from the Zawiya Branch Ambulance Service, accompanied by the Red Crescent", and that they were preparing to enter the area. The Red Crescent later placed blame on "all military and political parties" for the chaos, holding them responsible for the lives of citizens in Zawiya. Zawiya, located 40 kilometres west of the capital Tripoli, has been the scene of numerous clashes between competing militias over the years. In May this year, one person was killed and 22 people were wounded, while schools were forced to close following fighting in the coastal city. The clashes happened between militias allied with the government of Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, the disputed Prime Minister of Libya under the Government of National Unity. Militias often behave lawlessly and fight each other despite being technically allied with the Dbeibah government. Libya has seen chaos and fighting over the years after the toppling of longtime dictator Muammar Al-Gaddafi in 2011 following a popular revolution that turned into an armed uprising. Since 2014, the country has been divided by rival administrations – one based in Libya’s western capital of Tripoli, and the other in the eastern city of Benghazi. © 2024 The New Arab

People cross the border between Sudan and Chad at a post in Adre on April 11, 2024. Officials say an influx of refugees, armed conflicts, climate change, floods, droughts and agricultural disasters have led to unprecedented food insecurity in Chad. By Moki Edwin Kindzeka YAOUNDÉ, CAMEROON —  Officials in Chad say urgent international help is needed to save the lives of more than 2 million people caught in a severe humanitarian crisis caused by conflicts and climate shocks. Officials say the country is among the poorest nations in the world, and food is particularly scarce now, as hunger peaks in the June-to-August lean season between harvests. Abdelmadjid Abderahim, Chad's minister of public health, said he is pleading with all international partners to help Chad during a severe humanitarian crisis affecting over 2 million civilians in the country of about 18 million people. Abderahim said flooding, an influx of refugees, increasing numbers of displaced persons, and armed conflicts between communities are inflicting suffering on civilians that Chad's government alone cannot meet. Abderahim, speaking Monday on Chad state TV, described the food insecurity and humanitarian crisis as unprecedented. He said the crises are exacerbated by insufficient agricultural production due to climate change, droughts and an influx of destructive migratory birds and crickets. Chad hosts over 600,000 refugees displaced from conflict-ridden Sudan, and their numbers and humanitarian needs are growing. People fleeing the violence in West Darfur, cross the border into into Chad, Aug. 4, 2023. Reuters. Chad is also home to tens of thousands of civilians fleeing violence between rebels and government troops in the Central African Republic. Several hundred thousand civilians displaced in Chad by Boko Haram terrorism are also in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Added to that are the millions of people affected by floods and drought that hit Chad over the past year. Rasit Pertev, representative of the World Bank in Chad, said the World Bank is contributing $60 million to help Chad's government cope, and will mobilize an additional $100 million to assist a government response plan. Last week the World Food Program, the World Bank, the European Commission, Japan, and the United States said they are also contributing to help Chad by distributing food, seeds and sharing cash transfers to families most exposed to hunger. They said the program will target the most affected provinces including Ennedi East, Wadi Fira, Ouaddaï, Sila, Logone Oriental, Lac, Kanem, and Bahr El Ghazal on the border with Sudan. Foreign donors did not say how much they will be giving to assist Chad in the emergency response plan. The plan also envisages the provision of nutritional supplements for children under 2 years old, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers. The World Food Program said to reduce the increasingly severe and recurrent crises, substantial investments in agriculture and support to reduce climate shocks should be intensified. Reinforcing the purchasing power of the most vulnerable populations is also a key to improving living conditions, the WFP added. The World Bank reported that poverty and vulnerability are pervasive in Chad, with over 42% of the population living below the national poverty line. © Voice of America

18 July 2024 | Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Press Release GENEVA/BANGUI – Urgent and concrete action is required to ensure respect for human rights in places of detention in the Central African Republic (CAR), where torture and ill-treatment, illegal and arbitrary arrest and detention, malnutrition and poor healthcare are prevalent, a UN report issued today says. Thousands are currently held in overcrowded places of detention across the country, with limited access to food, water, sanitation and basic healthcare, says the report by the UN Human Rights Office and the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). “The findings of this report are worrying and require urgent and concrete actions from national authorities,” said UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk. “Ongoing reforms in the penitentiary system offer an important opportunity for the Central African Republic to address these human rights violations.” The report, which was shared with the Government for comment, covers the period from January to December 2023, and lists various shortcomings, such as the failure