KAYA, Burkina Faso (AP) — At least 30 people were killed by gunmen in eastern Burkina Faso Monday, according to the government. The attack occurred in Kodyel village in the Komandjari province near the border with Niger, government official Labidi Ouoba told the Associated Press by phone after fleeing the attack. Jihadists surrounded the village and went house to house setting fire to them and killing people, said Ouoba. “I ran early because the terrorists usually look for authorities. We all pray that peace comes back now in our country. We are tired,″ he said. The attack comes exactly one week after two Spanish journalists and an Irish conservationist were killed and a Burkinabe soldier went missing when their anti-poaching patrol was ambushed by jihadists in the same region. That same day last week, 18 people were killed in Yattakou village in the country’s Sahel region. Another resident, Mediempo Tandamba, who fled Monday’s attack said approximately 100 Islamic extremists entered the town on motorcycles, tricycles and pick up trucks. Four of his brother’s children were killed. “We are very afraid here today,” said Tandamba. Burkina Faso’s ill-equipped army has been struggling to contain the spread of jihadists linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State who have killed thousands and displaced more than a million people. Last year the government enlisted the help of volunteer fighters to help the army, but the volunteers have incurred retaliation by the extremists who target them and the communities they help. The jihadists killed civilians Monday because the village had provided fighters to the volunteer program, said Heni Nsaibia, an analyst with the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. © The Associated Press 2021

Credit: VOA, AP Denial by Turkey and its agents is no longer just another side of a coin or an opinion, but rather hate speech directed to debilitate the victimized group further. When I first started researching Sara Corning, the namesake of the organization founded in 2012, I came across a photograph taken on April 23, 1923, kept in the Yarmouth County Museum and Archives in Nova Scotia. The picture was of a group of boys orphaned during the Armenian genocide who had been under the care of Sara Corning in Greece. Corning saved thousands of orphaned Greek and Armenian survivors of the genocide from Smyrna as Kemal Ataturk’s forces set the Greek coastal city ablaze. The youngest of the boys held a sign that read, “Remember Us.” In hindsight, this was a warning more than a request. A cautionary phrase of the price humanity will pay for its ostracism. More than a century later, with almost all Armenian genocide survivors having passed and in the face of Turkey’s ongoing denial of the genocide, the photograph becomes a haunting reminder of the challenges and importance of collective commemoration and remembrance. These challenges highlight the importance of genocide recognition by the international community, the most recent of which came from the United States through President Joe Biden’s April 24 message commemorating the Armenian genocide. The world, unfortunately, forgot the Armenians and, in doing so, inspired generations of aspiring genocidaires like Hitler, who, along with the Nazi party, revered the successes of the Armenian genocide and Ataturk’s ability to help Turkey to evade justice. As German historian Stephan Ihrig presented in his book, “Ataturk in the Nazi Imagination,” on September 1, 1923, a short five months after the photograph mentioned above was taken, the Nazi newspaper Heimatland published a feature project on Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern-day Turkey, by Hans Tröbst, the sole German in Ataturk’s forces. This influential feature series, composed of six articles, was meant to use Ataturk’s Turkey as the archetypical solution to Germany’s post-war struggles. In his summary of Turkish Lessons, Tröbst stresses the need for “national purification” and writes, “In this respect, the circumstances were the same in Asia Minor as here. They had to be eradicated and rendered harmless; otherwise, the whole struggle for freedom would have been put in jeopardy. The bloodsuckers and parasites on the Turkish national body were Greeks and Armenians.” Hitler, inspired by this series, wrote to Tröbst, “What you have witnessed in Turkey is what we will have to do in the future as well in order to liberate ourselves.” Sixteen years later, before invading Poland, Hitler emboldened his killing units to massacre without mercy with his infamous words, “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” The Holocaust became one of the prime examples of the biproducts of impunity. As Canadian Human Rights Lawyer David Matas has said, referring to the Armenian genocide and Jewish Holocaust, “Nothing emboldens a criminal so much as the knowledge he can get away with a crime.” It is not a coincidence that denial of genocide has been listed as the last stage of genocide by the former president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Dr. Gregory Stanton, in his 10 Stages of Genocide. Despite affirmation by genocide scholars internationally, the Turkish government has used its state resources to deny the Armenian genocide for more than a century. It obsessively pursues and enforces its denialist policies both at home and abroad, while victimizing descendants of survivors through the trauma of genocide denial and its assault against memory. Denial by Turkey and its agents is no longer just another side of a coin or an opinion, but rather hate speech directed to debilitate the victimized group further. April 24, 2021, the 106th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, was additionally painful. Impunity for Turkey’s past crimes has emboldened new torchbearers in Turkey and Azerbaijan. As their predecessors did a century ago, they continue to pursue the ideology of Turkish expansionism, better known as pan-Turanism, at the expense, once again, of Armenians and Armenia. Turkey and Azerbaijan’s decades of hate campaigns and active denial of the Armenian Genocide have become the catalyst for further destruction in 2020, this time the 44-day war it waged against the Armenians of the Republic of Artsakh starting on Sept. 27, 2020. The war led to further loss of lives, horrific war crimes, displacement and the occupation and destruction of more Armenian homes and heritage sites. Once again, as was the case 106 years ago, crimes have been committed under the watchful eye of an indifferent international community, unwilling of timely intervention. Hundreds of civilians and prisoners of war continue to be held hostage in Azerbaijan. News from those who have returned from captivity speak of the rampant use of brutality, dehumanization and torture. As Armenians continued to mourn its losses and prepared to commemorate the Armenian genocide, on April 13, Azerbaijan’s Aliyev, in one of his most creative displays of Armenophobia, opened an outdoor “Trophy Park” as a place to educate visitors about his recent conquest and destruction of Armenians. The park displays the helmets of Armenian soldiers killed a short five months ago as prizes of war. Most troubling is the display of wax mannequins of Armenian soldiers made by employing racist stereotypes. Despite a century of destruction, Armenia remains an obstacle to Erdogan and Aliyev’s destructive pan-Turanian dream. Both leaders have claimed Armenia as theirs publicly. Aliyev has called for the forceful occupation of Armenia’s internationally recognized territories, including its capital Yerevan consistently throughout and after its 44-day destruction. As the wealth and strategic borders amassed by the Turkish Republic through genocide continues to be employed to destroy Armenia and Armenians, justice for the Armenian genocide remains as the only means to secure the long-term viability of Armenia, establish safety, and security for Armenians, and the only way to establish a genuine peace in the region. Sadly, Hannah Arendt’s statement from her report on Eichmann’s trial in Jerusalem rings true: “No punishment has ever possessed enough power of deterrence to prevent the commission of crimes. On the contrary, whatever the punishment, once a specific crime has appeared for the first time, its reappearance is more likely than its initial emergence could ever have been.” If punishment does not deter, then imagine the freedoms and reassurances we grant future genocidaires. Our failure to heed to the “Remember Us” of the Armenian orphans and our failure to adequately address, punish or prevent genocides inclusive of and subsequent to that of the Armenians have led to the victimization of others, such as the Uyghurs and Rohingya today. Raffi Sarkissian is the founder of Sara Corning Centre for Genocide Education. https://www.hilltimes.com/2021/05/03/whats-at-stake-when-consequences-of-genocide-are-denied/295789 Copyright 2021 The Hill Times

Reuters/S. Hisham From 1948–1994, South Africa was dominated by Afrikaner nationalism. Racial segregation and white minority rule known officially as apartheid, an Afrikaans word meaning "separateness", was implemented in 1948. Apartheid legalized white supremacy in all spheres of social, economic, and political life. After decades of government repression, opposition terrorism, and international sanctions, President F.W. DeKlerk unbanned the African National Congress (ANC) and freed its leader, Nelson Mandela, after 22 years of imprisonment. In 1994, the ANC won the country's first democratic election. The African National Congress still governs South Africa, in an alliance with the South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions. From 1999 -2005, South Africa established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), to investigate human rights violations under apartheid. Despite apartheid's fall, the inequality of wealth under apartheid persists in South Africa. Millions of immigrants from poorer African countries have settled in South Africa since 1994. Xenophobia against them has resulted in violent attacks, notably in 2008 and 2015, when over 50,000 immigrants were displaced. Due to anger about unemployment, high crime rates, and poor public services, young South Africans blame immigrants for taking jobs away from them. No perpetrators of the 2008 attacks on foreigners, the 2015 Durban riots, or the 2019 violence in eThekwini have been brought to justice. The same impunity results from non-prosecution of murders of white farmers. The Marxist, racist Economic Freedom Front party of Julius Malema encourages these murders, which are meant to terrorize farmers into emigrating from South Africa. Many of the murders are hate crimes. The perpetrators torture, rape, and disembowel their victims. They leave Afrikaans Bibles on dead bodies. White farmers are defenseless because South Africa outlawed private gun possession and disbanded the mutual protection cooperatives organized by farmers in the past. The South African Police Service (SAPS) and Metro Police contribute to xenophobic violence through counterfeit goods raids of foreigners’ homes, which too often become excuses to commit beatings and destruction. SAPS also conducts “documentation raids”, where police and the Department of Home Affairs enter peoples’ homes to "verify" their legal status. Even after providing proper documentation, foreigners are often detained, beaten, and denied access to lawyers. Police brutality is rampant, with almost 400 deaths, 124 cases of rape, and 270 cases of torture attributed to police action in 2019 alone. South Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the world. Its murder rate of 34 per 100,000 population, tenth in the world, is exceeded only by the narco-states of Central and South America. It has, by far, the highest murder rate in Africa. If the state's first duty is to provide personal security to its people, South Africa is a failed state. In 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government launched the “National Action Plan to Combat Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance” (NAP), a welcome step forward. Genocide Watch considers South Africa to be at Stage 6: Polarization. Genocide Watch recommends: The President should investigate and reform SAPS’ counterfeit and documentation raids. The South African police must be modernized and thoroughly reformed. South Africa should re-authorize cooperative armed mutual protection for farmers. President Ramaphosa should denounce the Marxist, racist Economic Freedom Front. South Africa must fulfil its constitutional duty of fair compensation for willing land redistribution.

