Peru’s unrest continues unabated as the demonstrations move to the country’s capital and the government doubles down on portraying demonstrators as pawns for nefarious interests. They marched through the streets of Peru’s capital, carrying signs that said “I’m not a terrorist” and waved rainbow-colored flags associated with Indigenous communities in the Andes. Many chant “murderer” at the country’s leader and sing hymns about not being afraid anymore. On Thursday, more continued to arrive, with many vowing to stay for the long fight. In the past week, thousands of rural Peruvians have descended on Lima to join local protests calling on President Dina Boluarte to resign following the ouster in December of the country’s former leader after he tried to dissolve Congress and rule by decree. The growing demonstrations in the capital follow seven weeks of protests around the country that show little sign of abating. Instead, Peru has found itself at an ugly impasse with the government doubling down on portraying demonstrators as pawns for drug-traffickers, illegal miners and terrorist groups who are trying to sow chaos, according to Ms. Boluarte. Day by day, the protests seem to grow more chaotic. The ongoing showdown has ratcheted up the polarization of the country, which has been convulsed by what is already its deadliest conflict this century. Since Ms. Boluarte took office on Dec. 7, violent protests against her government have paralyzed large swaths of southern Peru, shutting down copper and tin mines and choking off highways leading to Lima and towns in the Amazon. There have been at least 57 deaths related to the unrest, all outside of Lima. Forty-six civilians were killed in clashes between protesters and law enforcement officers, including 17 during a day of violent demonstrations in one southern city in Puno, a heavily Indigenous and rural region bordering Bolivia. Daily marches in Lima, where roughly a third of the country’s population of 33 million lives, have been relatively small but have grown as protesters from outside the city have arrived, many carrying sacks of grains and potatoes. “Over there, we’re killed,” said Jose Hilaquita, an Indigenous Aymara farmer from Puno, explaining why he had traveled for more than two days to march in Lima. “Over there, no one listens to us. We have to come here to be seen.” The protests have been led largely by Indigenous, rural and poorer Peruvians fed up with what they portray the country’s dysfunctional political system and entrenched discrimination. Many support the former leftist president, Pedro Castillo, a onetime union activist from a poor Andean town who was arrested and accused of trying to illegally seize control of Congress and the justice system on Dec. 7. But demonstrators have also found support in Lima from some residents, while others have welcomed them with insults. Many have been invited to camp out on the grassy lawns and the squeaky gym floors of public universities. Others sleep in the offices of leftist groups or in the homes of local residents. In Lima’s working-class district of Santa Anita, Rosa Zambrano, a 74-year old retired psychologist, opened her half-finished home to 40 protesters. After she heard they were heading to Lima, Ms. Zambrano got in touch with friends in Moquegua, the Andean region she migrated from 40 years ago, and asked how she could help. “I couldn’t bear the thought of them sleeping outside,” she said as she prepared a giant pot of carapulcra, pork stewed with chiles, peanuts and potatoes, to serve the group for lunch before a demonstration. “I’m proud of the struggle of my compatriots. There is too much injustice in this country.” Food donations from residents of Lima, large and small, have helped feed protesters sheltering in large houses and at two public universities. The rector of one university opened its doors to provide refuge, while the other, San Marcos, the oldest university in the Americas, was occupied by students. Yet, the protests have fiercely divided public opinion in Peru — while 60 percent of rural Peruvians support them, that figure drops to less than 40 percent among Lima residents, according to a recent poll. Some believe Ms. Boluarte has abused her executive power to quell the demonstrations, and that Peru’s entrenched corruption and inequality can only be addressed with new elections and a new constitution. But others say her resignation would only usher in more chaos and erode the already weak rule of law. “Castillo tried to do a coup and failed. Now his people are upset and want to use violence to remove the person the constitution says should replace him,” said Eduardo Rivera, a business administrator in Lima. “That’s not how it works.” While most protesters march peacefully, many demonstrations in southern Peru have ended in clashes with security forces and crowds vandalizing government offices. Road blockades have disrupted deliveries of food, fuel and medical oxygen. Machu Picchu, one of the most popular destinations in Peru, has closed its doors, dealing a heavy blow to the tourism industry. The conflict has led to more than $500 million in losses so far, according to the government, with small businesses and some of the poorest regions hit hardest. The authorities said that in recent days, protesters have staged simultaneous attacks on airports in southern Peru and set fire to two dozen police stations and courthouses. In the southern region of Arequipa last weekend, a crowd captured a police officer, doused him with gasoline and threatened to burn him alive unless authorities released prisoners. In some regions, large groups of men carrying sticks dressed as civilians have appeared to help the police force protesters off roads, sparking fears of clashes between groups of civilians. As she has struggled to gain control, Ms. Boluarte has staked out an increasingly hawkish stance, treating the crisis not as a political challenge, but mainly as a security threat. On several occasions, she has compared the protests to one of the country’s darkest chapters, a two-decade period when leftist insurgents terrorized the country and military death squads massacred civilians. She has suggested that protesters are paid to promote the agendas of drug traffickers, illegal miners, smugglers and Bolivian leftists, and this week she claimed that protesters, not police officers, had killed other civilians during clashes. As proof, the president cited a video that she claimed showed a protester with a gun. The government has yet to provide clear evidence to back up that claim, or claims of high-level coordination by a terrorist organization or illicit funding behind the violent attacks. Ms. Boluarte said that violent radicals in Puno had “practically paralyzed” the entire region. “What should we do in the face of these threats?” Ms. Boluarte said during a news conference. “Let them burn us alive? We have to protect the lives and tranquillity of 33 millions of Peruvians. Puno isn’t Peru.” Within minutes, video clips of Ms. Boluarte saying “Puno isn’t Peru” circulated on social media. Ms. Boluarte tweeted an apology. On Saturday, in an extraordinary show of force, the police used a tank to tear down a gate at San Marcos University and then lined up Indigenous protesters and students face down on the concrete. Nearly 200 people were detained, and all but one were released the next day because of a lack of evidence of any wrongdoing. “They’re trying to deactivate our movement,” said Brich Huanca, a university student from the city of Cusco. “She’s trying to install the idea that Peru is fighting against a common enemy, against a menace to society.” Ms. Boluarte insists she will not resign but has proposed to move up elections to April 2024, a date that must be ratified by Congress with a supermajority, which many analysts say looks unlikely. She has the support of centrist and right-wing lawmakers and most Lima-based media outlets, as well as Peruvians who blame protesters for the violence. “Supposedly we have a democracy to avoid all of this,” said Rosa Trelles, a newspaper vendor in the capital. She said relatives in a southern coastal region had been unable to work for weeks because of road blockades, and she’s been struggling to afford rising food prices. “This has gotten out of control,” she said. “They want to affect businessmen, but this is affecting the people, too. They want more deaths to keep their movement alive.” Peruvians sympathetic with the now-defunct Shining Path insurgency have been spotted at protests, as they often are at demonstrations for leftist causes. Peru is also home to large drug trafficking and illegal mining trades that employ hundreds of thousands of laborers, many of whom were sympathetic to Mr. Castillo, the ousted president, and have joined protests. “Things aren’t black and white. Peru is a country very burdened by gray areas,” said Eduardo Dargent, a Peruvian political analyst. “It’s true that there are groups that want to push the situation to the limits,’’ he added. “But none of that negates the fact that first there was discontent. That discontent is what’s driving the protests, and it has a lot to do with how the government behaves.” By Mitra Taj Photographs by Marco Garro Mitra Taj and Marco Garro reported from Lima, Peru.