to comply with legal time limits for police custody, recourse to pre-trial detention and poor conditions of detention, as well as the challenges faced by the judicial system. It also highlights key areas of progress by the authorities. The report details a pattern of illegal and arbitrary arrests and detention by army and security forces in the CAR, with more than 1,500 people subjected to such practices in 2023. Additionally, by the end of 2023, 1,749 detainees were awaiting trial in prison, some for nearly six years, the report says. It highlights concerns that detention orders have been issued without adequate examination of whether the detention of the individual in question was necessary and proportionate to the alleged offence. Malnutrition, lack of proper healthcare and poor hygiene conditions have led to outbreaks of diseases in prisons, says the report, calling for sufficient resources to provide for the essential needs of detainees. The report further calls on the authorities to comply fully with legal time limits restricting detention, and highlights that pre-trial detention should remain exceptional, justified by necessity and proportionate to the circumstances. Türk also called on the authorities to carry out prompt and independent investigations in all cases of torture and ill-treatment, and to hold those responsible to account. He urged all partners to support the Government to improve conditions in places of detention. The High Commissioner and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of MINUSCA, Valentine Rugwabiza, recognise the Government’s efforts to address human rights challenges linked to detention. These include holding more frequent criminal court sessions, renovating and reopening three prisons in 2023, and recruiting more penitentiary personnel. In this regard, the High Commissioner and the Special Representative pledged continued UN support to the Government to enhance the respect of human rights and the rule of law in CAR, including in places of detention. To read the full report, click here https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/analysis-deprivation-liberty-central-african-republic-current-situation © United Nations

The notorious 400 Mawozo gang also set fire to the commune police station, a customs control center and several homes BY JUHAKENSON BLAISE | JUL. 22, 2024 PNH specialized force at the funeral of four police officers killed in Pétion-Ville in January. Photos by Marvens Compère for the Haitian Times PORT-AU-PRINCE —  A brutal gang attack led by the notorious 400 Mawozo gang on Sunday in Ganthier, a commune about 19 miles east of Port-au-Prince, resulted in at least two deaths and multiple people reported missing. Led by Wilson “Lanmò San Jou” Joseph, the armed gang also set several properties on fire, including the town police station, customs center and numerous homes, forcing dozens of residents and local police to flee the area. The attack began on Saturday evening in the Tremblay locality within the Croix-des-Bouquets district and subsequently spread to Ganthier. Despite the dire situation, Mayor Jean Vilonaire Victor remained hopeful that peace and security would be restored and that the city would not fall under the control of armed bandits. “What is certain is that the city will not fall into the hands of bandits,” Victor said in a brief conversation with The Haitian Times on WhatsApp, confirming the attack and the resulting casualties and property damage. On Sunday, the sound of automatic gunfire echoed throughout the town, particularly in areas directly affected by the assault, local press reported. The attack on Ganthier followed a three-day joint operation by the Haitian police (PNH) and armed forces (FAd’H) in the Croix-Des-Bouquets area, the stronghold of 400 Mawozo. The PNH and FAd’H agents managed to contain the gang’s advance, but clashes persisted throughout Sunday night, according to Mayor Victor. “Ganthier is still the same; people are forced to run and flee,” a resident, speaking anonymously out of fear, told The Haitian Times. “The armed gangs are still here; they are the ones who make the law.” Violence has been spread by the “Viv Ansanm” gang coalition, which 400 Mawozo is a part of. This violent attack in Ganthier occurred shortly after similar attacks in Gressier and Carrefour less than a month ago, where 28 people were killed. The Ganthier attack followed the release of a video on social media by gang leader Lanmò San Jou (Death Any Day in English), boasting about their new acquisition of weapons and ammunition. Police union calls for tangible actions Prior to the attack, the Haitian National Police Union (SPNH-17) had issued an alert on X (formerly Twitter), indicating that they had information suggesting the Ganthier police station was a potential target. The union requested assistance from the PNH director general and West Department police to support the threatened officers in Ganthier, who ultimately had to flee. “If there are authorities, these disturbances cannot continue,” SPNH-17 stated. “We regret that despite the presence of new authorities at the head of the country and the Haitian National Police, bandits continue to take control of other territories.” Union officials called on the PNH’s new director general, Rameau Normil, to deliver tangible results to curb gang activities. They criticized the authorities’ inaction, which they said had contributed to the loss of Ganthier’s police station and the loss of lives. Awaiting major anti-gang operations Despite the ongoing resurgence of escalating gang violence, Haitians are still awaiting major anti-gang operations, particularly in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince. On