At least 65 people are dead after the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram is suspected of open firing on mourners at a funeral in the north-eastern Nigerian state of Borno. Local government chairman Muhammed Bulama said the attack occurred on Saturday. CNN reports that gunmen murdered 22 people at the funeral and shot dozens of others trying to flee the scene. Boko Haram has not claimed responsibility for the deaths but Bulama said the attack was revenge for the killing of 11 Boko Haram terrorists by the villagers two weeks ago. At least 10 people were injured in the massacre. Eight of them are critically wounded. Reuters reports that Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the attack and ordered the military to find those responsible. Boko Haram has slaughtered Christians in Nigeria by the thousands and hopes to overthrow Nigeria's government and create an Islamic State. The country is split between being majority Muslim in the north and mostly Christian in the south. In 2015, Boko Haram was named by the Institute for Economics and Peace the deadliest terror organization in the world. Boko Haram has also terrorized countless Christians and Muslims in Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon. The group regularly raids villages and bombs churches and mosques. Boko Haram is notorious for kidnapping school children, including the 2014 abduction of nearly 300 girls in the town of Chibok in Borno state. The United Nations' refugee agency said in January that the violence forced 30,000 Nigerians to flee the country in just two days. Christians across the region also face attacks from Muslim Fulani herdsman who raid and burn Christian villages. The Christian persecution watchdog organization Open Doors explains how Christians there face danger and discrimination every day: "In some northern states, increasing numbers of Christians are dressing like Muslims to make their faith less obvious and reduce the chances of attack. Christian young people in these states are frequently denied access to higher education, and Christians have been asked to give up their faith in order to be given work. Christian women and girls are in danger of being abducted and forced to marry. When Christians are displaced by the violence in the region, they face discrimination when government aid is distributed because of their faith." © July 2019 CBN News. All Rights Reserved.

In China’s far western region of Xinjiang, Chinese Communist Party officials are persecuting one of the worst human rights abuses of our time, what I labelled an act of cultural genocide in last week’s ABC Four Corners report. Pressure is mounting on the Australian government to go beyond statements of concern and challenge China over its treatment of the Uyghur minority, particularly those Australian citizens and permanent residents being held in the vast network of “re-education camps” in Xinjiang. Two Australian Uyghur men are meeting federal politicians in Canberra today to push for the government’s assistance in helping family members trapped in China. Australia was one of 22 countries to sign a recent letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing concern about the “arbitrary detention” of Uyghurs, but otherwise, its response has been muted. In recent days, the Chinese government has defended its actions with a dubious propaganda report claiming that Uyghurs were historically forced to become Muslims and have been an integral part of China for thousands of years. China repeatedly makes false and anachronistic claims like this about the ancient unity of the “Chinese people,” which includes ethnic minorities like the Uyghurs. Its aim is to project modern notions of sovereignty, nationhood and fixed borders back through history. In reality, the 11 million or so Uyghurs are an indigenous Turkic-speaking people who have inhabited what they call “East Turkestan” for over a millennium. Along with the Tibetans, the Uyghurs have born the brunt of China’s settler colonial project, which seeks to assert its control over remote regions that are closer to Moscow and Tehran than Beijing. Since March 2017, the Chinese government has interned over a million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in massive, prison-like camps (including possibly 17 Australian residents), where they are subjected to coercive ideological remoulding. Detainees are forced to denounce their religion, forbidden to speak their language, and taught how to adopt the norms of China’s Han ethnic majority, while praising President Xi Jinping and the Communist Party for salvation. In their own words, party officials are “washing brains” and “cleansing hearts” in order to “cure” those bewitched by extremist thoughts. In Xinjiang today, non-Han thoughts and behaviour are pathologised as deviant and thus in need of urgent transformation. What is genocide? A litany of words and phrases have been used to describe this process. The Chinese government calls the camps free “vocational education and training centres” where Uyghurs willingly learn Chinese language and employment skills in order to assist with their “rehabilitation and reintegration”. Scholars, journalists and rights defenders have spoken about cultural and religious “persecution” in Xinjiang, arguing the party-state’s policies amount to mass ethnic cleansing, cultural re-engineering, forced assimilation, brainwashing, or even ethnocide. In August 2018, Gay McDougall, the vice chair of UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, referred to Xinjiang as a “no-rights zone”. Yet, I believe the scale, sophistication and intent of China’s policies in Xinjiang merits a stronger description. The term genocide was coined by lawyer Rafael Lemkin in 1944 in reaction to Nazi Germany’s coordinated strategy to annihilate the Jews, gypsies and other non-Aryan peoples. Four years later, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, with Australia one of the first counties to ratify it. The People’s Republic of China ratified it in 1983. The convention defines genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group" It also obligates signatories to punish those who engage in genocidal acts through a “competent” domestic or international penal tribunal. Whether genocide includes only physical acts or can extend to attacks on cultural heritage has elicited intense debate, but for Lemkin, the term includes "drastic methods aimed at the rapid and complete disappearance of the culture, moral and religious life of a group of human beings." Genocide also requires specific intent. In the words of political scientists Kenneth J. Campbell, genocide is a "premeditated, calculated, systematic, malicious crime authorised by the state’s political leaders." This is exactly what Communist Party officials did when they authorised and then legalised the mass internment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in “concentrated transformation-through-education centres,” ripping more than 10% of the population away from their communities so they could be deliberately re-programmed. Various methods for erasing culture Yet, facts arguably matter more than words when it comes to China’s policies in Xinjiang. We now have ample evidence (including internal party documents) of the deliberate efforts to destroy Uyghur culture and identity. Everyday actions like avoiding pork, speaking Uyghur, wearing a headscarf or praying quietly are now labelled “manifestations of religious extremism,” or what party officials call “malignant tumors” requiring urgent excising in a radical form of cultural surgery. In the city of Kashgar, for example, a party document highlights the need to sever the lineages, roots and cultural connections of Uyghurs in order to eliminate the fountainhead of potential extremism. German researcher Adrian Zenz has uncovered evidence of the party’s efforts to separate Uyghur children from their parents in state institutions, where they can be assimilated and indoctrinated by officials. In these institutions, cultural, religious, and linguistic knowledge is intentionally ruptured. In some parts of Xinjiang, mosques and shrines are being bulldozed, while others are transformed into empty sites guarded by facial recognition cameras and imams on the party payroll. In the name of strengthening “bilingual education”, Chinese is now the language of instruction across Xinjiang, from preschool to university. The use of Uyghur language, script, signs and pictures prohibited. Speaking Uyghur is now considered unpatriotic and can get one sent off for re-education. Perhaps most disturbing, inter-ethnic marriages are being actively promoted to slowly breed out Uyghurness, with cash and other material inducements offered to Han men who take a Uyghur bride. One can find numerous videos and messages promoting Han-Uyghur inter-marriage on Chinese social media, asserting Xinjiang is now safe and home to many beautiful and eligible Uyghur women who would appreciate a doting Han husband. Finally, the Chinese government has intensified its family planning regime in Xinjiang to slow the growth of the Uyghur population and eliminate what party officials call “low quality births”. Beginning in 2017, the region adopted a uniform two children policy that nullified preferential rules allowing rural Uyghur women to have additional births. In the past, Uyghur women were given 3,000 RMB(roughtly A$620) to forgo a third birth and agree to some sort of “long-term contraceptive measure.” The Communist Party’s calculated war on Uyghur identity is quite literally tearing families and communities apart, while the rich tradition of diversity and tolerance in China is left in tatters. The resilient nature of culture and memory means that attempts at genocide, thankfully, are rarely successful. Yet the pain they inflict is real. © July 2019 The Conversation. All Rights Reserved.

