Beni Halba tribal fighters attack a Salamat area in South Darfur on September 4, 2023 Security tensions in the western Sudanese state of South Darfur escalated on Monday as renewed conflicts between the Salamat and Habbaniya tribes erupted in multiple areas of the state, resulting in the tragic loss of at least 13 lives. This latest bout of violence flared up at the outset of the week, in the wake of a prior outbreak in August that had seen more than 500 fatalities and the destruction of over 20 villages. The Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have traded allegations regarding their involvement in exacerbating the tensions between these two pastoral groups, a feud that first ignited in August of this year. In June, the Beni Halba Arab tribe, along with other tribes in South Darfur state, declared their support for the RSF in their conflict against the Sudanese army. The Salamat tribe, however, did not align itself with this stance, despite some of its members participating in the fighting alongside the paramilitary forces. This division has created a significant rift within the local communities of South Darfur. Local sources, speaking to Sudan Tribune, reported that “approximately 13 individuals lost their lives on Monday, with four others sustaining injuries on the outskirts of Buram locality due to the conflict between the two tribes.” Journalist Al-Fatih Bahloul confirmed to Sudan Tribune that intense battles have been ongoing between the Habbaniya and Salamat since last Saturday in the Um Mari area. These clashes have given rise to complex humanitarian conditions and a substantial displacement of villagers. According to Bahloul, the conflict extended into the Baba area, near Buram, on Sunday and reached its zenith on Monday afternoon in the Um Sabikha area. The confrontations involved the deployment of heavy weaponry, motorcycles, and four-wheel-drive vehicles, leading to numerous casualties. He additionally noted that this dispute between the two tribes is a recurring issue, characterized by mutual accusations of livestock theft and attacks on commercial convoys and vehicles en route to traditional gold mining sites. Bahloul also pointed out the involvement of “unidentified military parties” who are allegedly exacerbating the conflict through the provision of substantial military equipment, four-wheel-drive vehicles, and specific weapons to the warring parties. Copyright @ 2021 | Sudan Tribune. All rights reserved.

United Nations The number of people killed in Gaza has exceeded 5,000 according to latest reports from de facto authorities there, amid intensifying Israeli airstrikes in response to Hamas attacks,while humanitarians repeated urgent calls for a ceasefire and more aid convoys. Echoing that message, UN health agency (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus issued a new appeal on Monday for “sustained safe passage” for medical essentials and fuel to keep health facilities open. “Lives depend on these decisions,” he insisted on social platform X. Latest media reports citing the Gaza Ministry of Health indicate that the number of people killed in Gaza since 7 October has risen to 5,087. Women and children have made up more than 62 per cent of the fatalities, while more than 15,273 people have been injured. UNRWA staff killed now 35 In addition to the overall death toll, the number of UN staff members working with the Palestine refugee agency UNRWA, has reached 35, according to the latest situation report released late on Monday. A further 18 staffers have been injured. At least 40 UNRWA installations have been damaged since the violence began on 7 October. UNRWA said nearly 600,000 internally displaced are sheltering in 150 UNRWA facilities overall with nearly 420,000 seeking refuge in 93 of the agency's shelters in Middle, Khan Younis and Rafah areas, further to the south - that's an increase of around 14,000 civilians in the past 24 hours. In its latest humanitarian update on the crisis UN humanitarian aid coordination office, OCHA, said that more than 1,000 have been reported missing and “are presumed to be trapped or dead under the rubble”. The largest medical facility in Gaza, Shifa hospital, is now treating around 5,000 patients, many times beyond its normal figure of around 700. The UN Spokesperson said on Monday that the average number of people staying in Gaza shelters is 4,400, around 2.5 times their designated capacity. Around 70 civilians are sharing space in each UNRWA classroom. Israel: Threefold rise in deaths According to Israeli official sources quoted by OCHA, some 1,400 people have been killed in Israel, the vast majority in the Hamas attacks on 7 October which triggered the latest conflict. OCHA said that the reported fatality toll is “over threefold the cumulative number of Israelis killed” since it began recording casualties in 2005. At least 212 Israeli and foreign nationals are being held captive in Gaza, the Israeli authorities have said. Two hostages were released last Friday. UN Secretary-General António Guterreshas repeatedly called upon Hamas to release hostages immediately and unconditionally. Trickle of aid A new aid convoy entered Gaza from Egypt on Monday through the Rafah border crossing comprises 20 trucks according to the Egyptian Red Crescent, said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, briefing reporters in New York. He said that was equivalent to just four per cent of the pre-crisis level of daily needs, for commodities for Gaza's population of more than two million. This was the third such delivery after the crossing opened on Saturday for the first time since the start of the conflict, following intense diplomatic efforts. A total of 34 trucks with aid provided by the UN and the Egyptian Red Crescent entered the enclave over the weekend. The UN has stressed that to respond to soaring humanitarian needs, at least 100 aid trucks per day are required. Desperate need for fuel The development comes as (UNRWA) warned on Sunday that it was set to run out of fuel within three days, putting the humanitarian response in Gaza at risk. UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said that without fuel, “there will be no water, no functioning hospitals and bakeries” and that “no fuel will further strangle the children, women and people of Gaza”.Desperate need for fuel The development comes as (UNRWA) warned on Sunday that it was set to run out of fuel within three days, putting the humanitarian response in Gaza at risk. UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said that without fuel, “there will be no water, no functioning hospitals and bakeries” and that “no fuel will further strangle the children, women and people of Gaza”. Education void Meanwhile, OCHA said that more than 625,000 children in Gaza have been deprived of education for at least 12 days, and 206 schools have been damaged. At least 29 of them are UNRWA-run establishments. UNRWA reported on Sunday that 29 of its staff members have been killed in Gaza since 7 October – half of them teachers. In the occupied West Bank, the escalation has also resulted in restrictions on the access to education. OCHA said that all the schools inside the territory were closed from 7 to 9 October, affecting some 782,000 students. As of last week, over 230 schools which cater to some 50,000 students had not reopened. Emergency Special Session to convene Thursday The Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly has confirmed that the 10th Emergency Special Session on Israel and Palestine will reconvene this Thursday. The session is officially titled: Illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Special sessions are convened allowing the UN's entire membership to make recommendations for collective measures during times of intractable crisis - if requested by either the Security Council(seven of its members or more) or a majority of the General Assembly. The Tenth Emergency Session was last adjourned in 2018. 'Humanity must come first' - rights chief A broad humanitarian ceasefire is essential for both Gaza and Israel, said the UN human rights chief Volker Türk. “Far too many civilian lives, many of them children, have already been lost – on both sides - as a consequence of these hostilities. And, unless something changes, coming days will see more civilians on the brink of death from continuing bombardment. Humanity must come first,” the High Commissioner said. Noting the Gaza Strip is already on the verge of catastrophe, he said the reports of overcrowding and disease spreading, "are deeply worrying". “This violence will never end unless leaders stand up and take the brave and humane choices that are required by fundamental humanity. The first step must be an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, saving the lives of civilians through the delivery of prompt and effective humanitarian aid, throughout Gaza, provided according to need and not limited by any other, arbitrary criteria,” he added. Copyright © United Nations