top of the attacks resulting in numerous deaths, forced displacements, and property damage, the Haitian police also recorded seven cases of kidnapping during the first two weeks of July. Until now, no major operations have been conducted to confront the gangs in controlled territories. Many have hoped that the beginning of the Kenya-led Multinational Security and Support (MSS) mission deployment, with the arrival of 400 Kenyan police officers in Haiti, would help move things quicker. On July 18, Haiti’s transitional authorities declared a state of security emergency for one month in several parts of the country, including municipalities in the West and Artibonite departments, as part of broader efforts to restore order and initiate operations to reclaim territories held by gangs. Prime Minister Garry Conille announced the decision, saying he was optimistic about his government’s ability to restore stability and reassert state authority in the country. “I announce to you that, with the support of the presidential council, we will implement a set of concrete and decisive measures to combat insecurity and restore peace in the country,” said Conille in his address. “These initiatives will mark a major turning point in our battle against this ordeal.” © 2024 The Haitian Times

Philip Obaji Jr. | 23 July 2024 A rise in sexual violence means food prices have leapt in CAR as women and girls say they fear working in the fields. The two sisters had just arrived at their family’s field when two Russian mercenaries showed up. They held the girls at gunpoint and took turns raping them. “We told them we were virgins and begged them not to touch us. But they wouldn’t listen,” says Koko*. She was 17 when the attack happened on a Saturday morning last September in the family’s field of yams and cassava in Ngaguene village, near the Central African Republic (CAR) town of Bouar. "Whenever we tried to scream for help, they used their Koko was 17 when she and her 15-year-old sister hands to cover our mouths so that nobody could hear were raped in her family's fields in Central African us," she says. Republic. | Photograph: Philip Obaji Jr It was her younger sister’s 15th birthday. She was pinned to the ground by one of the men, then slapped and punched in the face. “There were wounds all over her face,” says Koko. “She was beaten to a point where she could barely talk or even see clearly.” Allegations of rape by Russian mercenaries, who have a large presence in CAR’s restive north-west region, have escalated in recent months. Women and girls are avoiding going to the fields and markets, and food shortages are being reported as a result. In and around Bouar, a market town lying on the main road from the country’s capital, Bangui, to the border with Cameroon, traders who buy crops directly from farmers say they have listened to numerous young women tell how they were raped in farms by “white soldiers”, as locals call the Russian mercenaries. “Since September last year, more than 10 girls have described how they were raped by white soldiers in their farms,” says Félicité Padou, a 65-year-old trader at the busy market. “Our daughters are no longer safe in their own farmlands.” Sexual violence is growing in CAR, a country blighted by years of conflict and instability. Last year, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), reported that between 2018 and 2022 it took care of more than 19,500 survivors of sexual abuse across the central African nation. During the same period, the UN documented close to 15,000 other cases of sexual violence in the country. During 11 years of conflict, armed groups have used rape and sexual slavery as a tactic of war across the country. Now the Russian soldiers, a de facto unit of Moscow’s intelligence services, have become notorious for the abuse of CAR’s women and children. The Russians are operating under a mercenary structure referred to as the Africa Corps, part of the Expeditionary Corps, the new umbrella entity into which the Wagner group, the Russian state-backed mercenaries, has been subsumed since the death Russian mercenaries from Sewa security, a private of its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in a plane crash security company that was a proxy for Russia's almost a year ago. Wagner group, on duty in Berengo, CAR. Photograph: Florent Vergnes/AFP/Getty CAR is one of the most dangerous places in the world for women. Every hour, two people in the poverty-stricken nation are subjected to gender-based violence, according to a UN report, which drew its statistics only from cases where the survivors allowed their information to be shared. About 75% of CAR’s population, particularly women, work in agriculture, according to the World Bank. The International Fund for Agricultural Development, a UN agency, says the sector employs about 80% of rural people and generates half of the country’s GDP. In Bouar, the country’s fifth-largest town with a population of about 40,000, the growing attacks in the farmlands are having an impact on food production as women stay away from the fields. As a result, some food prices have increased by 50% in the last eight months. Awa was only 14 when she was raped as her grandmother was held at gunpoint. Every hour, two people in CAR are subjected to gender-based violence, the UN says. Photograph: Philip Obaji Jr “Because many women are no longer farming, the prices of foodstuffs are increasing,” says Padou, who has been selling food at the Bouar market for more than two decades. “Everyone is suffering because some heartless white soldiers have turned farms into rape centres.” Last December, Awa* and her grandmother were aware that two Russian mercenaries were behind them as they