Las protestas siguen en Perú y han avanzado a la capital del país, donde el gobierno trata de retomar el control con una estrategia represiva ejercida por los cuerpos de seguridad estatal. Marcharon por las calles de la capital de Perú con carteles que decían “No soy terruco” y ondeaban banderas con los colores del arcoíris que están asociados con las comunidades indígenas de los Andes. Muchos corean “asesina” cuando se refieren a la líder del país y cantan himnos sobre no tener más miedo. El jueves, seguían llegando más, y muchos prometieron quedarse para una larga lucha. La semana pasada, miles de peruanos de las zonas rurales llegaron a Lima para unirse a las protestas locales que pedían la renuncia de la presidenta Dina Boluarte, tras la destitución en diciembre del exmandatario del país después de que intentó disolver el Congreso y gobernar por decreto. Las crecientes manifestaciones en la capital continúan luego de siete semanas de protestas nacionales que muestran pocas señales de disminuir. Perú se encuentra en un callejón sin salida mientras el gobierno se enfoca en retratar a los manifestantes como peones de narcotraficantes, mineros ilegales y grupos terroristas que intentan sembrar el caos, según Boluarte. Día a día, parece que las protestas se vuelven más caóticas. El enfrentamiento actual ha incrementado la polarización del país, que se ha visto convulsionado por lo que ya es su conflicto más mortífero de este siglo. Desde que Boluarte asumió el cargo el 7 de diciembre, violentas protestas contra su gobierno han paralizado grandes zonas del sur de Perú, cerrando minas de cobre y estaño y obstruyendo carreteras que conducen a Lima y a pueblos de la Amazonía. Ha habido al menos 57 muertes relacionadas con los disturbios, todas sucedidas fuera de Lima. Cuarenta y seis civiles fallecieron en enfrentamientos entre manifestantes y agentes del orden, incluidas 17 personas durante un día de manifestaciones violentas en una ciudad del sur de Puno, una región rural y fuertemente indígena ubicada en la frontera con Bolivia. Las marchas diarias en Lima, donde vive aproximadamente un tercio de la población del país de 33 millones, han sido relativamente pequeñas pero han crecido a medida que llegan manifestantes de otras regiones, muchos cargados con sacos de granos y papas. “Allá nos matan”, dijo José Hilaquita, un campesino indígena aimara de Puno, al explicar por qué había viajado más de dos días para marchar en Lima. “Allá nadie nos escucha. Tenemos que venir hasta acá para que nos vean”. En gran medida, las protestas han sido lideradas por ciudadanos indígenas, rurales y pobres, hartos de lo que describen como el sistema político disfuncional del país y la discriminación arraigada. Muchos de estos peruanos apoyan al expresidente izquierdista Pedro Castillo, un antiguo sindicalista de un pueblo andino pobre que fue arrestado y acusado de intentar tomar ilegalmente el control del Congreso y el sistema de justicia el 7 de diciembre. En Lima, los manifestantes han recibido el apoyo de algunos vecinos, mientras que otros los han recibido con insultos. Muchos han sido invitados a acampar en los céspedes y los chirriantes pisos de los gimnasios de las universidades públicas. Otros duermen en oficinas de organizaciones de izquierda o en casas de vecinos. En el distrito obrero de Santa Anita, en Lima, Rosa Zambrano, una psicóloga jubilada de 74 años, abrió su casa a medio terminar para albergar a 40 manifestantes. Después de escuchar que se dirigían a Lima, Zambrano se puso en contacto con amigos en Moquegua, la región andina de la que emigró hace 40 años, y preguntó cómo podía ayudar. “No soportaba pensar que dormirían sin techo”, dijo mientras preparaba una olla gigante de carapulcra, un guiso de cerdo con ajíes, maní y papas, que fue el almuerzo del grupo antes de una manifestación. “Estoy orgullosa de la lucha de mis compatriotas. Hay demasiada injusticia en este país”. Las donaciones de alimentos de los residentes de Lima, grandes y pequeñas, han ayudado a alimentar a los manifestantes que se refugian en casas grandes y en dos universidades públicas. El rector de una universidad abrió sus puertas para brindarles refugio, mientras que San Marcos, la universidad más antigua de América, fue ocupada por los estudiantes. Sin embargo, las protestas han dividido ferozmente a la opinión pública en Perú: mientras que el 60 por ciento de los peruanos rurales las apoyan, esa cifra se reduce a menos del 40 por ciento entre los residentes de Lima, según una encuesta reciente. Algunos consideran que Boluarte ha abusado de su poder ejecutivo para sofocar las manifestaciones y que la corrupción y la desigualdad arraigadas en Perú solo pueden abordarse con nuevas elecciones y una nueva Constitución. Pero otros dicen que su renuncia solo ocasionará más caos y podría erosionar el ya débil Estado de derecho. “Castillo intento dar un golpe y fracasó. Ahora su gente se molesta y se busca usar la violencia para sacar a la persona que, según la Constitución, debe seguirle”, dijo Eduardo Rivera, administrador de empresas en Lima. “Así no es”. Aunque la mayoría de los manifestantes marcharon de manera pacífica, muchas protestas realizadas en el sur de Perú terminaron en enfrentamientos con las fuerzas de seguridad y multitudes que destrozaron oficinas gubernamentales. Los bloqueos de carreteras han interrumpido las entregas de alimentos, combustible y oxígeno médico. Machu Picchu, uno de los destinos más populares de Perú, ha cerrado sus puertas, asestando un duro golpe a la industria del turismo. El conflicto ha generado pérdidas por más de 500 millones de dólares hasta el momento, según datos del gobierno, y las pequeñas empresas y algunas de las regiones más pobres son las más afectadas. Las autoridades dijeron que en los últimos días, los manifestantes realizaron ataques simultáneos a aeropuertos en el sur de Perú e incendiaron dos decenas de comisarías de policía y juzgados. En la región de Arequipa, al sur, el fin de semana pasado, una multitud capturó a un policía, lo rociaron con gasolina y amenazaron con quemarlo vivo a menos de que las autoridades liberaran a los presos. En algunas regiones, grupos numerosos de hombres armados con palos y vestidos como civiles han aparecido para ayudar a la policía a sacar a los manifestantes de las carreteras, lo que genera temores de enfrentamientos entre grupos de civiles. Mientras lucha por controlar el país, Boluarte ha adoptado una postura cada vez más agresiva y no trata la crisis como un desafío político, sino como una amenaza a la seguridad. En varias ocasiones, ha comparado las protestas con uno de los capítulos más oscuros del país, un período de dos décadas en el que los insurgentes de izquierda aterrorizaron al país y los militares masacraron a civiles con escuadrones de la muerte. Ha insinuado que a los manifestantes se les paga para promover las agendas de narcotraficantes, mineros ilegales, contrabandistas y líderes bolivianos de izquierda, y esta semana afirmó que los manifestantes, no los policías, habían matado a otros civiles durante los enfrentamientos. Como prueba, la presidenta citó un video que, según ella, mostraba a un manifestante con un arma. El gobierno aún no ha aportado pruebas claras que respalden esa afirmación, ni las afirmaciones de coordinación a alto nivel por parte de una organización terrorista o de financiación ilícita detrás de los violentos atentados. Boluarte dijo que en Puno los radicales violentos habían “prácticamente paralizado” toda la región. “¿Qué hacemos frente a esas amenazas, señor periodista? ¿Los dejamos que nos quemen vivos como quemaron al policía de Puno?”, dijo Boluarte durante una conferencia de prensa. “Tenemos que proteger la vida y la tranquilidad de los 33 millones de peruanos. Puno no es el Perú”. En cuestión de minutos, los videos de Boluarte que decían “Puno no es el Perú” circularon en las redes sociales. Luego, la presidenta tuiteó una disculpa. El sábado, en una extraordinaria demostración de fuerza, la policía usó un tanque para derribar una puerta en la Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos y luego obligó a manifestantes indígenas y estudiantes a que