Verified Videos of Hamas attack October 7, 2023 credit: Human Rights Watch To view videos click on https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/18/israel/palestine-videos-hamas-led-attacks-verified and go to video. STATEMENT OF SCHOLARS OF HOLOCAUST STUDIES AND OF GENOCIDE STUDIES AND PREVENTION: Declaring the Atrocities Committed by Hamas Against Israeli Civilians as Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes and Genocide Recognizing, that on October 7, 2023, in tandem with massive rocket attacks on dozens of Israeli cities and villages, more than 1,500 armed Hamas militants illegally broke through the southern Israeli border with Gaza. They committed genocidal massacres of more than 1,400 Israeli civilians, ambushing them on the streets of their villages, breaking into their houses, and butchering them in the most cruel and vicious ways. Families hiding in their houses were murdered, including men, women, children, babies, and the elderly. The attackers set civilians' houses on fire, burning the inhabitants alive. They mutilated and burned the bodies of murdered Israelis. They raped Israeli women; Recognizing, that Hamas militants forcibly took more than 200 Israelis and citizens of other countries as hostages to the Gaza Strip; Recognizing, that the atrocities perpetrated by Hamas militants on October 7 are comparable, according to United States President Biden, to "the worst rampages of ISIS;" Recognizing, that Iran has been enabling and empowering Hamas since the 1980's; Recognizing, that Hamas militants committed these atrocities in Israel with the declared genocidal intent written in the Hamas Covenant of 1988 that calls for the elimination of the State of Israel, denies Israel’s right to exist, and calls for eternal war against Jews and Israel; Recognizing, that Hamas's jihadist genocidal terrorism against Israel and Jews, uses indoctrination and incitement to motivate its followers to commit these massacres; Recognizing, that according to the UN Human Rights Council, this indoctrination and incitement for genocidal terrorism includes delegitimization, dehumanization, and demonization against Israel and Jews in Hamas’s educational curricula and military training; Recognizing, that this same indoctrination and incitement is included in educational curricula sponsored by the Palestine Liberation Organization and taught in refugee camps run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA); Recognizing, that these incitements to destroy Israel, Israelis and the Jewish people constitute an "intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such," according to article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948); Recognizing, that according to article 2(a) of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948), and article 6(a) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1988), both of which constitute customary international law, the killing of members of a national, ethnical, racial or religious group with an intent to destroy the group in whole or in part is a crime of genocide; Recognizing, that according to article 2(b) of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948), and article 6(b) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1988), both of which constitute customary international law, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of a national, ethnical, racial or religious group is a crime of genocide; Recognizing, that according to customary international law, and article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, murder, extermination, enforced disappearances of persons, rape or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity, and other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering or serious bodily or mental injury, perpetrated in a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population, are crimes against humanity; Recognizing, that according to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949, Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflict (Protocol I), Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions and Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non- International Armed Conflict (Protocol II) (1977), and article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998), the murder, intentional killing of persons taking no active part in the hostilities, taking of hostages, violence to life and person including cruel treatment and torture, and outrages upon personal dignity constitute war crimes; Recognizing, that the Geneva Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and sick in Armed Forces in the Field (1949) and articles 32- 34 of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Convention and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflict (Protocol I) (1977), impose obligations regarding the dead and the missing, including forwarding information about the sick, wounded and dead in their hands to the other party to the conflict, and about the location of the graves of the dead; Recognizing, that article 34, of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Convention and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflict (Protocol I) (1977), requires the parties to the conflict to facilitate the repatriation of remains of the deceased; Recognizing, that UN General Assembly Res 3220 (xxix) (6 November 1974) A/res/3220(xxix) determined the duties entrusted with the parties to the armed conflict to locate and mark the graves of the dead, to facilitate the disinterment and the return of remains, if requested by their families and to provide information about those who are missing in action, and UN Security Council Res 2474 (11 June 2019) S/Res/2474 reiterated those duties and added the obligations to search for and recover the dead as a result of armed conflict, identify them, respect the remains of the dead, … and to return them, whenever possible, to their relatives, and ensure that, data possibly leading to the identification of the deceased person is adequately collected and recorded; Recognizing, that Israel launched a legitimate war of self-defense against Hamas, according to article 51 of the UN Charter and UNSC Res. 1368, to defend its population and to prevent the recurrence of Hamas's jihadist genocidal terrorism; Recognizing the principle of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), adopted in 2005 by the UN General Assembly, Therefore, we, scholars of Holocaust Studies and Scholars of Genocide Studies and prevention, Declare that the atrocities perpetrated by Hamas against Israeli civilians, constitute genocide and crimes against humanity, and the atrocities perpetrated by Hamas against Israeli civilians and combatants constitute war crimes; Condemn in the strongest terms these current atrocities and human rights violations perpetrated by Hamas against Israeli citizens; Calls Upon the United Nations to condemn these crimes and to require the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages; Call Upon the International Committee of the Red Cross to ensure that pending their release, the hostages will be treated humanely and respectfully and be provided with proper medical care and supply of essential medications; Call Upon the International Committee of the Red Cross to ensure that Hamas provides all vital information about the hostages and allows for means of communication by the hostages with their families and with the ICRC; Call Upon the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to recognize the need for a structured, supervised and comprehensive post-war education system for Gaza and the Palestinian Authority based on the models for denazification of Germany and its population after World War II; Call Upon the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNESCO to supervise and support the establishment of a reformed education system for Palestinian children, free of incitement and for tolerance of diversity; Call Upon the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate these crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes that Hamas has perpetrated against Israeli civilians and combatants; Call Upon the United Nations General Assembly and the UN Office of the Special Advisors for the Prevention of Genocide and for the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) to invoke the responsibility to protect to condemn these acts of genocide against Israelis and Jews, Call Upon the United Nations Security Council to take all necessary action to address Hamas's threats to peace, including the application of measures such as economic sanctions against Hamas, Iran, and against individuals responsible for Hamas atrocities; Call Upon the UN Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court to bring to justice individuals responsible for these commissions of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes; Call Upon the U.N. Human Rights Council and national governments to recognize these atrocities perpetrated against Israeli civilians as acts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes; Call Upon U.N. member states to use national courts with universal jurisdiction to conduct criminal proceedings against individuals responsible for these crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. FILL Out form to sign this statement FILL OUT FORM

