Arab League: Syria reinstated as Assad rehabilitation continues by Kathryn Armstrong for BBC News EPA - Syria's readmittance to the Arab League comes ahead of a meeting in Riyadh later this month Syria is back in the influential Arab League, more than a decade after being thrown out for its brutal repression of pro-democracy protests, which led to the ongoing civil war. The move is further evidence of a thaw in relations between Damascus and other Arab governments. Syria's readmittance comes ahead of a summit in Saudi Arabia later this month that President Bashar al-Assad may now attend. The US and UK have criticised the move. A state department spokesman said Syria did not deserve to be reinstated but that the US supported the Arab League's long-term objective of solving the crisis in Syria. The UK's Minister of State Foreign Commonwealth & Development Affairs, Lord Ahmad, said the UK remained "opposed to engagement with the Assad regime" and that Mr Assad continued to "detain, torture and kill innocent Syrians". In a statement, Syria's foreign ministry said it had received the League's decision "with great attention" and called for "greater Arab cooperation and partnership". Foreign ministers from 13 of the 22-nation group's members were present at the meting in Cairo where the decision to readmit Syria was taken. They stressed the need to end Syria's civil war and the resulting refugee and drug smuggling crises. Growing poverty and lack of job opportunities saw many turn to the drug trade, the BBC reported last year.. A committee involving Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq will be set up to help Syria achieve those goals. The Arab League's secretary general, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said the move was the start of a process to resolve the crisis in Syria, which would be "gradual". He stressed the decision did not mean a resumption of relationships between Arab states and Syria as it was up to each country to decide this individually. More than 300,000 civilians are thought to have been killed and more than 100,000 detained or disappeared during the civil war, according to UN estimates. Roughly half of the pre-war population of 21 million has been displaced, either within Syria or as refugees abroad. Displaced Syrians in the northwest rebel-held area of Idlib have said they are shocked by the Arab League's decision. "Instead of Arab leaders helping us and getting us out of those camps where we suffer and live in pain, they whitewashed the criminal and killer's hands from our blood," one man told the AFP news agency. Another man said the League would pay "the heaviest price" Mr Assad began to regain control over the country in 2015, with the help of Russia - forcing its neighbours to think of a future with Mr Assad in place. Arab moves to restore ties accelerated after the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria in February. Earlier this week, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visited Mr Assad - with some analysts suggesting the visit put extra pressure on Arab nations to bring Syria back into the fold. It follows visits by foreign ministers from Egypt and Saudi Arabia and the restoration of full diplomatic relations with Tunisia. Syria's foreign minister has also recently visited several Arab countries as part of a diplomatic push. The US and UK are among the Western countries that have recently stated they will not restore relations with President Assad's government. © 2023 BBC.

By George Wright REUTERS | The Islamist threat has been growing in Mali (file photo) Islamist militants have attacked a river boat in north-eastern Mali, killing at least 49 civilians, the interim government says. They also reportedly attacked an army camp, killing 15 soldiers, while around 50 militants are said to have died. The government has declared three days of national mourning. The Islamist threat has been growing despite claims by the military that Russian Wagner Group mercenaries are turning the tide of their campaign. The northern city of Timbuktu, about 50km (30 miles) from where the boat was attacked, has been under blockade since the end of last month and there have been several other recent attacks on transport. The BBC could not independently verify the government's latest report, which was read out on national TV. Militants reportedly attacked the boat as it was traveling on the River Niger from the town of Gao to Mopti. The river is a key transport link in a region where there are few quality roads and no railways. Militants also attacked an army camp in the Bourem Circle in the Gao region. The Malian army said on social media that the boat had been attacked around 11:00 GMT by "armed terrorist groups". The al-Qaeda linked group, Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), said it had carried out the assault on the army camp but has not mentioned the boat attack. It is one of several Islamist militant groups operating in northern Mali and neighbouring countries. It has also said it had carried out an attack on Friday, on another military base in Gao, which the army described as "complex" without giving further details. The boat operator, Comanav, told AFP news agency the vessel had been targeted by at least three rockets aimed at its engines, The vessel was immobilised on the river and the army went in to evacuate passengers, said a Comanav official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Mali has been under the control of a military junta since 2020. There was huge popular support for the junta when it seized power after mass protests against then-President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta. People had been angered by economic uncertainty, a disputed election and chronic insecurity. Since then, data suggests Mali's military government has made little progress in its fightback against Islamists who control parts of the country. Mali's military authorities have ordered French troops and UN peacekeepers out of the country and invited Russian contractors to replace them. An insurgency with links to al-Qaeda and Islamic State took root in the north of Mali in 2012. Islamist militants have since gained ground, spreading across the Sahel region, especially to Burkina Faso and Niger. BBC | Mali Map © 2023 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

By Yogita Limaye A civilian bunker set up in a paddy field in a Meitei dominated area The four men kneeling in the makeshift bunker face out over a lush green paddy field, their guns resting on a wall of cement sacks. Bamboo poles prop up the corrugated tin roof. Wearing homemade bullet-proof vests, they train their weapons - mostly old single and double-barrelled shotguns - on a rival bunker less than a mile away. A belt of cartridges hangs from one of the poles. The men are all civilian members of a "village defence force" - among them a driver, a labourer, a farmer, and Tomba (whose name we have changed to protect his identity). Tomba ran a mobile phone repair shop before deadly ethnic conflict erupted in May in India's north-east Manipur state. Warning: This article contains details of violence that readers may find upsetting The segregation of communities in this corner of the world's fastest-growing major economy feels like a heavily-militarised border separating countries at war. "We have to protect ourselves because we don't think anyone else will. I feel scared but I have to hide it," Tomba said. He and the other three in the bunker belong to the majority Meitei community, who largely follow Hinduism. GETTY IMAGES: Paddy fields south of the city of Imphal are deserted following the outbreak of violence A sense of fear is all pervasive in Manipur since shocking violence between their community and minority Kuki groups broke out, marked by brutal killings and sexual crimes against women. More than 200 people have been killed, roughly two-thirds of them Kukis, a collective name for the Kuki, Zomi, Chin, Hmar and Mizo tribes who are mostly Christians. On 4 May, two Kuki-Zomi women were paraded naked by a mob of Meitei men. The younger woman was allegedly gangraped, her father and 19-year-old brother beaten to death. We met her mother. The family can't be identified according to Indian laws on rape. "To see how my daughter was treated, after my husband and son were killed, it made me want to die. My husband was a church elder. He was soft spoken and kind. His arms were slashed with knives. My son was in the 12th grade, a gentle boy who never fought with anyone. He was brutally beaten with rods," she sobbed as she spoke. "He was killed because he ran after them [the mob] to try to save his sister. My daughter has not recovered. They were killed in front of her. "She has trouble eating and sleeping. I can never be at peace after what was done to my family." Despite a police complaint being registered in May, no investigation into the incident took place until a video of it surfaced on social media in July. That's when the conflict in Manipur caught the attention of many in India and around the world. It's also when Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke his silence on Manipur. GETTY IMAGES: More than 200 people have been killed in the conflict, roughly two-thirds of them Kukis Accounts of how the violence started differ. The Meitei community lives mostly in the state's more prosperous Imphal valley, which makes up roughly 10% of Manipur's area. The rest of the state - relatively underdeveloped hill areas - are home to minority groups, among them the Kukis who have been given tribal status. It's a constitutional