The UNHCR voices alarm at an increasing number of attacks by armed groups on displaced civilians in the African nation. More than one million people have been forced to flee their homes in the violence-ravaged eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since the start of the year, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Tuesday. The UNHCR voiced alarm at an increasing number of attacks by armed groups on displaced civilians, saying it was "appalled" by the surging violence. "In the last eight weeks, UNHCR and its partners have recorded multiple attacks by armed groups on displacement sites and villages," it said in a statement. It added the attacks were mainly in Djugu Territory in Ituri province; in Fizi and Mwenga Territories in South Kivu province; and Masisi and Rutshuru Territories in North Kivu province. "Violence has displaced more than one million people in the last six months in these areas," the refugee agency said. The UNHCR urged the authorities in the DRC to strengthen the police and military presence in the east "to improve the security situation and hold the perpetrators accountable". Killings, mutilation "UNHCR is receiving accounts of the way armed groups are unleashing terror on people as they flee, in displacement sites and hosting areas, and when they attempt to return, including reports of killings and mutilation, sexual violence and looting," the agency said. "The displaced population is also subject to reprisal attacks for their perceived support for the army by returning armed groups, once the army completes operations to clear areas and is no longer present." The agency said the attacks were worsening an already complex displacement situation in the eastern DRC and were piling pressure on the areas hosting internal migrants, which were lacking food, water and healthcare services. It also said healthcare centres had been attacked, with medicines to treat people potentially exposed to HIV being looted. The DRC has one of the highest rates of internal displacement in the world, according to the UN. More than five million people within the country's borders have been uprooted by insecurity, while nearly a million more have sought safety in neighbouring countries as refugees. Funding shortfall The UNHCR said those uprooted were overwhelmingly women and children and it was providing shelter, relief items and cash. The agency appealed for further funding, saying it had only received 21 percent of the 149.59 million euros ($168m) it needed for its DRC operations this year. Some 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) from the capital Kinshasa, the eastern DRC is one of Africa's flashpoints. It was the theatre of two major wars, which ran from 1996-1997 and from 1998-2003, the second of which eventually involved nine countries and two dozen armed groups. Millions died from the fighting, disease or malnutrition and violence and volatility remain acute today. North Kivu, in particular, has suffered at the hands of militia groups, especially the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a mainly Muslim movement that originated in neighbouring Uganda in the 1990s. Ethnic violence in Ituri, involving the Lendu and Hema communities, has meanwhile, claimed nearly 300 lives since March. Originally published by Al Jazeera on June 30, 2020. © 2020 Al Jazeera Media Network

DAKAR, Senegal — The bodies of at least 180 men thought to have been killed by security forces have been found dumped in fields, by roadsides and under bridges in a town in the West African country of Burkina Faso over the past eight months, witnesses told human rights researchers. Residents of the town, Djibo, in the north of the country, said many of the bodies were found shot and blindfolded, their hands bound. Many said they recognized relatives among the dead. The testimony is contained in a new report by the New York-based group Human Rights Watch and matches the accounts of several witnesses interviewed for a recent investigation by The New York Times into extrajudicial killings by Burkina Faso’s security forces. Terrorists, government security forces and bandits have killed thousands of people in the country in the past four years, plunging what was a peaceful nation into conflict and chaos. Nearly a million people have fled. Residents said the men killed were mostly members of the Fulani ethnic group, which has been targeted for recruitment by terrorist organizations, and, therefore, for reprisals by government forces. Djibo is a Fulani-majority town founded in the 16th century, and it has long been home to the country’s biggest cattle market. One young resident of Djibo said in an interview with the Times in March that he often saw corpses on his way to the bus. An animal trader said in another interview that he had stopped buying cows in Djibo because seeing the bodies terrified him. Neither wanted to be named for fear of reprisals. A spokesman for the Defense Ministry declined to comment, and referred to a statement by the defense minister, Chérif Sy, issued to Human Rights Watch. Mr. Sy said in the statement that the allegations would be investigated. He also said that those responsible for the killings might not be soldiers, but terrorists disguised in army uniforms. “They are experts when it comes to sowing confusion, and seeming like members of the armed forces to the population,” he wrote. But Djibo is openly controlled and patrolled by the military, so it is unlikely that terrorist groups would be able to operate there. Several residents told researchers that they saw soldiers arrest men who turned up dead in Djibo a few days later. Human remains were first