Patients with critical injuries arrive at Bashair Hospital - the only accessible hospital in southern Khartoum. Sudan, May 2023. Six months into the war in Sudan, people’s lives are still in danger from bombings, shelling and the shootings, both directly and indirectly. Sudanese health staff and volunteers are struggling to respond to people’s medical needs, and the country’s health system is on the edge of collapse, says Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Our teams note a shameful absence of humanitarian organisations working in the country. In those areas where assistance is being provided, the response is insufficient for people’s immense needs. MSF is calling for an immediate increase in humanitarian efforts. “Sudan’s crisis epitomises a catastrophic failure of humanity, marked by the warring parties’ failing to protect civilians or facilitate essential humanitarian access, and by the dire neglect and shortcomings of international organisations in delivering an adequate response,” says Dr Christos Christou, International President of MSF. “Without an immediate, substantial escalation of the humanitarian response, what we are witnessing now will be the beginning of an even larger tragedy yet to unfold – meaning more people will continue to needlessly die.” Across Sudan, the fragile health system is struggling; emergency rooms are congested, and many hospitals have closed completely. In the capital, Khartoum, MSF medical teams are witnessing one of the most intense urban conflicts currently taking place worldwide. Large numbers of injured people are arriving at the hospitals with life-threatening wounds, often leaving medical staff with no choice but to amputate. “In both Khartoum and Darfur, many patients are critically injured to the extent that they need to have multiple rounds of surgery,” says Shazeer Majeed, an MSF surgeon. “On more than seven occasions in September alone, the hospitals where MSF operates received significant influxes of injured people following shelling, airstrikes, and explosions.” Even for people who are not directly affected by the violence, they are suffering the indirect effects of the war. There is a chronic shortage of medications across Sudan. Pharmacies have either run out of supplies or have hiked their prices, making many medicines unaffordable for those who need them. As a result, patients with chronic illnesses are suffering serious complications and sometimes dying. “We are seeing critical cases arrive at the hospital, due to the lack of medicine, especially patients with illnesses like diabetes,” says Frauke Ossig, MSF head of mission. “By the time they reach us, there´s often very little we can do." Even in places easier to access, millions of displaced people are living in overwhelmed camps and makeshift sites like schools, after being displaced from their homes by the violence. People, including children, in these sites are dying of preventable diseases, such as malaria and measles, as there is a shameful lack of humanitarian response. In Khartoum, as well as in many displacement camps, the water systems have been destroyed or are inadequate for people’s needs, raising the risk of outbreaks of cholera and suspected cholera amid war. MSF teams are supporting the Ministry of Health in many locations to make sure that health staff are ready to respond to possible cholera outbreaks. MSF’s own humanitarian response is being hindered by considerable bureaucratic and administrative hurdles imposed by Sudanese authorities. These include restrictions on movements of staff, travel permit rejections, delays in releasing medical supplies and bans on specific supplies, including those needed for surgery. In south Khartoum one of the hospitals supported by MSF has less than one week’s worth of essential supplies left to provide emergency trauma care to injured patients. Once these supplies run out, MSF teams will no longer be able to provide this care. “Any supplies that do reach healthcare facilities are quickly exhausted, leading to dire health consequences and even fatalities,” says Claire Nicolet, MSF deputy head of emergencies. “We desperately need surgical and medical equipment not just for trauma care, but also for obstetric surgeries, as we see many pregnant women in life-threatening conditions.” With no end to the war in sight, MSF is calling for a substantial increase in efforts to provide humanitarian aid; for the safeguarding of medical, humanitarian workers, and civilians; for the removal of administrative blockages on medical and humanitarian staff and supplies; and for people to be allowed unhindered access to aid. “Sudan´s healthcare system is on the brink of collapse,” says Ossig. “Without urgent action, the most vulnerable people will continue to bear the brunt of the violence, resulting in more avoidable deaths.” © Médecins Sans Frontières

Ahmed Gouja Journalist and rights monitor based in Nyala, Darfur Ahmed Gouja/TNH: Zalengei market has been destroyed by shelling as a result of the ongoing conflict in Sudan. Residents from the western Sudanese town have been using letters to communicate with their friends and family due to a communications blackout. The war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been especially hard on the country’s westernmost Darfur region, which had already experienced several periods of armed conflict over the past two decades. Some of Darfur’s largest cities have been severely damaged or suffered ethnic cleansing campaigns [Genocide Watch does not endorse the use of the term "ethnic cleansing"] since the conflict broke out in April. However, communities have also negotiated local ceasefires between the two sides and have banded together to help those in need. As media attention wanes, we’ve asked Darfuri journalist and human rights monitor Ahmed Gouja to send us weekly updates on how the conflict is impacting different towns and communities in different ways. Each week, Gouja – who has left Darfur for security reasons – will be gathering testimonies, photographs, and videos from his extensive network on the ground and talking us through what it all means for the civilian population. Check back here to see each video, and for more background context on the Darfur conflict take a look through our recent dispatches and our archival reporting. Week of 23 October 2023 For this week’s instalment, Gouja spoke to people who have escaped the conflict in Zalingei, which is the capital of Central Darfur, one of five states in the region. He details the situation in a displacement camp that has been caught in the middle of clashes between the RSF and SAF, and describes how a telecommunication blackout means Zalingei residents are giving news to friends and family by sending letters. Week of 1 October 2023 In this first instalment, Gouja takes us through the situation in Nyala, the largest city in Sudan’s Darfur region and his hometown. He explains that periodic clashes between the army and the RSF have destroyed much of the city's public infrastructure and have displaced large numbers of people. This project was funded by the H2H Network’s H2H Fund, which is supported by UK aid. Edited by Ciara Lee and Philip Kleinfeld. The New Humanitarian| © All rights reserved 2023