From Cambodia to Myanmar, genocide scholars have their work cut out Finding justice for the "crime of crimes" is an arduous and fickle affair. Genocide inevitably reaches from the corridors of power, where vested interests will do their best to mitigate culpability, to the traumatized lowest rungs of society. With their leaders compromised, the authorities in Myanmar can not be trusted to independently administer justice or discover the truth behind the alleged genocide of the Rohingya any more than Pol Pot could be relied upon to account for atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge. Usually it is a military, foreign correspondents or aid workers who get in first and report. Outside help arrives and efforts to prosecute are internationalized. It’s tried and tested. Nuremberg and Tokyo trials followed World War II. The United Nations has backed genocide trials in Rwanda, former Yugoslavia, Guatemala, Darfur and Cambodia and the International Criminal Court has been established to deal with current and future tragedies. Friends of the dead Gathering evidence and winning convictions has its roots in far off places. Craig Etcheson was an impressionable 23-year-old dividing his time in California between rock concerts and PhD studies in mathematical models of war when Vietnam invaded Cambodia at the end of 1978 and lifted a veil on the true scale of carnage by the Khmer Rouge. The deaths during three-and-a-half years of about two million people, a third of Cambodia's population, was something the young mathematician found incomprehensible. Etcheson researched, travelled to Cambodia and crawled through the mud and bones. He became an investigator in the Office of the Co-Prosecutors at the Khmer Rouge tribunal and keeper of the coordinates; the secret locations of mass graves where thousands of men, women and children were battered to death, dumped and buried. Forty years later, genocide convictions in Cambodia have been secured and Etcheson, a visiting scientist at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health, has written his 10th book, "Extraordinary Justice: Law, Politics, and the Khmer Rouge Tribunals." "After you have seen hundreds and then thousands of mass graves you gradually find a certain kind of peace with the dead, and then eventually one forms a curious social alliance with them," Etcheson said. "For me it's always been about the victims," he added. "For others it's about abstractions, establishing legal precedents and defining terms like genocide, instead of addressing issues 'like these were once actual living human beings'." Scholars, genocide and the future Last week, Etcheson was among the academics at a prestigious conference held, in Asia for the first time, by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS). He said the most impressive aspect of the Phnom Penh gathering was a large group of young Cambodian scholars who are now on the cutting-edge of genocide research. "They have the language, cultural and technological skills necessary to correct previous errors in Cambodian genocide scholarship, to uncover new nuances in what happened under the Khmer Rouge, and to take research on the topic into new and very creative directions," Etcheson added. It's been a long road for Cambodia. This country's social fabric was obliterated by the Khmer Rouge, a legacy which was not even on the school curriculum until the tribunal became a serious force to be reckoned with about a decade ago. Thus, the IAGS conference was seen as another turning point in how Cambodia sees its past and deals with the devastating impact of genocide going forward. And there are wider implications. "These young researchers are properly trained and proving themselves to be worthy successors to the first generation of foreign scholars of the Khmer Rouge... who could potentially make contributions to the study of other genocides," Etcheson said. Shades of Cambodia in Myanmar The alleged genocide of the Rohingya pales when compared with the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge, but in Myanmar there are shades of Cambodia where Pol Pot and his henchmen lived freely for decades amid Cold War politics and a civil war that did not end until 1998. In Myanmar, Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Soe Win, Brigadier General Than Oo and Brigadier General Aung Aung head the 'most wanted' by U.N.-backed investigators for the ethnic cleansing of more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims. The generals continue to do as they please, just like the Khmer Rouge leaders — Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Son Sen — once did. But politics and societies do change. Of the Khmer Rouge leaders, three are serving life sentences. Others were murdered, saw out their last years behind bars or died under suspicious circumstances. And justice does have a habit of catching-up. The fall from grace by the pro-democracy icon and Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, since the Rohingya crisis spiraled out of control in 2017, has been spectacular. The United Nations has documented the genocide allegations as they once did in Cambodia. And recently the United States announced sanctions against all four Myanmar generals and their families. Add to that a fresh generation of scholars who, like Etcheson, are capable of pursuing genocide allegations within an international legal framework, and the impunity enjoyed by the generals looks decidedly shaky. They may yet be subjected to the same legal fate as the Khmer Rouge. "One day those scholars might well use their skills to uncover evidence of genocide in countries other than Cambodia,” Etcheson quipped as the conference concluded. "Genocide: it's a growth industry." © July 2019 UCA News. All Rights Reserved.