se tendieran boca abajo sobre el concreto. Cerca de 200 personas fueron detenidas y todas menos una fueron liberadas al día siguiente por falta de evidencia de cualquier irregularidad. “Lo que pretenden es desactivar nuestra lucha”, dijo Brich Huanca, un estudiante universitario de la ciudad de Cusco. “Ella está tratando de instalar la idea de que Perú está luchando contra un enemigo común, contra una amenaza para la sociedad”. Boluarte insiste en que no renunciará, pero ha propuesto adelantar las elecciones para abril de 2024, fecha que debe ser ratificada por el Congreso con una mayoría calificada, lo que, según muchos analistas, parece poco probable. Cuenta con el apoyo de legisladores centristas y de derecha y de la mayoría de los medios de comunicación de Lima, así como de peruanos que culpan a los manifestantes por la violencia. “Se supone que tenemos una democracia para que no suceda todo esto”, dijo Rosa Trelles, vendedora de periódicos en la capital. Ella dijo que sus familiares en una región costera del sur no habían podido trabajar durante semanas debido a los bloqueos de carreteras y que ella ha estado luchando para poder pagar el aumento de los precios de los alimentos. “Esto se ha salido de control”, dijo. “Quieren golpear a los empresarios pero esto está afectando al pueblo también. Están buscando más muertes para mantener todo su movimiento”. Se ha visto a peruanos simpatizantes de la desaparecida insurgencia de Sendero Luminoso en las protestas, como suele ocurrir en las manifestaciones a favor de causas izquierdistas. Perú también es el escenario de grandes negocios de narcotráfico y minería ilegal que emplean a cientos de miles de trabajadores, muchos de los cuales simpatizaban con Castillo, el presidente destituido, y se han unido a las protestas. “Las cosas no son blanco y negro. Perú es un país cargadísimo de grises”, dijo Eduardo Dargent, analista político peruano. “Es verdad que hay grupos que quieren empujar la situacion a sus límites”, agregó. “Pero nada de eso quita que hay primero un malestar, que es el que mueve la protesta. Y ese malestar tiene mucho que ver con la forma en que actúa el gobierno”. Por Mitra Taj Photographs by Marco Garro Mitra Taj y Marco Garro reportaron desde Lima, Perú. The New York Times

Cattle grazing on the Salai Plains, Loliondo Game Controlled Area, Tanzania (© 2011 Susie Cazenove | Getty Images) In June 2022, residents of Loliondo division in northern Tanzania's Ngorongoro district protested what they said was a government move to evict them from their ancestral land in the name of conservation. The government responded with excessive force, leading to two days of violence. The government should halt the violence, intimidation, and forced evictions. It should work with these pastoralist communities on a plan that respects their right to the land, heeds their traditional practices in preserving the natural ecosystem, and establishes how to work together to protect the area. What is happening in Loliondo is not unique, and the local communities have cause to fear for their land and livelihood. The Maasai people in northern Tanzania have a history of being pushed off ancestral land to make way for so-called protected areas, including the famous Serengeti National Park. Since at least 2009 the government has used a range of abusive tactics to displace about 150,000 people across Ngorongoro district, a tourist hotspot. And last year, the government has restricted their access to important grazing areas and water sources, potentially displacing up to 70,000 residents of Loliondo. In 1951, 400,000 hectares of Loliondo division in Ngorongoro district were designated a game-controlled area, set aside for hunting wildlife, while the Maasai retained the right to live and graze their herds in the area. Since then, however, the government has forcibly evicted thousands of Maasai to make way for trophy hunting, arbitrarily arrested and unlawfully imprisoned residents, burned their homes, destroyed food stocks, and confiscated their livestock. On June 6, the government, without consulting affected communities, declared the conversion of 150,000 hectares of land used by the local community, a game reserve. By the morning of June 8, dozens of police, military personnel, and game rangers, arrived and set up camp around Ololosokwan. On June 9, the authorities summoned 10 community leaders to a meeting, then arrested and detained them about 350 kilometres away, near Arusha. They would be charged with criminal offences and jailed for up to five months. The next evening, the security officers and rangers began placing beacons to demarcate the conservation area, marking areas where people could live, and areas reserved for wildlife. Residents perceived this as a first step to eviction as it cut them off from water sources and grazing areas and carved off some homes. The following morning, when residents tried to remove the beacons, the security officers fired teargas and rubber bullets, injuring at least 30 people, witnesses said, including women and children. On June 10, Garlius Mwita, a policeman, was fatally shot with an arrow, the police said. On June 17, the authorities charged 27 people, including the 10 community leaders, with Mwita's murder and conspiracy. Three were released on bail in August and on November 25, the prosecutors dropped the criminal charges and released the others. Hundreds fled during and after the violent clash in June. Some sought refuge in neighboring villages, while others crossed into Kenya, including to seek medical treatment for serious injuries. Some have since returned. The government's actions have disrupted social support systems, weakened local safety nets, and affected more impoverished members of the communities, especially older people, those with disabilities, and single female-headed households. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and other conservation organizations point to the "benefits" of well-managed trophy hunting as an effective conservation tool. Nonetheless, the group condemned the recent violence in Loliondo, saying it considers "any violence against or forced eviction of indigenous peoples and local communities to be entirely unacceptable." It urged the government to compensate those harmed and protect the Maasai's rights. But the government has continued to forcibly evict Maasai from the area and restrict their access to valuable natural resources they have used for generations. © 2023 Human Rights Watch

A Booklet by Raziya Masumi, edited by Adam Zarnowski The Booklet can be downloaded by clicking below or on the image above. The Lost Girls of Kaaj, Afghanistan.pdf

Israel to take punitive steps against Palestinians after deadly attacks. By Bethan McKernan for The Guardian, Sunday 29th January 2023. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces moves after deadliest terrorist attack in Jerusalem in years. Family members and relatives mourn Eli Mizrahi and his wife, Natali, who died in the shooting attack at a synagogue in Jerusalem on Friday. Photograph: Atef Safadi/EPA The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has announced a series of punitive steps against Palestinians in the wake of the deadliest terrorist attack in Jerusalem in years in which a gunman killed seven people outside a synagogue. In a statement issued after the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu’s office said that Israel’s security agency would explore “additional deterrent measures regarding the families of terrorists that express support for terrorism”, including the revocation of Jerusalem residency rights and Israeli citizenship, and legislation allowing employers to dismiss workers who have “supported terrorism” without the need for a hearing. Other actions outlined by the cabinet include stripping family members of attackers of social security and health benefits, changes in policy to make it easier to demolish homes of Palestinians who carry out terrorist attacks, and the “strengthening of settlements” in the occupied West Bank, on which no further details were given. All of the measures are illegal under international law, and are likely