A man stands by as a fire rages in a livestock market area in al-Fasher, the capital of Sudan's North Darfur state, on Sept. 1, in the aftermath of bombardment by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). AFP via Getty Images The war between Sudan's military and a paramilitary group has entered its seventh month, causing nearly 190 days and nights of terror, loss and trauma for much of the northeast African country's population. An estimated 9,000 people have been killed and another 5.6 million forced to flee their homes during the conflict, according to the United Nations. "Half a year of war has plunged Sudan into one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history," U.N. Undersecretary-General Martin Griffiths said in a statement. NPR has been speaking to Sudanese people from different walks of life — doctors at a hospital, a young activist and a former governor — about how things have changed for them since fighting broke out in April between the Sudanese armed forces and the powerful paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces. The activist Thirty-year-old Duaa Tariq was among the grassroots activists who helped organize peaceful mass protests in 2019 largely in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, that brought down the decades-long dictatorship of former leader Omar al-Bashir — only to see a 2021 military coup derail her generation's dreams of democracy. This year's outbreak of conflict has dashed those hopes even further. But Tariq, who has a huge curly mop of hair and a smile just as big, is uncowed. In April, she told NPR how she and fellow activists were continuing to resist the new conflict through small acts of disobedience, such as chanting revolutionary songs in the street between bombings or spray-painting political messages on walls. Six months later, Tariq says graffiti protests on the street are simply too risky. "In terms of resistance, resistance can take so many forms. ... There is not a chance for protesting physically on the street, even with graffiti, because the militia's occupying all the houses," she says. Tariq — who had a baby during the conflict — has herself been forced to move out of her home, which she says has been taken over by the militia and looted of "everything we have." Still, Tariq and other activists have found different ways of resisting, setting up dozens of what they call "emergency response rooms" around Khartoum that she says do "all sort of humanitarian aid, mutual aid, psychosocial support. Now we have women's response rooms also, that deal with women's needs and stuff like sexual, like GBV [gender-based violence] stuff." "When it comes to sexual violence and rape women are suffering a lot ... here's a lot of rape cases that were recorded and documented," she explains. "It's very dangerous to be out there and be a woman at this time in this dangerous war and this conflict zone because you always feel threatened and you're targeted." Women from different ethnic communities have been especially targeted, she says. "There are women being raped in front of their families, women being raped constantly by the forces, and women are being taken — there's a few cases that women were taken from their houses. Yeah, so it's very dangerous for women right now and situation is only getting worse." Children haven't fared much better, says Duaa. "I see a lot of change in the children," she says. "They're very affected by the militarization of the area, and especially now the militia is distributing, like, toys to the children and they're giving food to people and stuff, people are afraid to not take it." The doctors The country's health system has been hit hard by the conflict, with many hospitals closed, a shortage of essential medicines and supplies, and doctors risking shelling — and their own lives — to attend to patients. Ahmed Khojali works as an emergency officer in the neonatal ward of Khartoum's Albolouk Hospital, which is supported by the U.S.-based Sudanese American Physicians Association. The hospital, functioning at only about 60% capacity, is now the only facility in the capital state providing emergency care to children. Khojali describes the six-month conflict as feeling like "a lifetime." "Time," he says, "is totally frozen since the beginning of this war because I barely find any time to feel or think or be sorry about anything ... either sleeping or working." He describes how what would have been routine days of seeing patients before the war are now punctuated by violence and near misses and how there's horror amid what used to be mundane. "We were about to take a small rest at the office to take our breakfast and drink some tea with the lovely dessert brought from home that day, when suddenly a massive explosion struck the north yard of our hospital killing innocently one of the men standing there and rendering severely wounded others." Dr. Amna Gasim also works at Albolouk Hospital, as a pediatric specialist. She says in the past few months, four shells have landed near her workplace, where many staff are practically living, unable to go home or see their families. Her ability to treat her patients is hampered by a lack of resources. "One of the most difficult stories is ... parents who bought their 12-year-old girl, who was their only child that came over eight years of infertility, the girl was diagnosed as kidney failure and needed urgent dialysis," she says. Except that wasn't an option and the child died. The former governor In the brief, hopeful transitional period between the people-power revolution that toppled Bashir and the coup that installed the current government, Adeeb Yousif was the governor of Central Darfur state. Yousif, who got his Ph.d. in conflict resolution at George Mason University in the United States, still lives in Darfur, and laments that most of the media focus on the war has been on the capital, to the neglect of other regions where conflict is raging. "Darfur is in a very critical situation and ... people are suffering," he says. "I think things on the ground are getting worse." In the early 2000s, Darfur become synonymous with genocide as an Arab militia known as the Janjaweed committed war crimes against non-Arab tribes in the region. The current paramilitary group fighting the military, the RSF, is an offshoot of the Janjaweed. Yousif says the current violence once again has an ethnic component. "It's more of ethnic conflict rather than political conflict," he says. Eric Reeves, a U.S. academic who has researched Sudan, echoed this in an email, saying the RSF is engaged "in what is unambiguously a genocidal campaign" against the Masalit people in the city of El Geneina in West Darfur. "We are doing no better this time around in responding to the genocide that began in earnest in Darfur in 2003 — 'Never again!' ... again," he says. Yousif says the humanitarian situation in his region is appalling because Darfur was already full of internally displaced people, to which new ones are now being added. On top of that, there's major food insecurity. "Having in mind also that the rainy season this year is very little. The land that was cultivated this year is very limited and on top of that, there's insects, so that means the harvesting season will be so bad ... [and] result in the shortage of food." "We can expect starvation in Darfur," he warns. NPR's Emmanuel Akinwotu contributed reporting from Lagos, Nigeria. © 2023 npr

By Andrew Roth Guardian graphic of Dagestan. Credit: Guardian News & Media Limited A mob in Russia’s mostly Muslim region of Dagestan has stormed the airport in Makhachkala in search of Jewish passengers arriving from Israel. In the past day, local people have besieged a hotel in search of Jewish guests and stormed the airport after reports emerged that a flight from Tel Aviv was arriving in the city. Passengers were forced to take refuge in planes or hide in the airport for fear of being attacked. Local health authorities said that 20 people had been injured, including two who were critical. The RIA news agency said nine police officers had received injuries in the incident, two of whom were being treated in hospital. The passengers on the plane were safe, security forces told Reuters. Sixty people were later detained, RIA reported on Monday, adding that 150 of the protesters had been identified. Video posted to social media showed hundreds of young men, some carrying Palestinian flags or placards denouncing Israel, storming on to the tarmac of the Makhachkala international airport and climbing on to idling planes, attempting to break through the windows. Airline employees were shown hustling passengers back inside planes as the crowds approached the