discovered strewn around Djibo’s suburbs starting in November, residents told Human Rights Watch, which has done extensive research on abuses in Burkina Faso. The bodies were not hidden, and residents were too scared to bury them lest they become associated with someone accused of being a terrorist. So the bodies lay where they were dumped. “The bodies stayed there for anywhere from a few days before they were buried, or months, until they just turned into skeletons and were dispersed by the animals,” said Corinne Dufka, Human Rights Watch’s Sahel director. Ms. Dufka called for an investigation and for those responsible to be prosecuted. In recent months, new reports say, government forces have stepped up attacks on civilians in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, three countries in the Sahel, a long band of arid land south of the Sahara. In Burkina Faso, members of the traditionally nomadic Fulani ethnic group say they bear the brunt of military attacks. Terrorist groups usually recruit from the Fulani community, analysts say, so soldiers target Fulani villages in revenge for attacks on their comrades or because they suspect them of helping the enemy. The 180 killed in Djibo may fit into this pattern. Since they had no trials, there is no evidence they were connected with the terrorists. Most of the dead in Djibo were buried in mass graves in early March, residents said, after they convinced the authorities that the corpses posed a public health hazard. © The New York Times 2020

BOUCLE DU MOUHOUN REGION, Burkina Faso When 13-year-old Martine left her village in northern Burkina Faso for a safer town last year, she hoped to restart an education disrupted by jihadist violence. But, alone without her parents —who stayed behind — new risks soon arose: in December she was dragged from a wedding party and raped by a man three times her age. “If I was living at home, my parents never would have allowed me to go to the wedding alone and this would never have happened,” said Martine, whose surname is being withheld to protect her identity. As jihadist-linked violence surges in Burkina Faso, children are facing particularly severe hardships: more than half of the roughly one million Burkinabe now displaced across the country are 18 and under, and many have been forced out of school by attacks and threats from extremists. Rights groups and local authorities say the situation is particularly dire for children like Martine, whose parents sent them away to towns where it is safer to go to school but, without parental supervision, are falling victim to exploitation and abuse from sexual violence to child marriage and labor. The risks have been compounded by a nationwide shutdown of more than 20,000 schools, which was introduced in March as a response to the coronavirus pandemic and will continue until September. The closures have left an unknown number of minors alone and with little to do in unfamiliar places. To help children who are out of school – due to both violence and the pandemic – Burkina Faso’s ministry of education has begun broadcasting primary and secondary school lessons on radio and TV. But as students miss out on months of education – and some miss out on years due to violence ongoing since 2015 – the government and aid groups say remote schooling is no substitute for in-person learning and cannot combat the growing dangers many children are facing. Aid groups say they are struggling to keep up with the increasing number of vulnerable children, although too little funding and too few programs – including those targeting unaccompanied minors – are in place. “The epidemic of COVID-19 is worsening an already critical situation regarding the education of children who are trapped in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis,” said Anne Vincent, representative for the UN’s children agency in Burkina Faso, UNICEF. ‘A war against education’ Human Rights Watch has recorded more than 120 attacks and threats against teachers, students, and schools from 2017-2020 in what the organisation has described as a “war against education” by Islamist groups, which oppose Burkina Faso’s secular curriculum and government institutions. School closures due to violence and COVID-19 have impacted more than five million children in total, according to UNICEF, while recent attacks have led to a ten-fold increase in the number of children needing protection this year, from 35,800 to 368,000. Seeking a safer schooling environment and protection from jihadists – who often force families to hand over their sons to fight – thousands of children have been sent by their parents from small rural villages to more crowded urban centers in recent months. In Boucle du Mouhoun, a northwestern breadbasket region where violence is currently spreading, many of the displaced children were living together in crowded compounds when The New Humanitarian visited in May. During the day they loitered on dusty streets and begged for money with empty cans. Lassina Sougue, who heads the government’s humanitarian response efforts in Sourou, a province in Boucle du Mouhoun, told TNH that reports of sexual violence have increased since attacks drove thousands of children into the wider area over the last year, though he had no precise numbers. School closures introduced to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have pushed many children – unaccompanied or otherwise – into menial work, added Marie Yelkouni, the coordinator of a group of organisations that fight for women’s rights in Kossi province, which is also in Boucle du Mouhoun. Parents used to bring food and money to their children studying in other towns, Yelkouni