VOA News September 1, 2021, 7:14 AM Seven Hong Kong pro-democracy activists were sentenced Wednesday to lengthy jail sentences for taking part in an unauthorized protest in 2019. Various defendants including pro-democracy activists, Albert Ho, center, and Yeung Sum, right, arrive at a court in Hong Kong, May 17, 2021. AP News. The activists include such figures as former legislators Cyd Ho, Yeung Sum, Albert Ho and Leung Kwok-hung, known as “Long Hair,” and Raphael Wong, Figo Chan and Avery Ng of the League of Social Democrats party. All seven men were present when District Court Judge Amanda Woodcock sentenced them for taking part in a massive demonstration in October 2019 at the height of anti-government protests triggered by a controversial extradition bill that evolved into a greater demand for greater freedoms for the financial hub. Judge Woodcock said that while Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, known as the Basic Law, guarantees freedom of assembly and demonstration, “these rights are not absolute and are subject to restrictions ruled constitutional.” The sentences ranged from 11 to 16 months. All the defendants except for Wong are already serving jail time on other illegal assembly charges. The 2019 demonstrations prompted Beijing to approve a sweeping national security law for Hong Kong last year under which anyone believed to be carrying out terrorism, separatism, subversion of state power or collusion with foreign forces could be tried and face life in prison if convicted. Hong Kong authorities have increasingly clamped down on the city’s pro-democracy forces since the law took effect last year.

Genocide Watch is issuing an updated Genocide Emergency for Cameroon. Since 2016, security forces and armed separatists have engaged in a civil war in Cameroon’s Southwestern Anglophone region. At least 4,000 civilians have died. Boko Haram continues to target civilians in Cameroon’s Northwest. The Anglophone conflict began in late 2016 when government security forces used lethal force to put down peaceful marches by members of the country's English-speaking minority [File: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters] The Anglophone crisis began in late 2016 when Cameroonian security forces responded to peaceful protests in the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions with a violent crackdown. Anglophone lawyers and teachers launched the protests to demand an end to perceived political and social marginalization by the Francophone-dominated government in Yaoundé. The Biya government’s repressive response to Anglophone grievances resulted in a separatist movement. Armed groups loosely united to declare an independent “Federal Republic of Ambazonia.” The civil war has internally displaced at least 712,800 Cameroonians and forced another 67,400 to flee as refugees to Nigeria. Many schools have been closed for over four years. The UN estimates that three-quarters of the four million people in Cameroon's Southwest and Northwest regions are affected. Armed separatists have attacked Federal police posts. They have also attacked Anglophone civilians who oppose their quest for independence. The separatists have even attacked Anglophone schools that refused to close. Separatists have employed widespread sexual violence and have increasingly relied on indiscriminate tactics affecting civilians, including the use of IEDs. Use of IEDs is a war crime. Since December 2020, the Cameroonian Government has banned Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the Northwest region. Through the intentional suppression of health care, the Cameroonian government is increasing the likelihood of death for civilians, which is also a war crime. Boko Haram is the world’s deadliest terrorist organization, killing more than 40,000 people in northeast Nigeria since 2009. Since 2014 Boko Haram has spilled over into adjacent Cameroon, terrorizing civilians in the Northwest region and killing more than 3,700 people in Cameroon, according to ACLED. From December 2020 to April 2021, Boko Haram killed more than 80 civilians in Northwest Cameroon. Cameroon security forces have also committed serious human rights violations as part of their counterterrorism operations, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, and torture. An influx of refugees from the Central African Republic and Nigeria has exacerbated insecurity in Cameroon. Cameroon had 437,000 refugees and one million internally displaced persons in March 2021. Genocide Watch considers Cameroon to be at Stage 6: Polarization, Stage 8: Persecution, and Stage 9: Extermination. Genocide Watch Recommends: The Cameroonian Government should uphold its original historical and constitutional commitment to the semiautonomous status of Anglophone Southwestern Cameroon, including full rights of political, cultural, and linguistic expression by Anglophone citizens. The UN should establish a commission of inquiry under the UN Security Council or an independent fact-finding mission under the UN Human Rights Council to recommend ways to end the civil war in Cameroon. UN peacekeepers should be deployed to protect civilians in the Southwest and Northwest. All external funding and arming of the Cameroon military should end immediately, including funding and training by the United States and France. Local leaders in the Anglophone region should repudiate the separatist groups.