By Anant Gupta and Gerry Shih The Washington Post (Illustration by Shubhadeep Mukherjee; AFP/Getty Images; Biplov Bhuyan/SOPA/Sipa/AP) CHURACHANDPUR, India — During times of civil unrest and political turmoil, authorities around the world frequently cut access to the internet to control their populations and throttle the flow of information. The militaries in Sudan and Myanmar pulled the plug when they carried out armed coups in 2021. Iran flipped the switch when protesters flooded the streets following the death a year ago of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody. But the country that most frequently deploys the tactic is not an authoritarian state such as Russia or China, digital rights groups say. It is India. Between 2016 and this May, India accounted for more than half of all the shutdowns recorded worldwide by an international coalition of more than 300 digital rights groups led by Access Now, a nonprofit. On more than 680 occasions during that period, state and local officials in India issued legal orders requiring the country’s handful of telecommunication companies to suspend mobile data transmission from cell towers and freeze wired broadband connections. Indian officials argue that the measure is necessary to prevent the spread of online rumors and contain unrest. But by enforcing a digital blackout, critics say, the government can stifle dissent, cover up abuses and stymie independent reporting that challenges official accounts during times of conflict. The tactic can also exact a drastic, far-reaching economic toll, disrupting commerce, work and education. On a recent evening, O.K. Luna searches for an internet signal on a hill in the village of Singngat during an internet shutdown being enforced by the Indian state of Manipur. (Arko Datto for The Washington Post) In a report last year about the global use of blackouts, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights warned that the practice infringes on basic rights of expression and may do more harm than good during times of upheaval. “The inability to access tools to document and rapidly report abuses seems to contribute to further violence, including atrocities,” the U.N. agency said. “Some shutdowns may even be implemented with the deliberate intent of covering up human rights violations.” Since May, when ethnic bloodshed erupted in Manipur state, in northeast India, the state government controlled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has enforced a draconian internet ban affecting the state’s 3 million people — one of the longest recorded shutdowns in the world — as violence between two ethnic groups spread from village to village, leaving more than 200 dead. In three visits to the remote, lushly forested state bordering Myanmar, Washington Post journalists saw how severing the internet — considered a modern necessity, almost a basic right by many — upended daily lives and livelihoods practically overnight. Countless workers found themselves out on the street, and hospitals, with online payment systems suspended, struggled to keep operating. Moreover, the internet shutdown shaped the Manipur conflict in profound ways. It allowed the BJP state government — and the state’s ethnic Meitei majority who control it — to dominate the public narrative about the turmoil. It impeded efforts by dissenters among the Kuki ethnic minority to spread their message and disseminate photo and video evidence of human rights abuses. And it effectively kept the roiling conflict, a stark challenge to the BJP’s leadership, behind a veil of invisibility. Ethnic-minority Kukis return from the Wall of Remembrance in Churachandpur, where they revere as martyrs the loved ones who have died during ongoing ethnic violence in India's Manipur state. (Arko Datto for The Washington Post) While local governments ruled by opposition parties in India also frequently block the internet, the Manipur example highlights a wider pattern in an India governed over the past decade by Modi’s BJP. To maintain their grip on political power and advance their Hindu nationalist agenda, Modi and his ideological allies have often used their control of technology and social media to stifle dissent, promote divisive propaganda — or, in the case of Manipur, pull the digital plug altogether. After a viral video emerged online in July of Kuki women being groped and paraded naked in a Meitei village, drawing international attention and concern about sexual violence in the Manipur conflict, several BJP leaders, including the state’s chief minister, N. Biren Singh, voiced frustration that the video had surfaced and alleged in media interviews that it had been intentionally “leaked” from Manipur to hurt them politically. The chief minister’s office and spokespeople for the Manipur state government declined multiple interview requests for this article. To pierce the information veil, Kuki activists this year mounted a digital resistance. The Kuki Students Organisation's documentation team takes testimony in Churachandpur at the Rostad Memorial High School relief camp. (Arko Datto for The Washington Post) Some secretly connected internet cables from an adjacent state to a college campus, where they huddled to spread word of their people’s plight. Others pursued old-school, shoe-leather journalism, forming teams to visit refugee camps and document allegations of war crimes, and collected evidence by transferring videos via Bluetooth or USB drives. Still others drove hours to the border, where they tapped into the faint cellphone signal to download independent commentary about the conflict. On a Sunday morning in early July, one of these activists stood in a crowd and she listened intently to dozens of exhausted Kuki villagers recounting a terrifying tale. A woman whose tribal name is Jhmar, in a white dress, walks to church for Mass with her family in Churachandpur. She helps the pro-Kuki Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum document atrocities experienced by Kukis amid a lack of internet access and media coverage. (Arko Datto for The Washington Post) Before sunrise that day, the displaced Kukis said, an armed mob of Meiteis had appeared, setting fire to their homes in the nearby foothills. Then the villagers made a stunning allegation: A 30-year-old Kuki named David Thiek was decapitated, his limbs sawed off and his head placed on a bamboo spike. The activist — a former call center manager with a bubbly laugh and quiet intensity named Jhmar — belonged to the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), a pro-Kuki organization, as a volunteer in its “media cell.” Her job, she said, was to find and confirm reports about atrocities, then spread the word to the outside world, a challenge given the internet ban. But here, a nugget of firsthand information had found its way to her. (Jhmar recounted the episode on the condition that she be identified only by her tribal name, fearing government retribution.) She immediately hopped on a motorbike and rode off into the hills. A view of Churachandpur from the village of Lhangjol in India's Manipur state, where internet access has been largely cut off for more than five months. (Arko Datto for The Washington Post) A world leader in blackouts Since 2020, India has been the leader in ordering internet shutdowns, far outpacing Iran and Myanmar, in second and third spots, respectively, according to Access Now. Indian government officials can issue blocking orders that cover relatively small districts or encompass vast states with millions of people. The blackouts tend to last for a few days, though they’re often renewed, and some stretch on for months. Two months ago, a shutdown was imposed in Haryana state, ostensibly to control riots, and a blackout in March, affecting 27 million people, was enforced in Punjab state during efforts to catch fugitives. In February, the internet was blocked in 11 cities in Rajasthan state to prevent cheating during exams. The longest recorded instance came in August 2019, when the Modi government revoked the semiautonomous status of the northern Jammu and Kashmir region and brought this restive Muslim-majority area directly under New Delhi’s control, sparking protests and an Indian army crackdown that included waves of detentions. The government cut phone lines and shut down high-speed internet for 18 months to curb what officials called the spread of disinformation from Pakistan. But with the flow of information severed and journalists unable to work, it took weeks for allegations to surface that the Indian army had tortured detainees, among them minors, said Anuradha Bhasin, the executive editor of the Kashmir Times who is now a fellow at Stanford University. Two people near T. Lailoiphai, a village east of the city of Churachandpur, exchange movie files via Bluetooth, one method of transferring data amid the area’s internet shutdown. (Arko Datto for The Washington Post) “Seven million people in Kashmir and Muslim-majority areas of Jammu were completely pushed behind an iron curtain,” said Bhasin. “Shutting down critical reporting was one of the intended consequences.” After Bhasin challenged the internet shutdown in court, the Indian Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that the tactic should be used only for a limited time and only if absolutely essential, adding that the justification must be publicized. But authorities often ignore the court’s recommendations, say Indian civil rights lawyers. Ceu Haokip rearranges flowers along the Wall of Remembrance. The head of the Kuki Students Organisation’s media cell has been instrumental in organizing the wall’s commemoration of people lost to ongoing violence. (Arko Datto for The Washington Post) The clampdown begins The unrest in Manipur began on April 27. Kuki activists called for a general strike against the land policies of the state’s chief minister that day, and the demonstration turned violent. Tensions had been brewing for months between the Kukis, a Christian hill tribe, and Meiteis, the politically and economically dominant