While the slaughter of Nigerian Christians continues to elude an official designation of genocide, one expert believes their predicament will get worse before it gets better. Nonetheless, he says, "God can do great things in the midst of it all." During the first term of recently re-elected Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari (pictured), almost 25,000 people were killed in the country. Christians represented and continue to represent a large number of those slaughtered by Boko Haram and the Fulani herdsmen. The displacement and massacre of Nigerian Christians is essentially an unrecognized genocide, according to Dr. David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors USA. The deaths of the innocent remain largely unnoticed, as Curry explains it's not technically considered genocide until the U.S. State Department says it is. The legal definition includes the intentional killing or displacement of a group for reasons of their faith or race, for example. And the CEO is certain this is happening, having recently testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of Congress. The reality, he tells OneNewsNow, is both the highly-publicized Boko Haram terrorists and the Fulani have said they want to get rid of Christians in the area. Their sentiment places them in the "category of intentionality," Curry asserts. With such intentionality, he believes it warrants an official designation of genocide by the State Department. Sadly, according to Curry, genocide is very slow to be recognized. "Unfortunately, it's not called genocide until the damage is already done – and that would certainly be the case here," he notes Curry shares that over 3,700 Christians were killed for their faith last year in northern Nigeria, many of them murdered by the Fulani herdsmen. In other years, he says, the numbers have been even higher since Buhari has been in charge. Curry The Open Doors president believes "the Fulani herdsmen have been improperly painted as having a tribal and property axe to grind." He says they are much more than herdsmen, as they are armed with "sophisticated weapons." Least publicized is the fact that the herdsmen have a Salafist, jihadist theology, he discloses. "This jihadist ideology goes well beyond the tribal picture many have attempted to paint," he says, explaining that their beliefs are directed by extremist ideology. "They are not the herdsmen of 300 years ago. These are radical people who are killing Christians because they are Christians, and [they] are using some sort of historical reference as their excuse." Curry contends that's not acceptable. "It's genocide," he continues,"[and] Africa is going to be the primary theater for persecution in the years ahead because you have a young population and a corrupt government. "Wherever you have a super young population and very corrupt government, you have unrest," he explains. Another factor is a division in the culture – Sharia-led states in the north and large populations of Christians in the south. With all these things combined, "there is going to be a massive spike of persecution in Africa," in Curry's view. "It is not going to get better with the current corruption and leadership vacuum in Nigeria," he continues – calling it physics when "the fact there is an exceptionally weak government, the fact that Buhari has a political base that is Fulani, the fact that he has turned a deaf ear to Christians" will equate to more persecution. Curry sadly admits he doesn't believe it's going to change very quickly. "It's going to get worse for Christians in northern Nigeria until the church wakes up and the Nigerian people insist upon a government that isn't corrupt and will care for Christians in the north because they are being slaughtered," he predicts. "Although this sounds bleak," he concludes, "I know God can do great things in the midst of it all." A small step in the right direction occurred this past week when President Donald Trump invited victims of religious persecution to the White House. Those conversations between the president and the persecuted have been noted and transcribed by the White House. © July 2019 One News Now. All Rights Reserved.

An international human rights NGO has submitted research and data to the International Criminal Court contending that the standard for genocide has now been reached when it comes to the massacres of Christian farming communities in Nigeria by Fulani militants. The Jubilee Campaign, which advocates on behalf of religious minorities across the globe and successfully petitioned the ICC to indict Boko Haram for their killings across northeastern Nigeria, submitted its new report “Nigeria: The Genocide is Loading” to the ICC’s investigative offices in Hague last week. The report documents the increasing scale and severity of Fulani militant attacks against predominantly Christian farming communities in Nigeria and chronicles at least 52 Fulani militant attacks between the start of 2019 and June 12. “Nearly every single day, I wake up with text messages from partners in Nigeria, such as this morning: ‘Herdsmen stab 49-year-old farmer to death in Ogan,’” human rights lawyer and Jubilee Campaign Director Ann Buwalda said during a panel discussion in Washington, D.C, this month. “Frankly, I don’t know where Ogan is. I don’t know this 49-year-old farmer. But when I wake up and read that, ‘I weep.’ It’s the conscience of all of us around the world that need to weep when we read that. If you get that every single day and that's how you wake up, you realize that it is up to us to do something.” While the Nigerian government and others have written off the Fulani militant attacks as merely part of a decades-old “farmer-herder clashes” between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in the Middle Belt, the Jubilee Campaign report pushes back on that notion. The report states that Fulani extremist attacks are not only happening with greater regularity and severity but also appear to be premeditated, target civilians, and focused on Christian-populated villages as well as churches. Many Christian communities across the Middle Belt, including entire tribes, have been displaced from their homes due to the attacks. “Why are there 180,000 [internally displaced persons] in Benue state? Why are there nearly 1 million IDPs from the northeast of Nigeria?” Buwalda asked. “It isn’t only Boko Haram. It is also Fulani herdsmen and militants that are behind these attacks.” Citing data compiled by World Watch Monitor, the report asserts that about 4,194 Christians were killed and 2,957 were injured in Nigeria between 2014 and 2016 with 30 churches and over 195,576 Christian homes damaged. “In 2018, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project reported how Fulani militants constituted the deadliest threat to civilians in Nigeria, killing over 1,000 civilians in 2018, surpassing Boko Haram Terrorist Group in casualties,” the report reads. “Now in 2019 alone, Fulani militants have attacked 20 villages. Their target is Christian-majority villages where they kill civilians, burn their homes, leaving the community fear-stricken and forcing many to abandon their homes.” The Nigerian-based civil society group International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law has reported that no less than 2,400 Christians were killed by Fulani militants in 2018. The Jubilee Campaign and ADF International raised concern to the ICC about the situation in Nigeria in 2016. The report detests the fact that the Fulani militant attacks are being described as “clashes” and a “farmer-herder” conflict. The Jubilee Campaign reports that such terms are “similar to the words used to describe the atrocities that were later revealed in Darfur, Sudan.” “The situation has altered considerably and the reality is quite different from 2016,” the report warns. “Caution is warranted in prescribing guilt to any group but in view of the evidence aggregated, the situation can no longer be called clashes when a group of over 200 raid a Christian village and kill civilians in the early morning hours while they are sleeping. The ICC in their ongoing surveillance of Nigeria should update their information for the record.” Buwalda told those gathered for the panel event that the report the Jubilee Campaign submitted to the ICC is a “summary” and the organization is planning to put together a more detailed report documenting who is being persecuted and show that the “standard of genocide has now been reached.” “We have been arguing for several years now, as well as to the International Criminal Court, that these have been crimes against humanity. When the ICC indicted Boko Haram, they used the term ‘crimes against humanity.’ I believe legally that we are now rising to the place of genocide,” Buwalda said. “If you look at international standards, ... each of these criteria have actually been reached.” Those criteria include “killing members of a group,” “causing serious bodily harm or mental harm to members of the group,” “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction in whole or in part” and “imposing measures to prevent births within a group or forcibly transferring children of the group to another group." Buwalda admitted that the criteria related to preventing births within a social group may be the “weaker element” of the organization’s argument but contends that the “first three are elements that have been found.” “We believe that genocide is loading. We believe that genocidal behavior and conduct has been taking place and that the perpetrators are not being prosecuted by the Nigerian government,” she stated. Buwalda and panelists were asked by International Christian Concern Regional Manager Nathan Johnson how a genocide declaration can be made without accusing the entire ethnic group of being a terrorist group. “[T]hen, the genocide is going to turn the other way. We don’t want to see that either,” Johnson said, stressing that the crimes are being committed by a “militant sect.” Buwalda said that one of the most important things for her organization, other NGOs and investigators to establish is who is financially behind the Fulani attacks. It is important to note that many attacks occur with Fulani radicals armed with expensive assault rifles. There have even been reports of helicopters aiding the attacks. “[We need] to call this definitely being crimes against humanity. That has been clear for a number of years. And then using the term ‘genocidal,’” she said. “I know the other terms that is a preference is ‘Fulani militants’ as opposed to ‘herdsmen.’ If we are going to be using a common vernacular, those are some points that I would make.” Pastor Bakfwash, a panelist who himself was kidnapped twice by Fulani militants, slammed the Nigerian federal government for not doing its due diligence to figure out who is behind the attacks. “There must be a deliberate attempt to find out who and who are exactly behind what is going in Nigeria,” he said. “If helicopters can be sighted in the community, helicopters are not owned by ordinary citizens. It’s not a motorbike or a bicycle. It is owned by rich individuals or companies. Somebody rich is responsible. These kinds of individuals can be found. If there is a helicopter flying in, there must be a camera somewhere where the government can identify. A helicopter does not show itself and disappear. No, it uses airspace. Someone must be controlling that airspace and he or she knows where the ... chopper is coming from.” Buwalda stressed that her organization desires to see the ICC take up such an investigation and encouraged other organizations to submit their data and research to the ICC. “The U.S. government relies on organizations but it has really no clout to impose anything on Nigeria,” she said. “Nigeria is a member of the Rome Statute. So Nigeria has been under investigation now for nearly 10 years. Other organizations over the course of the 10 years have presented reports. I think it is vital for every organization to put forward documented reports.” Earlier this week, Former Nigeria President Olusegun Obasanjo sent an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, asking him to create an open forum to address the insecurity plaguing Nigeria. © July 2019 The Christian Post. All Rights Reserved.

