In June, Mali’s military government, which seized power in 2020, demanded the departure of the decade-old mission. Members of MINUSMA Chadian contingent patrol in Kidal, Mali in December 2016 [File: Sylvain Liechti/Reuters] Al Jazeera 11 Dec 2023 The United Nations mission in Mali has officially ended a 10-year deployment in the country, its spokesperson said, in a pullout ordered by Mali’s military government. The mission, known as the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), lowered the UN flag in its headquarters in the capital Bamako, its spokesperson Fatoumata Kaba told the AFP news agency on Monday. A “liquidation phase” will take place after January 1, involving activities such as handing over any remaining equipment to the authorities. A decade of MINUSMA In June, Mali’s military government, which seized power in 2020, demanded the departure of the mission, deployed since 2013, despite being in the grip of attacks by armed groups in the Sahel region. The withdrawal of MINUSMA troops has ignited fears that fighting will intensify between Malian forces and armed groups for territorial control. The mission had maintained about 15,000 soldiers and police in Mali for the past decade. About 180 members have been killed in hostile acts. As of Friday, more than 10,500 uniformed and civilian MINUSMA personnel had left Mali, out of a total of about 13,800 staff at the start of the withdrawal, the UN mission said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Since being told to leave, MINUSMA has left 13 positions in Mali and has yet to close sites in Gao and Timbuktu in the north. Last week, the UN mission handed over the Mopti camp in central Mali, one of the hotbeds of violence that has plagued Sahel for years. The Mopti camp most recently housed peacekeepers from Bangladesh and Togo, and in the past, hosted Egyptian, Pakistani, and Senegalese contingents. The pullout went smoothly, unlike recent withdrawals in Mali’s volatile north which took place under fears of a military escalation between the army and rebel groups, Kaba told AFP. An unceremonious exit The UN troops were initially welcomed by Malians who hoped that the foreign soldiers would be able to help the Malian military drive back the rebels who had captured large swaths of land in the north. Ten years on, however, the peacekeepers are leaving unceremoniously with the instability far from resolved. Thousands of people have been killed, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced by the violence. After seizing power in August 2020 citing mounting insecurity, Mali’s government ditched the alliance with former colonial power France, preferring rapprochement with Moscow and the private army Wagner Group. Another military takeover happened in May 2021. The presence of the mercenaries has drawn strong condemnation from Western countries, who argued that the presence of the Wagner threatens Mali’s stability. Moscow and Bamako continue to insist that the Russian fighters are merely trainers helping local soldiers combat rebel groups. SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES © 2023 Al Jazeera Media Network

With Laos as chair, the 10 members of ASEAN appear to be becoming more accommodative of reviled military regime. By Thompson Chau General Min Aung Hlaing [File: Myanmar Military True News Information Team via AP Photo] Chiang Mai, Thailand – Thailand’s controversial humanitarian initiative with crisis-torn Myanmar is facing growing criticism even after its fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) appeared to collectively endorse the scheme. The ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat wrapped up recently in Luang Prabang, the old capital of landlocked Laos, with an emphasis on the stalled five-point consensus agreed between the bloc and the Myanmar military shortly after it seized power in a 2021 coup. An official from Myanmar attended the meeting for the first time since the military regime was shut out of the top summits for failing to take steps to end the crisis. Democracy activists and politicians have repeatedly called on ASEAN to take a more robust approach against Min Aung Hlaing and his generals, officially known as the State Administration Council (SAC). But with Laos now chairing the organisation, scepticism is growing. After taking over the ASEAN chairmanship, Laos appointed a special envoy to Myanmar separate from its foreign minister, in a break from precedent. Career diplomat Alounkeo Kittikhoun visited Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw in mid-January, meeting the generals and taking a page from Cambodia’s playbook of 2022 when it chaired the grouping. Like Cambodia, and perhaps even more so, Laos is seen as close to China. “ASEAN’s foreign ministers endorsed the much-criticised Thai humanitarian initiative and, given the growing role of China and other Myanmar neighbours since Operation 1027, ASEAN appears to be fading into the background,” said Laetitia van den Assum, a former Dutch ambassador to Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, referring to the offensive launched by ethnic armed groups and anti-coup forces late last year that took swathes of territory from the military. She says Vientiane’s year-long stint as chair is likely to be “a hard slog”. “For a country with a national debt of 125 percent of GDP [gross domestic product], and most of that debt owed to China, it may find it hard to find a way to make progress with some of ASEAN’s most pressing problems,” she told Al Jazeera. Blatant disregard Sasa, a cabinet minister with Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG), notes the group had failed to act even after the SAC’s atrocities over the past three years “blatantly disregarded ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus”, which