safeguard aimed at protecting the land, culture, language and identity of India's historically disadvantaged communities. It's also why Meiteis are not allowed to buy land in the hills. Kukis can buy land anywhere in the state. On 3 May, Kuki tribes held rallies protesting against a move to grant tribal status to the Meiteis. Kukis accuse hardline Meitei groups of carrying out orchestrated attacks against minority families living in Imphal and surrounding areas. Meiteis say it was people who participated in the Kuki march who turned violent first. GETTY IMAGES: Security forces have used barricades to guard roads to some villages in Manipur The BBC cannot independently verify what happened, but in the first few days of the violence, those killed were overwhelmingly from the Kuki minority. Hundreds of homes belonging to people from both communities were set on fire or destroyed, churches and temples burnt. Some 60,000 people across both communities are estimated to be displaced, most still living in schools, sports complexes and other shelters, unable to return home. Four months on, the Meiteis and Kukis are completely physically segregated, forbidden to enter areas the other dominates. When travelling the 60km (37 miles) from Meitei-dominated Imphal to Kuki-dominated Churachandpur in the south, we had to cross seven police and army checkpoints. On both sides, we also had to show our press badges and answer multiple questions at checkpoints run by dozens of civilian women. We couldn't have entered without their approval - an indicator of the lack of government control. When we met Tomba at the Meitei bunker, we were struck by how openly he and others were carrying weapons, seemingly unafraid of being caught by the police or security forces. In both Meitei and Kuki areas near the de facto borders we frequently saw civilians walking freely with weapons, sometimes even in the presence of police and security forces. The BBC also saw minors holding guns. "I was trained to use a gun two months ago by former military personnel in my village," Tomba, who's in his thirties, told us. "The villagers collected these guns and gave them to us." He says they are on guard round the clock. "It's mandatory that one man from each family does a shift at a duty post, and one woman is stationed at checkposts. "In our experience the police don't get deployed in time. And we don't trust security forces run by the national government. They are deployed on the Kuki side, so how come the Kukis manage to still come across to our villages?" An explosion which sounded like that of a mortar shell went off as we left the bunker. It's hard to tell which side it was fired from. About two-thirds of those killed in the conflict so far are Kukis Tomba's answer exposes another layer of this complex conflict. The Manipur police report to the state government, run by Chief Minister N Biren Singh. People from the Kuki community have told us they don't trust Mr Singh or the Manipur police. Also stationed in Manipur are troops from Assam Rifles, a counter-insurgency force that reports to the Indian national government. People from the Meitei community have told us they believe Assam Rifles are siding with the Kukis. Thousands of weapons were looted from police armouries in Meitei-dominated areas. The Manipur Police and Assam Rifles didn't reply to BBC questions about whether they have sided with either community and why all armed civilians were not being apprehended and checked for licences. The police directed us to their account on X, formerly known as Twitter, where they have been posting photos of weapons they have recovered and seized. At least six police officers are reported to have been killed in Manipur since the violence began. Assam Rifles sent us a pre-recorded video address by their director general who said they are seizing weapons and performing their duty in an unbiased manner. Less than a mile from Tomba's position, in a similar but opposing bunker, sits Khakham (not his real name), holding a double-barrelled shotgun. From the Kuki-Zomi tribes, he is a labourer and subsistence farmer. "We are not here with evil intentions. We do not want violence. We are compelled to take up arms to defend ourselves against the Meiteis," he said. "There have been instances where the police have allowed them to slip through. They can't be fully trusted," he claimed. Khakham's account of how he got his gun and training was similar to Tomba's. The language of war is in use on both sides. The area between the two bunkers is referred to as the "front line", "buffer zone" or "no man's land". "We can never live together with the Meiteis again. It's impossible," Khakham said. It is easy to understand how the enmity has become so bitter and deep so quickly, when you hear the details of the violence. Abraham and his father Khuma have not yet buried David because they want his case investigated David Tuolor, a 33-year-old Kuki-Hmar man, was part of the Langza "village defence force". David's family says he was captured from his village and killed by Meitei mobs on 2 July. In a video that surfaced online soon after his death, his battered, severed head, is seen stuck on a fence. "It was so painful seeing that. I have trouble sleeping," Abraham, David's younger brother, told us. "I don't even keep his photos on my phone, because when I see them, it keeps coming back. It hurts and I start to think of disturbing things." Abraham says David was tortured and hacked to death, and his remains burnt. They have found only a few bones that they believe belong to him. Five days after David's death on 7 July, 29-year-old Ngaleiba Sagolsem, a Meitei man, went missing from near a Kuki-dominated area in northern Manipur. One day later a video surfaced of him, kneeling on the ground, hands tied behind his back, his face bloodied, crying as he's beaten by a group of men. Two months later another video emerged showing him in the same position, then being shot in the head and pushed into a ditch. Silbiya worries about providing for her sons, four-year-old Ningthouba and seven-month-old Ningthouremba Ngaleiba's family believes he was killed by Kuki men. He had met and fallen in love with his wife Silbiya 10 years ago while they were still at school. "He was a simple man, loved by everyone. He had a childlike quality and loved playing with our children. Our life was filled with joy and contentment," said Silbiya, tears rolling down her cheeks. Their two boys are four years and seven months old. "My elder son keeps asking where his father is. Since we haven't received his body, I sometimes think he'll return. I open the door and look for him. I call his phone," she wept. Linthoingambi's father says she has so many talents - she sewed, she painted and she loved reading In Imphal city, another family is living in despair, desperate for news of their daughter. On 6 July, 17-year-old Meitei girl Linthoingambi Hijam went missing with her male friend Hemanjit Singh near a Kuki-dominated area. Their phones were switched off. With the help of people from his community, her father Kulajit Hijam claims they found the boy's phone was turned on a few days later with a Sim card registered in the name of a Kuki woman. "No one is helping us find out what happened to my daughter. I feel powerless," he said. "I know that if she's able to talk to the people who have her, she'll convince them to let her go. I feel like she is going to surprise me by returning." Lingthoingambi made this piece of embroidery as a Father's Day present for Kulajit last year With no dialogue being facilitated between the two sides so far, and police unable to visit Kuki areas, for people like Kulajit, there is no place to turn to for answers. Land rights only partly explain the tensions. Meiteis have more political influence in the state, with most of its chief ministers belonging to the community. Another point of tension is an influx of people from tribes ethnically similar to Kukis from war-torn Myanmar, which shares a long border with Manipur. Illegal opium poppy cultivation in the hills has also been a source of friction. People from the Meitei and Kuki communities have told us they are unhappy with the Manipur state government - the Kukis accuse it of supporting violence against them, while the Meiteis allege it did nothing to stop the violence from spreading. Manipur Chief Minister Biren Singh's office didn't respond to the BBC's request for an interview or our questions sent via email. Both communities express disappointment in India's national government. "I felt disheartened that Prime Minister Modi only spoke after the video of Kuki women. It made me unhappy. Isn't Manipur a part of India? Then why are we being neglected?" Tomba asks, sitting in the Meitei bunker. The Manipur government is also run by Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). And so, many in the state believe that if the national government wants, it can resolve the crisis quickly. "We haven't heard anything from them [India's government] for months. We feel they do not care about the lives or suffering of so many innocent Indian citizens. We are clearly not a priority," Khakham said, adding that Kukis are demanding a separate administration in the state. Prime Minister Modi has said: "Peace is slowly returning to Manipur." But there have been at least five instances of violence in the past three weeks alone, the latest this Sunday when an Indian army soldier on leave was abducted from his home in Imphal and killed. With thousands of armed, angry and scared civilians, the situation remains extremely volatile. © 2023 BBC.