to inflame tensions with the Palestinian public and the Palestinian Authority (PA), which controls parts of the occupied West Bank, at a time when the region already stands perilously close to escalation. Friday’s shooting in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Neve Yaakov, which killed seven and injured three, followed the deadliest single Israeli army raid in the West Bank in decades. The unusually fierce attack on militants in the Jenin refugee camp left nine Palestinians dead, including two civilians, and triggered a wave of tit-for-tat violence, including the exchange of rocket fire between the Islamist-controlled Gaza Strip and Israel in the early hours of Friday. Several more incidents have been reported since the synagogue attack, including the shooting and wounding of two people near Jerusalem’s Old City by a 13-year-old Palestinian, the hospitalisation of four Palestinians attacked by an Israeli settler near Nablus, and a shooting at a settler restaurant near Jericho on Saturday in which no one was hurt, but the assailant was killed. On Sunday, an armed Palestinian man who approached a settlement in the Nablus area was shot dead, and houses and cars were damaged and set alight in Palestinian villages near Ramallah. The prime minister also announced that his administration would work on legislation making it easier for Israeli citizens to obtain weapons permits, saying that the step would reduce violence because “we have seen, time and again … that heroic, armed and trained civilians save lives”. Israel was not seeking escalation, Netanyahu said, but would provide a “powerful, swift and precise” response to Friday’s attack in Jerusalem. Five additional army battalions have been deployed to the contested city and the West Bank in anticipation of more copycat and “price tag” attacks. The PA president, Mahmoud Abbas, on Saturday blamed Israel for the spike in violence. In the aftermath of the Jenin raid, the PA said it would suspend security cooperation with Israel – a step it has taken with limited success in the past. Early on Sunday, Israeli police sealed off and prepared to demolish the family home of the synagogue gunman, who was shot and killed as he fled the scene. Alqam Khayri, 21, is believed to have acted alone; while Palestinian militant groups praised his actions, none have claimed responsibility for the attack. A total of 42 people, including family members, have been arrested in relation to the incident. “Members of Israel’s cabinet are threatening a range of measures, all of which constitute collective punishment against innocent people solely because they are related to the man who perpetrated the deadly attack,” HaMoked, an Israeli non-profit focusing on Palestinian legal rights, said in a statement. “[Israeli law] allows demolition or sealing of a home. However, the military is required to notify the family in advance, allowing it to file its objections and, if they are rejected, petition the High Court of Justice. None of this was done in this case.” Friday’s synagogue shooting is an early test for Netanyahu’s newly re-elected far-right government coalition, which campaigned on promises to make Israelis safer after a string of Palestinian knife and gun attacks last spring. Elements of the new government have also vowed to annex the West Bank and expand Jewish control of Jerusalem’s holy Temple Mount complex – often a flashpoint for violence. Netanyahu will receive the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, for a long-planned visit to Jerusalem on Monday which now looks set to be dominated by efforts to de-escalate the combustible security situation. The talks are also expected to cover Iran, Israel’s stance towards the war in Ukraine, the dormant peace process with the Palestinians, and international concerns over the Israeli government’s plans to undermine the powers of the country’s supreme court. © 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. (modern)

By Martin Chulov Watchdog report follows years-long investigation into strike that killed 43 civilians in Damascus suburb. A photograph reportedly of a child being treated in a hospital in Douma after a suspected chemical attack on 7 April 2018. Photograph: Reuters. Investigators from the global chemical weapons agency have found the Syrian regime responsible for a poison gas attack that killed 43 people in a suburb of Damascus in 2018, leaving victims choking to death in the basement of a home. In a report nearly five in the making, the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) found the canisters carrying poison gas had been dropped by a Syrian air force helicopter over Douma – then one of the last opposition strongholds near the Syrian capital. The attack took place on 7 April 2018, as the years long war wound down and Syrian forces attempted to remove rebels and their supporters from the area. The cylinders had carried high concentrations of chlorine, at least one of which dispersed its deadly payload into a ground floor room where civilians had been taking shelter. Another cylinder was left embedded in the roof of a nearby building, having clearly fallen from a height. The report was based on 70 environmental samples as well as 66 witness statements and technical data that simulated the trajectory of the cylinders and disbursement of gasses. Investigators had tried to access Douma in the days after the attack, but were kept at bay as regime troops conducted a clean up of the area. In the immediate aftermath, witnesses spoke openly about the number of casualties and the injuries they had sustained, as well as the pungent smell of chlorine. But that candour was soon replaced by silence, as officials warned of consequences for speaking out, and a cast of people emerged, claiming those who had died may have suffered from hypoxia, or had instead poisoned themselves. The OPCW said it had “reasonable grounds to believe” that at least one helicopter attached to the elite Tiger Force had been involved, adopting the language it had used in earlier investigations into chemical attacks committed in Syria once it felt a threshold of proof had been met. At the time, the government of Bashar al-Assad denied having used chemical weapons, maintaining a line it had stuck to throughout the war. Barrel bombs containing chlorine and dropped from helicopters had been a frequent fixture at the peak of the conflict, but the death tolls from those rarely neared the number killed in the Douma attack, as few had taken place in densely packed areas. International investigators, including the OPCW had also blamed the Syrian government for using the more deadly chemical weapon Sarin in a spate of attacks, including a strike on the outskirts of Damascus in August 2013 and another in the northern town of Khan Sheikhun in 2017. Both areas were opposition strongholds and in each case, Syrian officials blamed rebels for gassing themselves and using actors to embellish the scene. “The use of chemical weapons in Douma – and anywhere – is unacceptable and a breach of international law,” said the director general of the OPCW, Fernando Arias, after the release of the report on the 2018 attack. “The world now knows the facts – it is up to the international community to take action, at the OPCW and beyond.” With fighting largely subdued in much of Syria, Assad now presides over a rump of a state. The north-west is controlled by jihadist factions and opposition groups and is home to nearly four million people, many of them displaced. The north-east, meanwhile, is under the aegis of Kurdish groups, which are supported by Russia and enabled by the US to continue fighting Islamic State in Syria’s eastern deserts. Southern Syria remains volatile, while Damascus faces an energy and financial crisis in which even supporters of the regime have been struggling to meet their subsistence needs. © 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. (modern)