stipulates an end to the violence, undermining the bloc’s standing. In addition, the generals have violated UN Security Council Resolution 2669, which also demanded an end to violence and the immediate release of President Win Myint and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Sasa told Al Jazeera. The NUG is made up of politicians removed from office in the coup, as well as pro-democracy activists. “ASEAN and its member states should engage with Myanmar’s legitimate democratic representatives, including the NUG and its allies. If so, ASEAN will help facilitate the restoration of peace, stability, and federal democratic governance in Myanmar,” the minister said. There are concerns too about Thailand. It is one of the founding members of ASEAN, and its powerful military, which has itself carried out multiple coups, maintains close ties with the generals in Myanmar. Thailand has indicated the humanitarian initiative was supposed to help pave the way for talks to end the crisis. “Thailand wants to pull the SAC back into ASEAN and to make the junta presentable, and the humanitarian corridor proposed by Thailand is the first step of many,” van den Assum, the Dutch ambassador, said. Thailand has sheltered about 90,000 refugees from Myanmar across nine refugee camps since the mid-1980s, Human Rights Watch said late last year. After the 2021 coup, at least 45,000 more Myanmar refugees fled to Thailand, the report estimated. Concerns are growing that Myanmar’s new conscription law, due to come into effect next month, could send even more people over the border. Thailand and Cambodia “want to see Myanmar back fully in the ASEAN family”, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said last month, a position he said was shared by visiting Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet. Even before Laos took over the chairmanship of ASEAN from Indonesia, there were questions over the organisation’s ability to address Myanmar’s deepening crisis. The controversies and inactions – not only over Myanmar but also issues such as the South China Sea – have raised further questions about ASEAN’s relevance and its relationship with China, which is vying for influence with the United States. China, which claims almost the entire South China Sea, held military drills there last month as the US and the Philippines conducted their own joint exercises in the same waters. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam – all ASEAN members – are also claimants to parts of the sea, as is Taiwan. Beijing has been involved in a number of confrontations with Manila at the disputed Second Thomas Shoal and Scarborough Reef over the past year but has refused to back down. ASEAN has also been unable to make progress on a binding code of conduct with China – first discussed in 2002 – in the waters, adding to the perception that China expects Southeast Asia to bow to its demands. ASEAN’s inertia suggests members are likely to pursue their own foreign policy on the divisive issue, with the Philippines and Vietnam last month signing agreements to broaden cooperation between their coast guards in the South China Sea. The new Thai government’s approach to Myanmar, especially its recognition of the SAC, has drawn public criticism, notably from Kasit Piromya, a well-respected veteran ambassador and Thailand’s former foreign minister. “Refusing to acknowledge that the junta is the sole reason for this destruction of democracy, society, and millions of lives is damaging to the government’s credibility on its own,” Kasit warned in an opinion piece published in the Bangkok Post. “When taken in conjunction with empowering his counterpart and the junta in general, however, Khun Parnpree is inherently signing off on the junta’s actions,” the veteran diplomat said, referring to Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-nukara. Van den Assum says many civil society and humanitarian groups have formally rejected Thailand’s proposal and say it is unlikely to generate the funding needed. “Under this arrangement, Myanmar’s Red Cross Society gets its instructions from the SAC. We have seen what the SAC has done with other humanitarian operations. For example, after Typhoon Mocha in May, the SAC blocked humanitarian relief to Arakan for months,” she warned, referring to western Rakhine state. Deepening crisis Even as Thailand was cosying up to the Myanmar generals, new evidence was emerging of the scale of the SAC’s’ continuing violence and atrocities. Myanmar news outlet Myanmar Now reported that some of the resistance in the country’s central Sagaing region had been burned alive by the military. Based on the accounts of residents and resistance fighters who were there, Myanmar Now identified six out of the eight victims, whose ages ranged between 30 and 60. In a particularly gruesome execution, two resistance fighters in their 20s were hanged and burned in public in Magway Region, according to local news reports. The incident happened last year, but the video surfaced only recently. “It’s imperative for ASEAN leaders led by Laos to push back against the barbaric actions of the Burmese junta. The Five-Point Consensus has proven ineffective, and it is time to abandon it. The junta must be held accountable,” Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a Myanmar human rights activist, told Al Jazeera. But despite the deepening crisis, experts say that is unlikely to happen, noting that ASEAN’s response has been hobbled by the split between those – such as Laos, Cambodia and Thailand – who are more accommodating of the generals, and those who would prefer the organisation to be tougher. Myanmar has been a member of ASEAN since 1997. Scot Marciel, the former US ambassador to Indonesia, ASEAN and Myanmar and author of Imperfect Partners: The United States and Southeast Asia, believes Western nations could perhaps “work more actively with a few individual ASEAN member states such as Indonesia and Singapore toward a better approach”. Marking the coup’s third anniversary in February, Min Aung Hlaing extended the state of emergency that underpins military rule for a further six months. The SAC has faced severe losses since Operation 1027 began, and a China-brokered ceasefire in the northeast looks shaky. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a monitoring group, has documented the deaths of more than 3,000 civilians by the SAC and its allies, with more than 26,000 arrested since the 2021 coup, although the actual death toll is widely believed to be much higher. “Thailand and Laos are actively endeavouring to re-engage the Myanmar junta, but their belief that addressing humanitarian crises will pave the way for political dialogue is misguided,” a senior pro-democracy politician from Myanmar, who declined to be named for fear of physical danger, told Al Jazeera. “The crux of the Myanmar quagmire lies in the junta’s disregard for democracy and human rights, compounded by ASEAN’s inability to forge a cohesive response. Without concerted efforts to address these fundamental issues, any attempts to bring the junta back into the fold will ultimately prove futile.” © 2024 Al Jazeera Media Network

Latest comments come as US and South Korea hold joint military exercises involving thousands of troops. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited troops at an undisclosed location [KCNA via Reuters] North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered heightened readiness for war after inspecting troops at a major military operations base in the country’s west. The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) did not reveal the location of the base in its report on Thursday. The North Korean leader said the military must “dynamically usher in a new heyday of intensifying the war preparations in line with the requirements of the prevailing situation”, according to KCNA. “Our army should … steadily intensify the actual war drills aimed at rapidly improving its combat capabilities for perfect war preparedness,” he added. Kim’s visit took place as forces from the United States and South Korea continued their annual Freedom Shield large-scale military exercises. The drills, expected to involve 48 field exercises including missile interception drills, bombing, air assault and live-firing, began on Monday with twice the number of troops participating compared with last year. KCNA did not say whether Kim discussed the US-South Korean drills with the troops he met with [KCNA via Reuters] North Korea has long condemned military drills by the US and South Korea, claiming they are rehearsals for an invasion, and has conducted weapons tests in response to previous exercises. On Monday, KCNA quoted an unnamed spokesperson for North Korea’s Ministry of Defence urging Seoul and Washington to cease their “reckless” and “frantic war drills”. The US and South Korea “will be made to pay a dear price for their false choice”, the spokesperson added. In Thursday’s report, KCNA did not mention whether Kim directly referred to the Freedom Shield drills. It said the troops at the base were conducting manoeuvres under conditions simulating actual war. North Korea has continued to carry out missile tests this year as it modernises its military. SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES © 2024 Al Jazeera Media Network

Discrimination against LGBTQ people is common in Kenya, which still has a 14-year jail term for gay sex. Friends described Edwin Chiloba as an "iconic fashion designer" (© Getty Images) Kenyan police have discovered the body of prominent LGBTQ rights campaigner Edwin Chiloba stuffed inside a metal box in the west of the country, according to local media sources. Motorbike taxi riders alerted police after they saw the box dumped by the roadside from a vehicle with a concealed number plate, The Standard and The Daily Nation newspapers reported on Friday, quoting police sources. Chiloba’s remains were found on Tuesday near Eldoret town in Uasin Gishu county, where he ran his fashion business, independent rights group the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) said. “He was brutally killed & dumped in the area by unknown assailants,” KHRC said on Twitter. “It is truly worrisome that we continue to witness escalation in violence targeting LGBTQ+ Kenyans.” Kenya National Police Service spokesperson Resila Onyango said she would comment at a later time. Uasin Gishu County Commander Ayub Gitonga Ali declined to comment. “Words cannot even explain how we as a community are feeling right now. Edwin Chiloba was a fighter, fighting relentlessly to change the hearts and minds of society when it came to LGBTQ+ lives,” GALCK+, a Kenyan gay rights group, said on Twitter. Under a British colonial-era law, gay sex in Kenya is punishable by 14 years in prison. The law is rarely enforced but discrimination is common. Research suggests acceptance of homosexuality is gradually increasing in Kenya, but it remains a taboo subject for many. The country’s film board has banned two films for their portrayals of gay lives in recent years. Last June, a number of queer Kenyan men told Al Jazeera that they had developed a phobia of public hospitals and were willing to try risky alternatives, because of targeted discrimination by doctors. © 2023 Al Jazeera Media Network