By Mohamed Ibrahim BBC Arabic UGC | Tuareg rebel groups have released unverified footage of attacks on government Military bases People living in cities in Mali under siege by al-Qaeda-linked militants have told the BBC they are facing shortages of food, fuel and medicine, and rapidly rising prices. The blockades have come as fighting intensifies between the army, who are backed by Russian Wagner mercenaries, and both Islamist groups and ethnic Tuareg separatist fighters. For nearly two months, Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) has been trying to completely cut off the historic northern city of Timbuktu, preventing supplies from getting in. "Dozens of trucks loaded with food and goods used to arrive daily in the city, but now, after the siege, nothing comes," said Omar Sidi Muhammad, who lives in the city and works as a journalist. Most of the supplies used to come to Timbuktu from Mauritania and Algeria. "The price of food that was arriving from neighbouring countries doubled," Muhammad said, adding that basic staples like sugar, flour, oil and baby formula had all been affected. "There is a scarcity of fuel and its price has risen by 80%." REUTERS | Prices of basic goods such as cooking oil have soared since the blockade began on Timbuktu The city has also been hit by rocket attacks launched by the militants. "People are afraid but started to get very afraid, terrified, after the latest developments," he added. "Because of the danger, thousands of people had to leave." The UN estimates that 33,000 people have fled. Timbuktu was occupied by Tuareg rebels following an uprising by separatists in 2012, but they were quickly pushed side by al-Qaeda-linked Islamic groups who imposed a strict form of Sharia, or Islamic law, on the city - forcing women to wear full-face veils, banning music and amputating the limbs of criminals. One couple was stoned to death for adultery. So many people fear a repeat if JNIM does succeed in taking the city. After a year of Islamist rule, Malian government forces, backed by French troops, re-took the city. But those French forces have left the country since the army seized power in 2021, and the UN's peacekeeping mission is also pulling out. Gao, the largest city in northern Mali, some 320 km (200 miles) east of Timbuktu, is also being blockaded by JNIM. The militant group tightened its control over the past week, with a local resident, who didn't want to be identified, telling the BBC that a lack of fuel was crippling the city's electricity supply. Pictures sent to the BBC show the normally busy streets of Gao empty Homes are now only getting power for one hour a day. "People are afraid because of the war," the man said. "They are not happy with the rise of the food prices," he said, adding that costs had doubled. "Quite a lot of families have left the city." The city's economy is normally centred around trade with neighbouring Niger and Algeria but the JNIM's actions have caused many merchants to leave the city and left the streets deserted. 'Ready for battle' The blockade of the two cities has come as competing forces in Mali rush to fill the power vacuum caused by the departure of international troops. The UN announced the end to its mission last June and said its forces would gradually leave the country by December, after Mali's military junta refused to extend their remit. This led to both government troops and Tuareg separatist groups vowing to occupy the force's bases which lie in the north of the country, an area which has been under Tuareg control since a 2015 peace deal. Fighting began in August over control of a UN site in the town of Ber and has intensified since then. JNIM has also taken advantage of the chaos to launch its own attacks on government forces. Tuareg groups say they have attacked five government military bases and said in social media posts last month that they aim to take control of the whole of northern Mali, where they want to establish an independent state, called Azawad. At the same time, the military government has vowed to re-take control of the entire country, and on Monday sent a large military convoy towards Kidal, a northern town which is the main Tuareg stronghold. "We consider security throughout the country to be an absolute priority," Col Malick Diaw, a senior figure in the junta, told the interim legislative assembly earlier this month. "We are working together with [the army] to reconquer our lands, which have long been occupied by hordes of barbarians with no faith, law or religion, whose sole aim is to cause suffering and death to innocent people who only aspire to live in peace." Mohamed Mouloude Ramadan, a spokesman for the coalition of Tuareg groups called the CMA, told the BBC: "We will stop them, we've been getting ready for this for a long time." "We're getting more fighters ready for the battle." Regional crisis The conflict is threatening to spread outside Mali and across Africa's Sahel region, as both the government and Tuareg rebels have called for international support. Tuareg groups in Libya, Algeria and Niger have voiced their solidarity for Mali's separatists, with one Nigerien rebel leader calling on fighters "to join them on the front line". BBC Ben Bella, a leader of the Tuareg CMA alliance, told the BBC: "These statements will be followed by the arrival of fighters from Niger, Algeria and Libya to support us in the battle." "This solidarity will confront Russian expansion in the region through the coup governments in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso." Three weeks ago, Mali's junta signed a mutual defence pact with Burkina Faso and Niger, each vowing to help each other against armed rebellions or external aggression, following a threat by other West African countries to use force to restore civilian rule in Niger. All three countries are under military rule, following coups within the past three years. These have led to French military forces, which were providing security assistance against the Islamist insurgency raging in the three neighbours, pulling out of Mali and Burkina Faso, with preparations to leave Niger underway. Mali has since turned to Russia's Wagner mercenary group for military help, and there have been rumours that Niger and Burkina Faso may follow. Dr Alex Vines, director of the Africa programme at the Chatham House think tank, said that with Niger, and especially Burkina Faso, having their own internal security problems, they are unlikely to be able to assist Mali's armed forces. "What this alliance is unable to do is to provide military solidary to each other," he said. He added that Wagner mercenary forces did not appear to be able to fill the gap left by French forces and that "the Russians have been struggling and the Russians are very overstretched, given their commitments elsewhere particularly with the conflict in Ukraine". Dr Vines warned that failing to deal with the crisis in northern Mali "makes the junta in Bamako vulnerable" and there might be another coup "if the military junta fail to respond to the security challenges they are now facing". Additional reporting by Peter Ball © 2023 BBC.

File: Roma children are discriminated at school from an early age, rights groups warn [David W Cerny/Reuters] Slovakia's school system riddled with institutional racism, fails to prepare for life after school, rights groups say. Romani children in Slovakia are segregated in schools, bullied by teachers and misdiagnosed as mentally disabled because of anti-Roma racism, according to human rights groups. The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) and Amnesty International said on Wednesday that Romani children in primary school, aged between five and 11, were systematically denied their rights to education, trapping them in a "cycle of poverty and marginalisation". The report comes almost two years after the European Commission launched infringement proceedings against Slovakia for discrimination and segregation in education. "Slovakia's abject failure to address deeply ingrained prejudices within the education system is blighting the future of generations of Romani children from the moment they step into the classroom," said ERRC President Dorde Jovanovic. There are as many as 500,000 Roma in Slovakia, mostly in the country's east and south, comprising almost 10 percent of the population. "The piecemeal reforms and periodic declarations of intent by successive governments cannot obscure the fact that the discrimination and segregation of Roma in primary education remains widespread, and that the Slovak authorities are fundamentally failing to address them," the groups said in a joint report. "Under national, European and international law, discrimination in the field of education is prohibited in Slovakia. However, in practice, Slovak authorities have not accompanied the ban on discrimination with concrete measures to address or prevent it," they added. Roma in Slovakia are the second largest minority after Hungarians. Wednesday's report was based on research carried out by the two groups in October and November in four regions: Sarisske Michalany; Moldava nad Bodvou; Rokycany and Krompachy. Robert Kalinak, interior minister, said that programmes to "improve the situation" had been prepared as he accused the groups of exaggerating their claims on segregation, according to local media. Institutional racism Researchers visited six Romani settlements and studied dozens of schools. While many in the country blame Roma for failing to encourage their children to attend schools, little attention is paid to institutional racism, the report said. "Segregation of Romani children in mainstream primary schools persists in Slovakia, either in schools that are fully or primarily composed of Roma pupils, or in Roma-only classes," the report said. "Romani children educated in mixed educational settings [including Romani and non-Roma children] often face racial prejudice and harassment by non-Roma classmates and teachers," it added, calling on the education ministry to address the issue. At one school in Sarisske Michalany, a teacher told researchers that she would not send her own children to a school with Romani pupils. "Did you see the children from Ostrovany [a school for Roma]? How they speak? How they smell? No wonder the non-Roma don't want to be