ADDIS ABABA, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Forces from Ethiopia's Tigray region in recent weeks looted warehouses belonging to the U.S. government's humanitarian agency in the Amhara region, USAID's mission director in Ethiopia said on Tuesday. Ethiopian porters unload food aid bound for victims of war after a checkpoint leading to Tigray in Mai Tsebri town, Ethiopia June 26, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo War broke out in the mountainous region last November between Ethiopian troops and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls the region. The conflict has killed thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis. After retaking control of most of Tigray in late June and early July, Tigrayan forces pushed into the neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions, displacing several hundred thousand more people from their homes. "We do have proof that several of our warehouses have been looted and completely emptied in the areas, particularly in Amhara, where TPLF soldiers have gone into," mission director Sean Jones told state broadcaster EBC in a televised interview. "I do believe that the TPLF has been very opportunistic," he added. Representatives for the TPLF and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. "Any interference or theft of humanitarian aid is unacceptable and prevents critical assistance from reaching people in need. Unfortunately, since the beginning of the conflict in northern Ethiopia, we've seen instances of looting from all parties," a USAID spokesperson said. Up to 900,000 people in Tigray are already in famine conditions, while five million others are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance, USAID estimates. For the first time in nine months of war, aid workers this week will run out of food to deliver to millions of people who are going hungry, the head of USAID said last week, blaming the government for restricting access. read more The Tigrayan forces and the federal government have repeatedly traded accusations of hampering the flow of aid. Reporting by Nairobi newsroom; Additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis in Washington Writing by Duncan Miriri Editing by Maggie Fick, Grant McCool and Sandra Maler © 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved

Yazidi fleeing from ISIS 2014 On behalf of Genocide Watch and the Alliance Against Genocide, we would like to invite you to attend our upcoming panel, The Role of Storytelling in Genocide Remembrance: Centering Survivors in Iraq. The panel will take place September 14th, 10-11am EST. Register here for the event. Stephanie Yousif from Assyrian Policy Institute, Dr. Rozhen Kamal from Sulaimani Polytechnic Institute & Nahrein Network, and Vian Darwish from Nobody’s Listening will discuss the current situation in Iraq and highlight survivor stories as an avenue for advocacy, genocide prevention, and accountability efforts. Their conversation will focus on survivor voices and dignified storytelling. Each panelist will provide recommendations on how to center survivor voices in genocide remembrance. Meet the Panelists: Vian Darwish is currently the coordinator of the Yazidi Survivors Network at Yazda NGO. The Network is a Global Yazidi Network that aims to support survivors of genocide and sexual enslavement committed by ISIS. Prior to this, Vian worked as a coordinator and documenter in Yazda’s documentation project, which gathers information on the Islamic State›s crimes against Yazidis in August 2014. In that role, Vian spoke to many ISIS survivors, especially female survivors. Vian has extensive knowledge about the Yazidi genocide and received training on interviewing techniques, documentation of SGBV crimes, and documentation of crime scenes by Justice Rapid Response (JRR). In her previous work, Vian worked as a volunteer with different NGOs defending women›s rights, equality, and democracy. Today, Vian wishes to build her capacity to continue supporting and empowering ISIS survivors, especially in their advocacy work. Dr. Rozhen Kamal Mohammed-Amin is an architect and academic with an interdisciplinary background and research interest in the confluence of digital technology, architecture, and cultural heritage. She is the founding head of the Digital Cultural Heritage (DCH) Research Group at the Sulaimani Polytechnic University (SPU) and a lecturer at its City Planning Engineering Department. Rozhen also serves as secretary of RASHID, an international network dedicated to safeguarding the cultural heritage of Iraq with ECOSOC/UN special consultative status, and is a member of UKRI’s International Development Peer Review College. Before the completion of her Master’s and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Calgary (Canada), she worked at the State Organization of Tourism and the Ministry of Municipality and Tourism in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. After joining SPU in 2016, she founded and directed her university’s Research Center until 2018. Her research interests include digital cultural heritage, museum experience design, and the effects of using Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies in public and cultural heritage spaces like museums and historic sites. Stephanie Yousif serves on the Board of Directors of the Assyrian Policy Institute, where she is active in organizational planning and decision-making, as well as in providing innovative advice and dynamic perspectives on API initiatives and activities. She is a seasoned community organizer with a passion for international justice and minority rights. She has years of experience working with nonprofits and leading community-based initiatives. Born in Chicago, Illinois to Assyrian parents from Iraq, Stephanie has traveled to northern Iraq where she has seen firsthand the devastating impact of ISIS on the Assyrian population. Stephanie is a graduate of Iowa University. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy and Religious Studies and is completing her Master's Degree in Business Administration. Meet The Moderator: Tabitha Mpamira is a mental health therapist, activist, motivational speaker, and consultant on sexual and gender-based violence with a long working history in the mental healthcare industry. In 2015, Tabitha founded EDJA to provide free medical, legal, and mental health services to survivors of sexual assault in East Africa. EDJA has sparked rapid change in Uganda by supporting hundreds of survivors and bringing perpetrators to justice.Tabitha’s work in this area has been widely recognized and vividly depicted by Now This and in the documentary Victors: Singing to the Lions, which has been screened globally, including at the United Nations Association – New York City. She won the Champion Advocate Award from Female Founders Alliance 2021, and was recognized by Global Citizen in 2018 when she won the People’s Choice Waislitz Award and was nominated for the Global Young Leaders of the World Economic Forum 2021. Tabitha has been invited to speak across the globe; including the Vatican about the urgency of working to end sexual violence, Harvard University, MasterCard Foundation and her widely viewed TEDx Talk on the transforming or transferring of trauma. Tabitha is currently pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology with a specialization in sexual trauma after over 10years of practice. If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to tfrid@genocidewatch.org. We look forward to your attendance at this important event!