A FARC banner beside a Colombian national flag at Pondores reintegration camp, La Guajira [File: Steven Grattan/Al Jazeera] Some 1,600 former FARC guerrillas will have been murdered by the end of 2024 if current levels of targeted killings continue, Colombia's transitional justice tribunal said on Wednesday. The government signed a peace deal with the now-demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2016, ending the group's part in almost six decades of conflict. But violence, which the government blames on crime gangs and rebels who reject the accord, besets former guerrillas. They face high levels of danger, according to a report from the investigative unit of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) tribunal, with some ex-combatants in a "critical" situation in 10 municipalities across Colombia. Between April 14 and 21, seven former fighters were killed, or roughly one every 24 hours, according to the unit. "If the temporary variable of murders of re-integrated (fighters) continues, the number of such crimes could reach 1,600 by the end of 2024," the report said. So far 271 former fighters have been killed since the peace deal was signed, according to Comunes, the political party formed by demobilized FARC members. Former FARC fighters who have taken up roles as community leaders are especially vulnerable, the tribunal said. Of murdered ex-combatants, 20% were exercising leadership roles in economic projects, cooperatives or substitution of illicit crops like coca, the chief ingredient in cocaine. "This pattern shows how leadership positions assumed by some re-integrated persons during their transition to civil life are related to the causes of their victimization," the court said. © Copyright 2021 Reuters

How the military perverts rule of law to oppress citizens Image: Original art of Maung Maung Tinn, refugee from Myanmar, from “Born Free and Equal” “When protestors refuse to listen to our orders to disperse, we shoot at the protestors in accordance with the law.” These are the chilling words of a Tatmadaw soldier. Unfortunately, they are not isolated ones, and they show how the idea of “law” has been perverted to justify both the Feb. 1, 2021 military coup and the deplorable violence that has followed. The word “law” (or “upaday” in Burmese) has long been a tenuous concept in Myanmar. After decades living under a military dictatorship, in which laws were used as tools of oppression and could change at the whim of those in power, the people of Myanmar have, understandably, little trust in law. The recent actions of Min Aung Hlaing and the current junta have only further affirmed this perception. The concept of law and the related idea of the rule of law have been warped and manipulated by soldiers and police officers, many of whom believe they are enforcing the “law” to uphold order when they crack down on protests against the coup. At a recent military tribunal, the “law” was weaponized as a tool to instill fear by issuing unappealable death penalty sentences to 19 young protestors for one soldier’s death even though there were no eye witnesses to the alleged crime. In telling contrast, since early February, nearly 800 unarmed civilians have been killed at the hands of Tatmadaw. It is difficult to imagine a version of Myanmar further away from rule of law than this one. There instead needs to be an all-out effort to strengthen the true meaning of the rule of law in Myanmar by both returning the country to civilian rule and undertaking constitutional reforms to enshrine democratic rights instead of using the military-drafted 2008 Constitution as a tool protecting military might. “In Accordance with the Law” Phrases like “in accordance with the law” or “in accordance with democracy” have frequently been used by Tatmadaw leadership to justify their illegitimate coup. Major General Zaw Min Tun, spokesman for the ruling military council, has said: We will abide by laws that do not supersede the Constitution. Many laws have to be taken into consideration in executing political processes. We will not do anything that is not in accord with the law…. Police and other security personnel are carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with their manuals. When a reporter asked whether the junta planned to arrest reporters, Zaw Min Tun continued: “All I can say it we will act according to the law. I will not say we will arrest nor not arrest someone. But we will act according to the law as necessary.” These empty claims are then parroted back by soldiers as they terrorize civilians across the country. Since 1962, Myanmar’s successive dictators have used the military as the commander-in-chief’s personal army while the courts have been used to protect that army from any serious accountability. To the extent there has been any court action, the leniency of sentences only helps show the special treatment afforded the military. In one high-profile example, soldiers who massacred Rohingya civilians were released after less than a year of imprisonment, while journalists reporting on the atrocities have spent more time in jail than the perpetrators. Today’s military junta is attempting to operate the same way, believing it is above the law, changing laws to suit their needs, and suppressing human rights defenders, activists, journalists, and anyone daring to challenge them. All of this has led to injustice and pervasive lawlessness whereby Tatmadaw soldiers are acting as if they can do what they please in the name of upholding an ill-defined concept of the “law” while the gloss of legality is used to silence any and all forms of dissent. For instance, the military added new restrictions in February to the existing telecommunications law to “legalize” military interception of all communications, including text messages and social media. The military also amended the code of Criminal Procedure by adding a new section 505(A) to enable the arrest of anyone expressing dissent about the coup or the military and to render such criticism, whether online or public protest, a criminal offense subject to imprisonment. Hundreds of activists including celebrities have been arrested without warrant under 505(A) since its adoption on Feb. 16, 2021. Since Feb. 1, soldiers and police can march into any household to search and seize anything or anyone at will without a warrant. Arbitrary detentions happen daily; anyone can be held by military or police for any length of time without reason or charges. Security forces searching homes and businesses have been reported stealing cash and valuables including rice, cooking oil, sunglasses, shoes, and smartphones while holding residents, including children, at gunpoint. In one instance, security forces broke into a phone shop to steal smartphones; the shop owner stated that he did not report the incident because reporting a crime committed by security forces would land the person who reported it in jail. Likewise, unarmed civilians waiting at bus-stops have been kidnapped by police for ransom of 300,000 kyat (~USD 200) to be released. Civilians are left wondering who to call to report violence and theft when it is the authorities attacking and robbing them. With the exception of desertion, misconduct by security forces has again become acceptable behavior “in accordance with the law” – at least in the eyes of military senior leadership. Many elected representatives and civil society leaders are now in hiding, hunted by the military and police in the name of the law. Security forces have been committing extrajudicial killings of dissidents. Representatives from the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party that won a landslide majority of democratic votes, have been arrested, tortured, and killed. Under this same guise of upholding the “law”, soldiers have met peaceful protests with brute force and indiscriminately shooting, wounding protestors and bystanders alike. Sexual abuse of women protesters has also been well documented by women’s organizations in Myanmar. Journalists reporting on gross human rights violations have been arrested and the licenses of independent media have been revoked in the name of keeping peace. The junta’s declaration of martial law in Hlaing Tharyar, Shwepyithar, South Dagon, North Dagon, Dagon Seikkan and North Okkalapa townships in Yangon and parts of Mandalay townships only increased the military’s control and systemic violence. Such developments are terrifying. Under the Tatmadaw’s martial law, a military tribunal can issue an unappealable death penalty to anyone living in these townships—protestors, activists, and journalists included— who is accused of committing one of 23 offenses, which range from sedition and treason to spreading “false” news, drug abuse, and vandalism, all “in accordance with the law” without any civilian oversight. These military tribunals can also impose indefinite jail sentences, hard labor, and other extreme punishments for the same offenses. The Constitutional Roots of Lawlessness – and a Response to Uproot that Lawlessness The Tatmadaw’s sheer domestic might and tight control over its ranks enable it to commit even flagrant violations of the law and the Constitution without consequences. Military forces enjoy vast legal impunity under the military-drafted 2008 Constitution: Article 445 of Chapter 14 grants blanket immunity to members of the military government, protecting them from legal accountability. But that position has now been challenged. The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a political body formed by democratically elected members of Myanmar’s parliament to challenge the Tatmadaw’s illegitimate claims to power, publicly voided the 2008 Constitution on Mar. 31, 2021 and put forward an interim Federal Democracy Charter to replace it. Other political actors have also supported the CRPH’s position. The CRPH and others argue that the 2008 Constitution – already widely considered to be an illegitimate tool of military control before the coup – was rendered functionally obsolete when the Tatmadaw violated the document’s core purpose and disrupted the nation’s democratic processes to seize control. On Apr. 16, 2021, the CRPH announced a