After series of delays, two sides sign accord creating governing body with talks ongoing for constitutional declaration. Sudan's ruling generals and an alliance of opposition groups signed an accord on Wednesday creating a transitional power-sharing body after weeks of negotiations and deadly protests. The deal is aimed at breaking the political deadlock that has gripped the country since the toppling of President Omar al-Bashir in April. The two sides signed the document after intense overnight talks in the capital, Khartoum, over the details of an agreement reached earlier this month to establish a joint military-civilian sovereign council that will rule the country by rotation. The 22-clause accord, seen by Al Jazeera, said the 11-member governing body will rule the country for just over three years, after which elections will be held. The military appears to have the upper hand following tense negotiations and a deadly crackdown last month, in which security forces violently dispersed the protesters' main sit-in outside the military headquarters. Protest organisers say security forces killed at least 128 people. Authorities put the death toll at 61, including three members of the military. The two sides have agreed on a Sudanese investigation into the violence, but have yet to outline its scope. The body will have a total of six civilians, including five from the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) and five soldiers from the Transitional Military Council (TMC). The body will be headed by a general during the first 21 months of the transition, followed by a civilian for the remaining 18 months. The umbrella protest movement will nominate the prime minister, who will name a cabinet of 20 ministers, excluding the interior and defence ministers, the accord said. Soldiers on the council will appoint the two officials. The TMC and the protest movement are still negotiating over a much more contentious document, the constitutional declaration, which is expected to be signed on Friday, according to an African Union mediator. Salah Eddin Elzein, a Sudanese political affairs analyst, told Al Jazeera there's "a lot of work to be done". "Most of the sticking points were supposed to be addressed in the constitutional declaration," he said. "Hopefully by the beginning of next week we'll at least have this step behind us and move forward to announce the sovereign body and the cabinet and start the actual work of the new era," he added. Having underwent three transitions in the last six decades - one from colonial to national rule, and the other two from military dictatorships to short-lived democracies - Sudan is no stranger to government transitions, Elzein said. "[This agreement] will set a precedent that we can have a transition jointly managed by the military and the civilians," he said. 'Obstacles to overcome' Al Jazeera's Hiba Morgan said while the signing of the accord on Wednesday was significant, "there are still a lot of obstacles to overcome", referring to the more controversial constitutional declaration. "The political document doesn't mention what roles the sovereign council and the cabinet will have - that will be defined in the constitutional declaration, which is going to be the core of the transitional agreement," she said from Addis Ababa in neighbouring Ethiopia. Authorities in Sudan shut down Al Jazeera's Khartoum bureau and banned its journalists from reporting from the country. "There is also the issue of immunity. The TMC had asked for immunity for the members of the sovereign and executive council, which is something the FFC does not want because they largely represent the protesters on the streets… [who are] demanding justice and accountability. "If they give in to that demand, there are concerns among the opposition coalition that they will lose their supporters on the ground." As the two sides held talks on the power-sharing deal, a key protest group said it opposed giving the military "absolute immunity" against prosecution for violence targeting demonstrators. "We refuse absolute immunity that the military rulers have asked for," Ismail al-Taj, spokesman for the Sudanese Professionals Association, told reporters in Khartoum. 'Huge achievement' The TMC and the opposition coalition have been wrangling for weeks over what form Sudan's transitional government should take after the military deposed al-Bashir on April 11 in the wake of months-long mass protests against his 30-year autocrat rule. Protesters remained in the streets following al-Bashir's toppling, fearing the generals intended to cling to power or preserve some form of authoritarian rule. Long-stalled talks between the TMC and the opposition alliance collapsed after the deadly dispersal of a protest camp in Khartoum on June 3. Direct talks were later revived after mediation efforts by the African Union and Ethiopia. "The signing of the document is a huge achievement representing a very decisive step towards an all-inclusive agreement amongst all the forces in Sudan," Mohammed el-Hassan Labat, African Union special envoy, told reporters after the signing ceremony. "It ushers a new era and paves the way for the upcoming step … [which involves] consideration and deliberations over the constitutional document for the transitional period." 'Government for all' Addressing the same press conference, TMC deputy head Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is also the head of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group blamed by protesters for the June 3 crackdown, described the signing of the document as an "historic moment" for Sudan. "It is a new era of partnership between the brave armed forces and our partners in the FFC alliance and the Sudanese people," he said. "This document is the fruit of the efforts of the Sudanese people and us, as well." Opposition leader Ibrahim al-Amin, meanwhile, said the upcoming government will be for "all the Sudanese, without any discrimination". "We have suffered enough from totalitarian dictatorial regimes that have enslaved the people and devoured our riches. It is clear from the attitude of the signatories of this document that they will address and deal with all the Sudanese people on equal footing, allowing each and every citizen to contribute in rebuilding our country." © July 2019 Al Jazeera. All Rights Reserved.