valley dwellers who mostly practice Hinduism. Kukis have long accused Meiteis of coveting land in the hills reserved under the Indian constitution for tribal peoples, and those fears sharpened this spring when the state’s top court backed a Meitei demand that it also be granted official tribal status. At first, the state government ordered an internet blackout around Churachandpur, a city that forms the heart of Manipur’s Kuki population. But mayhem erupted anyway. On May 3, mob violence spread statewide, leading to two days of killing, rape and arson. While both sides were targeted, most victims were Kuki, according to the U.N. human rights office. Roaming death squads killed anyone they could find of the other ethnicity. Up to 60,000 people were displaced. The state ordered telecom providers to kill the internet, and a digital darkness fell over Manipur. The resistance began. Young Kuki volunteers train near Churachandpur. (Arko Datto for The Washington Post) Getting the word out For Ginza Vualzong, a gregarious leader in the pro-Kuki ITLF who heads its “media cell,” the first task was tracking down a local technician who quietly dealt in special phone lines — an internet bootlegger. After weeks of negotiations, an eye-watering payment exceeding $1,000 and a flick of a router switch one day in late May, Vualzong turned the media cell office in Churachandpur into an oasis of WiFi, with slow, finicky, but unfettered internet piped in from a neighboring state. To counter stories in newspapers and carried by television stations under the BJP government’s sway, one volunteer assembled a news bulletin every day and distributed hard copies to curious readers who queued up for them. Another team visited hospitals and camps for displaced people to document war crime allegations and uploaded oral histories to YouTube. “What we’re fighting is a narrative war,” said Vualzong, who described most of his day-to-day work as “firefighting” against government propaganda. At a relief camp at Don Bosco School in Churachandpur, a member of the Kuki Students Organisation's documentation team transfers images and video material via Bluetooth. The team is building an archive of villagers' experiences. (Arko Datto for The Washington Post) As the conflict raged, the Indian government prohibited foreign journalists from visiting Manipur. In the Indian media, it was mostly English-language newspapers with relatively few readers and small, online-only news outlets that closely covered both sides of the conflict. But with its secret internet line, the media cell managed to score small victories. In July, Jhmar and her team facilitated an interview with a Kuki woman who was beaten nearly to death by a mob with a writer for the popular Instagram page Humans of Bombay — an Indian account inspired by Humans of New York with 3 million followers. The post got 21,000 likes. It was nothing like making the front page of a national newspaper. But their people were starved of any outside attention, Jhmar said: “Every channel, be it small or big, is important for us right now.” Kuki volunteers return from their shift along a front line near the village of Kangvai that separates Kukis and Meiteis. Such front lines exist across the state of Manipur. (Arko Datto for The Washington Post) Return to a dark age As the media cell huddled daily near its office hotspot, life outside changed dramatically for millions of people plunged into an earlier technological era. At the Raj Medicity in Imphal, Manipur’s capital, hospital director Vijayraj Haobijam, 29, ticked off his mounting difficulties. Without internet access, he couldn’t receive timely reimbursements from the national health insurance program or digital payments from patients. His employees were working on half-salary. “Even the covid lockdowns were not so difficult because that was not a war,” he said. “We had internet.” On the boulevards of Imphal, the stately former seat of the Meitei monarchy, long lines snaked out from ATMs, because the demand for cash skyrocketed after India’s digital payments system suddenly became unavailable. The back streets were devoid of the food and package delivery boys ubiquitous even in small Indian towns, because the e-commerce companies paused local services. The offices that provide the white-collar jobs so many Indians aspire to were shuttered overnight. Grunting and sweating outside a water packaging plant in Churachandpur, Janet Lalthiengzo, 27, wrapped a dozen bottles and heaved the package onto a truck — a job she never imagined she’d be doing after graduating from college and working for a company doing search engine optimization. But with the internet severed, Lalthiengzo found herself packing water bottles for $3 a day, a third of what she once made. “Even if I get paid less, I have to work,” said Lalthiengzo. A Kuki observation outpost along a front line near Kangvai. (Arko Datto for The Washington Post) On a recent evening, three Kukis gathered on a grassy hilltop bathed in moonlight. Locals knew it was possible to pick up a faint cellphone signal, but no one knew if it came from the neighboring state of Mizoram or Myanmar. Siamkhanlal, 51, yelped with delight as 46 messages came flooding into his WhatsApp at once. He needed to download pay slips for his church group. People came to the hill for all kinds of reasons, he explained: to do homework, make payments or download the latest information about the fighting. Another villager, O.K. Luna, wasn’t so lucky. He wanted a glimpse of his daughter Margaret, who had flown that morning to Italy to resume her job on a cruise liner. He clutched a phone in each hand, cajoling them to connect. He gave up after more than 90 minutes. The Don Bosco School relief camp in Churachandpur for the displaced Kukis, most of whom are Christian. (Arko Datto for The Washington Post) The veil briefly lifts On May 4 — the second and, by most accounts, worst day of fighting — came a defining moment of the Manipur conflict. A 26-second video showing dozens of Meitei men that day molesting two naked Kuki women, grabbing their genitals as they were paraded down a narrow concrete road and into dry paddy fields. There, relatives of the Kuki women alleged, they were raped off-camera. For two and a half months, the video never surfaced. No arrests were made, no headlines created. But finally, the video made its way to social media. Instantly, it had an impact. A body of U.N. human rights experts expressed alarm about what was happening on the ground. Modi, who had stayed away from Manipur and remained quiet about the conflict since it erupted, broke his silence after 78 days, telling the Indian people that “what has happened to these daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven.” The wheels of justice finally began to churn. Seven men were detained within days and handed to the federal investigative agency. In a country where national politics is often driven by spectacle and social media outrage, capturing and sharing visuals is “the only time you are getting a response from those in power,” said Sevanti Ninan, a longtime media critic. “Manipur has long been invisible partly because of the mainland attitude to that state. The internet shutdown makes it further invisible.” The Rostad Memorial High School relief camp in Churachandpur, where Kukis displaced by ongoing fighting are living. (Arko Datto for The Washington Post) Hoaxes and rumors But on the Meitei side, the emergence of the video fueled bewilderment and frustration. Along the rain-soaked rice paddies of Pechi village, near where the video was shot, Meiteis wondered why they were denied internet when they too were regularly assaulted. Two fuming Meitei women, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to address an incident that they said unfairly tarnished their village name, stopped sowing rice to vent. The attack on the Kuki women, they said, was in revenge for a rumored attack on Meitei girls. Yet “the narrative is one-sided against us,” said one of the women. “Without internet, we cannot get photos and videos of what happened to our people.” Khuraijam Athouba, the spokesperson of the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity, the top civilian group representing Meitei interests in the conflict, said the internet shutdown was making the conflict worse by fueling hoaxes and rumors. Even Meiteis detested it, he said. “People make more assumptions,” Athouba said, “because they are not getting the right information, at the right time.” A defense volunteer stands in the village of Langza, where, according to accounts, the head of a decapitated 30-year-old Kuki named David Thiek was found earlier this year. (Arko Datto for The Washington Post) Compiling the evidence As soon as she heard news of David Thiek’s July 2 death, Jhmar rushed on a motorbike to Saikot village, where Thiek’s family were seeking refuge after fleeing their home in Langza, 20 miles away. Details were still trickling in about the pre-dawn attack on Langza. As waves of refugees arrived throughout the day, they brought more photos and videos that created, piece by piece, a fuller, terrifying account of destruction and savagery. Videos showed Kuki volunteers rummaging through rubble, searching for Thiek’s remains. They gathered his charred bones and placed them on a traditional stole spread on the ground. One photo showed the blood-streaked bamboo fence where his head had been mounted. Jhmar used Nearby Share, a Bluetooth