aircraft. Russia closed Makhachkala airport on Sunday evening due to “intruders” at the airport. “This is your captain,” one announcement said. “There’s an angry mob outside that doesn’t know where we’ve come from and why [we are here]. It’s possible we’ll also come under attack.” The riots appear to have been inspired by a number of posts on the social media platform Telegram, where followers were told that a flight from Tel Aviv would be arriving that evening with refugees from Israel. Some of the signs held by the rioters read, “We are against Jewish refugees”. Police stood by as hundreds of protesters surged into the airport’s main terminal, entering restricted areas and demanding that customs officials direct them toward the arriving passengers. Followers of Utro Dagestan, one of the Telegram accounts that regularly carries news mixed with conspiracy theories, were told to besiege the local airport, interrogate arriving passengers and demand that they denounce the Israeli government. The account also called on local people to follow any arriving Israelis, take pictures of their vehicles and write down the addresses where they were staying. Other video from the airport showed people accosting airline passengers, including those who appeared to have just arrived on the flight from Israel. They said they were also locals who had travelled abroad for medical help. The Dagestani government said early on Monday that it was strengthening security measures across the republic, which is home to about 3 million people. Sergei Melikov, the head of Dagestan, said the incident was a gross violation of the law, even as Dagestanis “empathize with the suffering of victims of the actions of unrighteous people and politicians, and pray for peace in Palestine”. “There is no courage in waiting as a mob for unarmed people who have not done anything forbidden,” Melikov said on the Telegram messaging app, while elsewhere blaming external actors for the riots, saying they occurred “because of fakes spread by our enemies”. Russia’s aviation authority said late on Sunday that all “unauthorised citizens” had been removed from the airport, while video clips circulating online appeared to show police arresting some protesters. Local religious authorities have suggested that they may need to evacuate an estimated 800 Jewish families from across Dagestan, many of them in the southern city of Derbent. “The situation is very difficult in Dagestan. People from the community are afraid, they call, and I do not know what to advise,” Ovadya Isakov, a government representative of the local Jewish community, told the Podyom news outlet. “Is it worth leaving? Because Russia is not our salvation. There were pogroms in Russia too. It is unclear where to run.” Prominent figures in Dagestan have spoken in support of Palestine and against the Israeli state since 7 October, when a Hamas raid sowed terror in southern Israel, killing more than 1,400. In response, the Israeli government has unleashed a bombing campaign against Gaza, killing an estimated 8,000 as of Sunday, according to local officials. Khabib Nurmagomedov, a former mixed-martial arts champion and possibly the most famous figure in Dagestan, posted to more than 35 million followers on Instagram earlier this month that Israel was engaged in “genocide” in Gaza. Reports of anti-Jewish acts were not confined to Makhachkala. In Nalchik, another city in the neighbouring Kabardino-Balkaria region, a planned Jewish centre was set on fire earlier on Sunday. Earlier on Sunday, protesters also besieged a hotel in the Dagestani city of Khasavyurt, searching rooms for “Jewish refugees”. “We are receiving reports from 4 different cities in Dagestan … of mobs demanding to kill the Jews,” tweeted Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, a former chief rabbi of Moscow who left in 2022 after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “A direct result of the Russian government’s siding with Hamas in this conflict and lack of condemnation of the massacre of 7/10.” A delegation from Hamas, the Palestinian organisation’s first high-profile international trip since the 7 October attacks, arrived in Moscow earlier this week for meetings with the Russian foreign ministry. Commenting on the airport storming, Israel in a statement urged the Russian authorities to protect Israelis and Jews in their jurisdictions. “The state of Israel views gravely attempts to harm Israeli citizens and Jews anywhere,” the foreign ministry in Jerusalem said. “Israel expects the Russian law enforcement authorities to safeguard all Israeli citizens and Jews.” © 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited

Mexican armed forces move a yellow cordon near a crime scene where several local police officers were shot dead by gunmen, in Coyuca de Benitez, Mexico, October 23, 2023. [JAVIER VERDIN / REUTERS] AFP 24 October, 2023 Three separate armed attacks in Mexico on Monday left at least 24 people dead, including a dozen police officers, authorities said about the latest violence to hit regions plagued by drug trafficking. In the deadliest incident, unidentified attackers targeted a security patrol in Guerrero state's municipality of Coyuca de Benitez, prosecutor Alejandro Hernandez said. At least 13 people were killed and two others wounded in that attack, the state prosecutor's office said in a statement, with Hernandez earlier having confirmed that at least 11 of those killed were members of the municipal police force. A senior state security official was traveling in the convoy when it was attacked, authorities said, without confirming media reports that he was murdered along with police bodyguards. Security forces were later seen patrolling the area — where several lifeless bodies lay on the ground — as a police helicopter flew overhead. Another attack, in the neighboring state of Michoacan, left four civilians and a policeman dead, and two others wounded, authorities said. A group of gunmen had attacked the brother of the mayor of the town of Tacambaro, according to the state prosecutor's office. A restaurant worker and a member of the police force were among those killed, while the mayor's brother was wounded, it said. In a video posted on social media, gunmen were seen opening fire before fleeing in several vehicles. A third attack on Monday, a gunfight between alleged drug dealers in the central Mexican state of Puebla, left at least six dead and two wounded, the regional government reported. The incident took place in the rural community of San Miguel Canoa, about 75 miles from Mexico City. Mexico is plagued by cartel-related bloodshed that has seen more than 420,000 people murdered since the government deployed the military in its war on drugs in 2006. Since then, the country's murder rate has tripled to 25 per 100,000 inhabitants. Mexico has also registered more than 110,000 disappearances since 1962, most attributed to criminal organizations. Guerrero and Michoacan are among the country's most violent areas, due to confrontations between rival drug traffickers and security forces. Although it is home to the famed coastal resort of Acapulco, Guerrero is one of Mexico's poorest states. Violence — particularly targeting low-level officials — often escalates across the country in the run-up to elections. Presidential and parliamentary polls are set to be held next year. Even so, experts said the latest wave of violence was particularly shocking. "Guerrero has long seen one of Mexico's most complicated armed conflicts, but the current, pre-electoral levels of violence are extraordinary," Falko Ernst, an analyst at International Crisis Group, wrote on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. Since taking office in 2018, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has championed a "hugs not bullets" strategy to tackle violent crime at its roots by fighting poverty and inequality with social programs, rather than with the army. © 2023 AFP © 2023 CBS Interactive Inc.