further step in the response to lawlessness – the formation of the National Unity Government (NUG). The NUG cabinet includes the lawmakers elected in the 2020 election, members of the ethnic nationality groups, and key figures in the anti-coup protest movement. The NUG – with is wide representation of the people of Myanmar – stands in striking contrast with the military’s State Administration Council. The Path Ahead: Achieving Genuine Rule of Law There are many ways the junta can be pressured. The Civil Disobedience Movement has made great strides in weakening the military’s control over the State already—but the international community also has a key role to play in any successful effort to establish lasting democracy in Myanmar. Targeted sanctions at the bilateral and multilateral level have the potential to deprive the military of essential economic resources. A global arms embargo is also necessary to prevent the Tatmadaw from obtaining additional weapons that have been and will be used to oppress the people of Myanmar. A global jet-fuel embargo is needed to ground the military’s jet fighters from being able to conduct airstrikes against civilians. In addition, the international community has an ongoing role to play in seeking accountability for past and current gross violations of human rights in Myanmar. There are already proceedings underway at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and investigations at International Criminal Court (ICC) seeking to hold Myanmar accountable for violations against ethnic minorities. However, the current ICJ case is limited only to violations of the Genocide Convention and the ICC investigation is limited to atrocities committed against Rohingya Muslims relating to illegitimate forced displacement to Bangladesh. As the last three months have made painfully clear, the Tatmadaw has violated the human rights of civilians across the country, and international accountability must capture the full gamut of these crimes. The international community must ensure accountability at the highest levels of the military, but taking action against the top brass alone is not enough. Perpetrators from the officer corps and foot soldiers should also be held accountable. In tandem with international accountability processes, the State of Myanmar will need to be rebuilt, including creating an impartial legal system for the country. As part of this process, the U.N. and international community must recognize the NUG as the legitimate government representing the people of Myanmar. It is fundamentally necessary that the rebuilding process has a strong constitutional foundation, and with support, the NUG can begin that process. Because Myanmar has had such a dubious relationship to the law for over fifty years, there is a need for international assistance from constitutional law experts. Through input from constitutional law scholars, human rights lawyers, and other brilliant legal minds, Myanmar can design a constitution of its own that protects the people. Such a constitution would establish a federal democracy with equal rights for all people of Myanmar, guarantee citizenship for all ethnic and religious communities, and declare an end to military impunity. Protecting civic space and rebuilding the legal system to serve as an essential check on those in power will also be crucial. Within a functioning domestic legal system, impartial courts could eventually investigate and prosecute security forces internally, further building trust in the judiciary and leaving military impunity firmly in the past. With these broad reforms in place, the cultural shift toward genuine rule of law could finally begin in earnest. International legal organizations, institutions and scholars could work with legal educators in Myanmar to ensure access to high quality legal education and produce well trained lawyers and advocates. Encouraging young students to critically engage with the law would start to shift public perception of the law as a tool of enshrining people’s rights rather than a tool of the powerful. For decades, the sight of men in uniform has sent fear down the spine for the general public, and instead of houses of justice, courtrooms have been places of persecution of innocent civilians and political activists. Our hope is for a future where those in uniform are not to be feared but instead serve and protect every citizen by upholding an impartial rule of law for all of Myanmar and its people. © 2021 Just Security

Four gay men have been murdered in South Africa in less than a month. Getty Images By OLIVER HAUG | April 21, 2021 Lonwabo Jack, a 22-year-old gay man, was murdered in Cape Town, South Africa on Sunday, according to police. Jack, who was out with his friends celebrating his birthday, was sexually assaulted and stabbed to death in Nyanga, a town in the Western Cape, a township home to nearly 58,000 people. His father, Mzwabantu, remembered Jack as a “nice kid” who was “always surrounded by his friends and liked fun and good times.” “He was a quiet kid and would not say some of the things he would experience because he felt like he could handle them just like any other man,” he told the South African news website Independent Online. “However, when he told us that he was raped we knew as his parents that we had to take a stand.” “It’s heartbreaking to give birth to a child and also bury them,” Mzwabantu added. A suspect in Lonwabo’s murder was reportedly detained following a police investigation. A representative for the ‎South African Police Service did not identify a suspect but claimed in comments to the website Eyewitness News that a 17-year-old individual “was apprehended early this morning.” “He is expected to appear in the Athlone Magistrates Court once he has been charged with murder,” said media liaison officer Noloyiso Rwexana. The escalation of hate crimes against LGBTQ+ South Africans has prompted concern and outcry from local LGBTQ+ community members and organizations. According to the U.K. LGBTQ+ publication PinkNews, Jack is believed to be the fourth LGBTQ+ person murdered in the country in less than a month. LGBTQ+ advocates led a Friday protest at the Houses of Parliament in Cape Town. Protesters demanded that the country’s government take action to address the surge of anti-LGBTQ+ violence and to specifically call for justice in the case of Andile “Lulu” Ntuthela, a 40-year-old gay man who was recently murdered in the Eastern Cape. As PinkNews reported, Ntuthela’s body was discovered in a shallow grave 11 days after he was killed. The suspect, who is 28 years old, has not been named in media reports. The group also delivered a memorandum to parliament, in which they called for increased government action in the face of these hate crimes, as well as for harsher punishments for offenders and for the development of long-term solutions. “We are calling for justice for Lulu and and for other queers who have suffered at the hands of this country in the most brutal ways,” said Kamva Gwana, a representative of the group Justice for Lulu, in comments cited by South Africa’s News 24. “We want hate crimes to be dealt with. We believe the police service is queerphobic and we are done begging the public and the government for change.” Local organizers are calling for another peaceful march in honor of Lonwabo on Thursday. “The community in Nyanga is going to ensure justice is served for its own,” tweeted activist Tutu Zongo on Monday. “I can feel it.” In addition to Ntuthela and Jack, two other gay men have been found murdered in the country in the past month: Nathaniel Mbele, who was found stabbed to death in a park near the city of Vanderbijlpark, and Sphamandla Khoza, who was found stabbed and beaten in Durban. Local LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations, including the Gay and Lesbian Alliance of South Africa (GLASA) and Iranti, are urging parliament to pass a nationwide hate crimes law in the wake of these killings. Known as the Prevention and Combating Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill of 2018, it would add enhanced penalties for bias crimes on the basis of characteristics like “gender or gender identity,” “HIV status,” and “sex,” the latter of which includes intersex or sexual orientation. The bill was first drafted in 2016 and while it received parliament approval in 2018, it has yet to be finalized and enacted due to stalling by critics who say that it would impede freedom of speech. While a 2020 report from the Human Dignity Trust noted that data collection on anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes in South Africa is sparse, the legislation could go a long way toward expanding resources for vulnerable groups. The U.K. nonprofit found a high prevalence of identity-based violence, noting that 49% of Black LGBTQ+ people in South Africa “are likely to know someone who has been murdered” for being queer or transgender. While advocates hope governmental authorities will intervene, others are less optimistic. Gwana claimed South Africa lacks the “institutional interventions… to prevent these crimes,” calling for “representation and awareness toward our realities and needs as a community” to fully understand the scope of the issue. “Black queer identities live on the margins of respect in this country and are reduced to caricatures of entertainment in any visibility and representation given to us,” he told Independent Online. “Our community’s plight is a bloody stain spreading across our constitutional democracy and our leadership,” added Iranti in a statement. “We’ve seen a seemingly endless stream of conferences, workshops, task teams and statements but truthfully there has been little action. … We are tired of lip service. We are tired of promises. We are tired of excuses.” © 2021 Condé Nast