Examining what led to the massacre of thousands of Bosnian Muslims, on the 24th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. July 11 marks the 24th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, the worst atrocity on European soil since the Holocaust. In July, 1995, Serb forces systematically killed more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys in the so-called UN-protected enclave in Srebrenica, Bosnia. But what led to the massacre? In the nineties, genocide scholar Gregory H Stanton, an American, examined the stages of genocide, which eventually became his "10 stages of genocide" theory. Genocide is not committed by a small group of individuals, rather a large number of people and the state all contribute to genocide. At each stage preventive measures can stop the situation from deteriorating further, Stanton noted. Bosnian-Australian anthropologist Hariz Halilovic later added an eleventh stage particular to Bosnia's case - "trumphalism". Here is how Stanton's 10 stages - and Halilovic's eleventh - relate to the Srebrenicagenocide: Stages 1, 2, 3: Classification, symbolization and discrimination The idea of a Greater Serbia (including the territories of Bosnia, Kosovo, Croatia, Montenegro and other neighbouring countries) dates back to the 19th century, and was revived following the death of Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito in 1980. With the decline of the Communist bloc, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and Serbian nationalists saw a chance to mobilise the masses in support of establishing a homogenous Serbian state. In Milosevic's famous address to a crowd in Belgrade in 1989, he presented himself as the savior of Serbdom and Europe. It enforced the notion of "us [Serbs] vs them". Bosniaks were typically called Turks, Balije (a slur for a Bosnian Muslim) and branded as terrorists and Islamic "extremists". Stage 4: Dehumanisation Many Serbs dehumanised Bosniaks, regarding them as little more than Muslims who posed a threat to the Serbian hegemonist project. "In order to mobilise domestic public opinion against the Muslims and to justify future acts against them in the eyes of the West, the Serbian leadership needed an image of Islam as a totalitarian, inherently violent, and culturally alien system on European soil," writes Fikret Karcic, professor at the University of Sarajevo, in his paper "Distorted Images of Islam: the case of former Yugoslavia." "Such a distorted image had been provided by some influential Serbian orientalists, the Orthodox Church, and some historians." Stage 5: Organisation A plan to destroy Bosnia and "completely exterminate its Muslim people" was drawn up as early as the 1980s by the General Staff of the Yugoslav People's Army, according to Vladimir Srebrov, a politician who cofounded the SDS party with convicted Bosnian Serb war criminal Radovan Karadzic. Known as the famous RAM (frame) plan, its aim was to carve up Bosnia into a Greater Serbia and a Greater Croatia. In the plan, the officers explained how artillery, ammunition and military equipment would be stored in strategic locations in Croatia and Bosnia. A secret police force was planned for arming and training local Serbs to create police and paramilitary units in Bosnia. One document, written by the army's special services including experts in psychological warfare, stated that the most effective way to create terror and panic among the Bosniak population would be by raping women, minors, and even children. Stage 6: Polarisation Serbian and Bosnian Serb media regularly broadcasted polarising propaganda, to dehumanise victims and marginalise the opposition to war. In one case, while Serb forces held Sarajevo under siege, state-run Belgrade TV aired a false story intended to fuel hatred, including the line: "Muslim extremists have come up with the most horrifying way in the world of torturing people. Last night they fed the Serb children to the lions in the city's zoo." This was reported on the evening news and was watched by several million viewers. Stage 7: Preparation Organised from Belgrade, Serbia, weapons were distributed to the Serb population by the truckload throughout 1990 and 1991 in Bosnia. "Weapons and military equipment were even flown in by military helicopters to Serbian military officers. It is said that by the end, almost no Serbian house was without an automatic gun," according to a UN report from 1994. "The pretext for the arms deliveries and the rearmament was that this was necessary for the defence against 'the enemies of the people' - the Muslim extremists." Stage 8: Persecution Across Bosnia, influential, intellectual Bosniaks were often among the first to be executed, with their names drawn up in death lists. As Serb troops arrived in each town, they killed non-Serbs, often after torturing them. Bosniak properties were confiscated. As many as 50,000 Bosniak and Croat women, girls and young children were raped in Bosnia from 1992- 1995. In Prijedor, a city in western Bosnia, Bosniaks were forced to wear white armbands to be clearly identified and tie white flags to their doors. Across the country 200,000 people were deported to concentration camps where they were tortured, starved and killed. Others living under siege, such as in Sarajevo and Mostar, starved while being targeted by snipers and heavy shelling. Srebrenica, which was known as the world's biggest detention camp, was under siege for three years, before it fell to Bosnian Serb forces in July 1995. Serb troops separated boys and men aged between 12 and 77 from the rest of the population and took them to fields, schools and warehouses to be executed. Stage 9: Extermination On July 11 at 16:15 General Ratko Mladic (now a convicted war criminal) entered Srebrenica with Serb forces, including paramilitary units from Serbia, claiming the town for Serbs. Strolling through the streets with the TV cameras rolling, Mladic announced that there will be "revenge against the Turks". Ratko Mladic sentenced to life in prison for genocide Panicked residents in the enclave fled to the UN Dutch Battalion base only to find that the 400 lightly-armed peacekeepers were unable to defend them. Serb forces had inherited much larger resources of the former Yugoslav army, the fourth largest in the world at the time. On that day, thousands of Bosniak men start to make their escape through the woods, forming a column and hiking some 100km in an attempt to reach free territory controlled by the Bosnian army. The journey was known as the death march, as they were ambushed, shot at and attacked by Serb forces. Less than a quarter of them survived. Over the course of six days, more than 8,000 Bosniaks were killed. Women and small children were deported. Stage 10: Denial In an attempt to conceal the killings, Serb forces transported the dead bodies with bulldozers and trucks and buried them in numerous locations, leaving the victims' remains fragmented and crushed. Human bones can be found as far as 20km apart, making it difficult for families to give their loved ones a proper burial. According to an Al Jazeera Balkans poll from 2018, 66 percent of Serbs in Republika Srpska deny the genocide. Genocide denial is common in academic and political circles in Republika Srpska and Serbia. The genocide is vehemently denied by politicians including Milorad Dodik, the current chairman and Serb member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency and by Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic. "[Denial] is among the surest indicators of further genocidal massacres," Stanton wrote. Stage 11: Triumphalism Convicted war criminals today are respected and honoured as war heroes. According to the 2018 poll, 74 percent of Serbs in Republika Srpska consider Bosnian Serb convicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic, guilty of genocide and war crimes to be a hero. © July 2019 Al Jazeera. All Rights Reserved.