Russian and Syrian government forces have stepped up attacks in the rebel stronghold, with civilians suffering the most. Muhammad Barakat visits the grave of his daughter, Maryam, in Jabal al-Zawiya in Idlib [Mohamad Daboul/Al Jazeera] Maryam Barakat’s marriage last month was quiet due to a recent escalation in bombings by Syrian and Russian forces in the rebel stronghold of Idlib, northwest Syria. Few people came – those who did were careful not to sound their car horns in celebration. Despite the war, Maryam, 20, had managed to continue her studies and graduated this year as a midwife. It was while studying midwifery at university that Maryam met her future husband, 25-year-old Taha Taqa, who was training to become an anaesthetist. “I told Taha one day that I had never seen two people this close to one another. They could not live apart from one another. Taha’s life was Maryam and Maryam’s life was Taha,” Mohamed Taqa, Taha’s father, told Al Jazeera. They married on July 10. But their marriage was brutally curtailed – it lasted just a week. Taqa’s family was damaged in an air attack by Syrian government forces in the village of Jabal al-Zawiya in Idlib [Mohamad Daboul/Al Jazeera] On July 18, they prepared to celebrate the Eid al-Adha holiday with family in the village of Jabal al-Zawiya. “All the men were sitting in front of the house when we heard a sound,” Mohamed Taqa told Al Jazeera. “Moments later, a big explosion happened and I was thrown on the ground. I could no longer move and I was breathing very heavily. We were screaming for the paramedics.” The family home was hit by what witnesses have told Al Jazeera was most likely a laser-guided artillery shell fired by Syrian government forces. Remnants of Russian-made artillery shells were found on the ground. Taha was badly injured in the attack. He is now conscious and being treated in a hospital across the border in Turkey. Maryam was killed. “Words cannot describe her,” Maryam’s eldest brother Bashar says. “I did not see anything but good from her.” Maryam Barakat’s brother Bashar holds up his phone displaying a photo of the family’s dinner in Idlib [Mohamad Daboul/Al Jazeera] The shelling that killed Maryam is the latest in a series escalation in attacks over the last two months in Idlib, the last rebel-held bastion in Syria, according to the United Nations. The latest violence comes despite a ceasefire signed in March 2020 between Turkey, which backs opposition armed groups in control of much of Idlib province, and Russia, the Syrian government’s closest ally. Some four million civilians currently live in Idlib – mostly women and children. The UN estimates there are 2.8 million displaced people in northwestern Syria – many sheltering in severely overcrowded displacement camps and with nowhere left to run as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his allies have gradually retaken much of the territory lost since 2011. The UN’s Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator Mark Cutts warned in a statement provided to Al Jazeera that civilians in Idlib have been “bearing the brunt of a serious escalation in bombing, the most deadly since a ceasefire was agreed in March 2020”. He also said people in Idlib are “trapped in a war zone”, calling on all parties to the conflict “to protect civilians in accordance with international law”. In June and July, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported that, as a result of air attacks and shelling, 66 civilians (including 16 women and 33 children) have been killed and hundreds injured. The spokesperson for the UN special envoy for Syria, Jenifer Fenton, said there is a danger that the de-escalation and ceasefire agreements could “unravel”. “They could be slowly eroded by the near-constant tempo of limited violence across front lines. Even worse, they could swiftly collapse by a much more dramatic escalation,” she told Al Jazeera. She added that the envoy believes there is a “need for a new constructive international dialogue on Syria to discuss concrete steps”. Al-Assad’s forces want to take control of Jabal al-Zawiya, as it is close to the strategically vital M4 highway south of Idlib linking government-controlled cities of Aleppo and Latakia. But Omer Ozkizilcik, a Syria analyst at the Turkey-based SETA Foundation, said the recent escalation in violence may also be about sending a message to Turkey. “Whilst the Assad regime and Russia always want to maintain a certain amount of escalation in Idlib to not lose their ability to launch a new military operation, the recent escalation is mainly motivated by international developments rather than Syrian dynamics,” he said. “Russia is trying to exploit the millions of civilians in Idlib as a pressure tool against Turkey to limit its support and cooperation with anti-Russian [forces].” ‘Look at what is happening’ Amid the renewed violence in Idlib, humanitarian workers have also paid with their lives. On July 17, White Helmets rescue workers, also known as the Syria Civil Defence, lost their 291st team member in Idlib. Paramedic Hammam al-Asi, a 30-year-old father of three, died in an attack. The White Helmets told Al Jazeera they have been “deliberately targeted with laser-guided Krasnopol shells” by the Syrian government forces and Russia at least six times in two months, with two volunteers killed and 13 others injured. Al-Asi had dreamed of becoming a chemistry teacher, his father Muhammad Saeed told Al Jazeera. “But due to the revolution, he was unable to achieve this. He loved working in the Civil Defence since it was humanitarian work,” he said. Kamel Zureik, the White Helmet’s team leader in Bzabur Centre in Southern Idlib, was with al-Asi and other colleagues as they worked to free people trapped under the rubble in a home