Refugee children and women are routinely suffering sexual violence, exploitation, abuse and detention along the Central Mediterranean migration route, UNICEF warned in a new report. In the report, titled "A Deadly Journey for Children", which was released on Tuesday, the UN children's agency said a total of 25,846 children - most of them unaccompanied - crossed from North Africa to Italy using the Mediterranean route in 2016. For the report, UNICEF researchers interviewed a total of 122 refugees - 82 women and 40 children - who tried to complete the perilous journey. Three-quarters of the refugee children interviewed said they had experienced violence, harassment or aggression at the hands of adults at some point over the course of their journey. Approximately one-third indicated they had been abused in Libya. A large majority of these children did not answer when asked who had abused them. A few children said they had been abused by people who appeared to be in uniform or associated with military and other armed forces, and several others said that strangers had victimised them. Also, nearly half of the 122 women and children interviewed reported sexual abuse during migration - often multiple times and in multiple locations. Women and children were often arrested at the Libyan border where they experienced abuse, extortion and gender-based violence. Sexual violence was widespread and systemic at crossings and checkpoints. Men were often threatened or killed if they intervened to prevent sexual violence, and women were often expected to provide sexual services or cash in exchange for crossing the Libyan border. In Captivity UNICEF also identified an estimated 34 migrant detention centres in Libya during their research. The Libyan Government Department for Combating Illegal Migration runs 24 detention centres which currently hold between 4,000 and 7,000 detainees. Armed groups also hold migrants in an unknown number of unofficial detention centres. Children did not receive any preferential treatment and were often placed in cells together with adult detainees, which increased the risk of abuse, according to the UNICEF report. Some observers have also reported abandoned refugee children in detention centres and hospitals. "The Central Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe is among the world's deadliest and most dangerous migrant routes for children and women," said Afshan Khan, UNICEF Regional Director and Special Coordinator for the Refugee and Response Crises in Europe. "The route is mostly controlled by smugglers, traffickers and other people seeking to prey upon desperate children and women who are simply seeking refuge or a better life. We need safe and legal pathways and safeguards to protect migrating children that keep them safe and keep predators at bay." Recent data in a survey of women and child refugees in Libya during late 2016 reveal the appalling level of abuse along the migration route. At the time of the survey, 256,000 migrants were recorded in Libya, including 30,803 women and 23,102 children - a third of whom were unaccompanied. The real figures, however, are believed to be at least three times higher. 'Still in the shadows' Most children and women indicated that they had paid smugglers at the beginning of their journey, leaving many in debt under "pay as you go" arrangements and vulnerable to abuse, abduction and trafficking. Women and children also reported harsh and overcrowded conditions, including lack of nutritious food and adequate shelter, in Libyan detention centres run by both the government and armed militias. "What came out of this report is quite stark and shocking," Sarah Crowe, UNICEF spokesperson for refugee and migrant crisis, told Al Jazeera. "Testimonies coming from these children are truly surprising and terrifying. "We have access to some of the detention centres in Libya, but a great majority of migrant children in that country are still in the shadows." There is a necessity to highlight what is already happening to these children and also point to acceptable solutions, Crowe said. "You can't look at Libya as a solution on its own," she said. "Libya, in its current state, can not be the solution to the crisis we are facing. We can not send children back to detention, to this destiny. It is unthinkable. "We need to work on finding a solution to the root causes of the problem and we need to do more to support children at every step of the way." (c) Al Jazeera 2017

July 1 2024: TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's interior minister in Tripoli said the major border crossing at Ras Ijdir with Tunisia was fully reopened on Monday three months after being shut due to armed clashes. After calm returned to the region, the border crossing was partially reopened in mid-June though just for humanitarian and medical cases as well as special cases with permits from the Tunisian and Algerian interior ministries. A number of ambulances from the Libyan side were seen heading into Tunisia during the reopening ceremony attended by the interior minister of Tripoli-based Government of National Unity, Emad Trabulsi, and his Tunisian counterpart Khaled Nouri. "Two hours after this ceremony, Libyan citizens will be able to go to Tunisia," Trabulsi told journalists at the crossing. Nouri said the crossing had been "reopened for all activities except smuggling". Ras Ijdir is the main frontier crossing in Libya's west, often used by Libyans to go to Tunisia for medical treatment and Tunisian traders moving goods in the opposite direction. Libya has enjoyed little peace since a 2011 uprising and is split between eastern and western factions, with rival administrations governing each area. The GNU, which controls Tripoli and northwestern parts of Libya, is recognised internationally but not by the eastern-based parliament. Trabulsi called on Libyans living near the western border to support regional security forces "in order to combat smuggling and illegal migration". He said Libya would open two new border crossings with Tunisia "if capabilities are provided". Besides Ras Ijdir, the two countries have a minor crossing at Wazen-Dhehiba that has remained open. © 2024 Reuters. All rights reserved