After a night of violence in Jerusalem, Israeli police made over 50 arrests and Palestinian medics said 100 were injured during Ramadan clashes in the contested city at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. From late Thursday night into early Friday, police in riot gear and on horseback fought to keep apart two groups of protesters - Palestinian youth hurling firecrackers and setting fire to garbage bins, and ultra-nationalist Israelis chanting anti-Arab slogans. Police deployed armoured vehicles spraying foul-smelling skunk water towards the two groups - Palestinians gathered around Jerusalem's historic Damascus Gate and hundreds of right-wing Israelis several hundred metres away. Clashes and other violent incidents between Palestinians and Israelis have occurred nightly since the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Palestinians say police have tried to prevent them from holding their usual Ramadan evening gatherings outside Damascus Gate, an historic landmark on the north side of the Old City and adjacent to several Palestinian neighbourhoods. Meanwhile, videos on social media purporting to show Palestinian youth slapping or otherwise assaulting ultra-Orthodox Jews in the city have drawn protests by Israelis and calls by far-right politicians for tougher police action. The violence appeared to give way to relative calm by mid-day on Friday, with around 60,000 Muslim worshippers filing past police in the Old City to attend noon prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque. But with more clashes expected later, the incidents threaten to break a sustained period of relative quiet in the holy city. On Thursday night, hundreds of ultra-nationalist Israelis marched through central Jerusalem towards the Damascus Gate, which police had barricaded as a precaution. As they marched, many chanted "Death to Arabs" and some waved banners reading: "Death to terrorists". One participant, David, 40, said he lived far from Jerusalem but "came here to support my own people", adding: "I'm Jewish and I'm a patriot and I'm proud of my country." Police fired skunk water at the Israelis, pushing them away from their position at the Old City's New Gate - just 600 metres (yards) away from Palestinians gathered at Damascus Gate - and towards Jerusalem's central Jaffa Road. U.S. SEEKS RETURN TO CALM In a statement in English, Hebrew and Arabic, the U.S. Embassy said it was "deeply concerned" about the violence and urged an end to incitement and a return to calm. The anti-Arab slogans drew a reproach from far-right Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who said he was "against such chants," while defending the Israelis' right to protest. He told radio station Tel Aviv 102 FM: "There are many Arabs among us who are loyal. But I certainly think that those of them among us who lynch, who beat up, cause harm - they should be roughed up, they should be thrown out of here." Asked what he meant by "roughed up", Ben-Gvir said it meant prosecuting them and also "if we manage to pass legislation, also throwing them out of the country." As Palestinians heard reports of the Israeli crowd approaching, they gathered near Damascus Gate with ambulances racing up and down crowded backstreets with sirens blaring. Police sealed off the area to prevent the Israeli and Palestinian crowds from potentially meeting. The Palestinians dragged garbage bins, some of them ablaze, into the roads on their side to disrupt police and block them from their side. Some discharged small fireworks towards police. In all, police said they arrested over 50 people overnight, without distinguishing between Israelis and Palestinians. The Palestine Red Crescent said 100 Palestinians had been injured, with 21 taken to hospital but none of them serious. RAMADAN DISPUTE The Palestinian clashes with Israeli police began with the start of Ramadan, on April 13. Palestinians say police have tried to prevent them from holding their usual Ramadan evening gatherings outside Damascus Gate. "Palestinians love to relax in this area after evening prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, but the occupation (Israel) doesn't like it. It's a matter of sovereignty," said Jerusalem resident Mohammad Abu Al-Homus. Police say the measure is part of efforts to ensure Muslims can safely get to the main Islamic prayer site, revered by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and by Jews as the Temple Mount. Israel claims all of Jerusalem, including the eastern sector captured in the 1967 Middle East war, as its capital. Palestinians seek to make East Jerusalem, including its Muslim, Christian and Jewish holy sites, capital of a future state. © Reuters 2021

Indigenous people in Colombia protest invasion by drug gangs Credit: Boston Globe At least 31 indigenous people were wounded in southeast Colombia on Thursday after an illegal armed group opened fire on them while they destroyed crops of coca, the chief ingredient in cocaine, an organization representing the community said. The attack took place in the rural municipality of Caldono, in Colombia's Cauca province. The region is a strategically important for drug trafficking and is disputed by armed groups including dissidents of the demobilized Farc guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN) and other criminal organizations made up of former right-wing paramilitaries. "So far 31 indigenous people have been reported injured and five attackers have been detained by the Indigenous Guard," the Regional Council of Indigenous in Cauca (CRIC) said in a statement. Efforts to eradicate coca crops and attacks against members of the community are ongoing, meaning the number of injured could rise, CRIC added, describing indigenous communities in the region as victims of state absence. Illegal armed groups fight for territorial control of strategic areas for growing coca and the production of cocaine, according to the government and security sources. On Tuesday, indigenous governor Sandra Liliana Peña Chocue - who opposed coca crops in indigenous lands - was assassinated in the same region. Colombia's government condemned the attacks against the indigenous communities. "It's reprehensible that criminals are raging against indigenous communities and ... against women who defend their territory from the presence of illicit economies that threaten the integrity of young people and the purity of soils," Emilio Archila, the presidential adviser for implementing the peace deal, said in a statement. Colombia, with its geographically strategic position surrounded by two oceans, is considered the world's biggest cocaine producer.

Investigate Alleged Security Force Abuses in Mopti Region (Bamako) – Malian soldiers have allegedly killed at least 34 villagers, forcibly disappeared at least 16 people, and severely mistreated detainees during counterterrorism operations in Mali’s central Mopti region, Human Rights Watch said today. Mali’s transitional government should conduct credible and impartial investigations into these incidents. All were committed since the transitional government took power in an August 18, 2020 coup. “Mali’s security forces have shown scant regard for human life during recent counterterrorism operations,” said Corinne Dufka, Sahel director at Human Rights Watch. “Committing serious abuses in the name of security only fuels recruitment into abusive armed groups and undermines trust by local populations.” The government said it had opened investigations into incidents in the towns of Libé and Kobou, but family members of victims told Human Rights Watch that the authorities had not contacted them. Mali’s military prosecutors should independently investigate the allegations and suspend officers implicated in serious abuses. The Defense Ministry should ensure that gendarme military police, mandated to promote discipline and safeguard the rights of detainees, are present in all military operations. Human Rights Watch interviewed in person and by telephone 43 people with knowledge of seven incidents in which the security forces allegedly committed serious abuses. The interviews, between November 2020 and April 2021, included witnesses, local community leaders, government officials, and foreign diplomats. The incidents took place between October 2020 and March 2021 in and around the towns, villages, or hamlets of Boni, Feto Hore Niwa, Kobou, Libé, Solla, and Sokoura. The Malian security forces allegedly committed the abuses during military operations in response to the presence of Islamist armed groups largely linked to Al-Qaeda. The findings build on Human Rights Watch research in central Mali since 2015. Human Rights Watch is also documenting serious abuses by Islamist armed groups and ethnic militias in central Mali during the same period, including the summary executions of civilians and the indiscriminate use of improvised explosive devices. These findings will be published in an upcoming report. Witnesses described how on March 23 soldiers in Boni detained, blindfolded, and severely beat dozens of bus passengers after finding suspicious material in the baggage compartment. At least 13 of the passengers have been “disappeared.” Ten witnesses described an October 22, 2020 army operation in and around Libé village during which the security forces allegedly killed 25 villagers including women, children, and older people, many as they tried to flee. One villager described seeing soldiers execute six men they had detained minutes before. “The soldiers marched the men into an abandoned shop,” he said. “One [soldier] who’d taken up position at the door opened fire. They lay there, dying as the floor flooded with blood.” All parties to Mali’s armed conflict are bound by Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and other treaty and customary laws of war, which provide for the humane treatment of captured combatants and civilians in custody. Individuals who commit serious violations of the laws of war, including summary executions and torture, may be prosecuted for war crimes. Mali is a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which has opened an investigation into alleged war crimes committed in Mali since 2012. Human Rights Watch on April 7 sent a letter to the Malian government detailing the alleged abuses in this report. In its April 13 response, the general secretary of the Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs said that for all of the incidents cited in the report, “investigations have been opened and are ongoing,” and noted that some members of the army have been questioned. The