that had been hit by shelling from the Syrian regime in Idlib’s Sarjah. Civilians had saved two children before they arrived and the White Helmets freed one more, and were working to save another when an incoming shell exploded and fatally wounded al-Asi. They were targeted what is known as a double-tap attack, a brutal tactic used by the Syrian and Russian forces to target a location and then, when first responders are on the scene trying to save the civilians injured or trapped as a result of the first attack, hit the same location again. Al-Asi died en route to the hospital, too badly wounded to drink the water he was pleading for, Zureik said. “We say to the international community: Look at what is [still] happening on the ground. Look at how the rescue teams are becoming victims,” Zureik said. Since then the attacks have continued – at least nine children were killed last week in a series of attacks by Russian and Syrian government forces in Idlib. Meanwhile, amid the ongoing violence, civilians face severe challenges such as access to healthcare and education, fewer work opportunities, and scarcity of food and water. “I, like all people in Idlib, fear for my children and try to provide them security, safety, and food,” Maryam’s father Muhammad said. “But I feel that we have no future; where are we going?” Maryam and Taha’s families say their love and marriage, as war raged around them, was a quiet but heroic act of defiance and courage and hope, in the face of loss, displacement and suffering. But in Syria, there are endless ways to break a heart. “Here in Idlib, all dreams are bombarded. Dreams here have a limit but they are eventually destroyed,” Maryam’s father Muhammad said. Now, Maryam’s father goes to stand at her grave, where her and Taha’s initials are written on the front of her headstone. “I wish the whole world to know the story of Maryam, of her pure and tender heart. I know Maryam’s wish would be that this does not happen to other civilians, husbands, and children,” he said. “When they broke Maryam’s dream, they broke all of our dreams.” © 2021 Al Jazeera Media Network

By Luis Jaime Acosta Indigenous and social leaders march on the streets of Bogota in July. Danelly Estupiñán said the coronavirus had only added to the violence. Photograph: Carlos Ortega/EPA BOGOTA, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Murders of human rights and community activists in Colombia were down to 78 in the first half of the year, the country's human rights ombudsman said on Wednesday, but the attacks persist. The killing of activists is a top problem for the Andean country, with President Ivan Duque vowing he will not rest in the fight against those responsible amid criticism little concrete action has been taken. "Though there was a decrease in the quantity of homicides, from 90 in the first half of 2020 to 78 in the same period of 2021, I regret that murders and threats against our leaders, principally because of criminal actions by illegal armed groups, continue to occur," ombudsman Carlos Camargo said. "As a state we must redouble our efforts and take all necessary measures to guarantee the integrity and the lives of social and community leaders and defenders of human rights," Camargo added, citing a report from his office. The provinces of Antioquia, Valle del Cauca, Cauca, Narino and Choco recorded the most killings of activists between January and June, the report showed. All have armed groups present, cultivation of coca and illegal mining. Colombia's nearly six-decade conflict between the government, leftist rebels and crime gangs descended from right-wing paramilitary groups has killed 260,000 people and displaced millions. The leftist National Liberation Army rebels, former members of the FARC rebels who reject a 2016 peace deal and crime gangs like the Clan del Golfo - who are fighting for control of drug trafficking routes and illegal mining areas - are responsible for activist killings, Duque has said. The ombudsman says 182 activists were killed in 2020, an increase from 134 the year before. Human rights groups, who maintain their own counts, say the figure is higher. Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb Editing by Nick Macfie © Copyright 2021 Reuters

Since December 2020, there has been a resurgence in the conflict between government forces and armed groups in the Central African Republic (CAR). In recent months the situation has become extremely volatile in many rural areas across the country. An MSF staff member inspects a burned house in the village of Beltounou, on the outskirts of Kabo town, in northern Central African Republic. According to locals, on the evening of 23 June, men armed with automatic weapons attacked the village for about an hour. Central African Republic, June 2021. IGOR BARBERO/MSF Insecurity caused by the fighting and fear of attacks have forced many to flee towards larger towns. The violence has also severely impacted the ability of organisations to provide healthcare. Naodia was at home, about to sleep, when the first bullet struck her in the abdomen. The shooting soon shattered the window next to the bed where she was lying with her two-year-old daughter. They hurriedly looked for safety next to Naodia’s husband and other two children, who were already sleeping on the floor. Soon after that, the attackers set their house on fire. Naodia, 25, is from Beltounou, a village on the outskirts of Kabo town, in northern CAR, close to the border with Chad. As in many other parts of CAR, this area has seen a significant rise in violence that has, once again, spread throughout the country. CAR already had some of the poorest health indicators of any country in the world. According to her neighbours, on the evening of 23 June, eight men armed with automatic