Report on Displaced Persons in Northeast Nigeria By Genocide Watch October 2023 Since 2009, the Northern Eastern of Nigeria's states Borno, Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi and Yobe continue to be affected. As of June 2023, the Displacement Tracking Matrix DTM identified a total of 2,295,534 IDPs in 471,346 households and 2,075,257 returnees in 341,895 homes. The IDP population included IDPs in camps and camp-like settings (921,201 individuals or 40%) and IDPs residing in host communities (1,374,333 individuals or 60%). The returnee population included IDP returnees (1,866,796 individuals or 90%). There is a wide range of humanitarian crises faced by the IDPs: compromised living conditions ,food insecurities, no access to safe water sources, inadequate healthcare facilities and a disrupted education systemThe IDPs have lost their source of livelihood and economic opportunities. The relief web notes that about 16 million people grapple with the profound and unrelenting effects of a humanitarian and protection crisis with no clear sign of ending soon. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) released a detailed study last month; they note that more than 80 per cent of the IDPs in need are women and children, who also face "abductions, rape and abuse".The resultant displacement of communities has led to a disruption of countless children. Nearly 2 million children cannot access learning across all three states Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states BAY. The grave violations against children have led to a dire economic downturn, affecting not just the conflicted region but the country as a whole. The indiscriminate attacks in BAY's local governance make it the most unstable place to be; there is a need for humanitarian intervention before things escalate. The ongoing conflict and insecurity in some areas make it difficult for IDPs to return to their homes and communities. Genocide Watch’s Recommendations: The UN Secretary-General /international community should recognize the terrorist insurgency that has caused an enormous crisis for the IDPs in the North East of Nigeria state of Borno. The Nigerian government should commit to assisting IDPs in returning to their home communities and protecting their human security needs. Humanitarian organizations and agencies, like the United Nations and various non-governmental organizations, must provide assistance to IDPs in Borno State ( food aid, healthcare, education, and protection services). Mediation and Ombudsman Services: Should consider establishing mediation services or ombudsperson offices to provide impartial and neutral dispute resolution amongst the groups in conflict Since 2009, the Northern Eastern of Nigeria's states Borno, Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi and Yobe continue to be affected. As of June 2023, the Displacement Tracking Matrix DTM identified a total of 2,295,534 IDPs in 471,346 households and 2,075,257 returnees in 341,895 homes. The IDP population included IDPs in camps and camp-like settings (921,201 individuals or 40%) and IDPs residing in host communities (1,374,333 individuals or 60%). The returnee population included IDP returnees (1,866,796 individuals or 90%). There is a wide range of humanitarian crises faced by the IDPs: compromised living conditions ,food insecurities, no access to safe water sources, inadequate healthcare facilities and a disrupted education systemThe IDPs have lost their source of livelihood and economic opportunities. The relief web notes that about 16 million people grapple with the profound and unrelenting effects of a humanitarian and protection crisis with no clear sign of ending soon. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) released a detailed study last month; they note that more than 80 per cent of the IDPs in need are women and children, who also face "abductions, rape and abuse".The resultant displacement of communities has led to a disruption of countless children. Nearly 2 million children cannot access learning across all three states Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states BAY. The grave violations against children have led to a dire economic downturn, affecting not just the conflicted region but the country as a whole. The indiscriminate attacks in BAY's local governance make it the most unstable place to be; there is a need for humanitarian intervention before things escalate. The ongoing conflict and insecurity in some areas make it difficult for IDPs to return to their homes and communities. Genocide Watch’s Recommendations: The UN Secretary-General /international community should recognize the terrorist insurgency that has caused an enormous crisis for the IDPs in the North East of Nigeria state of Borno. The Nigerian government should commit to assisting IDPs in returning to their home communities and protecting their human security needs. Humanitarian organizations and agencies, like the United Nations and various non-governmental organizations, must provide assistance to IDPs in Borno State ( food aid, healthcare, education, and protection services). Mediation and Ombudsman Services: Should consider establishing mediation services or ombudsperson offices to provide impartial and neutral dispute resolution amongst the groups in conflict The Human Rights Commission should ensure that there are legal protections in place for citizens' rights, including freedom of speech, assembly, and access to justice. GENOCIDE WATCH is the founder and coordinator of the Alliance Against Genocide E-mail: president@genocidewatch.org Website: www.genocidewatch.com Tax exempt EIN: 26-1672589

Mexmutjan Memet is suffering from liver disease his wife attributes to prison conditions Mexmutjan Memet was arrested in China’s Xinjiang region in 2017 and subsequently sentenced. [Kifaye Éhsan] RFA Uyghur Oct 23, 2023 A Uyghur man serving a 20-year sentence in northwest China’s Xinjiang region is in critical condition due to poor conditions at his prison, according to his wife, who has called for pressure on Chinese authorities to release him and reunite him with his family in Turkey. Mexmutjan Memet’s story is all too common for Uyghurs who have moved abroad only to be arrested on their return to China for actions deemed crimes by the state, including exercising their right under the country’s constitution to uphold their cultural and religious traditions. Memet, a 48-year-old former staffer at the agricultural bureau in Xinjiang’s Korla (in Chinese, Kuerle) city who went on to open a business shipping pears, moved to Turkey with his family in 2015 to provide his children with better educational opportunities. In 2016, he accompanied his 78-year-old mother Xelchem Pazil back to Korla after she visited his family in Turkey following an Islamic pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca, only to have his passport confiscated by authorities on his arrival, his wife Kifaye Éhsan told RFA Uyghur. The following year, he was arrested and sentenced to 20 years in Korla Prison for reasons that included violating China’s one-child policy, providing religious education to his children and traveling to Turkey. An RFA investigation found that at least seven members of Memet’s family, including his brothers and mother, were sentenced to prison after his return, although his mother was released this year for treatment after becoming seriously ill in a prison in Sanji (Changji) city, near the regional capital Urumqi. Éhsan recently contacted RFA Uyghur expressing concern for her husband’s well-being after she learned that he had become severely ill in prison from liver disease and related complications and is “in need of urgent medical attention.” “The police said … that his condition is severe and requires medical attention,” she said. “They also said that if anything goes wrong with him, they won’t be responsible.” RFA contacted the Korla City Prison Administration Office and spoke with an official who confirmed the existence of “an inmate who has liver disease and serious complications,” but said he did not have any specific information about the individual’s identity or the exact diagnosis. “I became aware of the severity of his illness in the course of my work,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media. “As of now, the individual is still in prison.” The official said that staff at the administration office are “prohibited from becoming involved in cases that fall under the jurisdiction of other parties,” and could not provide further details. Healthy prior to imprisonment Éhsan, like many other Uyghurs living abroad, has been unable to establish direct contact with her relatives since 2017, when authorities in Xinjiang began detaining Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in a vast network of “re-education camps” and implemented strict controls on the flow of information in and out of the region. She said she now lives in constant fear that she will receive notice that Memet’s health has declined further, or worse. “All of us living abroad are shattered – our suffering is indescribable,” she said. “As for my children, they too have been deeply affected by this news, both emotionally and psychologically. As a mother, I can sense it, but words cannot fully convey it.” Éhsan said that prior to his arrest, Memet was “in good health” and running his pear packaging business, which was shut down by authorities following his detention. She said that after the business was closed, the families of Memet’s six siblings in Korla and his family in Turkey had lost their primary source of income. RFA also contacted an employee at the Korla Prison Hospital who confirmed that Memet is suffering from several ailments – including liver disease, heart problems and high blood pressure – although he is currently “in stable condition” after “receiving treatment at the hospital for the past two months.” But he said that Memet’s condition “was extremely critical” on his arrival at the prison, and that he “required an extensive period of care.” The employee, who also declined to be named, said that the hospital has been monitoring Memet’s condition “daily.” “He was diagnosed with liver disease and high blood pressure, and he is currently on medication for his heart and blood pressure,” he said. “It seems that he had preexisting liver issues, which led to complications this time. He has experienced a significant decline in weight and physical stature.” Call for pressure on China Éhsan, however, dismissed the hospital employee’s assessment that her husband had been in poor health prior to his incarceration. “When my husband returned to our homeland, he was in good health and had a normal weight,” she said. “They told us that [among other conditions,] he had Hepatitis B. It is likely due to the poor conditions of the prison, as it is a contagious disease.” She called on international NGOs to exert pressure on the Chinese government to facilitate his access to medical treatment outside the prison, as well as his immediate release. “I don't hold any expectations from the Chinese government [that they will free him],” she said. “My only hope is that human rights organizations or other entities can assist in securing my husband's release, provide him with the necessary treatment, and reunite him with our family.” Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster. © 2023 Radio Free Asia

Bodies at Kfar Aza kibbutz massacre site. credit: Al Jazeera Genocide Emergency Alert: Israel and Gaza 17 October 2023 Genocide Watch is declaring a Genocide Emergency Alert for Israel and Gaza due to the war between Israel and Hamas. On October 7, 2023, coinciding with the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, Hamas launched a coordinated assault by over 1500 heavily armed Hamas terrorists who murdered over 1400 Israeli civilians, including 200 men, women, and children in two kibbutzim and 260 civilians attending an outdoor music festival. Hamas abducted over 150 hostages, including children. Hamas launched over six thousand missiles supplied by Iran into cities all over Israel. Hamas targeted Israelis simply because they were Israelis. It was the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have expressed their genocidal intent to destroy the nation of Israel. The massacres by Hamas constituted acts of genocide. The attacks were also crimes against humanity and war crimes. Israel has declared war on Hamas and embarked on an aerial bombing campaign on Gaza. Over 2300 Palestinians in Gaza have died in the first week of bombing. Gaza’s only power station has shut down because Israel has cut off fuel deliveries. Without electricity, water cannot be pumped. Gaza is running out of food. Israel asserts that it is the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people. Israel’s recognition by the United Nations followed the Holocaust. The UN explicitly intended to recognize a nation- state where Jews could defend themselves after thousands of years of exile and genocide. Many Jews came to Israel because they were persecuted in Arab countries, the Soviet Union, and other nations. As a nation-state recognized by the United Nations, Israel has full rights under Article 51 of the UN Charter and international law to defend itself. The legitimacy of Israel’s creation was rejected by Palestinians, most Arab countries, and many Islamic nations. These countries consider Israel’s territory to have been stolen from the Palestinian people. Iran, Hamas, and many people in the Arab world still deny the Holocaust. Since 1948, Israel has had to defend itself against numerous invasions by its Arab neighbors. Following its victories in the wars against it, Israel took effective control in 1967 of the West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan Heights. UN recognition did not include those territories as part of Israel. Legally they are “occupied territories.” The Palestine Liberation Organization and Hamas were founded in response to Israeli occupation. Since its founding in 1987, Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by Israel, Egypt, and many Western nations. In its charter, Hamas declares its intent to destroy the nation of Israel, a declaration of genocidal intent. Hamas is funded by Iran. The Gaza government of Hamas is heavily funded by Qatar. Following many terrorist attacks by Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank, Israel occupied both territories. Israel ceased occupation of Gaza in 2005. Israel and Egypt have blockaded Gaza since 2007. Israel severely restricts movement of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million Palestinians. Israel still occupies the West Bank. 700,000 Israelis live in settlements that violate Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, prohibiting “transfer [of] parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” Israeli settlers believe their settlements are justified by God’s promise that Jews have the right to all the ancient lands of Judah and Israel. This settler ideology is supported by Likud, the party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is committed to further settlement expansion. Like the American ideology of “manifest destiny,” this settler ideology is used to justify forced displacement of Palestinians who have lived in the occupied territories for thousands of years. Forced displacement is a crime against humanity prohibited by Article 7(1)(d) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Dehumanization of the enemy is common in wars and genocides. It is already evident in this war, with Hamas militants spitting on and mutilating bodies of their victims and the Israeli Defence Minister calling Hamas “human animals.” Dehumanization is a stage of genocide. From 2008 - 2022, Israeli attacks in Gaza and the West Bank killed 6407 Palestinian civilians. over half killed by Israeli bombs and missiles. During the same period, 308 Israeli civilians have died from Palestinian attacks. In 2022, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed an estimated 204 Palestinians. Most deaths occurred during military raids against suspected Palestinian militants. The October 2023 terrorist attacks by Hamas and bombing of Gaza by Israel Defense Forces have caused over 2670 civilian deaths in Gaza and 1400 civilian deaths in Israel in just the first week of the war. Both Israel and Hamas are committing war crimes. As of October 13, 2023, more than 150 civilian hostages have been taken from Israel and are being held in Gaza by Hamas. Taking of hostages is prohibited by Common Article 3, and the Fourth Geneva Convention, and Additional Protocols I and II of the Geneva Conventions, and is a war crime under Article 8(2)viii of the ICC Statute. Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza until all hostages are returned, prohibiting the entry of water and fuel. 50,000 pregnant women lack access to essential health services and more than a million children are among the Palestinians trapped in Gaza. Israel's massive bombing of Gaza has indiscriminately killed civilians. Israel called for the relocation of 1.1 million civilians to south Gaza within 24 hours for safety, an order that Hamas ordered Palestinians to ignore. The UN urged Israel to withdraw this order due to the “devastating humanitarian consequences” from an evacuation that could not be completed before Israeli bombing and invasion begin. Israel extended the evacuation deadline but over a million civilians are still trapped. As a nation state, Israel has the right to self-defence. Both Israel and Hamas are obligated by international law to protect civilians. Israeli invasion of Gaza will inevitably result in more war crimes by both Israel and Hamas. Genocide Watch considers the war in Israel and Gaza to be at Stage 3: Discrimination, Stage 4: Dehumanization, Stage 5: Organization, Stage 6: Polarization, Stage 8: Persecution, and Stage 9: Extermination. Genocide Watch recommends: All hostages held by Hamas must be freed immediately and returned to Israel. The Israeli blockade of medicines, food, and water to Gaza should end immediately. Military aid to Israel should be conditional on Israel’s adherence to the laws of war. Humanitarian corridors to safe areas must be free from bombing and ground attacks. Hamas and Israel must halt all attacks that kill or injure civilians. Reports of Israel’s use of incendiary weapons must be investigated by the UN. Israeli officials in the occupied West Bank must ensure the safety of all civilians. Israel should not invade Gaza unless Israel lifts its blockade, stops its bombing, and enforces rigorous rules of engagement to prevent civilian casualties.