letter added that investigations into the Libé and Kobou allegations have been hampered by the precarious security situation and the reluctance of some witnesses to provide testimony. “Promising to investigate abuses is a positive step, but the Malian government has failed to make good on many previous such commitments,” Dufka said. “The Malian authorities should rein in abusive units and do much more to ensure discipline in operations, hold abusers to account, and prevent further atrocities.” For details on the recent alleged abuses by Malian security forces, please see below. Alleged Abuses by the Malian Army in Mopti Region Boni, March 2021 On March 18, security forces in Boni, Douentza cercle [administrative area] allegedly executed Boucary Boulde, 37, and Salmane Hamne Noungary, 35, minutes after a soldier was killed and another gravely injured by an improvised explosive device. Three witnesses said a soldier targeted the victims at random out of a group of traders passing by on their way to the Boni market. One witness said: We found ourselves behind a convoy of soldiers when the explosion went off around 9:10 a.m. The soldiers ordered everyone on the road to lie down. Boucary and Salmane happened to be just 10 meters behind the FAMa [Forces Armées Maliennes, or Malian army] vehicles. After firing in the air, a soldier dragged them from their motorcycles and executed them point-blank, no questions asked. Boukary was still alive but no one dared help him; he died a few minutes later. Both were shot at least two times. Later, soldiers severely beat and robbed over a dozen family members waiting for permission to take the bodies for burial. “As we waited by the bodies, the FAMa started beating and kicking us,” a family member said. “After throwing us in their vehicles, they stole our phones, eight motorcycles, and money.” On March 23, security force members performing a routine control at a checkpoint near Boni found a military uniform and boots in the baggage compartment of a bus that had left Bamako, the capital, on March 22. Perhaps because they felt the uniform was being used by an armed Islamist, the soldiers bound and blindfolded about 35 male passengers and took them to the military camp, where they severely beat them over many hours. The circumstances or whereabouts of at least 13 of these men remains unknown. Numerous witnesses to the arrests and mistreatment expressed concern that the men were beaten to death in custody. Human Rights Watch received credible information that the security forces buried a number of bodies in a common grave on March 25, approximately one kilometer from their camp. Human Rights Watch spoke with 15 people with knowledge of the incident, including passengers, family members of the disappeared, and villagers, and reviewed a video showing 13 men after their 24-hour detention, who had visible signs of having been severely mistreated. Twelve of the disappeared men, whose names family members provided to Human Rights Watch, were from Burkina Faso. The family members said the men had been living as refugees in Bamako for several years and were on their way back to their villages given the improving security situation in Burkina Faso. “We arrived at the checkpoint around 5 p.m.,” one passenger said. “The soldiers ordered us down and checked our IDs. Our drama started when they found the Rangers [boots] and uniform. They flew into a rage, tearing clothing from the luggage with which they blindfolded us and bound our hands.” A bystander said: “They divided 35 men into three groups, according to their ages, put them in military vehicles, and drove in the direction of their camp, 500 meters away. They didn’t harm or detain the eight female passengers.” Describing the mistreatment, one passenger said, “The beating started in front of the bus. They kicked and beat us in a savage way with belts, tree branches, and rifle butts.” The abuse continued in the military camp. “They beat and pummeled us all night,” another passenger said. “I was in severe pain. I was burned with a cigarette. Throughout the night I heard people groaning, crying, asking for mercy. We all understood why they wanted to know about the military clothing, but they hardly asked about it, rather insulting us, accusing us of being terrorists, and threatening to kill us. I thought I would die – no one slept.” Villagers said that of the 35 detained, around 20 were freed the next day. But Boni residents and family members of the passengers said that the whereabouts of the remaining men are unknown. One formerly detained man said he thinks his 23-year-old brother died of the mistreatment: At night during the lulls [in abuse], I talked softly with my brother. The last time we talked, he groaned … saying he couldn’t bear it, he could hardly speak. I told him to hold on. I passed out and when I came to, he no longer answered. The next day, soldiers took me and several others out of the camp. As they released us, a soldier said, “Go, you have survived.” It was this that made me think many others, including my brother, were dead. Feto Hore Niwa Hamlet, January 28, 2021 On January 28, Mama Ag, 80, and his 11-year-old grandson, Hama Agaly, were found to be missing from their home in a small hamlet approximately 16 kilometers from the village of Kobou. The family member who last saw them told Human Rights Watch that he suspects the military forcibly disappeared them: Every morning I walk a few kilometers to take my sheep to a watering hole and always leave the old man, who is blind, in care of the boy. When I returned about 2 p.m. they were gone. Around the house were tracks of large vehicles and boot prints in front of Mama Ag’s house. I followed the tire tracks in the direction of Mondoro and a kilometer away saw the stick the boy used to guide the old man lying next to the path. A shepherd I met on the way told me he’d seen a large military convoy pass by their shack at around 10 a.m. It is this – the baton and the sighting of the convoy – which makes me think they were taken by the FAMa. A community elder said: “I’ve helped the family look everywhere for them – in the bush, in neighboring villages, and in prisons in Hombori, Douentza, Sevare, and Bamako. They are nowhere to be found.” Kobou Village, January 13, 2021 On January 13, dozens of Malian security force members accompanied by several soldiers believed to be with the French operation, Barkhane, conducted a cordon-and-search operation in Kobou village. Five witnesses said the operation lasted from approximately 5 a.m. until noon. The Malian soldiers detained four villagers during the operation and put them into at least two Malian army vehicles that headed north. Two of the detained men, Mamoudou Hama Diallo, 31, and Hamidou Yero Diallo, 50, were found dead a day later 10 kilometers north of Kobou. The cause of death is unclear. A third man, Amadoure Diallo, 48, has been forcibly disappeared. The fourth man was freed after about two weeks in detention. One witness described the operation: “There were around 10 vehicles – pickups, trucks and a few armored cars. They blocked all exits and conducted a thorough search [of the village]. A helicopter flew overhead.” None of the witnesses described any fighting between opposing forces that day. The soldiers separated the four detained men from the rest of the villagers early on; two of them appeared to have been beaten when taken into custody. A witness said: I was saying my prayers at home when three soldiers – two Malian and one white soldier – searched my house and led my wife and me about 40 meters away, where dozens of villagers were seated. A Barkhane soldier filmed us and a few other white soldiers milled about. The FAMa questioned us about the terrorists, warning the youth not to get wound up in the jihadist life. We were not beaten but one Malian soldier threatened to kill us. A few hours later, the Barkhane soldier said the women, and later the rest of us, should be freed. The witnesses said the French soldiers advised the Malian soldiers against arresting villagers with insufficient proof including, as one witness said, “one who had a video of a terrorist on his phone and another for having short pants and a long beard.” He said, “the Frenchman advised that there needed to be more solid evidence to arrest someone.” Another witness described the four detainees being taken away: I saw the FAMa dragging the four men, violently, by their necks. Mamoudou Hama Diallo and Hamidou Yero Diallo walked, zigzagging, with great difficulty. I didn’t see blood, but they could barely stand. The FAMa blindfolded them and tied their hands with their turbans, and then threw them like sacks of rice into the trucks. A witness who was in the convoy said that it stopped in a wooded area about an hour later, where the four detainees were taken off the trucks. “The detainees were moaning in pain,” said the witness. “One man especially … I heard the soldiers saying, ‘He’s going to die, he will not survive.’” Three villagers saw the bodies of Mamoudou Hama Diallo and Hamidou Yero Diallo on January 14 in a remote forested area known locally as Boga Laiga, 10 kilometers northwest of Kobou. An elder said: On January 14, I was notified by a local shepherd that he’d discovered two bodies. Such news spreads quickly and a group of us went to see for ourselves. They were buried in a shallow grave. I clearly recognized their faces and clothing.