with them … It's a little zoo," the teacher reportedly said. Fabricating mental disability According to a 2016 report by the state school watchdog, 21.74 percent of pupils reported the use of derogatory language, including anti-Roma slurs, by teachers in schools. "In Slovakia, Romani children have been overrepresented in special schools and classes for children with 'mild mental disabilities' for decades," the report said. "Many have been misdiagnosed ... as a result of culturally-biased diagnostic tools and anti-Roma prejudice among psychological and pedagogical experts. These children are condemned to low-quality education and limited opportunities for further education and employment." The report also documented a so-called white flight, when non-Roma parents remove their children from schools when they feel there are too many Romani pupils. "Romani children do not start education on an equal footing with non-Roma children and segregation entrenches inequality at every stage of their lives," the report said. Dafina Savic, founder of Canada-based Romanipe, a group advocating for human rights of Roma, told Al Jazeera: "Segregation not only deprives young Roma from a normal educational experience, but also from eventually successfully integrating into society, since their misdiagnosis prevents them from accessing higher education and certain jobs." Schools across Europe have failed to integrate Roma children, she added, describing persistent racial segregation. "Roma are seated separately from non-Roma children, are placed at the back of the class, or are given a lower curriculum," Savic said. "Educational systems across Europe are not proving safe spaces for Roma children, first and foremost because teachers and administrative [staff] have their prejudices." She said that abuse against Roma would only be wiped out when governments addressed a history of persecution, including slavery, genocide during the Holocaust and forced sterilisation. "It is only then that the emancipation rather than the integration of Roma can occur," she said. "An essential step in challenging the root causes of anti-gypsyism today lies in giving Roma the opportunity to voice their interests and influence the decision-making process which affects them directly." (c)AlJazeera 2017

By James Landale BBC diplomatic correspondent REUTERS The BBC has seen new evidence of the brutal ethnic violence that has swept western Sudan since fighting broke out between two rival military factions in April. Analysis of satellite and social media data reveals at least 68 villages in Darfur have been set on fire by armed militias since the civil war began. The UK Minister for Africa, Andrew Mitchell, told the BBC this bore "all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing". It is the first time the British government has used the term to describe what is happening in Sudan. [Genocide Watch Comment: Genocide Watch rejects the term "ethnic cleansing" which is a euphemism invented by Slobodan Milošević to deny genocide. Ethnic cleansing is not prohibited by any treaty or other international law. What is underway is genocide and forced displacement.] Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who leads one side in the conflict - the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) - told the BBC he would co-operate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to bring those guilty to justice. Much of the ethnic violence is blamed on militias which are part of - or affiliated to - the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group fighting the SAF for control of the country. The RSF has repeatedly denied any involvement in the violence in the region and has called for an independent international investigation. The analysis has been carried out by the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), a research body partly funded by the British government, which is gathering open-source evidence about the fighting in Sudan. They use Nasa heat-recognition technology to identify fires. They look at satellite images to detect smoke and burned-out buildings. They match all that with images from the ground on social media, which are geolocated using maps and photos. The latest verified fires were in a village called Amarjadeed, in southern Darfur, where Nasa and satellite imagery showed burn scars between 18 September and 9 October. This is how the CIR established how one convoy of militia set fire to at least nine villages on one day, 16 August. NASA | On 16 August, satellite images show heat signatures coming from several villages in the region First it used Nasa heat-recognition technology to identify the possible location of fires. Then it used satellite imagery to establish whether any of these fires were associated with any known population settlements. The CIR scoured social media emanating from western Sudan that showed militias torching villages, as well as looting grain, TVs and vehicles. They listened to what the fighters were saying - and examined what they were wearing - to try to identify who they were. The white ribbons some of the militia were wearing indicate they belong to the Bani Halba Arab group, which is loosely affiliated to the RSF. UGC | In videos posted on social media, the militias are seen wearing white ribbons as identification The social media pictures were geolocated, matching what was shown with identifiable mountains and buildings. All this established that fighters began the day setting fire to the village of Buro, before moving north to do the same at Awstani, and then east to other villages. BBC | Satellite pictures taken after the attack on 16 August show the blackened remains of the village of Buro "The scale of what we've been able to document is bigger than what we've ever seen before," says Ben Strick, CIR's director of investigations. "We've documented 89 fires, which damaged 68 villages since 15 April, which is a huge amount. In some of these, it is small buildings that have been targeted. But in some of them, whole villages that have been wiped out. That scale is enormous when we think upon the impact on civilians. "What we're seeing is a pattern of abuses, a pattern of villages being burnt, one after the other, specifically in Darfur, which is where we're seeing some of the heaviest violence outside of Khartoum." Sometimes this is part of infighting between rival Arab groups, other times it is Arab fighters targeting non-Arabs, like the Massalit, the largest local ethnic group centred on the capital of West Darfur, El Geneina. Amin Yakubu and his family were forced to leave his home in Darfur when Arab militias attacked. "We were together one morning in my home, we'd just left the mosque, when a rocket-propelled grenade exploded. My friend's neck was broken, and he lost his life." BBC | Amin Yakubu says he believes no-one is left in his town He stepped over bodies to escape, and still does not know where all his family are. He spoke to the BBC from a refugee camp in eastern Chad, which he managed to reach last month. "The conflict has become an ethnic one. But everyone is equally affected. No-one sleeps at night," he said. "Everyone has to lie flat on the floor all night long, because of the gun battles. Right now, everyone has left our little town. No-one is left there as far as I know." Twenty years ago, hundreds of thousands of people were killed in Darfur amid fighting between non-Arab rebel groups and a militia known as the Janjaweed, which later grew into the RSF. Some Janjaweed leaders and even the president at the time, Omar al-Bashir, have been indicted by the ICC on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, which they have denied. It is feared that similar atrocities are being committed in the region once more, along the same ethnic fault-lines. "What is happening in Darfur is that innocent people are being attacked by militias, particularly by the RSF. They are being hounded from their homes and murdered, women are being raped and attacked, houses are being burnt, crops and cattle destroyed," Mr Mitchell said. "This has all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing. [See Genocide Watch comment below.] And it's going on just as it was back from 2003 onwards. It's going on in the same way today, if anything with even more ferocity." The United Nations is equally concerned. Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the UN's humanitarian co-ordinator in Sudan, has said: "As the fighting spreads, we are receiving reports of increasing cases of sexual and gender-based violence, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention and grave violations of human and children's rights." REUTERS | The UN estimates that 1.2 million people have fled to neighbouring countries since April The aim of the London researchers at the CIR is to gather evidence that could one day bring those responsible to justice. Their website - containing what they have discovered - will be public and constantly updated. In a recent interview in New York, Gen Burhan told the BBC he would support anyone or any group which helped bring what he described as "these criminals" to justice. "We feel responsibility towards the Sudanese wherever they are, be it in Darfur, in Khartoum or any place where they were exposed to the aforementioned crimes," he told me. "We have the desire to co-operate with all, even the International Criminal Court. We can co-operate to present these perpetrators of crime." At least 7,000 people have been killed since the fighting began. The UN says more than five million have been forced from their homes, with many leaving for safety outside Sudan. It also says about half the population - some 24 million people - are in need of humanitarian support. There are fears the fighting could spill over into neighbouring countries and fuel regional tensions. There are also concerns it could become a proxy conflict, amid reports the United Arab Emirates has been giving weapons to the RSF, something Emirati officials have denied. © 2023 BBC. Comment: Genocide Watch does not accept the term "ethnic cleansing", which is a euphemism invented by Slobodan Milosevic to deny genocide. What is happening in Darfur is both genocide and forced displacement, both crimes in international law. "Ethnic cleansing" is not even outlawed by any treaty.