weapons attacked Beltounou for about an hour. Four people were killed, four others were injured and 15 houses were burnt to the ground. Most of the 2,000 inhabitants fled in the aftermath of the attack. “The attackers must have thought we were already dead when they left the area,” says Naodia. “We left the house in flames and hid in a nearby forest. I could barely walk; I had pain throughout my body, not only because of the gunshot wound, but also because I was four months pregnant. My husband got hold of some bicycles and we started the journey to Kabo in the middle of the night.” It took them three hours to cover the 13 kilometres from Beltounou to Kabo, along a dirt road littered with water-logged potholes left by the ongoing rainy season’s frequent storms. “My husband carried the children and one of my brothers carried me. It was very difficult and we suffered a lot,” says Naodia as she recovers from surgery at the MSF hospital in Kabo. “At least I am alive, but we lost everything we had. I don’t even have my own clothes now.” Like most of her neighbours who also fled Beltounou, Naodia and her family are staying in Kabo, a town of over 60,000 people, a fifth of whom have been displaced from other areas. Most settled here following earlier periods of violence, but newly uprooted communities have been pouring in steadily since April. From attacks on towns to insecurity in rural areas In late December, a newly formed coalition of non-state armed groups launched an offensive against the government of CAR amid fraught elections that ratified Faustin-Archange Touadéra as president. The coalition combined armed factions that in previous years had fought against each other. They managed to take temporary control of some major towns and, in January, even reached the outskirts of the capital, Bangui. However, later in the year government and allied forces regained control of the semi-urban areas and pushed the armed opposition into the countryside. The current situation in rural areas around towns in CAR has become extremely volatile, due to frequent clashes between government forces and armed groups, attacks on villages and exactions against people. On a late-June morning, the noise and cries of dozens of babies waiting with their young mothers to be vaccinated at a health centre in Farazala, a small town a couple of hours from Kabo, offers a false impression. Faya, a local health worker here, claims that far fewer people are now showing up for medical appointments. A Ministry of Health nurse vaccinates a child at an MSF-supported health centre in Farazala, northern Central African Republic, June 2021. IGOR BARBERO/MSF “Before, there were more people coming from the nearby villages, but this has decreased because of the insecurity,” he says. “Women who live just four or five kilometres away are now giving birth at home instead of coming here. Some people are too afraid to even work in their fields or to fish and hunt. In some cases, the fields have actually been destroyed. “We used to transfer a lot of patients between Farazala and Kabo through a system of motorbike riders put in place by MSF, but this is not easy now.” Faya recalls that, as clashes started, members of the armed groups took many of the motorbikes from the people. Later, when government and allied forces regained control of this territory, the use of these vehicles on some of the main roads was restricted, under the belief that people using the motorbikes could be fighters. In the areas where motorbikes are able to move around, riders delivering lifesaving drugs and transporting sick and wounded patients to hospital have sometimes been attacked, injured and robbed at gunpoint. These acts of violence are usually attributed by the warring parties to uncontrolled elements. Community health workers, trained to treat common diseases, including malaria and diarrhoea, screen children for malnutrition and refer critical cases to the hospital, have also been threatened and assaulted in rural areas. Access to healthcare constrained The ongoing insecurity has forced our teams to periodically suspend some medical activities in the areas around Kabo and other towns, including Batangafo, Bambari and Bria. This has included at times supervision visits, patient referrals and the work of some community health workers, which is particularly concerning during the rainy season, when cases of life-threatening diseases, like malaria, peak. At the same time, MSF hospitals in the towns have seen an increase in the number of patients in need of treatment as more displaced people arrive. “We also see more patients with injuries caused by violence, particularly sexual violence,” says Benjamin Collins, MSF medical team leader in Kabo. A life of repeated displacement Over the last eight months, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced. According to the UN, over 1.4 million people in CAR have now been forced from their homes, nearly a third of the total population, with half now refugees in neighbouring countries. One of these newly displaced is Tanguina Chela. At the end of May, she fled from her village of Gmganga, along with her husband and three children. Most of Gmganga’s 200 inhabitants left following a rise in violence and fears that, with the progress of government and allied forces, armed opposition groups would retaliate against local communities accused of collaboration. “I left everything I had there. Now I have no food and I have to beg to get any,” says Tanguina. Sadly, none of this is new to her. This is the third time she has been forcefully displaced. The previous times were in 2007 and 2012. “Throughout my life I have suffered a lot. Since I was seven years old. The same story always repeats itself. I have been on the move a long time due to the