said, but can no longer visit due to the threat of violence along the roads. This has forced many to work for under a dollar a day, washing clothes, selling goods, or toiling in small-scale artisanal mines. Recent attacks have led to a ten-fold increase in the number of children needing protection this year, from 35,800 to 368,000. Competition for the work is fierce, said 20-year-old Djakaria Kone, who left his parents and moved to a town in Sourou called Tougan in November 2018 to study. He now lives with 54 others, many of them displaced kids who are younger than him. In March, Kone earnt $12 for three days making bricks and digging ditches along the main road in Tougan. But he hasn’t found another job since and has been surviving on meagre rations of government food aid. “Schools are closed and I have no work,” he said. “When I wake up in the morning, I just walk around and don’t have anything to do.” “Before we had our parents to help us, but now we have to fetch water and cook and do everything on our own,” added 17-year-old Seydou Koussoube, who moved to Tougan in September, a year after his school closed due to threats from jihadists. Tent schools and TV lessons Local organisations and private citizens said they are helping some displaced unaccompanied children – Martine was taken in by Yelkouni and enrolled in a state sponsored sewing program. But there is little support from the government, and most are slipping through the net. UNICEF said it has “COVID-19 proof” programmes for unaccompanied children and other minors affected by conflict. Educational activities now take place in smaller groups, and individual counseling is offered to survivors of sexual exploitation and abuse. But many humanitarian organisations are still new to Burkina Faso’s nascent emergency and have yet to establish programs focused on the exploitation of children, according to Jackie MacLeod, the International Rescue Committee’s head of mission in the country. COVID-19 social distancing requirements have created additional challenges, MacLeod added, with safe spaces – areas run by aid groups where children can socialise and receive help in a supportive environment – creating risks for both children and caregivers. “The usual systems that we would put in place to address the risk of exploitation for children...aren’t able to stand up the way they normally would [because of COVID-19],” said MacLeod. In villages hard-hit by violence, the government has developed a strategy to help educate children by providing food, notebooks, extra classrooms, and money for teachers affected, said Angeline Neya, a government official leading the efforts. Tented classrooms have been built and other buildings renovated to accommodate displaced children. Psychologists work with teachers and students affected by violence. But Neya said there are many villages where the government is struggling to provide support due to the risk of violence. Even children with access to schools are often too afraid to attend because they fear future attacks. In response to COVID-19, the government launched an additional $15 million plan in April to educate children through television shows and online classes. Millions of masks, soap bars, and bottles of disinfectant are, meanwhile, being rolled out for when schools reopen in September. Local officials said they hope the start of the next term will bring unaccompanied children and other minors off the streets, though they acknowledged that the challenges they face will likely endure as long as the violence here does. After Martine was attacked last year, she went back to school but was emotionally detached and even contemplated suicide, she said. Months on, she said flashbacks still haunt her: “I wish what happened to me never happens again.” © The New Humanitarian 2020

The complaint at the International Criminal Court is the first of its kind to challenge Beijing on its crackdown on Muslims, but China does not accept the court’s jurisdiction Uighur exiles urged the International Criminal Court on Monday to investigate Beijing for genocide and crimes against humanity, the first-ever attempt to use international law to hold China’s ruling Communist Party accountable for its draconian crackdown on the Muslim minority. A team of London-based lawyers representing two Uighur activist groups has filed a complaint against Beijing for pursuing the repatriation of thousands of Uighurs through unlawful arrests in or deportation from Cambodia and Tajikistan. The case could bring greater international scrutiny of the Chinese state’s power to impose its will beyond its borders. The lawyers’ 80-page filing includes a list of more than 30 Chinese officials they said were responsible for the campaign, including Xi Jinping, the Communist Party leader. Mr. Xi’s policies over recent years have put Muslim minorities in China’s western region of Xinjiang under a pervasive net of surveillance, detention and social re-engineering. As many as one million ethnic Uighurs and members of other Muslim minorities have been held in internment camps in the region, drawing growing global condemnation. The court’s mandate is to seek justice for victims of genocide, war crimes and other atrocities. But China does not recognize its jurisdiction, raising the question of how far the case will go. Rodney Dixon, a British lawyer leading the case, said it circumvented the issue of jurisdiction over Beijing by focusing on claims of unlawful acts by China in Cambodia and Tajikistan, two countries that are members of the court. “This can become a critical case because for so long it has been assumed that nothing could be done to hold China accountable