…They were blindfolded, their hands tied. We dug a deeper grave and placed tree branches on top to mark the grave. We buried them quickly, so as not to attract attention, especially as we suspected the army in this killing. Another villager described their bodies: I didn’t see blood, gunshot wounds, or gashes on their head, faces, or upper bodies. I didn’t see bullet casings either. I can’t speak for the rest of their bodies because they were half buried. We talked among ourselves and guessed they’d been strangled. The tire tracks around the place were everywhere and headed north. The place is isolated, but we know the forest inside and out; you can’t hide bodies in our area. A January 15 communiqué from the Malian Army High Command said the four men were members of “armed terrorist groups” captured during heavy fighting and that “three of the four lost their lives while being transferred from Boulikessi to Sévaré.” The communiqué said an investigation had been opened to clarify how the men died. Solla Hamlet, January 12, 2021 At about 4 p.m. on January 12, a convoy of Malian soldiers patrolling through Solla hamlet allegedly fired on a small group of men gathered near the local well to water their animals, killing three of them. The victims, all residents of the hamlet, were Amadou Allaye Diallo, 25, Oumarou Amadou Diallo, 30, and Haméré Diallo, 55. Two witnesses said they heard a few bursts from a semi-automatic rifle fired as the military convoy passed through the area and noted that they found no weapons on or near the victims. One of the witnesses said: The military convoy passed through our hamlet going from south to north. I saw it from a distance as I was bringing my animals to the well. We all fled to hide in the bush. A few minutes later, I heard a string of gunshots ring out and then the sound of the convoy as it continued its march. There was no sound of a battle, just the one burst of gunshots. After the convoy was well out of the area, we went in the direction of the gunshots – to the well – and found the dead men. The other witness described the bodies: They were lying in the sand, in the direction of where they tried to flee. First was Amadou, who’d been shot squarely in the head. Then five meters away, was Haméré, then Oumarou, 10 to 20 meters away, both shot in the chest. If they suspected them, why didn’t the soldiers detain and question them instead of firing on them? Sokoura Village, January 11, 2021 On the morning of January 12, 2021, the bodies of Boukary Boureima Sankare, 37, and Mamadou Boukary Sankare, 30, were found on the outskirts of Sokoura town. Two residents who knew the victims said both men were from Mankanou village, five kilometers north, and were last seen the previous day in Sokoura village in the custody of the security forces. The witnesses said that at about noon on January 11, the two men were eating lunch after having repaired their motorcycle in Sokoura when a convoy of about 15 military vehicles passed by in the direction of a national guard camp, about a kilometer south of town. About 30 minutes later, two military vehicles returned to the same place and several soldiers got out. One witness said: Boukary and Mamadou panicked when the soldiers passed by the first time, but knowing them – they’re not jihadists – I said they have nothing to fear. When the military returned, Boukary took off running, climbing a large tree 40 meters away. The soldiers pursued him, opening fire into the tree. Boukary fell down, dead, like a bird. They put his body into a military truck, then they blindfolded and tied Mamadou, put him into the truck, and drove off. They’d not asked Mamadou anything, not even for his ID papers. Around 3 p.m., I was called by a friend who reported hearing shots near the military camp. Both witnesses described later seeing the bodies, just outside the national guard camp. Human Rights Watch was sent a video of the bodies filmed by a local resident. It showed the bodies in a wooded area, separated by approximately four meters. Tire tracks and boot prints are clearly visible in the sand. The hands of one man, identified by the witnesses as Mamadou, are tied behind his back and his head is bloody and partly destroyed. Gashes are visible elsewhere on both victims. Libé Village, October 22, 2020 Human Rights Watch spoke with 10 villagers present during the attack on Libé village, in Bankass Cercle, during which Malian security forces allegedly killed 25 villagers, burned numerous houses and granaries, and looted livestock and valuables. “They killed people as they were running,” a villager said. “Some were executed point-blank, others were crushed by army vehicles, others were burned inside their homes.” The attack lasted from about noon until 2 p.m. A village elder provided Human Rights Watch with a list of the 25 victims that included three women and two children. Fourteen victims were over 50. One child remains unaccounted for. A community leader said many of those killed were too sick, too old, or too young to flee. A military analyst who investigated the Libé incident told Human Right Watch that “several security corps took part in the operation including the army, national guard, and air force.” Two community leaders described some security force members treating villagers with respect and administering first aid to those wounded by other members of the security forces. “It was as if the different corps had different orders,” a community elder said. “One group questioned the residents about the presence of jihadists with respect, and the other group came to kill.” Two villagers said they observed a few members of an ethnic Dogon civil defense group working alongside the security forces, serving as guides. A 40-year-old herder whose brother died in the attack said: Gunshots first rang out from the east side of the village. As the gunfire intensified, I saw soldiers swarming the village, some on foot, others on armored vehicles and pickups. Bullets were zinging by everywhere. Panic seized the village; people ran in all directions. By the grace of God I escaped, but my brother didn’t make it. An animal trader said: I saw vehicles with machine guns mounted on pickups and soldiers firing Kalashnikovs [military assault rifles] blindly. I didn’t see any armed jihadists or civil defense members – it wasn’t a battle – it was our own army firing at us. I saw soldiers set fire to my house, I lost everything. I was lucky; my family and I are still alive. We thought if they suspected us, they’d search our houses and question us about the jihadists, but instead they came to kill us. A villager who had left Libé that morning for nearby Baye described seeing 17 bodies after returning the next morning, including four men with bullet wounds in their heads. An elderly woman saw soldiers execute three of these men: I hid inside the toilet as soldiers broke into a neighbor’s house. From there, another group of soldiers captured three men who’d tried to flee. They [soldiers] argued about whether to arrest or kill them. I fell to my knees, closed my eyes, covered my ears, and waited for my own death. Suddenly I heard, pam, pam, pam! On one side, FAMa was looting; on the other, they were executing people. During the attack, soldiers rounded up seven men from different parts of the village and took them to an abandoned shop on the outskirts of Libé. Soldiers blindfolded the men and tied their hands together with fabric, according to a witness. Six of the men, ages 41 to 65, were then executed. A witness said: The soldiers marched the men into an abandoned shop, ordering them to go inside. Just minutes after bringing the last one, the soldiers exited, and the one who’d taken up position at the door opened fire on the men inside. After the soldiers left, I saw all the men, lying in a growing pool of blood – their hands were bound, their eyes blindfolded, bullet casings were everywhere … none of the six were breathing. I didn’t hear the soldiers asking questions before they opened fire. … It happened so fast. Villagers described burying 24 bodies over several days in October after the attack. “We buried four people who’d been crushed by a vehicle,” one said. “We saw heavy vehicle tracks all around them, the organs were protruding.” Another said: “I personally helped bury the six men executed in the abandoned shop, and three others whose charred remains we found in houses, including a child; only the bones and skulls remained. Every morning for four days we continued to find bodies. In total we buried 24 people in 10 graves.” An additional body in an advanced state of decomposition was found around November 9. “The last body we found in the forest likely had been shot and bled to death while in hiding,” a villager said. “With this body, it brought the death toll to 25.” Several villagers said that soldiers looted property and goods from houses and shops. “They ransacked the village from top to bottom, taking valuables, food from shops, and livestock,” an elderly man said. “They loaded mattresses from my neighbor’s house into their vehicles, and from mine they stole sheets, plates, and the jewelry I wore during my wedding,” said a woman. A shepherd said, “They walked off with my entire herd of goats.” A 60-year-old woman who was dragged out of her house by a soldier said: “He pushed me down, putting his foot on my neck, ripped off my silver earrings and bracelets, and stole money, fabric, bedspreads and my husband’s new boubou [flowing robe] … he’d not even worn it yet.” Residents also denounced the burning and destruction of the village. “They set fire to our houses, burned shops and motorcycles, and destroyed the well,” a villager said. “We are living on rubble. Our village was built centuries ago; it was destroyed in less than two hours.” An animal trader said, “The images of how we found the dead invade our minds; our children can’t sleep … it is fear that reigns now.” Several villagers acknowledged the presence of armed Islamists in and around Libé and the reason for the army operation, notably after nine soldiers were killed during an October 13 attack in nearby Sokoura. But they condemned the security force’s failure to distinguish between fighters and civilians. “Yes, there are jihadists in our zone, but they congregate in the forests, not inside the village,” a 40-year-old trader said. “A professional army should take time to find out who is a jihadist and who is not, not just open fire on the entire village.” On October 28, a Malian Defense Ministry communiqué denounced the accusations about their involvement in the Libé killings as “lies envisioned to tarnish the image of the Malian armed forces,” but also said it would investigate, “to bring to light any wrongdoing.” No one has been apprehended for the killings. © Human Rights Watch 2021