walked their usual three-mile journey to their fields on the outskirts of Bouar. Then the men caught up with them. One grabbed Awa while the other trained his gun on her grandmother. “I was raped by the two men,” says Awa, who was not yet 15. “They ordered my grandmother to lie on the ground with her forehead touching the grass while they abused me.” Like most women and girls, Awa did not alert the police. “The white soldiers are above the law,” says Sandrine*, Awa’s grandmother. “Nobody will punish them for what they did.” Awa did not seek or receive any medical attention. Her mother and grandmother, like many women in CAR, feared the stigma that follows speaking up about sexual violence. “If she goes to the hospital, she may meet someone who could judge her or even tell other people about what happened to her,” says Sandrine. “It wouldn’t be nice for her to be stigmatised.” CAR remains one of the most impoverished nations on earth despite its rich natural resources. The country has been in turmoil since 2013, when the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels ousted President François Bozize and seized power. The mainly Christian anti-balaka movement took up arms against Muslims in retaliation, leading to an arms embargo imposed by the UN. An aerial view of Bouar, where output from farming has fallen dramatically as sexual violence against women rises. Photograph: Camille Laffont/AFP/Getty Images In 2017, barely a year after President Faustin-Archange Touadéra came to power, he turned to Russia for military assistance, securing arms and fighters drawn from the notorious Wagner group, which has since been exploiting CAR’s gold and diamond resources. Reports of rape in Bouar are not new. When rebels from the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC), an alliance of CAR’s armed groups formed to disrupt the country’s presidential election four years ago, captured the town in December 2020, they carried out a campaign of sexual assault, the UN says in a report. Russian mercenaries and CAR forces regained control of Bouar in February 2021. A local community chief explains: “In the past, the few women who were bold enough to report that they were raped said the incident occurred at places where the white soldiers are stationed or when the white soldiers invaded their homes. Now we are hearing many young women say they were raped in their farms by white soldiers.” Awa says she is so traumatised that she fears being alone or going outside. “Whenever I walk on the streets, I fear that someone will attack me,” she says. No officials would respond to requests for comment on the rape allegations. Emails sent to the CAR government and to the defence ministry in Moscow, which supervises Russian mercenaries in CAR, went unanswered. * Names have been changed to protect identities © 2024 Guardian News & Media Limited

New agreement sees removal of banking restrictions and more activity by national airline. July 23 2024: The internationally recognised government of Yemen has signed an agreement with the Houthi movement to "de-escalate" tensions between the two sides, relaxing restrictions on the banking sector and resuming flights by the national airline. According to a statement by the UN, the two sides informed the special envoy of the secretary-general for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, of the new agreement on Monday. Among the points listed in the agreement were "cancelling all the recent decisions and procedures against banks by both sides and refraining in the future from any similar decisions or procedures", as well as "resuming Yemenia Airways’ flights between Sanaa and Jordan and increasing the number of flights to three daily flights, and operating flights to Cairo and India daily or as needed." The government of Yemen, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, has been at war with the Houthis (officially called Ansar Allah) since 2015. The Iran-aligned rebel movement controls the capital Sanaa and most of the country. The fighting has seen much of the country plunged into ruin with hundreds of thousands dead and widespread destruction of infrastructure and food shortages. In December, the two sides in Yemen committed to a UN-led roadmap to end the war, agreeing to work towards "the resumption of an inclusive political process". Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea, in solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza, threw the future of the roadmap into doubt, despite Saudi Arabia's relatively muted response to the attacks. Two other facets of Monday's agreement involved convening meetings "to address the administrative, technical, and financial challenges faced by" Yemenia, which has seen its operations severely reduced as a result of the ongoing conflict and a Saudi-backed land and air siege. It also involves "initiating the convening of meetings to discuss all economic and humanitarian issues based on the roadmap”. The government-controlled central bank in May banned transactions with six banks in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa for failing to abide by an order to relocate to Aden, which is under the control of the Saudi-backed government. The Houthis said the move was a disguised attempt by the United States and Saudi Arabia to exert financial pressure on the Houthi banking system, which uses different bank notes with different exchange rates. In response, they banned any dealings with 13 banks in Aden, preventing people in Houthi-held areas from getting remittances through them or withdrawing and depositing money. Copyright © 2014 - 2023. Middle East Eye. All rights reserved. Only England and Wales jurisdiction apply in all legal matters.