Security forces in CAR repel two attacks by armed groups seeking to seize the capital Bangui on Wednesday, PM says. Published by Al Jazeera on January 13, 2021. A soldier takes position at daybreak in Bangui. (Andreea Campeanu/Reuters) Rebel forces in the Central African Republic launched a coordinated attack on the outskirts of the capital, Bangui, before being pushed back, the United Nations mission in the country has said. Wednesday’s assault marked the first time the rebels have struck so close to the city since President Faustin Archange Touadera was re-elected on December 27, a vote that followed what the authorities say was an attempted coup. “The attack was repelled by Blue Helmets together with the Central African forces,” the spokesman for the MINUSCA peacekeeping mission said in a statement. The dawn attacks on army units, 9km (5.5 miles) and 12km (7.5 miles) from the capital, targeted two army brigades but the rebel forces were repelled, Interior Minister Henri Wanzet Linguissara told AFP news agency. A Rwandan member of the force was killed while another was wounded. A number of attackers were killed, while others were arrested, according to the MINUSCA statement. A witness in Bangui heard explosions and later saw helicopters circling over the city, Reuters news agency reported. The situation appeared calm in north Bangui as of 08:00 GMT, the witness said. “The attackers who came in large numbers to take Bangui have been vigorously pushed back,” Prime Minister Firmin Ngrebada said in a post on Facebook, urging citizens to remain calm. “We heard gunfire from 6am this morning. We’re staying home – there’s panic. We’re scared of stray bullets,” said north Bangui resident Rodrigue, who only wanted to be identified by his first name. The attacks were the latest since the alliance of CAR’s six most powerful rebel groups who control two-thirds of the country launched an offensive to prevent Touadera’s re-election. He won the vote and was declared the winner on January 4. A coalition of armed rebel groups – accused of an attempted coup after their offensive to disrupt the vote – have pledged to march on Bangui. The rebels have carried out sporadic attacks mostly in towns far from the capital that were repelled by UN peacekeepers and Central African troops, along with Rwandan soldiers and Russian paramilitaries sent to help. CAR prosecutors have launched an investigation into former President Francois Bozize, whom the government accuses of plotting the alleged coup with the help of armed groups. Bozize, who denies the allegations, came to power in a coup in 2003 before being overthrown in 2013, after which the country slid into sectarian conflict. The violence has forced more than 30,000 people to flee to neighbouring countries, according to the UN refugee agency. The CAR has had five coups and numerous rebellions since independence from France in 1960. Despite peace accords, arms embargoes and sanctions on militia leaders, peace has been elusive in the gold- and diamond-rich nation of 4.7 million. © 2021 Al Jazeera Media Network.

South Africa is experiencing a rise in what is being described as "xenophobic" violence. Locals are accusing migrants of stealing their jobs and blaming them for a high crime rate. About two million foreigners live in South Africa and a majority of them were born in other African countries, including Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Somalia. On Friday, police used rubber bullets and stun grenades a demonstration in Pretoria when protesters clashed with migrants. President Jacob Zuma has condemned the violence, but he also said the authorities will crack down on undocumented workers. What can be done to calm fears about foreigners working in the "rainbow nation"? Presenter: Hazem Sika Guests: Loren Landau - research professor focusing on mobility and the politics of difference at the African Centre for Migration and Society with the University of the Witwatersrand Ralph Mathekga - political analyst and research director of the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection Bongani Mbindwane - policy supporter of the ruling ANC party ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 Al Jazeera News

Five people have been arrested in connection with the attacks on Muslim students for praying on the university premises in Gujarat state. Foreign students attacked over Muslims prayers at Indian university By Al Jazeera Staff At least four foreign students have been injured after a Hindu far-right mob allegedly stormed a university hostel in India’s western Gujarat state and attacked the group of students for offering prayers during the holy month of Ramadan, local media has reported. India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Sunday pledged to take “strict actions against the perpetrators”, as the local police in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi said an investigation was under way in connection with the attack at the Gujarat University. The students told local media that a small group had gathered on Saturday night inside the boys’ hostel premises for the Ramadan tarawih prayer as there is no mosque on the university campus based in Ahmedabad. Soon after, a mob armed with sticks and knives stormed the hostel, attacked them and vandalised their rooms, they said. “A group of 15 students were offering prayers when three people came and started shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ [Hail lord Ram]. They objected to us praying here,” local media quoted a student as saying. “After some time, about 250 people