at an international court,” Mr. Dixon said by telephone from London before traveling to The Hague. Citing a 2018 ruling by the court, Mr. Dixon said, “The court has said it has jurisdiction when crimes start or end in a member state, and that is the case here.” The 2018 ruling was applied to Myanmar, which has also not signed on to the court’s treaty. The court ruled that it could prosecute Myanmar for “deportation” and associated crimes against Rohingya Muslims who fled to Bangladesh, which is a member. The two Uighur groups that filed the complaint against China are the East Turkistan Government in Exile and the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement. The groups advocate independence for Xinjiang, a region they refer to not by its official Chinese name but as East Turkestan, the name of two short-lived Uighur republics. Their complaint also broadly takes aim at China’s policies in Xinjiang over the past decade and the imposition of increasingly harsh security measures following a spate of violent unrest. The Uighurs have long resented the tight controls imposed by the authorities on their religion and culture and the influx of Han Chinese, the majority ethnic group in China, into Xinjiang. Under Mr. Xi, the Xinjiang government expanded efforts to cajole, pressure or force Uighurs to return from abroad, and also established the internment camps intended to indoctrinate Uighurs to turn away from religion and embrace Chinese rule. It has imposed programs pushing minorities into jobs as factory workers and street cleaners. The authorities are also pursuing an expansive and troubling campaign to drastically reduce the birthrate among minority groups in Xinjiang using forced sterilization and abortions, according to an investigation by The Associated Press and Adrian Zenz, a German researcher. Mr. Dixon, the British lawyer, said the complaint against Beijing included evidence of forced deportations and extraterritorial arrests by Chinese agents, gathered from witnesses and victims, reports from the United Nations and organizations such as Amnesty International and exile groups. “The prosecutor needs to investigate genocide,” Mr. Dixon said. “If you capture people, and you have a campaign to suppress them and you sterilize them, it is a campaign which intends to dilute and destroy their identity as a group.” It may take months before the international court’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda of Gambia, issues a formal response to the lawyers’ filing. China’s foreign ministry had no immediate comment on the complaint. But the Chinese government has repeatedly rejected the evidence of widespread repression of minorities in Xinjiang. “Xinjiang fully implements the policy of freedom of religious belief,” the ministry said last week in a long rebuttal to recent criticism of China’s human rights record. “Xinjiang has never curtailed the freedom of travel of Uighur people or people of any other ethnic groups.” China’s response to the filing may mirror that of the Trump administration in cases that have involved Americans. The administration has fiercely attacked the international court for initiating an investigation of possible war crimes by American and Afghan forces in Afghanistan. Last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described it as “a kangaroo court,” and President Trump called for economic penalties and travel restrictions to be imposed on court employees participating in investigations of Americans. Chris Buckley contributed reporting. ​ © 2020 The New York Times Company

Police confirm at least 166 deaths in violent protests over killing of popular Oromo singer Haacaaluu Hundeessa. At least 166 people have died during violent demonstrations that roiled Ethiopia in the days following the murder of popular singer Haacaaluu Hundeessa, police said. "In the aftermath of Hachalu's death, 145 civilians and 11 security forces have lost their lives in the unrest in the region," said Girma Gelam, deputy police commissioner of Oromia region, in a statement on the state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate on Saturday. Another 10 people are known to have died in the capital, Addis Ababa. Girma said a further 167 had "sustained serious injuries" and that 1,084 people had been arrested. Pop star Haacaaluu, a member of the Oromo ethnic group, Ethiopia's largest, was shot dead by unknown attackers in Addis Ababa on Monday night, heightening ethnic tensions and threatening the country's democratic transition. Five people have been arrested in connection with his killing. Officials have repeatedly suggested the Oromo Liberation Front, a rebel group, and the Tigray People's Liberation Front, an opposition party, were implicated. Officials have attributed the deaths to a combination of lethal force by security officers and inter-ethnic violence. Girma added that the violent unrest had now "completely stopped". Last week, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Haacaaluu's killing and the subsequent violence represented "coordinated attempts" to destabilise the country. Three high-profile opposition leaders - including former media mogul Jawar Mohammed - have been arrested in connection with the unrest, though officials have provided few details about the cases against them. Haacaaluu, 36, the Oromo-language singer and song writer was buried on Thursday under heavy police and military presence in his hometown of Ambo, about 100km (62 miles) west of Addis Ababa. He is survived by his wife and two children. Haacaaluu's music gave voice to Oromos' widespread sense of economic and political marginalisation during years of anti-government protests that swept Abiy to power in 2018. SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