Roberta Kaplan seeks to deprive supremacist groups of free speech protections by proving incitement to violence, and deter them with massive financial penalties in a civil suit WASHINGTON (JTA) — It’s not the speech, it’s the conspiracy. Roberta Kaplan, the lead counsel on one case that changed US history — upholding the rights of same-sex spouses — wants to make history again and scare white nationalists intent on violence into thinking again. Government efforts to confront the rise of white supremacism have been inhibited over the last decade by free speech considerations: However vile the expressions of people who express hatred toward Jews, blacks and other minorities, the argument goes, the expressions are speech protected under the First Amendment. Free speech protections are why the American Civil Liberties Union stepped in ahead of the August 12, 2017, neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville and sued on behalf of the marchers to assemble at their preferred venue, a park in the center of the Virginia university town. The march turned deadly. Kaplan, reviewing the evidence in its aftermath, saw in online conversations between the organizers not speech, but a conspiracy to commit deadly violence. “They intended for violence to happen, it did happen and they celebrated it,” Kaplan told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in a recent interview. “I think it is important for Americans to hear what these men and groups did, what they intended to do, how they celebrated and what a grave threat to our system they are.” Kaplan and another lawyer, Karen Dunn, are leading a team that has sued 25 of the alleged organizers of the Charlottesville violence under post-Civil War statutes that cracked down on Ku Klux Klan terrorism in the South aimed at keeping blacks from exercising their newly acquired civil rights. A 1983 amendment to the Ku Klux Klan Act, an 1871 law, allows victims of the terrorism to sue for monetary compensation, not just the government. Their suit, known as Sines v. Kessler, essentially says the defendants used websites and other social media not just to share protected free speech, but to coordinate and plan the racially motivated violence that occurred at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville. “The Defendants in our case used various forms of social media to coordinate their illegal conspiracy to commit racialized violence in Charlottesville in August 2017,” Kaplan said in a statement in February after a judge said Twitter and other platforms must turn over material. A nongovernmental organization has raised $10 million toward paying the costs, an official of the group told JTA, and is still fundraising. Integrity First for America, according to its website, is “dedicated to holding those accountable who threaten longstanding principles of our democracy — including our country’s commitment to civil rights and equal justice.” But for now its only brief is the Charlottesville case. Amy Spitalnick, the group’s executive director, in recent months has explained the lawsuit in Jewish forums, including to the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and the American Jewish Committee. Using subpoenas, Kaplan’s team has obtained reams of information. Although part of the legal work by a team of about 12 lawyers is pro bono, there are steep costs involved in sorting through the material and preparing incriminating statements for use throughout the process, as well as the price of security for the lawyers. Spitalnick said the lawsuit was critical, especially because the government during the Trump administration has rolled back efforts to track and prevent white supremacist violence. (The Department of Justice has chosen not to sue the Charlottesville defendants under the same 1871 Klan law.) “The infrastructure that’s meant to address this sort of thing has actively been dismantled,” Spitalnick said. The point is not to make the 10 plaintiffs rich, Kaplan said. It’s to create a disincentive for anyone to carry out the violence again. “One point of this case is to make it clear to anyone considering this, if you do that, there will be very large judgments against you that will follow you until they are paid,” she said, noting that it is unlikely plaintiffs will be able to collect, in part because some of the defendants are in hiding and others are broke. “Our hope is that will act as a deterrent for people to engage in organized racialized violence.” Kaplan, Dunn and other lawyers involved very much want the case to come to trial and have the same impact as other high-profile cases. Kaplan cites the Scopes Monkey Trial of the 1920s, which turned into a national lesson on evolution, and the Proposition 8 case, that together with the lawsuit she took to the Supreme Court (and won in 2013) on behalf of a Jewish woman, Edie Windsor, helped turn American opinion around on gay marriage. The 112-page complaint, which was filed in October 2017, reads less like a legal document and more like one of those book-length reconstructions of actual events, where the reader knows the awful outcome and still turns each page. (Norman Moon, the US District Court judge considering the case, said in a separate filing that the complaint’s length is “pushing the limits” of federal requirements, but allowed it.) The complaint, in spare language, forcefully makes the case that ideology and actions are inextricable. “Defendants brought with them to Charlottesville the imagery of the Holocaust, of slavery, of Jim Crow and of fascism,” it says. “They also brought with them semiautomatic weapons, pistols, mace, rods, armor, shields and torches.” The plaintiffs got a break when Unicorn Riot, an alternative media site, posted hacked exchanges between the plaintiffs on Discord, a chat site for gamers. Kaplan selected individual defendants based on chat room evidence of their having organized the violence in Charlottesville. “Everyone we sued as a defendant in the case was pretty involved in the intricate planning of what happened,” Kaplan said. Among the 25 defendants are Jason Kessler, who with ACLU assistance secured the permit for the protest against plans to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee; Richard Spencer, who coined the term “alt-right” and founded a “think tank” propagating white nationalist ideas; Andrew Anglin, the publisher of the neo-Nazi site The Daily Stormer; and James Fields, who was sentenced to life in prison for the car-ramming attack that killed a counter-protester, Heather Heyer, and injured 20 others. Also named are the white supremacist groups Identity Evropa, Traditional Worker’s Party, League of the South and iterations of the Ku Klux Klan whose members were present. A range of channels Kessler and a colleague set up on Discord run from the practical (“lodging_wanted,” “shuttle_service_information”) to the ideological (“dixie-lyrics”) to the tactical (“gear_and_attire,” “safety_planning”). On page 76 of the complaint, the plaintiffs note that a co-conspirator, identified only as Tyrone, in a channel called “virginia_laws” nearly a month before rally asks: “Is it legal to run over protesters blocking roadways? I’m NOT just shitposting. I would like clarification.” On page 77, it notes that on the day of the rally, “at approximately 1:40 pm, in furtherance of the conspiracy, Defendant Fields drove his Dodge Challenger onto Fourth Street, idled for a moment