Arif Ahmed felt somewhat relieved as he sat by a muddy body of water in no-man's land along Bangladesh's border with Myanmar. The fate of the Rohingya refugee hung in the balance this week when a plan to repatriate members of the persecuted, mostly Muslim minority from Bangladesh to Myanmar's Rakhine state looked like it may begin on Tuesday. That plan has now been put on hold, but Ahmed and others living in this informal camp near the village of Gundum, less than a kilometre from his home in Myanmar, cannot stop thinking about their possible return. "Bangladesh is not my motherland, Myanmar is my motherland," Ahmed said. "If the situation calms down I want to return home, and with that hope, I'm staying here." Phone service in the camp is spotty, but refugees here regularly climb a nearby hill to get better connectivity. There, they stay on top of developments related to repatriation through Bangladesh and Myanmar government updates on social media. "Every day after the evening prayer we go to the top of the hill and find out [what's happening] through Facebook," he said. The refugees in this camp are just a fraction of the 650,000 plus Rohingya who have fled Myanmar over the past five months following a brutal military crackdown against their community. But many here know they could be among the first to be repatriated because they live in ambiguous territory - no man's land. It's a name that drips with irony. Despite having lived in Myanmar for generations, many Rohingya are denied legal recognition there and are commonly viewed as illegal migrants from Bangladesh. And, although the Bangladesh government says there are now more than one million Rohingya living within its borders, it too does not see the Rohingya as its own. When it comes to nationality, the men who live in this camp are literally without a nation. The location of their camp comes with many complications. Aid agencies can't access the camp directly and Bangladesh's involvement is also limited. Still, they choose to continue living in no man's land. And their hesitancy to move into Bangladesh belies a connection they still feel to Myanmar - the only country they've ever called home - despite the persecution they face there. Ahmed is a man caught in between, both in terms of where he currently lives, and where he hopes to go. The United Nations has called Myanmar's crackdown "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing", and Ahmed was well aware of this reality, and how it makes returning home a distant idea. "They are killing and firing at people, throwing children into fires alive, raping women. It is not a suitable place for anyone to live." Documentation problems Though it is now unclear when repatriation might begin, both Myanmar and Bangladesh say they are working towards it. The governments signed an agreement on the issue in November, and reports indicate 1,500 people would be moved across the border per week. But humanitarian organisations have expressed major doubts over the plan's logistics and worry that there aren't enough safeguards in place to protect the Rohingya upon their return. Rohingya who spoke to Al Jazeera agreed. Community leaders at a nearby camp voiced similar concerns over the weekend, issuing a list of demands for Myanmar to meet before willingly returning to the country. These include the granting of citizenship, legal recognition of their community, and the return of their land. Myanmar has said those who can prove residency in the country can return. But that's much easier said than done, as a long history of Rohingya being denied access to meaningful documentation shows. Ahmed and others who live in no man's land showed Al Jazeera an array of official cards and papers they had been previously issued by Myanmar. But as they excitedly laid them out on a table, it became increasingly clear these documents will likely have little effect if repatriation occurs. None provide them with the citizenship rights they say they deserve, and at best offer temporary status in the country. There's one document that elicits particular emotion in the camp, the National Verification Card (NVCs) - identification given to people while the government decides if they're entitled to citizenship - is seen by many to confirm the outsider status of those who have them. Those who don't are happy to advertise it. "It is for the foreigners only. If you want to stay in Myanmar and get Myanmar citizenship ... then you apply for this card," insisted Ahmed's friend Dil Mohammed, who goes on to make it clear the Rohingya are different. "We are original citizens." Mohammed says he has a different identification, known as a National Registration Card (NRC), which he believes would grant him legal recognition if he were to return to Myanmar. But he is still afraid to return, especially after receiving a message earlier this month. It showed a photograph of his face on an image pushed online by the Myanmar government of alleged members of the Arakan Salvation Rohingya Army (ARSA). The armed group's attack on border posts in Myanmar in August prompted the military crackdown that drove the Rohingya to Bangladesh. When Mohammed saw the online post, which also claimed he was a part of the attacks, he couldn't believe his eyes. "It was very very bad... I was shocked. I don't know ARSA. So why is the Myanmar government accusing me of being with ARSA?" Ahmed listens closely to his friend's story before adding a cynical note. "My photo hasn't come up yet, but it will come. For sure, it will come." http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/01/living-edge-rohingya-avoid-return-myanmar-180125135911993.html (c) 2018 Al Jazeera

As she sits by her son Mohammad Farooq's bedside at a clinic near Bangladesh's Kutupalong refugee camp, Noor Begum is feeling far more optimistic than she was 24 hours earlier. "He had a fever and he was vomiting. He could not eat because of the pain," said Noor, who fled her village of Ludang Para in Buthidaung, Myanmar for Bangladesh as part of the Rohingya exodus that began in late August. Mohammad is suffering from diphtheria - a serious bacterial infection with common symptoms such as high fever, a sore throat, difficulties in swallowing and a swelling of the neck. Rohingya refugees sell aid to fund basic diet "I couldn't breathe. My head was paining ... my body was shaking," Mohammad said lying on the bed at the clinic run by the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) aid group. Until recently, diphtheria had been all but eradicated in Bangladesh but in November, the disease broke out in some of the country's refugee camps, where many from Noor's Rohingya community have arrived fleeing a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar. Nearly a million Rohingya now live in the sprawling refugee settlements in Cox's Bazar near the Myanmar-Bangladesh border. It is a densely populated site where sanitation and hygiene are often poor. Such conditions can create a breeding ground for diphtheria, which is contagious and generally spread among people through airborne droplets passed on from sneezes, coughs or even just talking. Disease outbreak At the clinic, Mohammad was given an antitoxin - a powerful drug that blocks the production of toxins produced by diphtheria bacteria - to fight the disease the day before. "He is now better and I’m so grateful to the doctors," Noor said looking at her son who looked weak, as he lay covered by a grey blanket. "They've taken great care of us and we are so happy." But not everyone has been so lucky. At least 38 people have died since the disease first broke out in the camps three months ago. Of the almost 4,500 treated for the disease by MSF during the period, just over 400 have been given the antitoxin that Mohammad received. This is because the drug is limited in supply, not just in Bangladesh but globally, said MSF officials. Doctors say the antitoxin is reserved for the most severe cases found in the camps. Such patients still need to take antibiotics in addition to the antitoxin. Those with milder cases are only given antibiotics at the largest diphtheria specific centre near the refugee camps. "Unfortunately the criteria needs to be a little bit strict because we need to be able to give it to the really severe cases," Chiara Burzio, a nurse and the medical officer in charge of the diphtheria centre, told Al Jazeera. "We could not give it to all the 4,000 plus [people who have been treated] of course." When diphtheria first began spreading among the Rohingya in Bangladesh, supply of the antitoxin was especially limited, meaning Burzio and others had to make an even tougher call - reserving its use only for those under the age of five. The available supply of the potentially life-saving drug in Bangladesh has since increased, a development that's been welcomed by doctors on the ground. But the antitoxin can also come with serious side effects - such as a serious allergic reaction known as an anaphylaxis - further complicating the decisions for doctors about when to administer it, and to whom. "You can have [an allergic reaction very quickly] ... if it’s a big enough anaphylaxis, you can die in a few minutes," Burzio, 36, told Al Jazeera. Rohingya denied vaccine in Myanmar For Burzio and other medical professionals in Cox's Bazar, fighting diphtheria has required some on the job learning because of how rare the disease has become, particularly in the West. Outside of Bangladesh's Rohingya camps, there have recently been significant outbreaks of the disease in Yemen and Venezuela. "It's quite an unknown epidemic because we are not used to having diphtheria anymore. So it's a new thing," said Burzio, who has previously worked in Liberia and Guinea during the Ebola crisis and war-torn Syria as part of MSF