Representatives of Cameroon's government have held talks with the main leaders of an Anglophone separatist group for the first time since the conflict began in 2017, a separatist leader and two security sources said on Friday. Julius Ayuk Tabe, the most prominent separatist leader who is currently serving a life sentence in prison for charges including "terrorism", said the meeting took place on Thursday to discuss the possibility of a ceasefire. Violence broke out in 2017 following a government crackdown on peaceful protests by Anglophone lawyers and teachers who complained of being marginalised by the French-speaking majority. The fighting has since caused more than 3,000 deaths and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes. Last year, Switzerland mediated talks between the government and exiled separatist leaders, but those leaders are considered less influential than Tabe and the discussions did not produce any significant results. Tabe, the self-declared president of an independent English-speaking state the separatists call Ambazonia, said nine separatist leaders participated in the meeting, which followed calls by the United Nations for a ceasefire. "Be reassured that we remain committed to the restoration of the independence of the homeland," he said in a statement, without providing further details about the substance of the talks. The nine leaders are self-declared members of the "interim government of Ambazonia". All are in jail in the capital Yaounde, sentenced last August on "terrorism" charges. Government officials were not immediately available for comment. One of the security sources who confirmed the meeting said the authorities' openness to talks reflected the fatigue of the population after three years of conflict that have failed to produce a clear victor. "This war has made us see the resilience of the Anglophones from an ideological point of view," he said, adding that international pressure to end the conflict had also forced the government's hand. Cameroon's linguistic divide harks back to the end of World War I, when the League of Nations divided the former German colony of Kamerun between the allied French and British victors. 'Sustainable peace' President Paul Biya's government has previously refused to negotiate with the separatist leaders. It held a "national dialogue" on the conflict in October, but most separatist groups refused to participate, many pointing out their leaders remained in prison. In early March, the UN called for a ceasefire in the two regions, in part to help combat the coronavirus pandemic. But the appeal went unheeded, with military operations even seeming to intensify - the army said it killed 24 separatists in two raids last month. The sudden softening towards negotiation therefore took many by surprise. In the statement sent to AFP news agency, the separatist leaders said "no war has ever been wrapped up in the battlefield" and that "real, sustainable peace and independence are a product of the negotiation table". The statement, which is addressed to separatist armed fighters, said the Thursday meeting was "an initial confidence-building procedure" and that the leaders' position on a negotiated ceasefire was made "clear and unambiguous" to the government. Cameroon's Anglophone protest movement is fragmented into several groups, with the most radical not recognising the "interim government of Ambazonia" and refusing any discussion with the government. © Al Jazeera 2020

Devastating assaults, occurring almost daily and often in the capital, Mogadishu, have put a strain on the country’s fragile government. NAIROBI, Kenya — Attacks in two of Somalia’s largest cities killed five people and wounded 16 others Saturday, in the latest example of the chronic failure of the country’s security sector to crack down on terrorist groups. In the capital, Mogadishu, a suicide car bomber targeted a tax collection center in the Hamar Jajab district in the city’s southeast, the Somali Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism said in a statement. While security officers were able to stop the attacker from reaching the collection center, the blast damaged a nearby wall and wounded six people, including police officers. The bomber died in the attack. In Baidoa, the capital of the southwestern Bay region, a land mine detonated near a restaurant on the outskirts of the city, killing five people and wounding 10 others, government officials said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the Shabab, which is linked to Al Qaeda, has carried out similar assaults in the past. “The Somali government condemns in the strongest terms the attacks against the civilians,” the statement from the ministry read. The attacks come 11 days after the Shabab claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on a Turkish military base in Somalia. Known as Camp Turksom, the compound, Turkey’s biggest overseas military base, is used to train Somali forces and is part of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s efforts to strengthen his country’s strategic presence in the Horn of Africa. In recent years, the Shabab, which controls large swaths of south and central Somalia, has continued to gain strength, carrying out deadly attacks in both Somalia and Kenya. In late December, the group killed 82 people, including 16 university students, when it detonated an explosives-laden truck at a busy intersection in Mogadishu. A week later, the Shabab killed a U.S. service member and two American military contractors when insurgents from the group overran a base in Kenya that houses American troops. The devastating and almost daily attacks against civilians, public officials and security offices have put a strain on the fragile Somali government. Despite a flurry of American drone strikes and a 20,000-strong African Union peacekeeping mission fighting the Shabab, the internationally backed Somali government has remained weak and has appeared unable to secure the capital, much less the entire country. Somali officials, however, dispute that, saying they are increasingly thwarting attacks from the Shabab. They cited the ability of security forces to prevent the attacker from entering the collection center in Saturday’s Mogadishu bombing as evidence of progress. Source: New York Times