came and shouted ‘Jai Shri Ram’. They pelted stones and vandalised hostel properties.” A student from Afghanistan told local NDTV network: “They attacked us inside the rooms too. They broke laptops, phones and damaged bikes,” adding that the AC and sound system were destroyed as well. Videos posted on X showed ransacked student dorms and a mob destroying the students’ motorbikes with long tools. “We cannot survive like this,” one African student said in his video filmed from the hostel. In the background, loud shouting and sounds of items being demolished, broken and smashed by the mob are heard. “We came to India to study and now we’re being attacked just because it’s time for Ramadan and Muslims were praying. Now they’re breaking down the bikes, everything is being demolished down[stairs],” he said. The Indian Express news website reported two of the students were severely injured and are recovering at a hospital after students from Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and several African countries were attacked. ‘Strict action against the perpetrators’ “Yesterday, at around 10:30pm a group of students were praying. Around 20-25 people came and asked them why they were praying here and should instead go the mosque,” Ahmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik told reporters at a briefing on Sunday. “An argument broke out between them, stones were pelted and their rooms were vandalised by the people who came from outside.” He added that a complaint has been received against 20-25 people and one of the accused has been identified. Nine teams have been formed to investigate the incident, he said. Five people have been arrested in connection with the attack. India’s External Affairs Ministry said on X that the state government is “taking strict action against the perpetrators”. “Two foreign students were injured in the clash. One of them has been discharged from hospital after receiving medical attention,” spokesman Randhit Jaiswal said. Asaduddin Owaisi, a member of parliament from the southern city of Hyderabad, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to “intervene to send a strong message?” “What a shame. When your devotion and religious slogans only come out when Muslims peacefully practice their religion,” he posted on X. “Domestic anti-Muslim hatred is destroying India’s goodwill,” he wrote tagging S Jaishankar, India’s external affairs minister. Hindu far-right groups have campaigned against Muslim prayers in public spaces. Earlier this month, a policeman in the capital New Delhi was suspended after he kicked Muslim men offering prayers on the side of a road. Gujarat University Vice-Chancellor Dr. Neerja A Gupta told local media that the international students need to be trained in “cultural sensitivity”. “These are foreign students and when you go abroad, you must learn cultural sensitivity. These students need an orientation. We will sit with them, provide cultural orientation and discuss how to strengthen their security,” NDTV quoted Gupta as saying. SOURCE: AL JAZEERA © 2024 Al Jazeera Media Network

Reuters July 9. 2024 By Olena Harmash and Tom Balmforth Men install wooden boards in a damaged surgery ward following a Russian missile strike on the Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 9, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter KYIV, July 9 (Reuters) - A U.N. rights mission said on Tuesday there was a "high likelihood" that Kyiv's main children's hospital took a direct hit from a Russian missile during a series of airstrikes on Ukrainian cities, as the Kremlin continued to deny involvement. Ukraine flew its flags at half mast in a national day of mourning to mark the deaths of 44 people across the country from Monday's air attacks, including four children and two people at the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in the capital. "Analysis of the video footage and an assessment made at the incident site indicates a high likelihood that the children's hospital suffered a direct hit rather than receiving damage due to an intercepted weapon system," said Danielle Bell, head of the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. Ukraine's security service said it had unequivocal evidence the medical facility was hit by a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile during the deadliest series of strikes in months, and published images of what it said were fragments of the weapon's engine. The Kremlin said, without providing evidence, it was Ukrainian anti-missile fire, not Russia, that hit the children's hospital, which is one of Europe's largest and treats patients with serious conditions such as cancer and kidney disease. Damage at the site prompted millions of dollars in donations from inside Ukraine and abroad, more than 28 months into Russia's full-scale invasion. Eight children were wounded at the hospital, health authorities said. The United Nations Security Council convened on Tuesday - at the request of Britain, France, Ecuador, Slovenia and the United States - over the attack. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy flew into Washington for a three-day summit of NATO leaders in which he hoped to win commitments from allies to beef up Ukraine's air defences and boost their military support. Russian forces are slowly advancing and claimed on Tuesday the capture of the village of Yasnobrodivka in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which has reported heavy fighting in the region for months. During a visit to Moscow, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin the "heart bleeds" when children are killed in war, conflict or a terrorist attack. Modi's pointed remark was an implicit rebuke to Putin, who moments earlier had welcomed him to the Kremlin with a warm statement on the importance of the strategic relations between the two countries. Zelenskiy has condemned Modi's trip to Russia, calling it "a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts". The Ukrainian leader vowed retaliation against Russia after Monday's attacks and Russia's Defence Ministry said it had subsequently shot down 38 drones. A Russian regional governor reported fires at an oil depot and an electricity substation. A security source told Reuters that Ukrainian drones had attacked a Russian oil refinery, a military airfield, and an electricity substation in a joint operation. RESCUE OPERATIONS Rescuers concluded operations at the children's hospital earlier on Tuesday. Elsewhere in the Ukrainian capital, five bodies were recovered from the ruins of a residential building where 12 people were killed, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. The death toll stood at 33 in Kyiv and 11 in the Dnipropetrovsk region, officials said, taking the total to 44. Shelling separately killed three others in the eastern town of Pokrovsk, but they were not counted as they were not killed by missiles. Okhmatdyt's general director, Volodymyr Zhovnir, told reporters one of its young doctors had been killed, that the building for dialysis had been completely destroyed and that it no longer had electricity supply. "At least four buildings of the hospital were partially destroyed," he said. Ukrainian business leaders rushed to announce donations to rebuild the hospital. There was no available figure for the total amount of donations, but Reuters calculations based on statements and Ukrainian media reports put the figure from Ukraine's corporate section at about 300 million hryvnia ($7.3 million). In Kyiv, Oleksandr Baraboshko, 34, a strategic communications consultant, said aerial attacks like Monday's served to unite Ukrainians against Russia. "They're not scaring us. On the contrary, they're motivating us to do even more," said Baraboshko, who helped coordinate an effort with a local shop to distribute gloves and tools to volunteers clearing debris at the hospital. The Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague said a team of investigators visited the site of the hospital strike on Tuesday. It warned that those responsible for attacking civilian objects could be prosecuted. In Geneva, the World Health Organization's Tarik Jasarevic said the hospital strike was one of 1,882 attacks on healthcare in Ukraine that have killed a total of 150 people in the more than two-year-old conflict. The WHO does not attribute blame for such attacks. © 2024 Reuters. All rights reserved

More than 120,000 women were sexually abused during the war in the Ethiopian province of Tigray between 2020 and 2022. Despite efforts from NGOs, healthcare professionals, and lawyers, many victims are left to fend for themselves. Mihret* wipes her tears on her white shawl, a traditional fabric worn by Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church followers: “It was two months ago. Eight Eritrean soldiers came into my house while a woman in uniform stood guard at the door. They told me that Tigrayans shouldn't live and that, as a Tigrayan, I shouldn't have children. They then raped me in front of my five children.” The 40-year-old sought help in one of the seven emergency clinics opened in Adigrat, a northern Ethiopian city, to care for and counsel victims of sexual violence. Despite the official end of the war in Tigray in 2022, every day, the One-Stop Center receives new victims, adding to the more than 120,000 rape cases recorded by local authorities since the conflict began in 2020. Eritrean troops, who supported the central government in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian army, and their allies, the militias from Amhara, the neighboring region, are all accused of participating in this widespread sexual violence. Fear of Social Ostracism “Ninety percent of survivors receive no support, though a holistic approach is crucial for healing,” lamented Gebeyenesh Tadege, who coordinates the response to violence against women within the regional government. In her office in Mekele, the capital of Tigray, her eyes filled with tears as she acknowledged her powerlessness against the lack of financial resources and the silence of victims, who are terrified of social stigmatization. Mihret’s case, where her husband sought a divorce after she was first abused at the start of the war, is sadly common. “This rejection is the main problem for survivors,” explained pianist Meseret Hadush. This artist used her fame from being a judge on a musical show to launch her NGO, Hiwyet (“Healing”), the day after the armistice. Thanks to donations, mainly from the diaspora, her team of 16 professionals has assisted 4,800 victims medically, psychologically, economically, and spiritually. “We teach them to raise poultry, make soap and candles, and even how to style hair and sew clothes so they can support themselves when they return home,” Hadush explained. Horrific Abuse Another NGO, the Tigray Women’s Association, has 620 places in its three shelters, where victims stay for an average of three months. Again, the limited budget hampers their ambitions. Only 27% of residents receive professional training, enabling them to start an activity afterward. Isolated and often forced into begging, many victims despair at the prospect of obtaining justice. The commission investigating the Tigray genocide is working to record evidence of crimes committed during the war. Lawyer Yirgalem Gebretsadkan has analyzed 916 survivor interviews. It’s just the beginning, but the law professor at Mekele University stated: “The data indicates a real intent to destroy the uterus of Tigrayan women and, therefore, the Tigrayan race.” Nails, nail