Turkish Migrant Death in Greece Prompts Accusations of Torture Originally published by VOA on January 30, 2023. A photo taken by the Turkish coast guard of them rescuing the migrants from the inflatable dinghy that they allege was pushed back into Turkish waters by Greece. LONDON/IZMIR/ATHENS — The death of a Turkish migrant after he traveled to a Greek island has prompted demands for Ankara to take up the case with Athens, amid accusations of torture and the illegal "push-back" of migrant boats. Barış Büyüksu Despite graduating from university, 30-year-old Barış Büyüksu was struggling to find a well-paid job. At the end of September, he left his home in the Turkish city of Izmir for what he hoped would be a new life in western Europe. It was the last time his family would see him alive. Büyüksu paid people smugglers for a place on a migrant boat, which took him from the Turkish coastline around Bodrum to the Greek island of Kos, a journey of just a few kilometers. The smuggling gang gave him a fake Bulgarian identity card. Büyüksu planned to reach Athens and then travel to France, a journey several of his friends had already successfully made. He hoped to find a job and save money before returning to Turkey. Detention On October 21, as he was waiting on the dockside in Kos to board a ferry to Athens, a friend told the family he witnessed Büyüksu being detained by police and then bundled into an unmarked black van. VOA has not been able to verify this account. The following day, back in Büyüksu’s hometown of Izmir, his family received a call from Turkish police, who told them their son was dead – and that his body bore signs of torture. The Turkish coast guard says it found Büyüksu, badly injured but still alive, in an inflatable boat that had been pushed back into Turkish waters by Greece. The police report says 15 Palestinian asylum-seekers were also on board, including three women and three children. Turkish authorities say Büyüksu died before a medical team could reach him. Baris’ father, Reyis Büyüksu, spoke to VOA at the family home in Izmir. “A policeman from Bodrum central police station … said your son has been killed by Greeks and said that I need to be at the police station at 8:00 in the morning. We picked up the body from the forensic medicine institute and brought it here and buried him,” he said. “My son being killed is not only a problem of Turkey, but it is also a problem for humanity, this is a crime against humanity. We don't want any other family to experience this,” Reyis Büyüksu told VOA. Baris’ mother, Saime Büyüksu, said her son’s death has devastated the family. “He wanted to marry, he had a girlfriend, he had dreams, and he was saying ‘Mother, we should build a house, I will buy gold and I will have a wedding when I come back.’ He went with his dreams to work there. But his dead body came back to me,” she said. Torture A full autopsy is being carried out in Istanbul and the family is yet to receive the results. The initial autopsy, carried out immediately after Büyüksu’s death and seen by VOA, recorded injuries consistent with torture: cuts and bruises covering his face and body, and internal bleeding. Büyüksu’s injuries included cuts across his face and neck, together with bruising (ecchymosis) around his eyes and mouth; large bruises across his chest some 25 centimeters wide; and several cuts across his back, including some half-a-meter across. VOA also obtained copies of statements given to Turkish police by some of the other refugees on the boat, who say they were detained in Greece alongside Büyüksu. The refugees say they were stripped naked and beaten. They claim they heard Büyüksu being tortured in an adjacent room, including by what they believed to be electrocution. It is impossible for VOA to verify these claims. Witnesses Abdurrahman Zekud, a Palestinian asylum-seeker, gave the following account to Turkish police: “We could hear the sound of that person in pain. As we could understand they were torturing him with electricity. I could hear sound of a machine that I thought it was electrical torture machine. The torture took all night long, and at around 5:00 a.m. they took us out of the room. They took that Turkish citizen out too and brought him next to us. They put all of us in a vehicle and took us next to the sea. First, they opened the handcuffs on our hands and then the blindfolds on our eyes,” Zekud said. “The Turkish citizen was half unconscious because of the torture. They laid him face down by the sea. Then they put us in a Greek coast guard boat, and they did not return anything they took from us,” he said “After travelling out to sea for a while, they threw a life raft into the ocean from the coast guard boat and they threw us into that raft one by one, and they threw the Turkish citizen too into that raft. Because the Turkish citizen was half unconscious, he was almost falling into the sea, and I held him and made him sleep on the floor.” “After around 30 minutes, the Turkish coast guards rescued us. I helped the Turkish citizen to get into the Turkish coast guard boat. As I remember he asked the coast guard for water, but he could hardly talk, and he hardly could drink the water. And later on, we realized he had died,” Zekud told Turkish police. Investigation Turkish authorities told VOA that they are still investigating Büyüksu’s death and did not confirm whether the issue had been raised with Greece. An official statement from the Turkish Interior Ministry, dated October 22, states that: “Fifteen irregular migrants in the life raft, which were detected by the assigned coast guard boat, were rescued alive. There was one unconscious person among the migrants. It was determined that there were signs of assault on the body of the person… Autopsy studies are continuing in order to determine the cause of death of the person in question. An investigation has been initiated by the Bodrum Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the incident.” Opposition lawmakers and human rights groups are calling on Turkey and Greece to launch wider investigations into Büyüksu’s death. Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, an MP from the opposition HDP party, raised the incident in parliament last November. “The Greek authorities committed murder. [The family] want this matter to be considered and followed up by the foreign ministry,” Gergerlioğlu said. Greek response Greek police have not responded to repeated VOA requests for comment. VOA asked the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum what happened to Barış Büyüksu. The ministry gave the following statement to VOA: “The ministry… and the Asylum Service has no such name recorded in their database. As a consequence, there can't be any comment from our side. It is also noted again that there is no such name in the Police list either, although we are not fully competent to respond on behalf of the Hellenic Police… Therefore, we can make no further comment on the case,” the statement said. Büyüksu’s family say he did not register for asylum as he wanted to leave Greece to reach France. U.N. response Stella Nanou, a spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Greece, told VOA it was “another worrying example not just of the fact that pushbacks, an illegal practice, were continuing, but that the violence and brutality linked to them is rising dramatically.” “It is not the first death we have documented linked to pushbacks,” Nanou said. "But the brutality of the abuse, from beatings to chucking refugees into the sea without many of them knowing how to swim, is terribly concerning.” The Greek coast guard denies pushing migrant boats back into Turkish waters, despite widespread evidence documented by non-governmental organizations and the United Nations. In the past, Greek authorities have told VOA that while they do not engage in pushbacks, they will continue to do whatever it takes to shield Greece’s frontiers, and the rest of Europe, from illegal entries of migrants. Justice Barış Büyüksu was the eldest of four children. His younger brother Umut Büyüksu told VOA he would not rest until he had discovered the truth. “I want my brother's killers prosecuted. I want to find out who they are. I don't want this case to be covered up like this,” he said. The Büyüksu family is left searching for answers: Who killed a beloved son and brother? Who will deliver justice? His death also raises questions over the policing of Europe’s frontiers and the human rights of those seeking a better life. © VOA News 2023