Genocide Watch Welcomes a New Summer Staff! Genocide Watch welcomes our 10 new summer staff members! We're very excited to have such a passionate and hard-working cohort. Here are some things they have been working on: The Alliance Team - Lauren Salim and Olivia Dudley - is working with Vanessa Cardenas to improve communications within the Alliance Against Genocide. The Alliance Team will be developing a new website for news from Alliance members. Timestream The Genocide Watch staff is building Timestreams under the direction of Deanna Wilken. Timestream is a new technology through which Genocide Watch will create and publish presentations about genocidal processes around the world to be used as educational tools. Click here to view our Timestream about Myanmar's genocide of the Rohingya. Coming soon are Timestreams on Boko Haram, Cameroon's Anglophone Crisis, Coptic Christians in Egypt, El Salvador's Civil War and Genocide, Fulani jihadists and ISWAP in Nigeria, the Srebrenica Genocide, and the Yemen Crisis. New Alerts Released Staff member Alexandra Sharp wrote a Genocide Alert for Venezuela, urging the Organization of American States to hold Maduro’s administration accountable for crimes against humanity. She is also working with another staff member, Naveen Bhatia, to create a podcast series that will interview experts on genocide prevention. Staff member Fiona Neibart published an updated country report on Myanmar which explores the dire situation of Rohingya refugees and continuing persecution of Rohingya still in Myanmar. The report also covers the progress of the case the Gambia has brought in the International Court of Justice charging Myanmar with violation of the Genocide Convention. Crisis Map Genocide Watch's Eric Ross created a map of massacres committed by Boko Haram and Fulani jihadists in Nigeria. Using ACLED data, this map demonstrates how the attacks have intensified over time. This map will be used as part of Genocide Watch's campaign with other Alliance members to stop the genocide of Christians being carried out in Nigeria. Dr. Gregory Stanton's Recent Work Dr. Stanton and Genocide Watch submitted a statement to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom on Turkey’s actions in Northeast Syria. The statement contends that Turkey is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria. Turkey should be charged with these violations in the European Court of Human Rights. The statement recommends that the US and EU pressure Turkey to withdraw its troops from Syria. Click here to read more On June 12th, Dr. Stanton spoke in a conference on "Fighting Genocide Denial and Preventing Atrocities in the Balkan region" sponsored by Bosnian member organizations in the Alliance Against Genocide. Joined by Hikmet Karčić and Jelena Đureinović, this panel discussed the tactics of Serbian denial of the Bosnian Genocide. Click here to watch In the News Nigeria's president rebukes security chiefs over worsening violence [Read More] 99th Anniversary of Tulsa massacre of hundreds of Black lives recalls thousands of Blacks lynched and murdered in America [Read More] A Knock, Then Gone: Venezuela Secretly Detains Hundreds to Silence Critics [Read More] Libya: GNA says mass graves found in Tarhuna after Haftar’s retreat [Read More] Download Newsletter

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan security operations killed at least 1,324 people in the first five months of 2020, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Thursday. Michelle Bachelet, who presented a 17-page report on Venezuela in Geneva, said “I am still concerned about the high numbers of deaths of young people by security forces,” referring to people who were said to have died while resisting authorities. Venezuela’s official figures show 6,710 homicides in 2019 and 1,363 between January and May of this year. Those figures “do not include violent deaths in the context of security operations classified as ‘resistance to the authority,’” said Bachelet, a former president of Chile. Of the deaths in security operations in 2020, at least 432 were attributed to police special forces unit FAES, 366 to the investigative police known as CICPC, 136 to the National Guard and 124 to the police of Zulia state, the report said. Jorge Valero, Venezuela’s ambassador to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, said the report was based on “unfounded questioning” meant to “fuel the agenda of aggression that is unfolding against Venezuela.” Valero said that Venezuela in August will receive Alena Douhan, the Office’s Special Rapporteur on “the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights,” who focuses on the impact of sanctions. The United States maintains a broad sanctions program against Venezuela in efforts to force the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro, which ruling Socialist Party officials blame for the South American country’s economic collapse.