file-sharing app, to gather every photo and video she could from Thiek’s friends, family and witnesses. For a week, she worked with her media cell colleagues to put together a memorial video. The group released it on their YouTube channel on July 13. From the mostly Kuki village of T. Lailoiphai, foreground, a view out onto two other villages amid the trees that are populated by other ethnic groups. All have been subject to violence during the state’s internet blackout. (Arko Datto for The Washington Post) The only consolation On July 24, Jhmar scored another small win. A team from CNN-News 18, a national TV network, caught wind of Thiek’s killing, and Jhmar brought the crew to interview his family. But after that, outside attention fizzled out again. On Sept. 2, the Editors Guild of India, a professional group of journalists that had visited Manipur on a fact-finding mission, released a report saying the internet ban had impeded the work of journalists, who were forced to rely “almost entirely on the narrative of the state government” and produced shoddy, one-sided reporting. Two days later, the Manipur government filed a criminal case against the editors association for “promoting enmity between different groups.” Mobile internet was briefly restored on Sept. 23, and disturbing photos immediately surfaced on social media, this time showing the corpses of two young Meiteis allegedly killed by Kukis. Authorities arrested the suspected killers before severing the internet again on Sept. 26. In Churachandpur, Jhmar fell into a gloom. She felt she hadn’t done enough to spread word about the violence. How could she, given Manipur’s internet outage that began in early May? Jhmar said her only consolation was that Thiek’s slaying had been documented, saved for a day of reckoning when the digital darkness lifts. “The only thing we can do,” she said, “is keep bringing out the stories as much as we can so that the world knows.” Shih reported from New Delhi. Anu Narayanswamy in Washington contributed to this report. About this story Design by Anna Lefkowitz. Visual editing by Chloe Meister, Joe Moore and Jennifer Samuel. Copy editing by Christopher Rickett. Story editing by Alan Sipress. Project editing by Jay Wang. By Anant Gupta Anant Gupta is a researcher with the India bureau of the Washington Post. He is based in New Delhi. By Gerry Shih Gerry Shih is the India Bureau Chief for the Washington Post, covering India and neighboring countries. © 1996-2023 The Washington Post

October 2023 | Issue No. 1 | genocidewatch.com aaaaaGenocide Watch exists to predict, prevent, stop, and punish genocide and other forms of mass murder. We seek to raise awareness and influence public policy concerning potential and actual genocide. Our purpose is to build an international movement to prevent and stop genocide. aaaaaOur monthly newsletter aims to keep people informed of Genocide Watch’s operation, as well as the operations of the other members of the Alliance Against Genocide. For more information, visit genocidewatch.com. GENOCIDE EMERGENCY ALERT Artsakh Surrenders to Azerbaijan's Aggression aaaaaOn September 20, 2023, Genocide Watch issued a Genocide Emergency Alert for Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). Azerbaijan began its blockade of Artsakh in December 2022, cutting off its access to the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting it to Armenia. Before the blockade, 90% of Artsakh’s food was imported from Armenia. On September 19, Azerbaijan shelled the capital of Artsakh, Stepanakert, killing at least 200 people and injuring scores more. To save lives, Artsakh was forced to surrender to Azerbaijan on September 20. aaaaaArtsakh has run out of flour to make bread. Hospitals are out of medicine. Stores have no baby formula. Over 100,000 people have already fled from Nagorno-Karabakh, and the remaining Armenian population is attempting to leave. Hundreds of documented Azerbaijani war crimes prove that Armenians will not be safe under an Azerbaijani government. Since 2020, Genocide Watch has warned of the risk of genocide in Artsakh; now, the silent genocide has become overt. Therefore, Genocide Watch considers Azerbaijan to be at Stage 4: Dehumanization, Stage 5: Organization, Stage 7: Preparation, Stage 8: Persecution, and Stage 9: Extermination. Genocide Watch recommends that the international community should: Stop all aid to Azerbaijan. Impose sanctions on Azerbaijan and support the ICJ’s ruling to open the Lachin Corridor. Airlift humanitarian aid directly into Artsakh. aaaaaHow many more Armenian lives, cultural heritage sites, and ancestral lands will be lost? Will the US and Europe again be bystanders to genocide? Read the full report here. GENOCIDE WATCH UPDATES aaaaaGenocide Watch’s Artsakh Team is working on a propaganda fact-checking project to address propaganda put out by the Azerbaijani government about the recent violence in Artsakh. This project will then compare that information to the actual facts to highlight false narratives coming out of Azerbaijan. aaaaaGenocide Watch has also recently published the following articles: A Genocide Emergency Alert for Israel and Gaza A statement on Forced Displacement and Hazara Land Confiscation by the Taliban Genocide and Forced Deportation: Nagorno-Karabakh, an op-ed by Aline Keledjian and Ani Tonoyan “Ethnic Cleansing” is a Euphemism used for Genocide Denial, an article by Dr. Gregory Stanton COUNTRY REPORTS Genocide Watch has recently published reports on the following countries: Serbia is at Stage 6: Polarization and Stage 10: Denial Bosnia is at Stage 3: Discrimination, Stage 6: Polarization, and Stage 10: Denial Zimbabwe is at Stage 3: Discrimination and Stage 10: Denial Mauritania is at Stage 3: Discrimination, Stage 4: Dehumanization, Stage 6: Polarization, and Stage 8: Persecution Mali is at Stage 8: Persecution and Stage 9: Extermination Find the full list of country reports here. ALLIANCE MEMBER UPDATES Members of the Alliance Against Genocide have been doing valuable work related to the Artsakh genocide. Here are a few of their projects: International Crisis Group’s CrisisWatch indicator has recognized the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as a deteriorating situation. The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention has published its report on Armenia. The Armenian National Committee of America and In Defense of Christians helped to organize a Capitol Hill press conference on Artsakh and other persecuted Christian communities. Find the full list of Alliance Against Genocide member organizations here. FEATURED ALLIANCE MEMBER: THE LEMKIN INSTITUTE FOR GENOCIDE PREVENTION aaaaaThe Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention is an NGO that works to prevent genocide via education and grassroots empowerment, wide-ranging advocacy initiatives, and legal accountability. Since 2021, the Lemkin Institute’s Armenia Project has focused on raising awareness about the threat of an Armenian genocide in Artsakh perpetrated by Azerbaijan. In keeping with its mission statement, the Lemkin Institute empowers grassroots organizations in the South Caucasus by providing them with the training and resources necessary to take action against genocide. The Armenia Project involves research and publications on the crisis; advocacy efforts through social media campaigns and podcast episodes; and country visits by the founders and co-presidents of the Lemkin Institute to work with their partner organizations. aaaaaOn September 5, 2023, the Lemkin Institute published a 126-page report entitled Risk Factors and Indicators of the Crime of Genocide in the Republic of Artsakh: Applying the UN Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes to the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict. This report details the very real threat of a genocide against the Armenian people by the regime of Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev. It concludes that a genocide might already be in progress; using the UN’s definition, it identifies that the nine-month blockade of Artsakh both causes “serious bodily or mental harm” and “deliberately [inflicts] on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” Read Genocide Watch’s full article on the Lemkin Institute report here. aaaaaThe Lemkin Institute has also issued a third communication with the ICC regarding the genocide in Ukraine, two Active Genocide Alerts for the Tigray region and Amhara region of Ethiopia, a statement in support of an international investigation of Abiy Ahmed’s crimes in Ethiopia, and several statements on the crisis in Israel and Palestine. Find out more at the Lemkin Institute's website. TAKE ACTION Help us stop genocide around the world. Donate to Genocide Watch Support Armenian Community Projects Contact Your Congresspeople Support the Armenian National Committee of America IN THE NEWS CNN: Republic of Artsakh Will Cease to Exist January 1, 2024 The Guardian: Former State Minister of Artsakh Arrested by Azerbaijan The New York Times: After Surrender in Nagorno-Karabakh, Leaders Discuss Armenians’ Fate ANCA: Azerbaijan is Attacking Nagorno-Karabakh Stay updated on our work to stop genocide. Visit our website for more information Contact: communications@genocidewatch.org Genocide Watch is a A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Tax exempt EIN: 26-1672589 "Genocide Watch" is a trademarked term. It may be used only with permission of Genocide Watch, Inc.