missions. Vaccination has been a key factor in the overall reduction of diphtheria worldwide in recent decades. The outbreak in Cox's Bazar has therefore led medical professionals to believe that the Rohingya did not receive such preventive care in Myanmar. Experts say this isn't surprising, and fits into a broader pattern of exclusion the Rohingya faced in their home country. "Rohingya have for years been denied their basic rights, and restrictions on their freedom of movement in particular have made it very difficult to access the things most of us take for granted, like health centres and hospitals," Laura Haigh, a Myanmar researcher for Amnesty International told Al Jazeera. Rohingya, who are mostly based in the western Rakhine state, have been denied citizenship and have faced widespread discrimination despite living in Myanmar for generations. Bangladesh’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched a vaccination campaign against diphtheria, targeting more than 300,000 Rohingya children between the ages of six weeks and 15 years. Hope for the future Twenty metres away from Mohammad's bed, another Rohingya boy, Ilyas, lies asleep in another shelter in the clinic. One arm stretched across his bed, the other bent near his masked face, the 11-year-old is waiting to receive the antitoxin from the doctors on hand. Doctors usually seek consent for the procedure from parents before moving forward, but Ilyas is an orphan, which means humanitarian workers are scrambling to track down a relative or community leader to get their permission instead. Given the severity of his diphtheria, it’s a race against time. But tracking people down in Balukhali-Kutupalong isn't easy. Ilyas himself has already been referred to a diphtheria centre from another MSF clinic in the area where he initially went for treatment. He is disoriented and can't effectively explain to aid workers where in the camp he lives. Eventually, with the help of another humanitarian organisation, consent is obtained and doctors can move forward with the procedure. They hope the antitoxin will have the same effect it had on Noor's son Mohammad the day before. If it does, and Noor's response is anything to go by, Ilyas will soon have a new lease on life. "We are treated here with fatherly care ... we are so happy and so grateful and we will pray for all [the doctors]," Noor said with her eyes on her son recovering at the MSF clinic. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/diphtheria-clinic-medics-struggle-treat-rohingya-180215120648307.html (c) 2018 Al Jazeera

Denial of the 1995 genocide in Bosnia has become mainstream among Serbian political and academic circles, analysts say. When Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic stated in an interview with broadcaster Deutsche Welle in November that the massacre in Srebrenica was not a genocide, Bosnians weren't surprised. The denial of the genocide began as soon as it occurred in Bosnia's UN-protected enclave in 1995, but many have remarked that it has become increasingly mainstream in Serbian political and academic circles. That explains why an online petition has been launched in Canada by the Institute for Research of Genocide (IRGC), requesting the Canadian government to enact a law making Srebrenica genocide denial a punishable offence. If the petition is adopted, Canada would join nine other countries in Europe including Switzerland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and Macedonia in prohibiting genocide denial. The systematic murder of over 8,000 Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) in Srebrenica by Serb forces in July 1995 was ruled as an act of genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Court of Justice. Theodor Meron, the presiding judge at the ICTY, stated in 2004 that "by seeking to eliminate a part of the Bosnian Muslims, the Bosnian Serb forces committed a genocide." "They targeted for extinction of the 40,000 Bosnian Muslims living in Srebrenica, a group which was emblematic of Bosnian Muslims in general," he said. Fourteen Serb war criminals were convicted of genocide and other crimes at the ICTY including former Military Commander Radislav Krstic, former President of Republika Srpska Radovan Karadzic, and Bosnian Serb Military Leader Ratko Mladic. IRGC says Canada as well as 30 other countries have adopted legally binding resolutions. Yet, genocide denial remains widespread among the Serb population. "I do not think that the terrible crime, the massacre in Srebrenica, was a genocide," Brnabic said in her interview with Deutsche Welle in response to comments that Serbia's chances of joining the European Union are slim if the country refuses to recognise the genocide. "It wasn't done in the name of Serbian people. Serbs cannot be collectively blamed for what happened there," Brnabic said. Convicted war criminals glorified as heroes According to a poll this year, 66 percent of Serbs in Republika Srpska, Bosnia's Serb-run entity, deny the genocide, while 74 percent of Serbs consider convicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic to be a hero. Earlier in December, the chief prosecutor at the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) Serge Brammertz told the UN Security Council that glorification of war criminals and denial of war crimes in former Yugoslavia continues. He added that judicial cooperation in war crimes cases between the countries in the region is at its lowest level in years. "Positive steps are undermined by irresponsible comments from other officials denying what has been established beyond reasonable doubt by the international courts, and portraying as heroes men who committed the most serious violations of international law," Brammertz said. Not only are convicted war criminals and war crime suspects glorified, but they continue to hold public offices in Bosnia and Serbia. Earlier this month, a veterans' association of the Republika Srpska army sent a request to Milorad Dodik, the newly-elected Serb member of Bosnia's presidency, to appoint Milan Jolovic as Bosnia's minister of defence. Jolovic was the commander of the notorious "Drina Wolves" paramilitary unit that participated in the mass killing of Bosniaks in Srebrenica. "We believe that Jolovic is a true patriot. He proved during the war that he will represent the interests of Republika Srpska in the best possible way," the letter by the veterans read. Meron, president of MICT, has expressed "deep concern" that convicted war criminals are glorified as heroes. "The challenges are severe," Meron wrote in a 2017 pogress report to the UN Security Council. Serbian General Vladimir Lazarevic, Bosnian Croat Dario Kordic and Bosnian Serb Momcilo Krajisnik were convicted for "horrific crimes against humanity", yet they were given a hero's welcome upon release from prison with government officials in attendance, the report noted. "All three, as senior officials and commanders, participated in ethnic cleansing and campaigns harming millions and devastating communities. The mentality that can regard those men as heroes is difficult to understand," Meron wrote. Revisionism Denial of facts established in the Tribunal's judgments are widespread in the education system throughout former Yugoslavia, the report noted, where students are taught "widely different and irreconcilable versions of the recent past". In June 2017, Dodik, then president of Republika Srpska and a vocal genocide denier, banned any teaching about the Srebrenica genocide as well as the siege of Sarajevo, denying for the first time that Bosnian Serb forces besieged and targeted civilians in the capital for years. "It's impossible to use here the textbooks … which say the Serbs have committed genocide and kept Sarajevo under siege," Dodik was quoted as saying in local media. "This is not correct and this will not be taught here." Author and genocide researcher Hikmet Karcic told Al Jazeera that genocide denial was limited to specific Serbian academic circles and lesser-known political parties. Now, it's more mainstream, he said. "[It has also become mainstream] among certain leftist circles in the West which is consistent with their support for [ex-Serbian president Slobodan] Milosevic in the nineties," Karcic said. "Islamophobia today is growing and is increasingly connected with genocide denial, relativisation and in some cases even justification." No Serbian president has yet recognised the massacre in Srebrenica as a genocide. Even the Serb-elected mayor of Srebrenica, Mladen Grujicic, denies it. Death threats Canada has already adopted two resolutions recognising the Srebrenica genocide, launched by the IRGC. However, its Director Emir Ramic noted that the process of adopting the first resolution took five years as the Conservative Party - under the influence of the Serbian and Russian lobby - had rejected the resolution. Ramic's work with the institute has made him a target of death threats and verbal abuse for years by genocide deniers. He told Al Jazeera that the threats intensified as discourse changed from denial and relativisation to glorification and triumphalism. However, he says it has made him all the more determined to make sure a law is enacted banning the denial of Srebrenica genocide. If adopted, Canada would make a major contribution in the fight against genocide denial worldwide, Ramic told Al Jazeera. "Denying the genocide in Srebrenica is very dangerous. We need to learn from history, recognise [what happened in Srebrenica] and call it by its real name," he said. "Human rights are under attack worldwide," Ramic added. "Bosniaks, as the only people in Europe who survived aggression and genocide [since the Holocaust], are exposed to unacceptable discrimination not just in the motherland, but in the diaspora as well." "The aggression and genocide in Bosnia have shown that … there aren't adequate mechanisms in place to protect freedom and human rights." The IRGC's petition will be collecting signatures until January 10. Parliamentarian Brian Masse, who sponsored the drive, will then petition the government to reply within 45 days. "We've seen this with Holocaust denial, we've seen this with denial for Rwanda and of course with Srebrenica," said Masse on the necessity of a law. "It's very hurtful for the victims and families of the survivors to continue to wrestle with something based on facts, so the initiative will help inpreventing denial and create awareness that we will never forget." © 2018 Al Jazeera Media Network