Quarter of a Century of non-prosecution of the Mass Murders in Bosnia Originally published by the Sarajevo Times on January 27, 2023 Jovica Stanisic (left) and Franko Simatovic (right) in court in June 2017. Photo: EPA/Michael Kooren/Reuters Pool. Sarajevo - At the end of September 1995, just seven days before his 22nd birthday, Haris Talic was among 64 Bosniaks and Croats who were captured by members of paramilitary formations from Serbia and local Serbs in Sanski Most and taken to place Sasina, where they were liquidated. No one was prosecuted for this mass crime, nor were Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic convicted, whose verdict will be appealed in the next two days – January 24th and 25th – before the Appeals Chamber of the International Mechanism for Criminal Courts (IMCC). Alma Talic lived with her husband Haris and their two children in the settlement Poljak, after which they settled in the settlement Sehovci with the Bosniak population that remained in Sanski Most in 1995. According to her, in September 1995, “Arkanovci” appeared in Sehovci, who differed from the others in their specific hairstyles, and there were also “local Serbs” with them, and she saw them passing down the road in this settlement. During that period, Alma says, her husband was taken away in a bus with the others. While she was putting the children to sleep, as she recalled for the Balkan Research Network of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN BiH), a crowd formed on the street and there were rumors that they were “taking away people”. A few days after her husband was taken away, Alma left Sanski Most with her then three-year-old daughter and nine-month-old son and moved to Zenica, where she tried to find out about her husband’s fate through the Red Cross by contacting all relevant institutions, until in 1996 a grave was discovered in Sasina. Former officials of the Serbian State Security Service (SDB) Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic were accused of the murders in Sasina, but they were acquitted of this crime by the verdict of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). That judgment was later revoked, but Stanisic and Simatovic were again exonerated from responsibility for the crime in Sasina by the judgment of the International Mechanism for Criminal Courts (IMCS) from June 2021. The presentation of appeals against the verdict of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, who were sentenced to 12 years in prison each for crimes committed in BiH, will be held on January 24th and 25th this year before the Appeals Council of the International Mechanism for Criminal Courts. Victims’ dissatisfaction The Hague Prosecutor’s Office charged Zeljko Raznatovic, known as Arkan, with the crimes committed in Trnova and Sasina, and the indictment mentioned murders, cruel treatment, rape committed in September 1995 by members of the paramilitary group known as the “Serbian Volunteer Guard”, i.e. “Arkan’s Tigers”, but his trial never started and the proceedings against him were suspended after he was killed in Belgrade. During the renewed proceedings in the IMCC, in the summer of 2021, Stanisic and Simatovic were sentenced to 12 years in prison each only for their role in the crimes committed by the special unit of the SDB of Serbia in Bosanski Samac, but they were acquitted of the crimes committed in Croatia. as well as in Bijeljina, Zvornik, Doboj and Sanski Most, i.e. for one of the last mass murders in Sasina and Trnova. The members of the families of the citizens of Sanski Mostkilled in September 1995 do not hide their dissatisfaction that for more than a quarter of a century – none of the responsible or perpetrators have been prosecuted for these crimes. © 2023 Sarajevo Times. All Rights Reserved.

Kosovo’s PM sees no need for ethnic associations, keen to talk minority rights Originally published by Euractiv on January 30, 2023. Kurti told RTK2 that the proposal for normalizing relations put forward by the EU and supported by the US, France, and Germany is a good basis for a final agreement. [EPA-EFE/ERMAL META] Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti has said he does not see the need to create an Association of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo, as per the wishes of Belgrade and international stakeholders, but stressed willingness to discuss the rights of the country’s minorities. Kurti told RTK2 that the proposal for normalizing relations put forward by the EU and supported by the US, France, and Germany is a good basis for a final agreement. “I am ready for talks on the rights of minorities, non-majority communities, I am ready for that. But you must understand that it is very important that those who want more rights than Ahtisaari’s plan gives them bear the burden of arguing why they need more,” he said. The Ahtisaari Plan, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Proposal for the Kosovo Status Settlement, was proposed by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari and included, amongst other things, comprehensive guidelines on the rights of communities and their members. When it was put on the table in 2007, the US called it “fair and balanced” and received support from the European Commission and formed the basis of the Kosovo Constitution. In addition to calling for the respect of minority rights, the plan also specified that Kosovo Serbs must engage with local institutions and end their boycotts “ to be able to protect effectively their rights and interests,” which has continued today. It noted that Kosovo should be independent but that critical areas such as Serb rights, powers, and the protection of the Serbian Orthodox Church should be maintained. Kurti has been vocal against the establishment of the Association of Serb Municipalities, which would create a separate executive structure from those in Pristina for the benefit of the Serb minority. The Constitutional Court has ruled that this goes against the country’s Constitution. The Constitution of Kosovo, which has given many privileges to the Serbian minority and which was drafted by Ahtisaari and Albert Rohan, in its spirit does not allow mono-ethnic association. The first sentence of that plan, of that solution drafted by Ahtisaari and Rohan, says that Kosovo should be a multi-ethnic society”, said Kurti on 12 January. “It means mono-ethnic associations or institutions are not in the spirit of that plan or our Constitution. However, we offer better and greater guarantees and rights to all minorities or non-majority communities in Kosovo, and I am very committed to this. But without underestimating the constitutionality of our country”, Kurti added. In his interview with RTK2, Kurti said he hopes Serbs return to institutions in the north of the country following their mass resignation in December. “I am very sorry that they have resigned. I think the resignations are wrong. In principle, I do not exclude anyone to return, but I am not competent to decide on the criteria instead of the professional commission. I say clearly, I do not intend to fill that vacuum with Albanians. If the Serbs have resigned, the Serbs should be in those positions, and I invite everyone to apply,” Kurti underlined. He added that he wants to engage in more dialogue with ethnic Serbs but that there is a lack of trust. In addition, he detailed 123 new projects for small enterprises and startups, 48 of which are for the Serb community. The prime minister also said that he had not been invited to a meeting organized at the request of US Envoy to the Balkans Gabriel Escobar at the US Embassy in Pristina on 31 January to discuss the matter of the association. “I was not invited to that meeting, but those who were invited should go to that meeting and discuss it,” he said, noting Escobar’s previous comments that the association can be created without the prime minister’s permission or agreement. © 1999 - 2023 | Efficacité et Transparence des Acteurs Européens.