while his vehicle faced the peaceful protesters, and then deliberately accelerated into the crowd.” Judge Moon has dismissed filings from multiple defendants who want the case dismissed on the basis of freedom of speech and gun rights. Spencer, filing for himself — he has said he could not find a lawyer willing to represent him — argued that the complaint weaves together “scattered” statements and acts and without foundation attaches to them “sinister motives.” He calls the complaint “lawfare,” the practice of using the courts to punish and silence a political opponent. The 10 plaintiffs also were strategically chosen to represent the scope of the alleged targets. Among them are Rev. Seth Wispelwey, a pastor allegedly assaulted during the protests who has since suffered PTSD; Marcus Martin, an African-American man who was injured when he moved to push his fiance out of the way of Fields’ car; and Hannah Pearce, a member of the city’s Congregation Beth Israel, who allegedly was harassed, intimidated and assaulted during and after the event. Kaplan said that she and her office staff watched Charlottesville unfold watching TV sitting on folding chairs on August 12, 2017 (she had just moved into new offices in the Empire State Building) and within days she was in the town seeking appropriate plaintiffs. That’s when she understood that the case could be best made under anti-conspiracy laws. (Moon for now has dismissed the complaints filed by Pearce, the Jewish woman who was hit by a “foul liquid” and who wore a Star of David and a carried a rainbow flag while protesting against the neo-Nazi march. He has concluded that she, alone out of the 10 plaintiffs, “has not sufficiently alleged her injuries were caused by overt acts committed in connection with Defendants’ conspiracy.”) Kaplan said her Jewish identity drives her in this case, just like in the Windsor ruling. She celebrated that victory with a sermon she delivered at her Manhattan synagogue, Congregation Beth Simchat Torah. “It’s pretty hard to shock me, and the one thing that I found in this case to be really quite shocking is that while all these defendants hate blacks and LGBT, are not thrilled with Hispanics and women, the one element that is their raison d’etre is anti-Semitism,” she said. Kaplan’s wife is related by marriage to Sigmund Warburg, the prominent German Jewish businessman who said dismissively of the Nazis in 1930, “once they are in government they will immediately become, first, more sensible and, secondly, once again less popular.” She said she is reminded constantly of Warburg and his unfounded certainties watching current events in the United States, including recent arson attacks on synagogues in Chicago and Boston. “These are not one-off events,” she said. “It’s part of a much larger crisis of anti-Semitism and racism and violent hate.” © July 2019 The Times of Israel. All Rights Reserved.

International court forms bench to look into request for probing Myanmar's deportation of Rohingya Muslims ANKARA A Rohingya group Thursday called for an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into Myanmar’s crimes against humanity after an ICC prosecutor announced her intent to submit a request to probe deportation of Rohingya Muslims. The ICC said that it assigned a three-judge panel to hear prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s request to open an investigation into the Rohingyas' deportation from Myanmar. On the ICC move, Dr. Hla Kyaw, chairman of the European Rohingya Council, told Anadolu Agency that “the ICC has jurisdiction [to probe] this crime as Bangladesh is a member of the ICC” even if Myanmar is a not a member of the global court. Kyaw's remarks came after Bensouda said that she would seek permission from ICC judges to investigate crimes that had “at least one element” in Bangladesh. Dubbing the ICC move “a big step” to bring justice to the Rohingya victims of Myanmar’s atrocity, Kyaw criticized the court for slow motion in fulfilling its responsibilities. “We would like to see the ICC fulfilling its responsibilities as fast as possible so that Myanmar’s generals responsible for the crimes get a message that they will be persecuted,” he said. If granted, the ICC would become the first international court to look into atrocities against the Rohingya Muslim minority of Buddhist-majority Myanmar. Kyaw said that Myanmar, in an expected response, has “already rejected the court’s decision”. “Myanmar military’s lengthy list of the atrocity which happened solely in its territory including genocide and war crimes demands a quick UN Security Council referral to ICC. Only then full justice to victims could be achieved,” the rights defender said. 'No escape' from Myanmar crimes Nay San Lwin, the coordinator of Free Rohingya Coalition, said that since Myanmar is not a signatory of Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, “we need a referral from the UNSC”. “But unfortunately, the UNSC has been dead for long time. The UN needs to abolish the veto system which is supporting impunity,” he argued. “Regardless of UNSC’s referral, the ICC can still go ahead as it is clear that about 750,000 Rohingyas were forcibly deported to Bangladesh, a signatory of ICC,” he added. “Myanmar can’t escape for this crime even not a signatory,” he said. Dr. Maung Zarni, a fellow of the Genocide Documentation Center of Cambodia and a Burmese coordinator of Free Rohingya Coalition, said he believed a “full investigation will take place”. “[It is] simply because the type, quality and volume of judicially admissible evidence is simply overwhelming for any prosecutor to want to go the whole nine yard, that is to aim to get to a full trial, post-full investigation,” he added. 'All crimes of Myanmar military should be investigated' Talking to Anadolu Agency, Tun Khin, president of UK-based Burmese Rohingya Organization said that the latest ICC move to open an investigation should "cause them [Myanmar] to sit up and pay attention". The court decision "would bring us a step closer to ensuring justice for atrocities against the Rohingya and would send a clear message to the Tatmadaw [Miyanmar's military] that they will be held to account," he added. "But the investigation would only look into some of the crimes committed against the Rohingya, and wouldn’t examine military atrocities against ethnic groups in other parts of the country... All of the Tatmadaw’s many crimes should be investigated and those responsible – including those with command responsibility – be held to account." "It doesn’t appear that the military’s long list of other crimes -- genocide, murder, rape and sexual violence, enforced disappearance -- would be included, which is why a full referral is needed," he stressed. "The arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice, and justice will come to the perpetrators of these appalling crimes," Khin said, adding that the authorities of Buddhist-majority country "think they are above the law". According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, escaped Myanmar and crossed over into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community in August 2017. Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA). Some 18,000 Rohingya women and girls were raped by Myanmar’s army and police and over 115,000 Rohingya homes were burned down and 113,000 others vandalized, it added. © June 2019 Anadolu Agency. All Rights Reserved.