clippers, and even genocidal messages protected by plastic have been extracted from many victims. HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases have surged. While waiting to be heard by the commission, Mihret clings to her antidepressants, her only remedy against the suffering that consumed these survivors. Terrible Toll of the Tigray Conflict From November 2020 to November 2022, a conflict pitted Ethiopian government forces, militias from neighboring regions, and Eritrean troops against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in the Tigray region bordering Eritrea. According to the African Union, the conflict has claimed more than 600,000 lives, with over 2.6 million displaced according to the United Nations. NGOs such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch condemn the use of rape as a weapon of war by government troops and their allies. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, faces criticism for atrocities committed by Ethiopian forces during the conflict. (*This name has been changed for protection.) © 2024 Bayard - All rights reserved

In 2007, Daniel Ortega won Nicaragua's presidential elections. In 2009, the Supreme Court removed the constitutional prohibition on presidential re-election. Ortega was re-elected in 2011. In 2016, opposition Members of Parliament were dismissed. In 2018, police and armed pro-government vigilantes violently attacked demonstrations against the government, killing at least 328 protesters, injuring 2,000 more, and detaining hundreds. Detained protesters faced torture and sexual assault. Since 2018, the political crisis has deepened. The government has persecuted both its real and perceived adversaries. Hundreds of political prisoners have been detained. Although many have been released, others were exiled and stripped of their nationality and property. 141 political prisoners remain in Managua jails. In February 2023, the Nicaraguan government revoked the citizenship of 317 individuals, leaving most of them stateless. Those arrested include many key figures in the opposition, former presidential candidates, human rights defenders, social and religious leaders, journalists, and media professionals, academics and artists. © 2018 Javier Bauluz/Al Jazeera Nicaraguan officials have actively persecuted religious leaders, targeting churches in violation of the right to freedom of religion. Many Catholic masses have been prohibited. The government and pro-government media have labelled priests of the Catholic Church as "coup plotters," "terrorists," or "agents of evil" in response to their criticisms of human rights abuses. The Ortega regime has incited violence and discrimination against the Roman Catholic Church. It has also harassed and arrested many evangelical and Protestant leaders. In 2023, the regime revoked the registrations of over 340 Christian organizations and confiscated their properties. On January 14, 2024, Nicaraguan authorities expelled nineteen Catholic priests to Rome, silencing some of the last dissenting voices in the country. Those deported included Bishop Rolando Alvarez of Matagalpa, who was detained for 514 days starting August 19, 2022, and sentenced to 26 years in prison for allegedly “undermining national integrity” and “spreading fake news.” Human rights advocates and journalists face death threats, assaults, harassment, arbitrary detention and stripping of their nationality. By November 2023, the government had shut down over 3,500 NGOs. From 2018 to 2023, at least 57 media outlets were closed, severely curtailing press freedom. Since January 2024, 23 more journalists have fled the country, increasing the number in exile to 208 since 2018. There has been a sharp rise in violent attacks on Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities since 2018. The attacks particularly target activists critical of the government or advocating for land rights. State repression has included harassment, arbitrary detention, and property confiscation. Many minority leaders have gone into hiding or exile. Armed white settlers have attacked racial minorities, particularly in Mayangna Sauni As, resulting in 46 deaths and others tortured or raped. Settlers have forcibly taken 21,000 hectares from the Miskitu, displacing 1,000 people. Indigenous leaders have been driven into exile and barred from returning. After detaining the party’s leaders in September 2023, the government dissolved the Indigenous party, YATAMA for “undermining national integrity,” under a vague statute. Genocide Watch categorizes the Nicaraguan government's suppression of freedom of movement, expression, and religion as Stage 3: Discrimination. Dissolution of the Indigenous party YATAMA, and the rise in hate speech targeting religious leaders characterize Stage 4: Dehumanization and Stage 6: Polarization. Arbitrary imprisonment and exile of political opponents, stripping of their citizenship, expropriation of their property, and confiscation of the land of Indigenous and Afro-American communities place Nicaragua at Stage 8: Persecution. Genocide Watch recommends that the OAS, US, EU, and UN should: Expedite political asylum for stateless exiles from Nicaragua, including their families. Apply Global Magnitsky sanctions on Nicaraguan officials responsible for crimes against humanity. Arrest and try Nicaraguan torturers who enter the US under the Torture Convention’s universal jurisdiction. Charge Nicaragua in the Interamerican Court of Human Rights for violating Article 9 of the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, for Nicaragua’s deprivation of nationality on racial, ethnic, religious, or political grounds. Demand the unconditional release of all political prisoners, opposition leaders, journalists, religious and human rights activists.