Step could lead to eventual extinction of Tibetan in the region, activists fear. Students are seen in a classroom at the Lhasa Nagqu Second Senior High School in Lhasa, in China's Tibet Autonomous Region, June 1, 2021, during a government-organized media. [Hector Retamal/AFP] Pelbar for RFA Tibetan October 10, 2023 China has banned the teaching and use of the Tibetan language at elementary and middle schools in two Tibetan-populated regions in southwestern China, sources inside the country said, requiring all instruction to be in Mandarin. The move could lead to the extinction of the language in the regions – and could endanger its viability across the country, Tibetan activists fear. The Chinese government ordered the ban in government-run schools in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and Ngaba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, starting with the fall semester that began in September, a Tibetan source said. Middle school students currently enrolled can finish the next two years of studies in Tibetan, but starting in 2025, all classes will be held in Mandarin, the person said. Previously, state-run schools in the region taught Tibetan language classes to students, and subjects including mathematics, science, physics, geography, history and social studies were conducted in Tibetan. Mandarin was also taught as a language course. But now, the Chinese government has expedited the teaching of all school subjects in Mandarin in schools in the 12 counties comprising Ngaba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in what it said was an effort to raise education standards, teachers and parents of students said. ‘Soft atrocity’ The ban is part of Beijing’s wider “Sinicization” program that has also restricted the language and culture of Uyghurs and other minorities in China – despite protections in China’s Constitution that permit minority groups to use their own language in their own regions. Another Tibetan source called the step a “soft atrocity.” “On the pretext of the government’s program, China is trying to completely wipe out the Tibetan language,” said the person who, like others in this report, declined to be identified out of concern for their safety. “China’s use of soft atrocities, instead of forcible measures, is leading to the complete annihilation of Tibetan society and education, with no scope for revival,” the source said. Radio Free Asia could not reach the education departments of Ngaba and Kardze for comment. Reversal Tibetan is widely spoken not just in the Tibetan Autonomous Region in the far western part of China, but also in neighboring parts of the country with large Tibetan populations. For example, about 90 percent of Karze prefecture’s 1 million inhabitants are Tibetan. The ban reverses previous moves to promote the Tibetan language in the region. Under the Karze Area Tibetan Language Regulation adopted in 2015, special emphasis was put on the formation of a Tibetan language task force in the Tibet Autonomous Region, with the promotion of Tibetan-language teaching in schools considered important. The news came as a surprise to many. Teachers and parents were not officially informed about this major change in policy, but simply told verbally to implement it at the start of a new academic year, the sources said. After banning Tibetan instruction at the Chak-sam-kha Middle School, Tibetan language teachers were told to move to other areas where the government allows Tibetan to be used as the medium of instruction, the sources said. School administrators did not inform students’ parents about the change in the language of instruction from Tibetan to Mandarin in various subjects, and they held a meeting with teachers who were suddenly instructed to teach their subjects in Mandarin, the sources said. Middle schools in Zoege county, also part of the Tibetan traditional region of Amdo, are widely known for their high standard of Tibetan-language teaching but had to switch to Mandarin as the main language of instruction this year, said a Tibetan source from inside Tibet. All teachers at Zoege country middle schools have to implement the measure, the source said. Resentment by the public and educators over a plan in 2020 to change the language of instruction to Mandarin from Tibetan in elementary and middle schools in Ngaba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture boiled over into a large protest, and the plan was put on hold. Translated by Rigdhen Dolma for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster. © 2023 Radio Free Asia

“It is brutal, and it is all about humiliation and degrading human dignity,” said Sulima Ishaq, the director of the Combating Violence Against Women Unit (CVAW), an agency of the Sudanese Ministry of Social Development. She said there have been widespread incidents of sexual violence taking place in war-torn Sudan. She continued, “Sometimes it is a part of the Rapid Support Forces strategy. To make people evacuate their houses, they threaten sexual violence against the women.” Accusing Ishaq of revealing the crisis to UNITAMS, the UN office to combat sexual violence, the Sudanese General Intelligence Service has filed a criminal lawsuit against Ishaq for leaking information to the UN, an "offence against the State." A civil war broke out in the capital Khartoum in April 2023 when intense gunfire and explosions reverberated through the city, inciting fear and chaos that rippled beyond Sudan's borders. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by the chief of the army, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan are fighting for power against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo. Both generals accuse each other of starting the offensive. Sudan has had a severe humanitarian crisis because of the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by both of the belligerent parties. Among these atrocities, mass rape of women and girls is one of the most rampant. In August 2023, Ishaq and her team confirmed 124 cases of rape, but this number merely scratches the surface. The CVAW Unit suggests that these figures probably account for merely two percent of the rapes, with 4,400 cases of sexual violence occurring within just 11 weeks. Obtaining accurate data is extremely challenging due to poor communication infrastructure, frequent power outages, and difficulties in tracking survivors who have fled to neighboring countries like Chad. Fear of retaliation also silences many survivors, leaving them with minimal support from healthcare and social services. The majority of documented rapes have been perpetrated by RSF paramilitary forces, which have taken over civilian areas in Khartoum and Omdurman and large parts of South Darfur. Among the very few women who testified against these perpetrators is Zeineb (name changed) who, along with her younger sister and two other women, one with an infant daughter, was raped by the paramilitary soldiers while attempting to escape Khartoum. “I shared my testimony to try to stop this from happening to others, and to warn them that the road isn’t safe,” she said to the AFP. “But even when I filed the police report, I knew nothing would come of it. They’re never going to get the men who did this.” Zeineb’s story is just one among multitudes. Her story is not something new. Since the still ongoing genocide in Darfur began in 2003, mass sexual violence has been used as a weapon of war. According to a report published by the Harvard School of Public Health, around 9,300 rape cases were recorded in 2003. Reporters stated that the actual number might have doubled. Since the history of war has been documented, the use of rape as a strategic weapon against the enemy has been evident. As Beverly Allen in her 1996 book Rape Warfare: The Hidden Genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia says, the intention of rape during conflicts is itself genocidal because it works in a twofold way: first, torturing the women to a limit that either causes death or forces them to evacuate the particular territory, and second, releasing them with the perpetrators’ offspring and thus, exterminating the religious/racial/ethnic identities that these women belong to because, in a patriarchal social context, a child is still believed to inherit the bloodline of the one who sires it and not the one who delivers it. (Allen xiii) Conflict-related sexual violence is pervasive in Sudan, as it has been in nearly all genocides. However, the process of recognizing it as a war crime and as an act of genocide has been slow. The pressure of ostracism and social stigma still thwarts survivors from demanding justice. An acute scarcity of medical and psychological care worsens the situation. Much more international attention must be paid to rape as a war crime, crime against humanity, and an act of genocide. Effective courts must be created where the perpetrators will be prosecuted rapidly so that the survivors can make the world hear their silenced voices.

Armenia, with Syunik province, which Azerbaijan plans to invade. © 2023 worldatlas.com Genocide Warning: Azerbaijan's Planned Invasion of Armenia October 2023 By Ani Tonoyan For over 2000 years, Armenians have inhabited Syunik in southern Armenia. Now, Azerbaijan is claiming this region as its historical land. Azerbaijan delegitimized the Armenian historical and legal claim to Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). It is now using the same tactics on Armenia proper. In recent years, the irredentist political concept of “Western Azerbaijan” has emerged, which is now turning into calculated military action. Last week, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken warned lawmakers about Azerbaijan’s planned invasion of Armenia proper, which may occur in the next month. Like Turkey, Azerbaijan seeks to eradicate Armenians from the region. International analysts highlight Azerbaijan’s territorial expansionism. Stefan Meister, head of the Centre for order and Governance in Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia at the German Council on Foreign Relations, explained. “It’s part of this maximalist approach: you’re hungry so you never stop eating if no one draws a red line.” Meister urged Western governments to impose sanctions on Baku. Syunik is home to the Zangezur corridor in Armenia, through which Azerbaijan seeks to build an oil pipeline to Turkey. Azerbaijan and Turkey will reap the economic benefits from controlling Syunik. But their true intention is to “connect the Turkic world,” according to the Azerbaijani ambassador to Turkey, Rashad Mammadov. Mammadov’s words reek of Pan-Turkism, the ideology behind the Armenian Genocide. As seen in Artsakh, attempts to create a New Ottoman Empire will cost thousands of Armenian lives. On September 20, Azerbaijan attacked Armenia proper during its genocidal campaign to take over Artsakh. Azerbaijani Armed Forces fired in the direction of Armenian positions in the Gegharkunik region of Armenia itself. This attack followed Azerbaijan’s bombardment and firing on the remaining Armenian populated areas of Artsakh. Attacking a country’s sovereign borders violates the UN Charter and international law. Since 2020, Azerbaijan has made several incursions into Armenian territorial integrity, resulting in Azerbaijan controlling 215 square km. of Armenian land. Azerbaijan faced no consequences for those incursions, nor for its war crimes in 2020. As a result, Azerbaijan was emboldened to seize Artsakh and to forcibly displace its residents without any repercussions. Without effective sanctions, the Turkish and Azerbaijani aggression will continue unchecked. Despite the denial of Azerbaijan’s intentions, the terror unleashed on Artsakh is not over. Armenian civilians and leaders were forcibly deported as they tried to escape the genocidal attacks. Now the world watches the Azerbaijani show trials of Artsakh’s defenders as they are tried and convicted of “crimes against Azerbaijan.” The purpose of international law is to defend world order. But international law is not being enforced to prevent this Azerbaijani aggression. The world must act to defend Armenia. Genocide Watch considers Azerbaijan to be at Stage 4: Dehumanization, Stage 7: Preparation, Stage 8: Persecution, and Stage 10: Denial. Genocide Watch recommendations: • To demonstrate that Azerbaijan’s genocidal actions will not be tolerated, EU leaders must pull out of their deal with Azerbaijan to double gas imports by 2027. • The U.S. Congress must repeal the Freedom Support Act section 907 waiver authority and stop all military and economic assistance to the Azerbaijani government. • The U.S. and E.U. should impose Magnitsky sanctions on Azerbaijani leaders. • Global oil corporations should boycott Azerbaijan as they have boycotted Russia. • The U.S. and France should provide military aid to Armenia to deter invasion and attack. • Following reports by Caucasus Heritage Watch and the Center for Truth and Justice, UNESCO must protect Armenian cultural centers at risk of destruction by Azerbaijan.