Mass Due Process Violations, Overcrowding, Poor Prospects for Justice People arrested by police wait in zip tie handcuffs in the back of a truck to be transferred to a prison at the Police Delegation of San Bartolo in Soyapango, El Salvador, Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022.© AP Photo/Salvador Melendez (New York) – A database obtained by Human Rights Watch supports findings of mass due process violations, severe prison overcrowding, and deaths in custody in El Salvador, Human Rights Watch and Cristosal said today. The database appears to belong to the Ministry of Public Safety and lists names of people prosecuted between March and late-August 2022 during the country’s state of emergency. It indicates that thousands of people, including hundreds of children, have been arrested and charged with broadly defined crimes that violate detainees’ basic due process guarantees and undermine prospects of justice for victims of gang violence. The document also supports Human Rights Watch and Cristosal’s findings of severe overcrowding conditions in detention and deaths in custody. “This leaked database points to serious human rights violations committed during the state of emergency,” said Tamara Taraciuk Broner, acting Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “According to the data, Salvadoran authorities have inhumanely packed detainees, including hundreds of children, in crowded detention sites, while doing very little to ensure victims’ access to justice for gang violence.” In March 2022, the Salvadoran Legislative Assembly passed a state of emergency, suspending some fundamental rights in response to a peak in gang violence. The measure has been extended 10 times and remains in place. Police officers and soldiers have detained over 61,000 people since March, according to the authorities. About 3,000 people have been released, in many cases under parole, and 58,000 remain in prison. The database provides the names, ages, and gender of people prosecuted under the state of emergency between March and August 2022. It also contains information about the charges against detainees, and the city where they were arrested. A reliable source indicated that the database belongs to the Public Safety Ministry. To assess its authenticity, Human Rights Watch cross-referenced the names in the database with other sources, including cases documented by local organizations or reported in the media, and identified over 300 matches. Other information presented in the database, including the crimes attributed to many of the detainees, the detention facilities where they were often sent, and the total number of people in pre-trial detention, are consistent with Human Rights Watch and Cristosal’s findings and with information publicly reported by government authorities. The following information in the database raises serious human rights concerns: As of late August, 1,082 children arrested during the state of emergency – 918 boys and 164 girls – had been sent to pre-trial detention, including 21 who were ages 12 or 13. These incarcerations were made possible under a March 2022 law that lowered from 16 to 12 the age of criminal responsibility for children accused of gang related crimes. The database indicates that 32 people died in custody, most of them at the La Esperanza, also known as Mariona, and Izalco prisons. Salvadoran authorities reported in November that 90 people have died in custody since March, in circumstances that have yet to be properly investigated. Over 39,000 people had been charged with the crime of “unlawful association” and over 8,000 with membership to a “terrorist organization.” In comparison, many fewer people had been charged with violent crimes. 148 people, or less than 0.3 percent of the detainees, were charged with homicide and 303 people, or less than 0.6 percent, were charged with sexual assault. El Salvador defines the crime of “unlawful association” broadly to include not only people who lead or take part on gangs, but also those who receive “indirect benefit” from gangs by having relations “of any nature.” Salvadoran law also defines “terrorist organization” in a broad manner that runs counter to international standards. The use of these broadly defined crimes opens the door to arbitrary arrests of people with no relevant connection to gangs, and does little to ensure justice for violent gang abuses, such as killings and rape. As of August, over 50,000 people had been sent to pre-trial detention, increasing the prison population to over 86,000. According to public information, as of February 2021, prisons in El Salvador had capacity of 30,000. Those sent to pre-trial detention since the adoption of the state of emergency include over 7,900 women, double the total number in jail in El Salvador as of February 2021. Most of the detainees were sent to Mariona prison, where the population increased from 7,600 from 33,000, and to the Izalco prison, where the population increased from 8,500 to 23,300. According to the database, as of August, Mariona had four times as many detainees as it could hold, and Izalco had three times as many. Other detention facilities, such as the Ilopango prison for women and the prison of San Miguel for men, had populations of six times capacity. In October, the head of the prison system, Osiris Luna Meza, said that the women detained in Ilopango had been transferred to another prison. A December 2022 report by Human Rights Watch and Cristosal found widespread human rights violations committed under the state of emergency, including mass arbitrary detention, torture and other forms of ill-treatment against detainees, deaths in custody, and abuse-ridden prosecutions. In some cases, officers also refused to provide information about the detainees’ whereabouts to their relatives and acquaintances, in what amounts to enforced disappearances under international law. Security forces have carried out hundreds of indiscriminate raids, particularly in low-income neighborhoods, targeting marginalized communities where people have, for years, suffered from lack of economic and educational opportunities. The mass arrests have led to the detention of hundreds of people with no apparent connections to gangs’ abusive activity. The abuses committed during the state of emergency have been enabled by President Bukele’s swift dismantling of democratic institutions since taking office in 2019, which has left virtually no independent government bodies that can serve as a check on the executive branch or ensure redress for victims of abuse. The government has also restricted access to public information and weakened the role of the Access to Public Information Agency. The authorities told Human Rights Watch and Cristosal that information about people detained during the state of emergency is “classified,” even when it is of public interest under international human rights standards. Salvadoran authorities should replace the state of emergency with a sustainable and rights-respecting strategy to address gang violence and protect the population from gang abuses, Human Rights Watch and Cristosal said. The strategy should include tackling high levels of poverty and social exclusion, and focusing on prosecutions of higher-level gang leaders. “These new findings support the conclusions of our reports on widespread human rights violations, which are especially serious in a context of lack of accountability and massive due process violations. We urge governments in the region to guarantee public security without engaging in unfair policies,” said Noah Bullock, executive director of Cristosal. © 2023 Human Rights Watch