BAMAKO (Reuters) - At least 32 civilians were killed in central Mali when unidentified armed men on motorbikes attacked ethnic Dogon farming villages on Wednesday, local authorities said. The attackers targeted four villages in Mopti region, which has seen dozens of tit-for-tat ethnic massacres as well as jihadist raids over the past few years. Moulaye Guindo, the mayor of the commune of Bankass, released a list of victims on Thursday that put the death toll at 32. Other officials in the area told Reuters they believed the attacks were carried out by jihadists, who often say they are defending Fulani herders against rival Dogon farmers. “Quite a lot of armed men attacked the village (of Gouari), firing at people. Fifteen bodies were buried this morning. There are also wounded,” a local official said by phone earlier on Thursday, requesting anonymity for security reasons. No group has claimed responsibility for the violence, which took place in an area around 30 km (19 miles) from the border with Burkina Faso. A spokesman for the Malian army could not be reached for comment. The army has been criticised by rights groups and residents for failing to protect civilians in central Mali. Mali has been in crisis since 2012 when al Qaeda-linked militants seized its desert north. French forces intervened the following year to drive them back, but militants linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State have since regrouped and extended their operations into Burkina Faso and Niger. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), a consultancy that tracks political violence, says it recorded nearly 300 civilian fatalities in Mali in the first three months of 2020, a 90% increase over the previous quarter. Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Mark Potter © Reuters 2020

Since at least 2015, Islamist armed attacks on villages, markets, restaurants, convoys and churches in West Africa’s Sahel region have left a wake of blood, contributed to the displacement of over a million people, and reversed progress on health and education. France, the United States and the European Union have for years bankrolled the fight against these groups and the humanitarian fall-out with support for military operations, development aid, and a United Nations peacekeeping force. Yet their efforts have not stopped these abusive forces, whose attacks in recent days spread to the Ivory Coast. When they gather on June 30 for the G5 Summit in Mauritania, in the presence of Emmanuel Macron, the countries in the Sahel coalition, including those footing the bill for counterinsurgency efforts there, would be smart to ask why. For over a decade I have documented the spread of Islamist armed groups in West Africa. These groups, allied to both Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, start out by exploiting local grievances against government corruption, banditry, and competition over land and water, to garner recruits. But dozens of community leaders and village chiefs, as well as armed Islamists themselves, have told me that it is vengeance over extrajudicial executions and other abuses by soldiers and pro-government militias that – more than anything else – is driving recruits into the Islamist ranks. Since 2012, the Islamist armed threat in the Sahel has spawned vast military operations by the armies of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, as well as by 5,000 French troops, supported by the United States, and by the G5 regional counter terrorism force. Plans for a 3,000-strong African Union force and Operation Takouba, involving 400 European special forces, are underway. Meanwhile, millions of dollars and euros to address chronic underdevelopment and humanitarian aid, and for what has been described as the world’s most dangerous United Nations peacekeeping operation, in Mali, continue to flow. Yet, while military operations have “neutralized” hundreds of members of armed Islamist groups, they continue to carry out brazen and complex attacks in which hundreds of soldiers have perished. The attacks and photographs of weapons, ammunition and armored cars looted from army bases have shocked governments and their partners. So why are so many men leaving their villages to join these groups? A young man from northern Burkina Faso texted me after soldiers executed his 78-year-old father in 2018: “we found him next to the path with two bullets in the head.” Weeks later, when I was unable to reach him, a family member explained, “He has gone north and is being trained by the Islamic State, as are his two brothers and a few cousins.” Sources have told me he has since taken part in attacks on both soldiers and civilians. Governments, the European Union, and the United Nations, that regularly and rightly denounce atrocities by armed Islamists, have too often remained shamefully and oddly silent on security force abuses, despite ample credible reporting that implicates them. Their timidity has not only appeared to embolden the offending government forces, but also disappointed victims and civil society activists. The killing of the young man’s father mentioned above, is one of hundreds by the security forces in the Sahel I’ve documented since 2015. In April, Burkinabè security forces allegedly executed 31 men in Djibo. And in June, Malian security forces were accused of killing 43 villagers. These killings were war crimes whether or not any of the executed men supported the armed Islamists – they were all last seen in the custody of government security forces and found hours later shot in the head or chest. Many of the killings directly followed army losses after Islamist attacks. I know over 15 men, from Burkina Faso and Mali, who similarly joined the armed Islamist ranks after seeing a loved one executed by the security forces. A Burkinabè elder told me, “They aren’t joining out of religious commitment, not at all, rather to exact revenge.” “Driving them is not only anger, but also fear that they too will wind up with a bullet in the head,” a herder from central Mali told me. A man from northern Burkina Faso, who joined one of the groups in 2019 after a government massacre of 16 villagers told