('opinion' By the Editorial Board, The Washington Post) People wait to board a bus near the border crossing between Sudan and Ethiopia on July 31. (AFP/Getty Images) Populated villages razed. Satellite images of mass graves. Millions of innocent civilians displaced. People massacred while trying to flee for their lives. Women and girls subjected to horrific sexual violence, including rape. This was Sudan’s Darfur region 20 years ago, when government-backed Arab “janjaweed” militiamen — “devils on horseback,” as some translate the name — embarked on a campaign of ethnic cleansing that killed 300,000 people and drove millions from their homes. And this is Sudan today, where a new campaign of ethnic cleansing is underway. Comment: Genocide Watch rejects the term "ethnic cleansing" which is a euphemism invented by Slobodan Milošević to deny genocide. Ethnic cleansing is not prohibited by any treaty or other international law. What is underway is genocide and forced displacement.] The devils are now riding in trucks instead of on horses. They now call themselves the Rapid Support Forces. But their atrocities are an ominous echo of the past. Their victims, too, are the same: members of the African Masalit tribe, mostly subsistence farmers who populate the Western Darfur region. In one atrocity, more than 1,000 people were reportedly massacred in June, simply for plotting to flee the besieged city of El Geneina. Make no mistake: This is systemic ethnic cleansing [see comment above] of the Darfur region. The world is once again witnessing the beginnings of yet another genocide, unfolding in real time. Yet the international response has been muted. Perhaps world capitals have crisis fatigue. Russia’s war in Ukraine grinds on, with fears of a bloody stalemate after a long-awaited Ukrainian counteroffensive has so far failed to make major territorial gains. In Africa, the coup in Niger risks heightening instability in the troubled Sahel region, where al-Qaeda and Islamic State offshoots are battling for territory. A growing conflict in Ethiopia between the military and a local Amhara militia threatens to spiral into a new civil war in the Horn of Africa. But the existence of myriad crises and conflicts does not excuse failing to stem a new genocide. At its convention in 1948, the United Nations called genocide “an odious scourge” to be eradicated, defining it as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” The proscribed acts defining genocide include killing members of a targeted group, forcing the group’s displacement and trying to bring about its destruction. In other words, precisely what is happening in Sudan’s Darfur region right now. After the Holocaust and the extermination of 6 million Jews in Europe in the middle of the 20th century, the world vowed to never again allow such a preventable tragedy to unfold when there was ample evidence and warning signs. But genocides and outrageous episodes of ethnic cleansing [See comment above.have continued to take place — in Cambodia in the 1970s, in Rwanda in the 1990s, with the Rohingya in Myanmar in the 2000s. The U.S. government and human rights groups and activists have accused China of carrying out a campaign of genocide through its widespread repression of ethnic Uyghurs in its western Xinjiang region, including using mass detention, forced labor, surveillance, and forced sterilization and birth control. washingtonpost.com © 1996-2023 The Washington Post Comment by Genocide Watch: It is time to call the atrocities in Darfur by their proper name: Genocide. Not "ethnic cleansing."

Australians vote No in referendum that promised change for First Nations people but couldn’t deliver By Hilary Whiteman, CNN Jono Searle/AAP Image/Reuters Residents cast their votes in the Voice referendum at a polling center in West End, Brisbane, Australia, October 14, 2023. Brisbane, Australia (CNN) — With a two-letter word, Australians struck down the first attempt at constitutional change in 24 years, a move experts say will inflict lasting damage on First Nations people and suspend any hopes of modernizing the nation’s founding document. Preliminary results from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) suggested that most of the country’s 17.6 million registered voters wrote No on their ballots, and CNN affiliates 9 News, Sky News and SBS all projected no path forward for the Yes campaign. The proposal, to recognize Indigenous people in the constitution and create an Indigenous body to advise government on policies that affect them, needed a majority nationally and in four of six states to pass. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had championed the referendum and in a national address on Saturday night said his government remained committed to improving the lives of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders. “This moment of disagreement does not define us. And it will not divide us. We are not yes voters or no voters. We are all Australians,” he said. “It is as Australians together that we must take our country beyond this debate without forgetting why we had it in the first place. Because too often in the life of our nation, and in the political conversation, the disadvantage confronting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has been relegated to the margins.” “This referendum and my government has put it right at the center.” Supporters of the Yes vote had hailed it as an opportunity to work with First Nations people to solve problems in their most remote communities – higher rates of suicide, domestic violence, children in out-of-home care and incarceration. However, resistance swelled as conservative political parties lined up to denounce the proposal as lacking detail and an unnecessary duplication of existing advisory bodies. On Saturday, leading No campaigner Warren Mundine said the referendum should never have been called. “This is a referendum we should never have had because it was built on a lie that Aboriginal people do not have a voice,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. During months of campaigning, the No vote gained momentum with slogans that appealed to voter apathy – “If you don’t know, vote No” – and a host of other statements designed to instil fear, according to experts, including that it would divide Australia by race and be legally risky, despite expert advice to the contrary. Martin Ollman/Getty Images "Vote No" volunteers at a polling center in Canberra on October 13, 2023. Rejection of high-profile campaign No shortage of high-profile voices lent their support to the Yes campaign. Constitutional experts, Australians of the Year, eminent retired judges, companies large and small, universities, sporting legends, netballers, footballers, reality stars and Hollywood actors flagged their endorsement. There was even an unlikely intervention by US rapper MC Hammer. Aussie music legend John Farnham gifted a song considered to be the unofficial Australian anthem to a Yes advertisement with a stirring message of national unity. But opinion polls continued to slide to No. Objections came thick and fast from the leaders of opposition political parties, who picked at loose threads of the proposal. “Where’s the detail?” they asked, knowing that would be decided and legislated by parliament. Some members of the Indigenous community said they didn’t want to be part of a settler document, demanding more than a body that gives the government non-binding advice. Other Australians were completely disengaged. Yes campaigner Marilyn Trad told CNN that volunteers making calls to prospective voters had to break the news to some – this week – that there was indeed a referendum. Kevin Argus, a marketing expert from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), told CNN the Yes campaign was a “case study in how not to message change on matters of social importance.” “From a public relations perspective, what is proposed is quite simple – an advisory group to government. Not unlike what the business council, mining groups, banking groups and others expect and gain when legislation is being drafted that affects the people they represent,” he said. Argus said only the No campaign had used simple messaging, maximized the reach of personal profiles, and acted decisively to combat challenges to their arguments with clear and repeatable slogans. Mick Tsikas/AAP Image/Reuters Campaign signs are seen outside the voting centre at Old Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, October 14, 2023. What does the result mean? The result means no constitutional change, but the referendum will have lasting consequences for the entire nation, according to experts. For First Nations people, it will be seen as a rejection of reconciliation by Australia’s non-Indigenous majority and tacit approval of a status quo that is widely considered to have failed them for two centuries. Before the vote, Senator Pat Dodson, the government’s special envoy for reconciliation, said win or lose, the country had a “huge healing process to go through.” “We’ve got to contemplate the impact of a No vote on the future generations, the young people,” he told the National Press Club this week. “We already know that the Aboriginal youth of this country have high suicide rates. Why? They’re not bad people. They’re good people. Why don’t they see any future?” Maree Teesson, director of the Matilda Center for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use at the University of Sydney, told CNN the Voice to Parliament had offered self-determination to Indigenous communities, an ability to have a say over what happens in their lives. “Self-determination is such a critical part of their social and emotional well-being,” she said. Teesson said a No vote doesn’t just maintain the status quo, it “undermines the self-determination of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.” “I do hope that we don’t lose the possibility of the hope that this gave our nation and that we somehow work to find another way to achieve that,” she said. Some experts say more broadly the No outcome could deter future leaders from holding referendums, as it could indicate that the bar for constitutional change – written into the document in 1901 – is too high. The last time Australians voted down a referendum was in 1999 when they were asked to cut ties with the British monarchy and become a republic – and little has changed on that front since then. “The drafters of the constitution said this is the rulebook and we’re only going to change it if the Australian people say they want to change it – we’re not going to leave it up to politicians,” said Paula Gerber, professor of Law at Monash University. “So that power, to change, to modernize, to update the constitution has been put in the hands of the Australian people. And if they are going to say every time, “If you don’t know, vote No,” then what politician is going to spend the time and money on a referendum that can be so easily defeated?” © 2023 Cable News Network. A Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All Rights Reserved. CNN Sans ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network.