In a country where half the population is under the age of 15, almost half of all children are not in school. It’s a crisis that doesn’t make the headlines. Why are so many of Niger’s children missing out on the vital right to education? Abena joins her classmates in breathing exercises – a technique used to help children overcome stress and trauma. Photo: Tom Peyre-Costa/NRC By, Rebecca Crombleholme Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world, with more than 10 million people living in extreme poverty. However, over the past few decades, the rate of education has progressed significantly. In 1973, only 11 percent of children were going to school. By 2017, the number had risen to 66 percent. Now, the trend is declining. Currently, just 58 percent of Niger’s children are going to school. This sudden reversal of progress is devastating. But why is it happening? The spread of violence Tillabéri is the westernmost region of Niger. Over the past five years, violence between armed groups in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali spilled over into Tillabéri. Since then, the fighting has spread and intensified. Around 1,700 civilians were killed in Niger in 2021. There has also been a dramatic increase in kidnappings, thefts, and threats. The violence is causing mass displacement, with more than 150,000 people having fled their homes in the Tillabéri region alone. Across the country as a whole, the figure is close to 400,000. Children being repeatedly uprooted from their homes is one major barrier to them attending school. And violence does not just affect people, but the schools themselves. Close to 900 schools have been forced to close because of the violence. Unable to focus Half a million children living in conflict zones in Niger need humanitarian assistance to access education. But opening classrooms is not enough. These children must have the chance to work through the trauma they’ve been forced to witness. “It is clear that our children are stressed and anxious. Some of them wake up at night because of nightmares, others cry erratically,” says Aanan, a parent representative from Tillabéri. Traumatic incidents can have a negative impact on a child’s ability to learn. In 2021, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) conducted an assessment into children’s well-being. Almost half of the children we spoke to in Niger said that they were unable to concentrate fully at school. “The desire to learn should never be trumped by the need to hide,” says Marta Schena, NRC’s education specialist for the Central and West Africa region. “These children have witnessed or endured multiple kinds of violence leading to chronic stress and trauma. It is our duty to help them rediscover the language of innocence, joy, and curiosity.” Missing that critical piece of paper Idriss Eliassou is an education adviser for NRC in Tillabéri. He says that “when [the displaced children] come, some of them, because of their trauma, forget their own name”. A classroom can give a child a sense of normality and safety and provide a space for them to recover from what they have witnessed. But completing primary school, and receiving a diploma to prove it, is not possible without one critical document – a birth certificate. And this is something that many children in Niger don’t have. Nearly three out of four people displaced within Niger report that they lack birth certificates for their children who have been born in displacement. This is not only a barrier to education but also to healthcare and freedom of movement. That small piece of paper can change the course of a child’s life. In 2022, NRC enabled more than 12,000 people to get birth certificates. But many are still waiting. With poverty comes hunger Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world, consistently ranking among the lowest countries in terms of average income per person. Amid the violence and insecurity, income opportunities are scarce. Access to food is not guaranteed and is dwindling. Two million people in Niger are currently severely food insecure. This means that two million people don’t know where they will get their next meal from. This number is projected to peak at close to 3 million next “lean season” (the period between harvests, from May to August). Hunger hinders learning. Children are unable to concentrate fully on an empty stomach. And it’s common for families in this situation to take their children out of school so that they can work. This is often the family’s only option if they want everyone to eat that day. The food crisis is not just affecting Niger. Other countries in the region of Africa known as the Central Sahel are also facing similar challenges. Young people are the future Niger has the youngest population on earth. Here, there are millions of children with potential. But as the world continues to neglect this crisis, more and more young people are entering adulthood feeling they have been let down. In 2021, 71 percent of children we spoke to for an assessment in Niger said they had little or no hope for the future. Donor countries, national authorities, and the humanitarian community must find a way forward to create a safe environment for internally displaced people, refugees, and host communities in Niger and across the Central Sahel. If education is a human right, why should the children of Niger not have access to it? NRC© 1996-2023

28 December 2022 © UNICEF/Helene Sandbu Ryeng Bathi Kuju is playing with his youngest daughter Gol at a nutrition centre in Pibor, South Sudan Facebook The UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) together with international partners, have called for the immediate end to mounting violence in the Greater Pibor area by armed youth from Jonglei state. News reports say at least 57 have died since early on Sunday, with more than a dozen injured. UNMISS, the African Union mission, regional bloc IGAD, the so-called Troika (United States, United Kingdom, and Norway), the European Union, and the body overseeing the peace agreement signed by the warring parties in South Sudan (R-JMEC), issued a statement on Wednesday, saying they were “gravely concerned about the escalating ongoing violence, loss of life and reports of alleged use of heavy weaponry”. News reports quoting a local official said youths from the Nuer community had attacked members of the Murle ethnic group in Greater Pibor. The fighting began when armed youths attacked the village of Lanam, according to Greater Pibor’s information minister. He told news outlets that members of both groups suffered fatalities, with 17 Murle community members among those injured. The information minister for Jonglei state also reportedly condemned the fighting and called on young fighters from the state, to immediately end the violence, and return home. Both senior local officials called for central Government intervention to end the violence, according to news reports. The world’s youngest country has been mired in violence which escalated not long after gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, between Government forces led by President Salva Kiir, and fighters loyal to his rival Riek Machar. Ultimatum The statement from the UN and partners urged combatants and supporters “to immediately cease hostilities, exercise restraint and respect human rights.” They called on South Sudanese leaders “to urgently intervene to stop the fighting and ensure the safety and security of civilians as well as unimpeded humanitarian access to people affected by the fighting.” They emphasized the need to investigate and hold all perpetrators of violence to account, “including those who are instigating and inciting violence and those responsible for the abduction of women and children.” Dialogue, not fighting The statement also strongly encouraged national politicians and traditional leaders to persuade young fighters to stop the violence and pursue “a dialogue-based approach that focuses on restoring calm and peacefully resolving the root causes of the conflict.” While the primary responsibility for protecting civilians lies with the national Government, UNMISS and international partners reiterated that they are ready to provide all necessary support to protect civilians in affected areas. Stepping up patrols “UNMISS is intensifying patrols in conflict hotspots and closely monitoring the situation, noting that such fighting has in the past led to significant loss of life and large-scale civilian displacement.” The statement also noted that the “uncalled for violence” posed a serious risk to the peace and stability of all South Sudanese, and called on the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism, to investigate, urging the parties to the conflict, to facilitate access. Copyright © United Nations 2022