Crimean Tatar leaders say they fear another pro-Russian crackdown on the persecuted Muslim community. Bakhchisaray, Ukraine (February 2, 2018) - Mumine Saliyeva cannot forget how masked, gun-toting pro-Russian security officers pounded on her door last October. They arrived to search her apartment and arrest her husband, Seiran Saliyev. "Every day, I check a hundred times whether the door is locked, I get up at night to check, check again before my morning prayer," the fine-featured 32-year-old woman in a white headscarf told Al Jazeera. "The echo of that knock is still in my ears; I can't do anything about it." This was not Saliyev's first search and arrest. In January 2017, the tour guide and amateur wrestler was sentenced to 12 days of detention for "dissemination of extremist materials" - for posting songs of a Chechen folk singer and former separatist fighter that are banned in Russia. In May 2016, Saliyev used a mosque sound system to announce searches in the apartments of Tatar activists. Dozens gathered to witness the searches, and a court later fined Saliyev 20,000 rubles ($350) for "organising an illegal rally." Now he faces up to 20 years in jail for "membership in a terrorist organisation". Pro-Russian police allege he is an activist of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an organisation that strives to peacefully restore a Muslim caliphate and operates freely in Ukraine and many Western nations. But Russia outlawed it as "extremist." In late January, pro-Russian authorities forcibly placed Saliyev in a psychiatric institution in a move that echoes totalitarian Soviet practices of "punitive psychiatry." A slow genocide? The Turkic-speaking, Muslim ethnic group of 250,000, or about 12 percent of Crimea's population, largely resisted the 2014 annexation of Crimea. They held protests, blocked highways and prevented Russian troops, armoured personnel carriers and tanks from entering their villages. While Crimea's ethnic Russian majority mostly welcomed the annexation, the response of Tatars was based on bitter memories drummed into their collective psyche. Imperial Russia conquered their state, the Khanate of Crimea, in 1783, and over the next century, tens of thousands of Tatars fled to Ottoman Turkey. In 1944, their entire community was deported, mostly to Central Asia, for alleged "collaboration" with German Nazis. Almost half of them died of diseases and starvation. Crimean Tatars held Ukrainian and Tatar flags last year while commemorating the 70th anniversary of the deportation of Tatars from Crimea [ File: Getty Images] "During stops, soldiers yelled, 'Got any dead? Bring them out!'" Nuri Emirvaliyev, a frail, 83-year-old historian who was 10 during the deportation, told Al Jazeera while recalling his family's two-month-long journey in cattle cars to Soviet Uzbekistan. After decades of protests, arrests and activists that united the community, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, allowed Tatars to return to Crimea. They never got their property back, and in post-Soviet Ukraine, they faced discrimination and were virtually barred from government and police jobs. And then, the annexation came. "In 1944, we were a nation of 'traitors,' now we are a nation of 'terrorists'," Server Mustafayev, an activist of Crimean Solidarity, a group that helps political prisoners and their families, told Al Jazeera. 'They groped our women' Tatars are not the only group targeted for their anti-Kremlin stance. Pro-Ukrainian, anti-corruption activists and Jehovah's Witnesses have been detained, deported, tortured, sentenced to fines and up to 20 years in jail, rights groups say. But Tatars are by far the largest stratum of Crimea's population to face persecution, and their peaceful resistance is seen almost daily. Dozens flock to each search, arrest or court session. They post videos and comments online, triggering squalls of reposts and media reports. Mere witnessing proves harder than it seems. "They provoked us, groped our women, shot in the air," a white-bearded Muslim man in an auburn astrakhan hat told Al Jazeera, describing recent searches and arrests. Hundreds held single-person pickets throughout Crimea holding banners that read "Tatars are not terrorists" and "Return fathers to their children." At least 72 were arrested and fined, although Russian law does not prohibit such pickets. They collect money to pay the fines - and mockingly hand over buckets and plastic containers full of coins. They hire lawyers, send food parcels and postcards to jailed activists and pitch in to help their families and children. Once a month, they bring the children together for drawing and horse-riding lessons, visits to historic sites - and a chance to share their pain. The children "make drawings of their fathers in handcuffs, tell each other, 'Don't worry, your dad is coming back soon,'" Dilyara Ibragimova, a 30-year-old mother of four, told Al Jazeera. Her husband Timur Ibragimov was arrested together with Saliyev and also faces up to 20 years in jail. David vs Goliath The Kremlin praises Crimea's "comeback to Russia" as bloodless and voluntary. But a day before the March 18, 2014 "referendum", Tatar activist Reshat Ametov was found dead - covered in cuts and bruises, with eyes poked out, next to a pair of handcuffs. Three days earlier, the 39-year-old father of three was forced into a car by three camouflage-wearing pro-Russian "self-defence fighters" during his one-man protest. Since then, more than a dozen Tatars have disappeared without a trace; some were seen kidnapped by burly men, US-based Human Rights Watch said in November. Two were found dead. Hundreds of Tatars, most of them observant Muslims, have been arrested and interrogated, had their houses searched and religious books confiscated. At least 26 were sentenced to up to 15 years in jail on charges ranging from "separatism" to "terrorism" to "organisation of mass riots." Moscow banned annual marches to mark the 1944 deportation, outlawed the Mejlis, their informal parliament, and forced community leaders out. Pro-Russian authorities appoint loyal imams to Crimea's mosques - forcing them to compile lists of possible "extremists" and deliver pro-Moscow sermons. But Crimea's pro-Moscow leader denies any pressure on Tatars. Sergey Aksyonov said in televised remarks last June that "Crimean Tatars are not persecuted." His press service declined to comment for this story. Backed by Turkey Secular and apolitical Tatars also face a crackdown. Security services conduct "anti-terrorism" drills next to Tatar villages, frightening residents with gunfire and explosions. A Tatar boy had his fingers blown off by an explosive planted during one such drill; his relative told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity. Corrupt officials use violence and pressure to expropriate Tatar businesses and assets. Dozens have been fired from state-run clinics and schools because of their ethnicity, and many refuse to work for pro-Russian authorities. Thousands fled for Ukraine and Turkey. Ankara is the most vocal backer of their cause - it finances Tatar groups, lambasts rights abuses and helps release jailed activists, says Timur Akhmetov, an Ankara-based expert on Russia-Turkey ties. "On the other hand, [Turkey's] backing does not harm its ties with Russia in general, and should not create problems for Turkish investments, in Crimea in particular," Akhmetov told Al Jazeera. Community leaders are also worried that pressure and biased coverage in Kremlin-controlled media herald new, bigger purges. "Something similar was happening in Chechnya before the start of the second Chechen campaign, when media actively created an image of a 'terrorist people'," Zair Smedlyaev, a Mejlis leader, told Al Jazeera. "It is very likely that tomorrow, Crimean Tatars will be declared the most terrible criminals, and this will be a pretext for a new genocide." (c) 2018 Al Jazeera https://www.google.com/search?q=al+jazeera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-ab