The Washington Post Smoke rises from the Abu Zar camp near Geneina, Sudan, on April 6. Recent violence in Sudan’s Darfur region could quickly lead it back to where it was less than two decades ago, when cycles of revenge sparked one massacre after another. (Organization for the General Coordination of Camps for Displaced and Refugees/AP) By Max Bearak April 20, 2021 at 1:00 a.m. PDT GENEINA, Sudan — For almost all the 38 years Abdulwahab Mohamed Abdalla has been alive, scorched-earth ethnic warfare has kept him on the run. His is one of the generations scarred by war here in Darfur, where blood feuds run deep. Hundreds of thousands have been killed. For decades, justice has remained elusive, and revenge has been the most common recourse. The past two years have seen a whirlwind of change in Sudan, where street protests led to the overthrow of Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the dictator who presided over the wholesale burning and pillaging of Darfur in the 2000s, and ushered in a new government made up of former combatants that professed unity. But Abdalla knew the causes of the war here were deeper than any one man, the solutions more complicated than high-level peace processes. Now, Darfur is back on the precipice of full-blown conflict, and Abdalla is back on the run. “Bashir or not, the same cycle of massacres are in full motion,” he said from a safe house in the western city of Geneina, just a few miles from the border with Chad. His entire neighborhood of this city was destroyed in a major bout of violence in January, in which at least 160 people were killed in a hail of bullets and firebombs. In early April, soon after he spoke to The Washington Post, many of those displaced by the first round of attacks were targeted again, and at least 144 more were killed. Videos on social media and satellite imagery showed huge swaths of the city in flames between April 4 and 8. Abdulwahab Mohamed Abdalla, 38, a banker in Geneina, stands outside his room at a safe house in March. He fled January’s attacks in Geneina’s Kerending neighborhood. (Max Bearak/The Washington Post) He and half a dozen other witnesses said the perpetrators in both January and April were members of the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group that critics say is just a new name for the Janjaweed, a coalition of militias from the region’s pastoralist communities whose leaders stand accused alongside Bashir of war crimes in Darfur. The new government, however, has regularized the RSF and granted its members broad legal immunities enjoyed by the military. Darfuris, human right activists and even Sudan’s attorney general said in interviews that continued impunity for the RSF, which compounds historic injustices, could quickly lead Darfur back to where it was less than two decades ago, when the militias ran rampant and cycles of revenge sparked one massacre after another. RSF leaders have repeatedly rejected allegations that they are tied to current or past massacres in Darfur. Idriss Hassan Ibrahim, their top official in Geneina, did not respond to a request for comment. “For seven days no one did anything to stop the killing, looting, burning, and then they just get to go back to their posts,” Abdalla said of the January attacks. He said RSF soldiers came looking for him at his house midway through the week of violence after a judge, under pressure from paramilitary soldiers, gave up names of a group of people that had tried to lodge a case against RSF soldiers they recognized. “When they came to my house, I had been hiding in a nearby gutter, so I watched them set it on fire. But to this day there’s not one case open,” he said. “If that isn’t impunity, nothing is.” The cost of peace A view of Geneina from the Hay al-Jabal neighborhood in March. The neighborhood was largely burned down in a spate of attacks in early April. (Max Bearak/The Washington Post) In other parts of the world where ethnic cleansings have been perpetrated, comprehensive justice has been a proven path to a more lasting peace. In Sudan, however, the domestic justice system is in shambles after 30 years of neglect under Bashir, and new vested interests in the new government have little desire to improve it when it could be turned against them. “In principle all crimes against humanity, war crimes, extrajudicial executions and other mass crimes will be investigated and prosecuted before a special tribunal for Darfur … no matter who the perpetrators are,” said Tag el-Sir el-Hibir, Sudan’s attorney general. But he pointed to massive challenges: 80 percent of jobs, from clerks to prosecutors to judges, are unfilled; political interference blocks most access to records from the Bashir era; budgets are insufficient; and his office has no enforcement capability. He can file charges, but he has no officers to carry out the arrests. And then there’s the issue of immunity for the RSF. “It is a real threat to social peace and justice,” he said. “Immunities send a negative message of impunity.” With Bashir’s ouster, millions of Sudanese who had taken to the streets hoped that a new government would be firmly under civilian control and aggressive about accountability. Instead, the military and powerful armed groups that engaged in decades of war commandeered the transitional government. Bashir was charged with an array of crimes and put in jail, but some of his top generals — and his arch nemeses, too — have become Sudan’s most powerful men. “The civilians in the government are forced to make uncomfortable compromises because they don’t actually have much power,” said Alex de Waal, director of the World Peace Foundation and a longtime researcher on Sudanese politics. “Getting Bashir behind bars was inescapable, but there’s no way the military can let that process go down the chain. Who is down the chain? Well, of course, they are.” The government has opted instead to bring warring groups into its tent, hoping that spreading power around can function in some way like justice. One of Darfur’s rebel leaders, who fought against the Janjaweed, is now the finance minister, for instance. A satellite image from Jan. 16 shows structures burning after a series of attacks in Geneina. (Planted Labs) Another satellite image, from Jan. 20, shows the resulting burned structures. (Planet Labs) Last month, a Janjaweed leader named Musa Hilal, who Human Rights Watch called a “linchpin” of the organization of mass crimes in Darfur, was released from prison. His supporters in Darfur are now clamoring for him to be included in the government, too. “You get peace by making everyone a minister seems to be the strategy,” de Waal said. “But I suspect we don’t ever get around to a real reckoning in an institutional way.” Without a reckoning, Darfur’s underlying feuds, based in competition for land and water between pastoralists and farmers, and warped by personal vendettas and accumulated ethnic hatred, are heating up again. While the violence was worst in Geneina, reports of village burnings and killings in the rest of Darfur, a region roughly the size of Spain and home to 10 million people, are becoming more common. Nearly 200,000 people were made homeless by the recent violence, which came during the withdrawal of United Nations peacekeepers who were installed in 2007 after the worst of the fighting in Darfur had subsided. Victims of the violence said the peacekeepers had been the only thing standing between RSF soldiers and the general population. ‘A siren of danger’ While the conflict in Darfur has often been framed as one driven by ethnic hatred, its roots lie in land disputes. British and Egyptian colonists in Darfur, coming from farming societies, imported land ownership laws that sided with local agriculturalists over nomadic herding communities. “As nomads, we have been written out of our rights for many generations, and even war has not corrected that injustice,” said Naima Khalil, an engineering student. Her family comes from a pastoralist Arab tribe, the Rizeigat, which the RSF draws on heavily for recruitment. Rizeigat residents of Geneina said in interviews that they deplored the use of violence, but that even if the Masalit seemed to be the main victims, in fact they were the ones orchestrating the flare-ups. “When Arabs attack Masalit, the Masalit leaders then claim they deserve greater power and rights because they are the victims. So they provoke the fights,” said Ayman Isa Yahya, 33, a software engineer. “How can they always be the victims when the governor has always been Masalit, the jobs, the aid money, the top positions all go to the Masalit? All we have is the military.” Those claims echo arguments made in the past by Hilal, the recently released Arab militia leader. Hilal’s release has struck fear into many Masalit residents of Geneina, who lived through his well-documented atrocities, many of which took place in camps for displaced Masalit farmers. “The head of the beast that killed the Masalit — who is Bashir — was removed but the whole body remains, and the release of Musa Hilal is some of the clearest evidence of that,” said Nahid Hamid Abulghasim, a Masalit lawyer representing the mostly Masalit victims of January’s violence. Hilal did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Four lawyers representing victims of recent violence, including Nahid Hamid Abulghasim, far right, stand in front of Geneina's courthouse in March. (Max Bearak/The Washington Post) Abdalla, who once managed a bank and taught briefly as a professor in Geneina but now lives in a makeshift camp, said Hilal’s release was what made him consider seeking refuge in neighboring Chad, more even than the violence that destroyed his home and sent him fleeing. “His release is like a siren of danger. He is the one who has made our lives hell, so when he is free, we always expect the worst,” Abdalla said. The Sudanese government deployed additional troops to Geneina this month, and relative calm has held for more than a week. But troops can’t mete out justice, and Masalit leaders have rejected the government’s offers to mediate. Hibir, the attorney general, said that Darfur and the country in general need three times as many prosecutors, and that the whole justice system “needs radical change and reform” to keep up with new conflict, let alone decades of unprocessed past violence. According to the United Nations, around 2,000 people from Geneina had fled to Chad as of mid-April. Abdalla is not yet among them. “If we leave, that would mean to give them the ethnic cleansing that they want,” he said. “We have paid in blood for this land — we can’t just leave it.” Abulghasim, the lawyer, said a resolution of the conflict in courts is a futile hope, and that Abdalla has next to no chance of pursuing a case against RSF soldiers. “I consider my job as a lawyer a sacred duty, but I will not lie to you — in Sudan, it is impossible,” she said on a recent visit to the safe house where Abdalla was staying, about a week before April’s violence caused him to flee again. “In Sudan, there is no such thing as justice.” © Copyright 2021 The Washington Post