MOLLY QUELL / October 19, 2023 It’s only the third time prosecutors at the International Criminal Court have withdrawn charges against a defendant. The exterior view of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, on March 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File) THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CN) — Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court announced on Thursday they were withdrawing charges against a former militia leader from the Central African Republic charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity atrocities. Maxime Jeoffroy Eli Mokom Gawaka faced 20 counts of murder, rape, pillaging and torture but chief prosecutor Karim Khan said there was insufficient evidence to proceed to trial. “There is no reasonable prospect for a conviction at trial,” The Hague court’s top prosecutor said in a statement. The British lawyer blamed the availability of witnesses and a lack of evidence to continue with the proceedings. Mokom was accused of playing a pivotal role in the anti-Balaka, a loose confederation of militia groups that formed in response to an outbreak of sectarian violence in the Central African Republic in late 2012. Muslim militia groups known as the Seleka ousted President François Bozizé in 2013 and took control of the capital. Large parts of the country still remain under the control of various armed groups. The defense team for the 44-year-old claimed the prosecution had long known about evidence proving Mokom’s innocence. “The case file is replete with exculpatory materials,” Mokom’s lawyer Philippe Larochelle, told judges during a hearing in August. “It was a total surprise,” Larochelle said in an interview. His client has been released from the court’s detention facility in Scheveningen but remains at a “ICC designated location” while the details of his transfer can be arranged, according to the court. Khan acknowledged that victims and their families were likely to be disappointed by the move. “ I hope many will understand my legal and ethical responsibilities to be guided by the law and the evidence,” he said in a statement. It is only the third time prosecutors at the court have withdrawn charges against a defendant. In 2013 and 2015, the previous chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda dropped cases against two top Kenyan officials charged with orchestrating post-election violence. An investigation into the country’s former present Kenyatta Uhuru and one of his senior ministers, Francis Muthaura, was plagued by claims of witness tampering. The trial of two other former anti-Balaka leaders, Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona and Alfred Yekatom, that began in 2021, is still ongoing. Both men have pleaded not guilty. Last year, the trial of the first Seleka leader began when Mahamat Said Abdel Kani pleaded not guilty to seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. More than 5,000 people have died in the conflict in the Central African Republic, and more than 1.1 million people in a country of only 5 million have become displaced. The ICC first opened an investigation into the conflict in 2014. © 2023, Courthouse News Service

By Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Vivian Nereim A demonstration in support of the safe return of children taken from Ukraine during the war, in Brussels in February. Credit...Thierry Monasse/Getty Images Four Ukrainian children who had been separated from their families and taken to Russia have been reunited with them, the government of Qatar announced on Monday, saying it had acted as a mediator in negotiations for the return of the children. Qatar’s foreign ministry said that a “successful family reunification process” had been completed this week in the case of the four, “marking an important step toward reuniting children with their families.” There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian authorities. The removal of children to Russia has been one of the most painful issues for Ukraine since Moscow launched its invasion last year; Ukraine’s government as well as parents and humanitarian groups have made strenuous efforts to get the children back. The Ukrainian authorities have put the number of children deported at more than 16,000. In many cases, children in areas that Russian forces had seized were invited to go on holiday camps in the occupied region in southern Ukraine, near Crimea, or in Russia, and were then not returned. Sometimes parents were told that the children would be safer away from the fighting. The International Criminal Court in March issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and accused him of responsibility for the abductions. The court also issued a warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, who has overseen the program, sponsored by the Kremlin, under which children have been taken to Russia. The statement by Qatar’s foreign ministry gave no further details of its involvement. It contained no criticism of Russia and did not say how the children had come to be there. “Qatar stands firmly in support of the efforts made by both the Ukrainian and Russian sides to safeguard the rights and well-being of the children affected by the ongoing crisis,” the statement said, adding that it showed Qatar’s commitment to promote peace. A diplomat briefed on the process said that Qatar had responded to a Ukrainian request for involvement and hinted that further returns were possible. The children ranged in age from 2 to 17, the diplomat said, adding that the Russian families with whom the children had been placed consented to their return. The diplomat said that one of the children was a 2-year-old from the Zhytomyr region in northern Ukraine who had been separated from his mother near the start of the invasion. “He has been reunited with his mother in Russia” and will soon travel to Ukraine, said the diplomat, who did not say where the two were separated. In many cases, Ukrainian families have struggled to get information about what happened to their children after they had been taken away, adding to their anguish. It was unclear whether the return of a handful of children signaled the start of a broader mediation role by Qatar in the conflict. But in one example of its role as a potential broker, last month, Russia proposed that Qatar act as a transit point for the shipment of Ukrainian grain to countries in Africa and the Middle East that are facing a hunger crisis. The prospect has yet to bear fruit. Qatar’s role in securing the return of the children is the latest example of the country’s efforts to position itself as a diplomatic player with clout disproportionate to its size. “Our hope is that the commitment shown to this initiative by both sides will pave the way for further dialogue aimed at de-escalating tensions and building trust between the two parties,” said Qatar’s assistant foreign minister, Lolwah Al-Khater, in a statement about the children’s return. The country, a Gulf monarchy, has a population of fewer than three million people and lies between two much larger neighbors, Saudi Arabia and Iran, with which it shares a maritime border. But it has benefited immensely from vast reserves of natural gas and for years the government — which hosted the soccer World Cup last year, adding to the country’s prominence — has presented itself as a mediator with the ability to talk to difficult parties like Iran and Hamas, the Palestinian armed group that controls the Gaza Strip and maintains an office in Qatar. Qatari officials are currently attempting to mediate the release of hostages taken by Hamas after gunmen from the group surged into southern Israel and killed more than 1,300 people, starting the current war. © 2023 The New York Times Company