War monitor says it documented more than 3,000 deaths as the Saudi-UAE coalition intensified raids ahead of peace talks. Rimbo, Sweden - November was one of the bloodiest months in the war in Yemen with at least 3,058 documented deaths, a war monitor has said, as the Saudi-UAE coalition intensified its bombing campaign ahead of UN-sponsored peace talks in Sweden. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) reported on Tuesday that at least 28,182 fatalities were recorded in the first 11 months of this year, marking a 68 percent increase compared with 2017. It said at least 60,223 people had been killed since January 2016, nine months after Saudi Arabia launched a massive aerial campaign against its impoverished southern neighbour, a figure six times higher than the frequently cited UN figure of 10,000. "ACLED's estimation of Yemen's direct conflict deaths is far higher than official estimates - and is still underestimated," Clionadh Raleigh, ACLED's Executive Director said. "Fatality numbers are only one approximation of the abject tragedy and terror forced upon Yemenis from several sides. This cannot be overstated". Yemen has been devastated by a multi-sided conflict since 2014 involving local, regional, and international actors. The Houthis, a group of Zaydi Shia Muslims, exploited widespread anger against President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in 2014 and toppled his government in early 2015, triggering one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Groups such as Save The Children have recently reported that an additional 85,000 children may have died from hunger and starvation since the start of the Saudi-led offensive. The ACLED said the port city of Hodeidah witnessed the greatest escalation of violence in 2018, with an 820 percent increase in total conflict-related fatalities. Fighting in Hodeidah - the main gateway for imports of relief supplies and commercial goods into the country - escalated on June 13 when the Saudi-UAE alliance launched a wide-ranging operation to retake the city from the Houthi rebels. Riyadh and Abu Dhabi see Hodeidah as the main entry point for weapons for the Houthis and have accused their regional rival Iran of sending missiles to the rebels, a charge Tehran has denied. Aid agencies have long warned that the assault on Hodeidah could shut down one of the last remaining lifelines for millions of hungry civilians. Out of a population of 28 million people, a staggering eight million - a number greater than the entire population of Switzerland - are on the verge of famine. Smiles and handshakes The country's warring sides have been meeting in the Swedish town of Rimbo, some 60km north of the capital Stockholm, since Thursday to discuss ways to end the fighting. While they appeared to have reached a stumbling block over the fate of the port of Hodeidah, they edged closer to securing a deal on prisoners on Tuesday. Representatives from the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels exchanged two lists containing a combined total of 15,000 names, according to Hamza al-Kamali, a member of the Yemeni government accompanying the delegation at the talks. Kamali told Al Jazeera that after a closed-door meeting, which included smiles and handshakes, the Houthis were expected to release several high-ranking commanders within the coming days, including the former minister of defence, General Mahmoud Al Subaihi, and relatives of President Hadi. A document obtained by Al Jazeera said the Houthis would release more than 800 teachers, 359 children, 357 tribal figures, 200 Imams and 88 women. The talks in Sweden have come at a critical time as about 20 million Yemenis, more than two-thirds of the country, are going hungry and in urgent need of food assistance. Yemen's currency, the riyal, has depreciated by nearly 180 percent in recent months, pushing even more communities towards starvation. Food prices have increased by an average of 68 percent and the price of commodities such as petrol, diesel and cooking gas has increased substantially. © 2018 Al Jazeera Media Network

Decisions the ICC will have to take regarding the Rohingya case could have international implications. A Rohingya refugee woman who crossed the border from Myanmar a day before, carries her daughter and searches for help, in Palang Khali, Bangladesh October 17, 2017 [Reuters] Over half a million Rohingya have been forced from their homes in Myanmar since 2016, with most crossing the border into Bangladesh. At a time when the number of refugees and internally displaced are the highest in decades globally, addressing root causes and ensuring accountability are important. Representatives of the UN Security Council recently concluded a fact-finding visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh. The possibility of Myanmar investigating and pursuing accountability for the atrocities that have been committed was raised. This has been met with much scepticism, given denial on the part of the Myanmar government regarding any responsibility for the mass exodus of the Rohingya. There are also growing calls for the UNSC to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Recent developments are now refocusing attention on the forced movement of individuals across borders, viewed through the lens of international accountability. Deportation as a crime against humanity In an unprecedented move, the prosecutor of the ICC is seeking to assert the jurisdiction of the court for the deportation of Rohingya from Myanmar to Bangladesh. This is based on Article 7 of the Rome Statute which includes "deportation or forcible transfer of population" as a crime against humanity. In her motion of 9 April 2018, the prosecutor argues that deportation requires the crossing of an international border and hence, the court has jurisdiction - due to the fact that Bangladesh is a party to the Rome Statute, even though Myanmar is not. Judges of the ICC have been asked to determine whether the prosecutor can proceed in this case. As a crime against humanity, "deportation" has been included in the statutes of international and hybrid tribunals for the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Cambodia. However, typically there has been a greater emphasis on crimes considered of greater gravity, often occurring in conjunction with, or the reason for the forced movement of the population. Also, due to the type of conflicts, displacement within borders has been the focus mainly. While open to interpretation, the distinction drawn by the prosecutor is that "deportation" requires crossing an international border, whereas "forcible transfer" relates to displacement within state borders. Hence, the argument asserting jurisdiction of the court hinges upon an essential element - completion of the crime of deportation in Bangladeshi territory. Legal and humanitarian concerns The focus on deportation in the legal submission excludes a wide array of potential crimes identified by UN experts, including gross human rights violations such as killings, enforced disappearances, torture, sexual violence, and potentially, genocide. While the charges filed by the prosecutor are limited, this may not preclude additional charges subsequently, including by virtue of a potential UNSC referral. Fulfilling evidentiary requirements to establish deportation as a crime against humanity will be a challenge, should the case move forward. While the completion of the crime requires the crossing of an international border and access to Bangladesh, the other elements of the crime, such as establishing a "widespread or systematic attack" against a civilian population will require access to evidence in, or from, Myanmar. There have also been concerns pertaining to the process followed thus far. While the Bangladesh government has been asked to present its views to the pre-trial chamber on the prosecutors' motion, the government of Myanmar has not been invited to do so. Further, on the basis of confidential information, a closed session of the chamber and the prosecutor has been scheduled. Such ex parte and closed proceedings have raised legitimate concerns as to the transparency of the proceedings. The focus on deportation also serves to highlight the plight of those individuals - by various accounts numbering 5,000 - who are in "no man's land", stuck between the borders of both countries. For those who have made it to Bangladesh, dire living conditions in the camps are expected to be exacerbated by the oncoming monsoon. A repatriation agreement between Bangladesh and Myanmar - which has not been made public - is yet to be implemented. As Human Rights Watch indicated to the Myanmar government, the terms of the agreement are highly problematic pertaining to essential elements including security of returnees, voluntariness of return, access to land and livelihood, and full citizenship rights. The implementation of the accord has been delayed for a variety of reasons including ongoing violence. The developments at the ICC may put additional pressure on Myanmar and Bangladesh for the modification and implementation of the repatriation agreement, or indeed, may backfire, with no improvement. Spotlight on forced movement of populations Mass scale refugee flows, as well as internal displacement, are on the rise. Displacement or deportation are central to most humanitarian crises, with a detrimental impact on the affected populace as well consequences for a host state. The ICC prosecutor, in paragraph 5 of her submission, indicates that enforced migration is of "acute international concern at the present time". The developments at the ICC are a positive step in terms of international accountability - a test case on the substantive legal question, but also perhaps more crucially, on the issue of jurisdiction. The impact of a positive ruling of jurisdiction by the court may have cross-border implications globally. It might lead to the prosecutor deciding to take this approach towards asserting jurisdiction when a state party borders a non-state party. It is not inconceivable that the prosecutor might resort to such action for mass scale refugee movements across state borders or even mass deportations, depending on the factual context. While the innovative approach to asserting jurisdiction may be a positive development, particularly given the inaction of the UNSC, many states will no doubt raise objections. While global effort should focus on alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar and Bangladesh, it should also hold accountable those who are responsible for the plight of the Rohingya. In this sense, the ICC proceedings are a step in the right direction. (c) 2018 Al Jazeera https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/icc-myanmar-unique-opportunity-ensuring-accountability-180606094047441.html