war,” says Tanguina. “I have lost my belongings, my farmland, everything… I have children, but I don’t even know how I will feed them.” Tanguina is now in one of the settlements for displaced people in Kabo, called site B. The coordinator of the site, Gotologue Auguste, estimates there are over 4,200 people living there. At a water point, children and women with babies on their backs take turns to pump water into their jerry cans. Not far away, some people listen to a song in Sango composed by a Bangui music band encouraging people to wash their hands with soap amid the coronavirus pandemic, but few people wear face masks in the area. Nearby, children play with tyres and a football made of a jumble of plastic; teenagers carefully prepare small teabags for sale and cook some pieces of meat over a coal fire. Some women prepare food in metallic cooking pots over open fires. Site B is now largely indistinguishable from the rest of Kabo. Most of the hundreds of small, round houses, made of sun-dried bricks with grass roofs, have been there for years. As people vacate the houses, they are quickly taken by newly arrived displaced people like Tanguina, who was given a one-room hut. A woman pumps water into a bucket at a water point of site B for displaced people in Kabo, a town in northern Central African Republic, June 2021. IGOR BARBERO/MSF Little hope for a change Something similar happens with site C, another settlement for displaced people situated nearby. Hawa Ahmat has been here since 2013, when violent clashes between the Séléka and Anti-balaka armed groups and retaliations from both against communities engulfed PK13, her neighbourhood in Bangui. “At that time, I lost a lot of my family; my dad, brother, several nephews,” says Hawa. Around 1,000 people like her were evacuated on trucks by the International Organization for Migration. Some went to Moyenne Sido and others arrived in Kabo. “Before, we earned a good living as merchants. We even used to go to Ndjamena, in Chad, to buy clothes, carpets, perfume and other things, and sell them in Bangui. But now I barely have anything,” says Hawa. “I try to do small jobs, like cleaning people’s houses or selling firewood, to survive.” Despite her memories of the events that made her leave, Hawa misses Bangui and one day she would like to return, but this seems unlikely in the near future. “Even if I am an optimist, I don’t know where the solution to our problems lies. I feel pain seeing my children grow up uneducated, without having the chance to go to school. This is no future at all,” she says. © 2021 Médecins Sans Frontières

Roma people protesting against discrimination in Romania, 2010. (Photo: https://seenews.com/news/roma-discrimination-domestic-violence-persist-in-romania-amnesty-559159). The Roma, or Romani people, are one of the largest ethnic minorities in Romania. They originally came from India and first arrived in Europe during the Middle Ages. Over the centuries, the Roma have faced persecution and discrimination across Europe. Between the 1300s and 1848, the Roma were enslaved in Romania. During WWII, approximately 500,000 Roma throughout Europe were killed in the Holocaust. Among those killed were 25,000 Roma deported from Romania. Romanians commonly believe that Roma are “dirty” or “criminal.” Due to systematic discrimination against them, many Roma are impoverished. The Roma face continuing marginalization, as well as mob violence in sporadic deadly attacks by Romanian citizens and police. Government officials seldom prosecute perpetrators. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the Roma in Romania have faced increased discrimination and dehumanization. According to the Health and Human Rights Journal and Open Society Foundations, the spread of COVID-19 in schools and communities has been blamed on the Roma population. Roma are banned from entering certain cities like Ponorâta. Romanian social media propagate the lie that Roma are responsible for spreading the virus. Romani people have been subjected to harsher COVID restrictions that do not apply to other Romanian citizens. Pandemic quarantine restrictions have complicated life for many Roma. Social distancing and proper hygiene are difficult in overcrowded Roma communities that lack private household water supplies. The Open Society Foundations report that food shortages have caused many Roma to break quarantine, subjecting them to harassment by police. They are often denied access to healthcare facilities. Romanian social media uses hate speech to promote the racist belief that Roma are immune from disease yet are disease carriers. Simultaneously, lists of Roma people infected by COVID are published online. The intention is to blame the COVID outbreak in Romania on Romani people. The discrimination Roma have faced in Romania during the pandemic has pushed many to seek safety in the United States. In 2021, 2,217 Roma refugees have been detained at the U.S.- Mexico border after flying from Paris to Mexico, where Mexican visas are not required for Romanian tourists. Genocide Watch recognizes the marginalization and harassment of the Roma in Romania as Stage 3: Discrimination and Stage 4: Dehumanization. Genocide Watch recommends: • The government of Romania repeal its discriminatory measures against the Roma in its effort to tackle COVID-19. • The government of Romania provide training to community health workers and law enforcement on combatting discrimination and prohibit racial profiling. • The E.U. provide more financial support and healthcare assistance to Roma communities to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. • The Romanian government follow recommendations in reports by Roma-focused organizations to increase inclusion of the Roma in Romanian society and politics.