Searching for victims of Israeli air strikes in southern Gaza.Credit...Yousef Masoud for The New York Times We Are Overpaying the Price for a Sin We Didn’t Commit’ New York Times Oct. 28, 2023 By Nicholas Kristof New York Times Opinion Columnist, reporting from Jerusalem The most consequential decision Israel will face in the coming days is how hard to continue hitting Gaza. Should it undertake a monthslong ground invasion? Continue with large-scale aerial bombardment? Allow fuel into Gaza to keep hospitals running? Over the last week that I’ve spent reporting in Israel and the West Bank, I’ve tried to listen and learn. So let me share why I believe we’ll some day look back at this moment and see a profound moral and policy failure. But let me start with someone smart who has a different take. Ehud Barak, the former Israeli general, defense minister and prime minister, knows more about the military challenges of taking on Gaza than almost anybody. In 2009 he oversaw a major ground offensive against Hamas. I dropped by his home in Tel Aviv, and we sat in his office, surrounded by his collection of framed cartoons mocking him — he has a thick skin — as he argued in favor of a ground invasion as the only way to crush Hamas. “There is no way but to send many tens of thousands of boots on the ground,” he said, but he acknowledged that this will be a prolonged and bloody task. He estimated that there is a 50 percent chance that it will lead to a war with Hezbollah in the north, plus some risk of attacks from militias on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights and of serious unrest on the West Bank. Barak also warned that after a number of months when Israel might be ready to withdraw from Gaza, it could have trouble handing the territory over to someone else. But it’s conceivable, he said, that Israel could find a multilateral Arab force to take over Gaza and that this force could eventually transfer control of the territory to the Palestinian Authority. On balance, he thinks that it is possible for Israel to destroy most of Hamas’s capabilities, establish a no-go zone along the border and extricate itself. Former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Barak.Credit...William Keo for The New York Times For my part, I’m skeptical that either the invasion or the handover would go well, partly because I’ve observed so many military operations that started optimistically and ended as bloody quagmires. But Barak also made another important point: Israel will now finally end Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy of bolstering Hamas. What? Israel supported Hamas? Yes, under Netanyahu, Israel approved the transfer of over $1 billion to Gaza from Qatar — intended to cover expenses such as salaries and energy costs — but some funds reached Hamas’ military wing, Ha’aretz reported. (Qatar has denied that the money was misused.) Netanyahu’s aim, according to Barak and others, was to buttress Hamas so as to weaken the rival Palestinian Authority and undermine any possibility of a two-state solution. “Those who want to thwart the possibility of a Palestinian state should support the strengthening of Hamas and the transfer of money to Hamas,” Netanyahu reportedly said in 2019. That monetary lifeline to Hamas will now surely be cut, and that may hurt the organization as much as any number of bombs. Israel has the right to defend itself and strike military targets in Gaza, and there should be strong international pressure on Hamas to release its hostages. My reporting in Gaza over the years convinces me that Gazans themselves would be much better off if Hamas could be removed. Some American liberals don’t appreciate how repressive, misogynistic, homophobic and economically incompetent Hamas is in Gaza, to say nothing of its long history of terror attacks on Israel. All this explains why many Gazans are fed up with Hamas. “Hamas spends money building tunnels, not investing in people,” a Gaza woman told me. She was stuck in Jerusalem, where her young son was receiving cancer treatment at a Palestinian hospital. The despair in Gaza, she said, is such that for years some young men have simply dreamed of becoming “martyrs” and winning honor by killing Israelis. “In Gaza, there is no hope,” she said. “There is no life, there is nothing we have from living in Gaza. The only thing people can do is become a martyr.” The woman, whom I’m not identifying for fear of retaliation by Hamas, says that she is against the killing of civilians on either side, and that now she weeps each day as she follows the bombing of Gaza and wonders if her husband and other children there will survive. Her son with cancer was sitting a few feet away, watching videos on his mom’s phone, and I looked over to see what he was watching. It was TikToks of his neighborhood being bombed. He was glued to the screen as videos showed areas the size of multiple football fields near his home turned into rubble; satellite imagery shows other large areas pulverized as well. No one knows how many people are caught in the wreckage, but some Gazans told me they had heard cries from inside collapsed buildings. They lack proper equipment to rescue people, so eventually, the cries stop, and a stench rises. Despite her own opposition to Hamas, the woman said that anger at the Israeli attacks will probably boost support for Hamas in the territory. One well-educated young woman inside Gaza, Amal, told me over WhatsApp that the victims she knew of were mostly civilians, and she sounded full of despair. “Constant bombardment has me feeling as if I am not human anymore, as if our souls mean nothing at all,” she told me. “We are being massacred.” A 16-year-old girl in Gaza offered this message, conveyed through Save the Children: “It’s like we are overpaying the price for a sin we didn’t commit. We were always with peace and will always be.” As Israel stands poised to escalate the war, there are two arguments to think through. The first is pragmatic: Can a siege and large-scale ground invasion succeed in erasing Hamas? I’m skeptical, and when I hear backers of an invasion speak of removing Hamas I have the same sinking feeling as when I heard hawks in 2002 and 2003 cheerily promising to liberate Iraq. Just because it would be good to eliminate a brutal regime doesn’t mean it is readily achievable; the Taliban can confirm that. The answers to the question of who will take over a battered Gaza after months of warfare also seem too iffy to me. It won’t be Egypt, said the former Egyptian foreign minister Nabil Fahmy. “I can’t imagine any international force being ready to take on what’s left there,” Fahmy told me. He thinks an Israeli invasion is unlikely to destroy Hamas and is more likely to inflame radicalism in Gaza, and he warns that President Biden has damaged American standing in the region because of his perceived indifference to Palestinian lives. The second prism through which to consider the Gaza war is a moral one, for we have values as well as interests. Decades from now when we look back at this moment, I suspect it’s the moral failures that we may most regret — the inability of some on the left (and many in the Arab world) to condemn the barbaric Oct. 7 attacks on Israelis, and the acceptance by so many Americans and Israelis that countless children and civilians must pay with their lives in what Netanyahu described as Israel’s “mighty vengeance.” When Israeli Jews were asked in a poll whether the suffering of Palestinian civilians should be taken into account in planning the war on Gaza, 83 percent said “not at all” or “not so much.” I can’t help feeling that while we say that all lives have equal value, President Biden has likewise greatly prioritized Israeli children over Gazan children. I give Biden great credit for promptly moving two aircraft carrier groups to the region, to help deter Hezbollah or others from joining the war. The White House was right to condemn the “grotesque” and “antisemitic” messages on some college campuses. And Biden’s compassion for victims of the Hamas attacks was so heartfelt that he built up political capital in Israel — but so far he hasn’t leveraged it to get significant aid into Gaza. The United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, has condemned what he called “clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza.” The Biden administration, which in the context of Ukraine constantly