Radio Dabanga April 16 - 2021 EL GENEINA EL GENEINA Masalit tribesmen (File photo) The Displaced People and Refugees Gathering of the Masalit in West Darfur rejects the decisions of the mediation between their leaders and those of the Arab tribes in the region. They hold the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces responsible for the attacks. Fierce fighting between Masalit tribesmen and members of various Arab tribes erupted in the West Darfur capital El Geneina* on April 3. According to the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies, the conflict started when two Masalit tribesmen were killed on a road separating an Arab neighbourhood from a Masalit one. The failure of authorities to investigate the murders led to retaliatory violence. Armed groups from both tribes took to the streets and heavy fighting erupted, that could reportedly continue without any intervention from the security forces. At least 144 people were killed. On Monday morning, April 12, a high-level delegation chaired by the president of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council, Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, arrived in the West Darfur capital El Geneina for a two-day visit to investigate the situation in the region. The mediators, including the Minister of Interior Affairs Lt Gen Ezzeldin El Sheikh and Director of the Intelligence Service Lt Gen Jamal Abdelmajeed, conducted two separate meetings with leaders of the Masalit and of the Arab tribes. The next day, the Interior Minister briefed the press on the decisions of El Burhan, “related to the security and humanitarian situation”. They were issued in consultation with all parties, he said, and explained he would remain in El Geneina until the directives have been enforced. 'Main cause' Yesterday however, the Dar Masalit Displaced People and Refugees Gathering announced their rejection of the outcomes of the mediation in a press statement. They criticised the Khartoum delegation for not meeting their Committee of Victims of the Jebel Districts and Abuzar camp for the displaced, or other affected Masalit. The Victims Committee said in a press statement that they consider the Sovereignty Council’s visit “unsuccessful” and “a provocation to the victims”, which may lead to a re-ignition of the clashes. The victims further declared their rejection of “the policies of reconciliation and bargaining carried out by native administration leaders appointed by the government”. As the problem is “not tribal”, but “a criminal case”, the Rule of Law must be applied. The Masalit committee accused the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) government militia of supporting the recurrent attacks by gunmen “from across the border”, on the camps near El Geneina. The RSF paramilitaries should be immediately removed from West Darfur, as they are “the main cause of the violence”. Directives The decisions issued by El Burhan at the end of his visit, include the digging of a trench be dug around El Geneina to control the entry and exit of traffic into the West Darfur capital. The RSF guesthouse in El Geneina is to be evacuated. Members of the regular forces (Sudan Armed Forces, the RSF and other paramilitary groups) are prohibited to move inside the neighbourhoods and markets, except for official assignments. They should keep their heavy weapons in the military depots. Former rebel fighters should be removed from the residence of the Masalit Sultan. They are not allowed to wear military uniforms and carry weapons in the state. The government delegation as well instructed a review of the town’s security plan, the formation of a reserve force to face emergencies, and the reinforcement of the Central Reserve Forces. Suspected neighbourhoods in El Geneina, including camps for the displaced, are to be searched for arms and people accused of having joined the fighting. Members of the regular forces, whose names were mentioned in previous events, are to be investigated. Those accused of being involved in the fighting should stand trial immediately, prosecutors should be appointed to handle “information crimes”, increasing, and the police stations in the area should be strengthened. As for the social axis, El Burhan ordered the formation of community committees in coordination with the West Darfur security forces, the return of the newly displaced to their villages, where the necessary security should be provided. The Interior Minister also reported that he discussed the provision of urgent humanitarian aid to those affected with UN agencies and aid organisations in El Geneina. The Sudanese Humanitarian Aid Commissioner added that humanitarian aid items will be sent from Khartoum in the coming days. * Darfur has a long history of strife between Arab herding tribes and non-Arab African herders or sedentary farmers. Arab tribesmen were recruited by the previous regime of dictator Omar Al Bashir to join the Janjaweed militias. Al Bashir employed these militias, largely made up of Arab nomads, to repress a revolt over ethnic marginalisation in the region, mainly targeting non-Arab African farmers. According to UN figures, by 2008, the conflict had left at least 300,000 people dead, and displaced more than 2.5 million. However, more recent counts published by Small Arms Survey from 2011 suggest a “conservative estimate of 500,000 deaths from direct and indirect consequences of violence”; a figure prominent Sudan and Darfur commentator Prof Eric Reeves revised to 600,000 in 2016 based on new evidence and extrapolation from previous data. West Darfur is home to the Masalit, a non-Arab sedentary tribe. The governor and local government employees belong to this tribe. In January, more than 160 people died in attacks on El Geneina and adjacent camps for the displaced as Arab herdsmen targeted Masalit people. ** The RSF militia was set up by the ousted Al Bashir regime in August 2013 to make an end to the insurgency in Kordofan and Darfur. Many RSF members have been recruited among Arab tribes in Darfur and Kordofan. Officially, the paramilitaries were integrated into the Sudan Armed Forces in August 2019. At the same time however, the militia stayed a force unto itself, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemeti’, deputy president of Sudan's Sovereign Council. © Copyright 2021 Radio Dabanga

Despite a promise to leave, Eritrea’s troops remain in northern Ethiopia, aiding the Ethiopian government campaign there, a senior U.N. official told the Security Council. Eritrean troops continue to commit atrocities in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray, despite assurances by Ethiopia’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, that they were leaving, a senior United Nations official said Thursday. Mr. Abiy has come under pressure over reports of massacres, looting and sexual assaults by Eritrean troops. Last month, he flew to the Eritrean capital, Asmara, and announced that his ally, the autocratic Eritrean leader Isaias Afwerki, had agreed to bring his soldiers home. But the U.N. and its humanitarian partners have seen no evidence that such a withdrawal has taken place, Mark Lowcock, the top U.N. humanitarian official, told the Security Council. In fact, Mr. Lowcock said, Eritrean soldiers had begun to disguise their identities by wearing Ethiopian military uniforms, and some had killed civilians during indiscriminate attacks as recently as Monday. The Times obtained a transcript of Mr. Lowcock’s remarks, which were made in a private briefing. They paint a grim picture of the violence in Tigray, where a clash between Mr. Abiy and regional leaders in November has degenerated into a chaotic and pitiless conflict that threatens to destabilize the entire Horn of Africa region. Civilians are still being driven from their homes in western Tigray, Mr. Lowcock said, despite condemnation of “ethnic cleansing”earlier this month by the United States Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken. Hunger is spreading with up to 150 people starving to death recently in one district south of the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle, Mr. Lowcock told the Security Council. And almost one-third of all attacks on civilians involve sexual violence, the majority by men in uniform, he said. Girls as young as eight have been targeted. In one instance, Mr. Lowcock said, Eritrean soldiers gang raped a woman in front of her children, days after her husband had been killed and she had lost a newborn baby. “This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Mr. Lowcock said. Such horrific accounts have come to define the conflict in Tigray. It was the fifth time that the Security Council had discussed the crisis behind closed doors since it erupted in November. But beyond the expressions of condemnation and outrage, the international community has had little impact on the ground in Tigray where residents and aid workers say that the killing, assaults and starvation continue unabated. The group Human Rights Watch says it is high time that the Security Council holds its discussion on Tigray in public, and comes up with concrete actions to stem the abuses. “Tigrayans from all walks of life have repeatedly described feeling abandoned not only by their government but also the world,” Laetitia Bader, the Horn of Africa director for the group, said in a statement. “The U.N.’s most powerful body needs to end its paralysis.” © Declan Walsh for the New York Times, 2021