By Diadie Ba DAKAR, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Hissene Habre, the former strongman president of Chad and security ally of the West during the Cold War who was later jailed for war crimes, died on Tuesday in Senegal at the age of 79, Senegal's justice minister said. Former Chad President Hissene Habre makes declarations to media as he leaves a court in Dakar, Senegal November 25, 2005. REUTERS/Aliou Mbaye Habre contracted COVID-19 at a clinic in the capital Dakar where he was taken 10 days ago from jail for medical reasons, Justice Minister Malick Sall, told Reuters. When his condition worsened, he was taken to Principal Hospital, where he died. Habre's 1982-90 rule, which began with a coup, saw widespread killings by his infamous political police who rounded up suspects and held them in secret detention centres. In eight years, tens of thousands were raped, tortured and killed. After a landmark trial in Senegal, where he fled after being chased out of office by Sudan-based forces, Habre was sentenced to life in prison in 2016 for rape and ordering the killing and torture of thousands of political opponents. The verdict was seen by rights groups as a watershed moment in African justice: it marked the first time in modern history that one country's domestic courts have prosecuted the former leader of another country for crimes against humanity. It also capped a 16-year battle by victims and rights campaigners to bring the former Chadian autocrat to justice. "Hissene Habre will go down in history as one of the world's most pitiless dictators," said Reed Brody of the International Commission of Jurists, who has worked with Habre's victims since 1999. "(He was) a man who slaughtered his own people, burned down entire villages, sent women to serve as sexual slaves for his troops and built clandestine dungeons to inflict medieval torture on his enemies." Habre denied his role in the killings and remained defiant. At the start of his trial in 2015, he had to be carried into court in his long white robes, and restrained by masked security guards. He shouted "Shut up! Shut up!" when the clerk read out his indictment. The United States and France supported Habre during his rule over the desert nation in central Africa, fearful of the expansionist designs of neighbouring Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, whose troops occupied an area of northern Chad. That support waned as Habre faced growing resistance from armed groups, including his eventual successor Idriss Deby, who attacked from neighbouring Sudan. Even so, today he still has defenders in Chad. He was a "fair and honest statesmen who fought against corruption...and knew how to defend the integrity of Chadian territory in the face of external aggression," said Ali Younouss Mahamat, a 30-year-old teacher in the capital N'Djamena. Western powers have "repainted his regime in black to erase all traces of his patriotic works". LONG ROAD TO JUSTICE There were times where it seemed Habre, a herder's son, would never pay for his crimes. Only the tenacity of his victims, and of human rights campaigners, kept hope alive. Souleymane Guengueng, a civil servant, spent two-and-a-half years in a Chad jail in the 1980s where he watched inmates die from torture and disease. He vowed to fight for justice for those who had died. In 2000, Guengueng and a group of victims filed a complaint against Habre in Senegal and a court charged him with torture and crimes against humanity. But an appeals court ruled he could not be tried in that West African country. After another group of victims came forward in Belgium, the country issued an international arrest warrant in 2005 holding Habre responsible for mass murder and torture. Senegal declined to extradite Habre and the African Union asked it to pass legislation giving its courts jurisdiction for foreign crimes. It was not until Senegal President Macky Sall took office in 2012 that the process accelerated. In 2013, the Extraordinary African Tribunal was created and Habre was arrested. In April 2017 an appeals court ordered Habre to pay the victims approximately 123 million Euros ($145 million) in compensation, but the sum was never paid. Guengueng told Reuters he was "very, very sad" about Habre's death. "I feel a lot of Habre's victims will get the same impression, because he was not long in prison and the victims still haven't received reparations." Reporting by Diadie Ba in Dakar with additional reporting by Mahamat Ramadane in N'Djamena Writing by Edward McAllister and Hereward Holland Editing by Edmund Blair and Mark Heinrich. © 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved

FILE - In this May 6, 2021, file photo, a recovering farmer, who says he was shot by Eritrean forces, speaks to a doctor at a hospital in Mekele. The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Eritrea's chief of staff of the defense forces, Filipos Woldeyohannes. The United States imposed sanctions Monday on a top Eritrean defense official, citing Eritrea’s actions during the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. The Treasury Department said in a statement that it is sanctioning Filipos Woldeyohannes, the chief of staff of the Eritrean Defense Forces (EDF), accusing the forces of carrying out abuses in Tigray. The Treasury Department said the EDF engaged in “despicable acts” in Tigray, including "massacres, looting and sexual assaults." "The EDF have purposely shot civilians in the street and carried out systematic house-to-house searches, executing men and boys, and have forcibly evicted Tigrayan families from their residences and taken over their houses and property," it said. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a separate statement Monday, "The United States will continue to identify and pursue action against those involved in serious human rights abuse in Ethiopia and prolonging the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis." The Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the U.S. allegations, calling them "utterly baseless." "Eritrea calls on the U.S. administration to bring the case to an independent adjudication if it indeed has facts to prove its false allegations," the ministry said in a statement. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into Tigray last November, saying it was a response to attacks on federal army camps by forces loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). Both Ethiopia and Eritrea denied for months that Eritrean troops were also in the region. Eritrea later acknowledged their presence, but denied they were involved in human rights abuses. Tigrayan forces retook the regional capital Mekele in June, forcing a withdrawal of some Eritrean troops from the region. However, Blinken said in his statement Monday, “the United States is concerned that large numbers of EDF have reentered Ethiopia, after withdrawing in June.” The United Nations says the fighting in Tigray has killed thousands of people and put hundreds of thousands of people in danger of famine. © Voice of America News