speaks of international law, vetoed a Security Council resolution calling for humanitarian pauses to deliver aid. Every account I’ve heard from Gaza this past week, including directly from people there who despise Hamas, suggests that the civilian toll there has been horrendous. One gauge is that at least 53 United Nations staff members have been killed so far, including teachers, an engineer, a psychologist and a gynecologist. More than 20 journalists have been killed, too, and an Al Jazeera correspondent lost his wife, son, daughter and grandson to an airstrike. And now the suffering in Gaza is set to get much worse. That’s partly because hospitals are running out of diesel fuel, and Israel is not allowing fuel into the territory. I understand the reason: Hamas could use diesel fuel for its attacks on Israelis, and an Israeli military spokesman also told me that United Nations alarmists may be exaggerating the shortage. Yet if hospitals lack fuel and cannot operate generators, babies in incubators may die along with people needing dialysis or surgeries. Some 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza would face greater risks if hospitals can’t take them. “We are on the brink of collapse,” Philippe Lazzarini, who runs the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, the largest aid agency in Gaza, told me. Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, lead physician in Gaza for the aid group MedGlobal, put it this way, “When the fuel runs out tomorrow, this hospital will rapidly become a mass grave.” Because of the siege, Gaza is also running out of insulin and anesthetic, according to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization. Fadi Abu Shammalah, who works in Gaza with a civil society organization called Just Vision, visited the United States this year at the invitation of the State Department, presumably because he was seen as a potential bridge across cultures. “I love you,” he told me over the phone, speaking of Americans. “You are so kind to me.” I thanked him but noted that we were also providing some of the bombs being dropped near him. He said he doubted that the Americans he so admired understood how the war was actually playing out against civilians. “Is it a war against Hamas, really?” he asked. “Or it’s against my kids?” He said that as bombs dropped, he tried to calm his terrified children by saying that if they could hear the explosions, they were safe; it’s the bombs you never hear that kill you. That backfired; when there was silence, the children feared they were about to be obliterated. Gaza City.Credit...Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images‘ “One of the reasons the Oct. 7 attacks were so horrible was because adult men slaughtered children,” said Sari Bashi of Human Rights Watch. “But adult men are slaughtering children every day in Gaza by dropping bombs on their homes.” Israel faces an agonizing challenge: A neighboring territory is ruled by well-armed terrorists who have committed unimaginable atrocities, aim to commit more and now shelter in tunnels beneath a population of more than two million people. It’s a nightmare. But the sober question must be: What policies will reduce the risk, not inflame it, while honoring the intrinsic value of Palestinian life as well as Israeli life? People will answer that question in different ways, and I don’t claim to have all the answers. But I think some day we will look back in horror at both the Hamas butchery in Israel and at the worsening tableau of suffering in Gaza in which we are complicit. More by Nicholas Kristof on Israel and Gaza ‘I’m Crying for All the Victims That Are Going to Suffer’ Oct. 25, 2023 We Must Not Kill Gazan Children to Try to Protect Israel’s Children Oct. 21, 2023 What Does Destroying Gaza Solve? Oct. 14, 2023 Nicholas Kristof joined The New York Times in 1984 and has been a columnist since 2001. He has won two Pulitzer Prizes, for his coverage of China and of the genocide in Darfur. You can follow him on Instagram, Facebook and Threads. His forthcoming memoir is “Chasing Hope: A Reporter’s Life.” @NickKristof A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 29, 2023, Section SR, Page 3 of the New York edition with the headline: ‘Our Souls Mean Nothing at All’. Copyright 2023 The New York Times Company

The International Court of Justice hears allegations of genocide against Myanmar’s military regime, July 22, 2023. Credit: The International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice has extended two deadlines for written arguments in a complaint filed by the West African nation of Gambia alleging that Myanmar’s military carried out genocide against minority Rohingya Muslims. The Muslim-majority nation — mainland Africa’s smallest country — accused Myanmar of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention during a military campaign in 2017, during which thousands of Rohingya are estimated to have died. The Hague-based court on Oct. 16 said that the Gambia can wait until May 16, 2024, to submit its pleadings in the case, while the junta regime has until Dec. 16, 2024, to submit its rejoinder. The deadlines have previously been extended several times by the court, which is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. “The Rohingya are frustrated that they have to wait for so long, year after year, to get a solution for the crimes committed by the Myanmar military,” said Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch. “I hope this is the last delay,” he said. “The court needs to stop granting the Myanmar military every time it asks for extension of time.” Alleged atrocities The Myanmar military’s alleged atrocities against Rohingya included indiscriminate killings, mass rape and village torchings as more than 740,000 fled across the border to Bangladesh. The crackdown occurred during the tenure of the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi, who personally defended the military against allegations of genocide at the ICJ in December 2019. The Nobel Peace Prize winner and one-time democracy icon now languishes in prison — toppled by the same military in a February 2021 coup d’etat. In February 2022, the National Unity Government, formed by former Myanmar lawmakers who operate as a shadow government in opposition to the military junta, said they recognized the authority of the ICJ to decide if the campaign against Rohingya constituted a genocide, and would withdraw all preliminary objections in the case. The same year, in July, the ICJ rejected all of the junta’s objections to the case, clearing the way to consider the factual evidence against Myanmar, a process that could take years. Ro Anamul Hasan, a Rohingya teacher living in one of the refugee camps in Bangladesh, believes the junta is delaying the ICJ trial while it moves forward with a plan to repatriate some Rohingya refugees under a small pilot project. “The junta is buying time for pilot repatriation,” he told Radio Free Asia. “They think that if pilot repatriation happens, the seriousness of the crime in the ICJ case will be reduced.” Seven years of waiting A Rohingya woman, who did not want her identity revealed for the story, told RFA that the delays in the case are frustrating for her. “It has been seven years of relying on them and waiting for a solution,” she said. “Life in the refugee camp where we live is getting worse day by day.” NUG spokesman Nay Phone Latt told RFA on Tuesday that “the longer the delay in getting justice, the bolder the perpetrators become.” RFA’s calls to junta spokesman Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment on the extensions went unanswered. The Rohingya, whose ethnicity is not recognized by the junta regime, have faced decades of discrimination in Myanmar and are effectively stateless. Myanmar administrations have refused to call them “Rohingya” and instead use the term “Bengali.” Myanmar faces other lawsuits, including one filed in 2019 in Argentina under the principle of “universal jurisdiction,” and an authorization by the International Criminal Court to investigate crimes against humanity over the alleged forced deportation of the Rohingya. The Gambia’s complaint, also brought in 2019, was filed on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. © 2023 BenarNews