me, “We used to fear the jihadists, but after your child or friends are killed, you no longer feel joy in your life, and so you take up a gun.” A few months ago, a woman abducted and held for months by armed Islamists in the Sahel described their recruitment strategy, gleaned from conversations she overheard in their camp. “The jihadist commander talked about the army abuses all the time,” she told me. “As did so many other jihadists who were there because their fathers, brothers, even grandfathers had been killed.” Many villagers cited the execution of village elders, including respected religious leaders, as a driver of recruitment: “When soldiers kill the family head, they’re essentially pushing his sons and nephews straight out the village and into the bush with the men in beards and short pants,” one told me. Those footing the counter-terrorism bill in the Sahel should use and raise their voices about security force abuses and the chronic lack of follow up on the many promised investigations into atrocities. They should also increase support to the long-neglected judiciary and military justice systems. Because so many army atrocities appear to be reprisal killings in direct response to the deaths of soldiers, something the commanding officers should prevent, concerned governments should push for better command and control of front line units, support the deployment of provost marshals responsible for ensuring discipline in operations, and ensure soldiers receive adequate medical and psychological support. Governments in the Sahel face a legitimate threat as Islamist armed group attacks on civilians rise and spread deeper into West Africa. But when the security forces summarily kill suspects in the name of security, it is as counterproductive as it is unlawful. It is driving recruitment into these groups, stoking the fires of already-explosive communal tensions, and depriving the state of crucial trust. Corinne Dufka is the Sahel director at Human Rights Watch. © Human Rights Watch 2020

Oromia demonstrations broke out after assassination of well-known singer Haacaaluu Hundeessaa. The military has been deployed in the Ethiopian capital on Wednesday as violence broke out in some neighbourhoods in a second day of unrest that claimed more than 80 lives. Popular musician Haacaaluu Hundeessaa was shot dead on Monday in what police said was a targeted killing. Protests following the killing - spurred by a building sense of political marginalisation - broke out the next morning in the capital and other towns in the surrounding Oromia region. The assassination of Haacaaluu, a member of the country's largest Oromo ethnic group, stoked tensions that threaten to derail the country's democratic transition. "So far, 81 people have been killed, including three Oromia special police force members," said Bedassa Merdasa, the Oromia police chief. Gunshots echoed through many neighbourhoods and gangs armed with machetes and sticks roamed the streets. Witnesses described a situation pitting youths of Oromo origin against some of the city's other ethnic groups, and where both sides skirmished with police. "We had a meeting with the community, and we were told to arm ourselves with anything we have, including machetes and sticks. We no longer trust the police to protect us, so we have to prepare ourselves," said one Addis Ababa resident - who, like others interviewed, asked not to be named for fear of reprisal. The military had been deployed in some areas, three witnesses said. One described a street littered with rocks that anti-Oromo protesters had thrown at police. 'Businesses Ablaze' Many residents feared Haacaaluu's funeral - scheduled for Thursday in his home town of Ambo - could ignite more violence. "Security forces have invaded our town, we can't go out to mourn. No vehicles are moving around except security patrols with machine-guns," Chala Hunde, 27, said from Ambo, 100km (60 miles) west of Addis Ababa. "The security forces are putting a finger in our wound." A tussle over whether to bury Haacaaluu in Ambo or Addis Ababa laid bare the political tensions fanning the protests, said Professor Awol Allo at Britain's Keele University. "It's very contentious. Oromos claim the city [Addis Ababa] to be theirs as it lies fully within the Oromo regional state," he said. But the capital is under federal, not regional control. The state broadcaster reported the arrest of prominent journalist and activist Eskinder Nega, a former political prisoner who runs a pressure group opposed to what it describes as Oromo attempts to dominate the capital. A policeman was also killed in Addis Ababa, and three explosions there caused an unspecified number of deaths. Prominent Oromo opposition leader Bekele Gerba and media mogul Jawar Mohammed, along with 34 other people, were also arrested when Jawar's bodyguards refused to disarm during a standoff with police. 'Dangerous Situation' Haacaaluu provided a soundtrack to a generation of young protesters. Their three years of bloody street demonstrations forced the unprecedented resignation of the previous prime minister and the appointment of Abiy Ahmed in 2018. Abiy, Haacaaluu and Jawar are all Oromo, Ethiopia's largest ethnic group, which has long complained of being excluded from power. Jawar was a prominent supporter of Abiy's appointment but became more openly critical last year. Jawar's popular Oromia Media Network gives him the ability to mobilise support quickly across Oromia and his power base could pose a significant challenge to Abiy's party in next year's elections. Ethiopia, an ethnic melting pot of 100 million people, has battled deadly intercommunal tensions in recent years, a major threat to efforts by Abiy to bring about democratic reforms in a country long ruled with an iron fist from Addis Ababa. "The assassination of an important Oromo musician, subsequent protests which have in places involved property destruction and security forces using lethal force, and the arrest of Oromo leaders, creates a dangerous situation and is another blow to Ethiopia's troubled transition," said William Davison, an analyst with the International Crisis Group. Source: Al Jazeera and News Agencies