By Giulia Paravicini LONDON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - The United States and European Union are raising alarm over the recent deployment of troops from Eritrea to Ethiopia's Tigray region, where nine months of war have killed thousands of people and sparked a worsening humanitarian crisis. Troops in Eritrean uniforms are seen on top of a truck near the town of Adigrat, Ethiopia, March 14, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner Forces from Ethiopia's rebellious Tigray recaptured much of the territory in June, in a major setback for Ethiopia's government. But the new Eritrean deployments, which come months after Ethiopia said foreign troops were pulling out, raise the prospect of an escalation of fighting. "The United States is concerned that large numbers of (Eritrean Defence Forces) have re-entered Ethiopia, after withdrawing in June," U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement on Monday. Those remarks came as Treasury Department announced sanctions against a leading Eritrean official it accused of human rights abuses during the war in Tigray. Eritrea said the allegations are baseless. read more EU diplomats meanwhile wrote in an internal memorandum on Aug. 20 that Eritrea was sending reinforcements across the border into Tigray. The document, seen by Reuters, said Eritrean troops had deployed to the already heavily militarised and contested western part of Tigray and "taken up defensive positions with tanks and artillery" around the towns of Adi Goshu and Humera. It also said that Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited Eritrea's capital Asmara on Aug. 17, a visit that was not announced by his office, while en route to an official meeting in Turkey. Spokespeople for Eritrea's information ministry, Ethiopia's prime minister and Ethiopia's military did not immediately respond to requests for comment. War broke out last year between Ethiopia's federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls the Tigray region, and more than two million people have since been forced to flee their homes. Eritrean troops entered Tigray to fight alongside federal forces in a conflict marked by abuses including rape, according to investigations by Reuters, the U.N. and international human rights organizations. read more The Ethiopian government said in April that Eritrean troops had begun withdrawing. read more However, the spokesperson for the Tigrayan forces has repeatedly said that the Eritrean soldiers have remained. He was not immediately reachable for comment on Tuesday. Reporting by Giulia Paravicini in London Additional reporting by George Obulutsa and Ayenat Merise in Nairobi Writing by Maggie Fick Editing by Joe Bavier and Giles Elgood. © 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved

August 2021 A group of Indigenous Mapuche protest against the Chilean government in Santiago, Chile. November 3rd, 2019. [Photograph - Edgard Garrido, REUTERS.] The Republic of Chile is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual country. Most of the population identifies as white or mestizo, but there is a minority of Afro-Chileans and many Indigenous groups, including the Mapuche, Aymara, Rapanui, and Quechua. Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion, but there are also Protestant, Jewish and Indigenous religious communities. Despite this rich social and cultural diversity, Chilean society is still coming to terms with a history of genocide. Minorities continue to face discrimination today. Chile gained independence from Spain in 1818 and established an authoritarian republic. From 1930 onwards, as the socio-economic gap widened, Chile's left-wing party grew, triggering an increase in political polarization. In 1973, a right-wing military junta overthrew the democratically elected socialist President Salvador Allende. Following the coup d’état, General Augusto Pinochet ruled as a brutal military dictator until 1990. In 2013, Amnesty International estimated at least 3,216 people were "disappeared" or murdered during Pinochet's rule, while another 38,354 suffered political imprisonment and torture. Spain's Progressive Association of Prosecutors filed complaints of genocide against Pinochet’s government in 1996. The Audiencia Nacional argued that the targeting of members of the national group who were “considered contaminated by beliefs, such as communism and atheism” constitutes genocide. In 1998, Spain’s central criminal court indicted Pinochet on charges of genocide, terrorism, torture, forced disappearance, and murder. Pinochet died of heart complications in 2006 before being tried. National courts continue efforts to prosecute the perpetrators of crimes against humanity during the Pinochet regime with mixed results. Although Indigenous Mapuche led rebellions against Spanish colonizers in the 1650s, Indigenous populations were decimated by centuries of targeted persecution. Spanish colonizers forced Indigenous people into a harsh and discriminatory labor system (encomienda). Beginning in 1883, the Indigenous Selk'nam people were the victims of a genocide that saw their number reduced from around 4,000 to 300-500. The Selk'nam lived on the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, split between modern-day Argentina and Chile. Government concession laws encouraged European migration to the area and promised a pound sterling for each Selk'nam killed. In 2007, the government proposed a bill to recognize the extermination of Indigenous people and to construct monuments to recognise their history. Mapuche representatives have petitioned the ICC, citing continuing crimes against humanity by the Chilean and Argentinian governments. Chile’s constitution does not recognize Indigenous people. Elisa Loncon, a Mapuche academic and activist, is leading ongoing efforts to rewrite the constitution through a constituent assembly. The Chilean state has failed to fully prosecute past abuses by the Pinochet regime. Currently, the state is also failing to uphold the rights of people with disabilities. Chile’s Indigenous peoples suffer discrimination over land rights and are vulnerable to targeted attacks from drug traffickers, mining companies, and state police. Police have subjected civilians to torture and other human rights abuses. In 2019-20, police responded with extraordinary force to repress social unrest. Genocide Watch considers Chile to be at Stage 3: Discrimination and Stage 10: Denial. Genocide Watch recommends: - State police should be held accountable for crimes committed against citizens. - The government should increase funding for NGOs representing Indigenous communities, like IWGIA. - The government should put an end to industrial encroachments into Indigenous lands and recognize Indigenous identity and land rights in the national constitution. - The government should guarantee the rights to truth, justice, and reparations for victims of genocide and human rights abuses. Download report. .GENOCIDE WATCH is the founder and coordinator of the Alliance Against Genocide E-mail: president@genocidewatch.org Website: www.genocidewatch.com Tax exempt EIN: 26-1672589