Ikram Nurmehmet, a director known for featuring Uyghur protagonists, was arrested in May and is being held on unknown charges Ikram Nurmehmet is under arrest in China. [Photograph: Handout] Jessie Lau October 24, 2023 A Uyghur film-maker who was arrested in Beijing earlier this year will appear on trial in Xinjiang on Wednesday. Ikram Nurmehmet, 32, was taken from his home by Chinese authorities on 29 May and flown to Ürümqi, Xinjiang’s capital, where he is being held in pre-trial detention on unknown charges, according to his supporters. Born and raised in Ürümqi, Nurmehmet is an independent film-maker based in Beijing, where he lives with his wife and infant son. Hours after his arrest, police called his wife to notify her of his transfer to Xinjiang and asked her to bring clothes for him to the airport. There, she was able to meet Nurmehmet briefly, in the company of three officers who handed her his wedding ring and amulet. He told her she, “must now do the best she can”, a source close to the family told the Guardian. Nurmehmet’s mother, who lives in Ürümqi, filmed his arrival at the airport in Xinjiang. When she questioned the officers with him, she was told her son was “under investigation”. Known for portraying Uyghur protagonists in his work, Nurmehmet has directed many short films, some of which have been selected by film festivals in China and abroad. One film, Elephant in the Car, tells the story of a Han Chinese woman sharing a taxi with two Uyghurs. “His work always focuses on Uyghur people’s real lives, not in a propaganda way,” a source close to Nurmehmet said by phone over an encrypted messaging app. “He’s one of the young Uyghur directors who engages with Chinese society the most, but unfortunately in the end it [led] him being arrested. He’s very responsible for his family. He has a boy who [for] six months has not seen his father.” A month before his arrest, Nurmehmet had received a call from Xinjiang authorities requesting his return to Ürümqi to investigate the loss of his identity card. He refused and hung up. Later, his mother told him a childhood Uyghur friend he had once hosted while studying in Turkey had allegedly been detained, and warned that Nurmehmet might be under suspicion by association. Before moving to Beijing, Nurmehmet had spent six years studying film-making at the Marmara University in Istanbul. Maya Wang, the associate director in the Asia division at Human Rights Watch, said Uyghurs with any connections to Islam, central Asia or the Middle East were automatically under suspicion of terrorism from Chinese authorities. Many were rounded up during a campaign of “collective punishment” and imprisoned arbitrarily without trial. “People who have these remote connections are considered terrorists or extremists or having ideological viruses,” Wang said. “Many are still held in prison for having visited Turkey, or having attended (Islamic) funerals … Often, you hear of people dying in these facilities.” The Chinese state launched its “Strike Hard” anti-terrorism campaign in Xinjiang in 2014, after several terrorist attacks reportedly orchestrated by Uyghur separatists. Since then, an estimated half a million people are believed to have been imprisoned during a crackdown that escalated in 2017. Among those with known prison terms, the average time of imprisonment is 12.5 years, according to Human Rights Watch. “There’s less international attention now because the Chinese say they have closed the [detention] camps,” Wang said. “[But] the camps are part of a bigger, multifaceted campaign against Uyghurs, including the use of long prison sentences. Uyghurs continue to live in a state of fear.” Nurmehmet had previously been identified on a list of terrorism suspects known as the “Shanghai List”, which was obtained in 2020 by Australian hackers who looked through more than 1m surveillance records from the Shanghai Public Security Bureau. Last month, a leading Uyghur professor, Rahile Dawut, was reportedly sentenced to life in prison for “endangering state security”. A specialist in Uyghur folklore and traditions, she was reported missing six years ago. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in London said: “We are not aware of the specifics that you mentioned. China is advancing law-based governance on all fronts and will continue to uphold the rule of law, conduct law enforcement and protect lawful rights and interests of individuals or organisations in accordance with the law.” © 2023 The Guardian

Police can clearly be seen using force on elderly women and adolescent girls in a video of the operation, which was conducted in the middle of the night. Paramedics tend to the wounded after a midnight raid on occupied government offices in Mexico City on Oct. 16, 2023. [Cody Copeland/Courthouse News] Cody Copeland October 16, 2023 MEXICO CITY (CN) — A clash between police and Indigenous activists occupying government offices in Mexico City late Sunday night left 10 people wounded, including teenage girls as young as 13, according to organizers of the occupying group. “These acts of discrimination and racism against Indigenous communities contravene the international treaties and agreements that Mexico has signed on Indigenous issues,” said Diego García, a spokesperson for the activists, at a press conference outside the occupied offices on Monday. The activists — many of them displaced members of the indigenous Otomi population — have occupied the offices of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples for three years to demand their constitutional right to decent affordable housing. They celebrated the third anniversary of the taking of the offices last Thursday. Among the injured were a 13-year-old girl who fainted after being kicked in the head by three officers, a 17-year-old girl who lost mobility in one leg after being attacked by a group of five officers, senior citizens and journalists present to document the operation, García said. Unidentified gunmen arrived on motorcycles at around 3 a.m. and fired upon activists, but no one was injured from the gunshots, he said. He displayed the empty cartridges at the conference. A video of the clash posted to Facebook shows activists using long pipes to fend off police in riot gear. Police can clearly be seen using physical force on elderly women and young girls. “Acts such as these put at risk not only the lives of members of the community, but also those of anyone else who may be present,” said Filiberto Margarito Juan, a councilman with the National Indigenous Congress and representative of the Otomi community. In a concurrent press conference, city officials attempted to explain that the police were there only to clear the roadway, which activists have blocked since Oct. 11. “There have been versions that state that the action that was taken was one to try and clear the institute facilities of the people who have been there for three years now,” said Mexico City Interior Secretary Ricardo Ruiz Suárez. “It is absolutely false that this was the intention of the action.” Ruiz said that such an eviction would take a federal court order, since the offices belonged to a federal institute. “We as the city government do not have a direct administrative recourse to retake the facilities,” he said, emphasizing that the operation was to open up a major traffic artery that leads to an important hospital in the neighborhood. Organizers, however, weren’t buying that explanation. “The officers came all the way up to the doors of the House of the People,” said García. After taking the offices in October 2020, activists renamed the space the House of Indigenous Communities and Peoples: Samir Flores Soberanes, in honor of a water rights activist from Morelos who was murdered in 2019. “If their goal had been to clear the road, they wouldn’t have come all the way up to the door,” García said. “In the face of this threat, the activists defended themselves and began to force them to withdraw.” He and the other activists called on the government to expropriate the occupied offices and turn them into affordable housing for the 30 families living there. They had tried this tactic with an occupied abandoned building elsewhere in the city, but were unable to after police forced them out of that structure. “We demand that they begin the work of expropriating this building, since they say they can’t with the other one because no one is inside it,” García said. “They forget that the police beat us and kicked us out of that one.” © 2023 Courthouse News Service