*En Français ci dessous* The Hon. Chrystia Freeland, PC, MP Minister of Foreign Affairs 125 Sussex Drive Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0G2 Dear Minister Freehand, June 25, 2019 We, the undersigned senators and civil society leaders, write this letter to urge Canada to take immediate action on the ongoing genocide against the Rohingya people in Myanmar by initiating proceedings before the International Court of Justice. There are now almost 1 million Rohingya refugees who have fled to Bangladesh. As of March 2019, Bangladesh advised the UN Security Council that it will no longer be accepting Rohingya refugees fleeing from Myanmar. For the Rohingya, it is clear that the situation is only worsening. In his 2018 report “Tell them we’re human”: what Canada and the world can do about theRohingya crisis / report of the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy, the Honourable Bob Rae notes,“it is a fundamental tenet of Canada’s foreign policy that those responsible for internationalcrimes, including crimes against humanity and genocide, must be held responsible for thosecrimes.” As concerned parliamentarians and members of civil society, we strongly believe thatthose responsible for the genocide against the Rohingya must be held to account by the international community. We firmly believe that Canada is in a position to exercise strong and effective global leadership in response to the genocide by pursuing this matter before the International Court of Justice. As you know, in September 2018 both the House of Commons and the Senate unanimouslypassed MP Andrew Leslie’s Motion recognizing the Rohingya situation as genocide. On April 3,2019, Senator McPhedran gave notice in the Senate that she would move Motion 476 to Urge the Government to Invoke the Genocide Convention to Hold Myanmar to its Obligations and to Seek Provisional Measures and Reparations for the Rohingya People. This motion was developed inconsultation with civil society and academic experts to reiterate Canada’s commitment to humanrights through concrete action to be taken with regard to the genocidal campaign by Myanmar against the Rohingya. Senate Motion 476 reinforces the request made in a letter to you from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and other Crimes Against Humanity dated May 29, 2019, which called for Canada to initiate legal proceedings before theInternational Court of Justice in regard to Myanmar’s breach of the UN Convention on thePrevention and Punishment of Genocide. Senator McPhedran moved and spoke to Motion 476 in the Senate on April 11, 2019. In May 2019, Senators Omidvar, Ataullahjan, Ravalia and Cordy spoke in support and the Senateaccepted an amendment by Senator Ravalia to delete the words “to release the jailed Reuters journalists, and” from Motion 476 because fortunately those journalists were released while the motion was being debated. However, since Senator Yonah Martin took the adjournment on May 16, 2019, there has been no further debate on Motion 476, despite numerous attempts. With the summer recess of Parliament looming, Senator McPhedran, Professor Irwin Cotler, Montreal City Councillor Marvin Rotrand, and civil society leaders Mr. Fareed Kahn of theRohingya Human Rights Network and Ms. Catherine Morris of Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada held a press conference on June 13th explaining the urgent need for the Senate to pass Motion 476. It was hoped that publicly expressing concerns of parliamentarians, academics, municipalities, and civil society would serve as an important reminder that Canadians have not forgotten about the ongoing genocide against the Rohingya and that Canadians welcome decisive leadership by our Government to follow the words of the September 2018 joint House/Senate motion with action to challenge the impunity currently enjoyed by the perpetrator state of Myanmar. Minister Freeland, as you well know, the joint parliamentary motion in September 2018 made Canada the first country in the world to officially name this genocide. With this open letter, we urge the Government of Canada to take the next step of invoking the Genocide Convention to hold Myanmar accountable, because it is both our moral and legal obligation to do so. We thank you for your attention to this important matter. Sincerely, The Hon. Raynell Andreychuk, Senator for Saskatchewan The Hon. Jane Cordy, Senator for Nova Scotia The Hon. Mobina Jaffer, Senator for British Columbia The Hon. Paul Massicotte, Senator for Quebec (De Lanaudière) The Hon. Lillian Dyck, Senator for Saskatchewan The Hon. Elaine McCoy, Senator for Alberta The Hon. Larry Campbell, Senator for British Columbia The Hon. Yonah Martin, Senator for British Columbia The Hon. Salma Ataullahjan, Senator for Ontario (Toronto) The Hon. Larry Smith, Senator for Quebec (Saurel) The Hon. Jean-Guy Dagenais, Senator for Quebec (Victoria) The Hon. Paul McIntyre, Senator for New Brunswick The Hon. Frances Lankin, P.C., Senator for Ontario The Hon. Ratna Omidvar, Senator for Ontario The Hon. Raymonde Gagné, Senator for Manitoba The Hon. Diane Griffin, Senator for Prince Edward Island The Hon. Gwen Boniface, Senator for Ontario The Hon. Wanda Thomas Bernard, Senator for Nova Scotia The Hon. Lucie Moncion, Senator for Ontario The Hon. Kim Pate, Senator for Ontario The Hon. Marilou McPhedran, Senator for Manitoba The Hon. Tony Dean, Senator for Ontario The Hon. Éric Forest, Senator for Quebec (Gulf) The Hon. Raymonde Saint-Germain, Senator for Quebec (De la Vallière) The Hon. Marc Gold, Senator for Quebec (Stadacona) The Hon. Rosa Galvez, Senator for Quebec (Bedford) The Hon. Mary Coyle, Senator for Nova Scotia (Antigonish) The Hon. Marty Deacon, Senator for Ontario (Waterloo Region) The Hon. Yvonne Boyer, Senator for Ontario The Hon. Colin Deacon, Senator for Nova Scotia The Hon. Julie Miville-Dechêne, Senator for Quebec (Inkerman) The Hon. Bev Busson, Senator for British Columbia The Hon. Paula Simons, Senator for Alberta The Hon. Rosemary Moodie, Senator for Ontario Civil society organizations: Arakan Historical Society Burmese Muslim Association Calgary Karen Community Association Canadian Council of Muslim Women Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East Canadians in Support of Refugees in Dire Need Canadian Rohingya Development Initiative Canadians United Against Hate Edmonton Karen Community Association Human Rights Research and Education Centre, University of Ottawa Innerspeak Media Inter Pares Karen Community of Canada Karen Community of Hamilton Karen Community of Leamington Karen Community of Lethbridge Karen Community of London Karen Community of Ottawa Karen Community of Regina Karen Community of Saskatoon Karen Community Society of British Columbia Karen Community of Toronto Karen Community of Winnipeg Law Society of Ontario Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada Mae Sot Education Project Magrath's International Legal Counsel Menno Simons College, Canadian Mennonite University Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies National Union of Public and General Employees Nobel Women’s Initiative Peacemakers Trust Project Umbrella Burma Quebec Movement for Peace Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights Rohingya Activists Rohingya Association of Canada Rohingya Human Rights Network Rohingya ROSE FC Samuels & Co. Save Rohingya World Wide Shaarei-Beth El Congregation Thunder Bay Karen Community Association YWCA Canada As individuals: Abu Bakkar Siddik Aliya Khan Areeba Munawar Asie Uhlla Aslam Bulbulia Aung Kyaw Htet Brandon Silver Brian Rowe Catherine Morris Dean E. Peachey Elizabeth Lee Enam Ullah Fareed Khan Fareed Uddin Fiona Jeyachandran Frances Deverell Gail Davidson Gloriana Arnesto Hanna Bokhari The Hon. Irwin Cotler, Former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Jenny Reid Jodi Dueck-Read Joey Doyle Professor John Packer Jon Sears Joshua Lam K’Nyaw Htoo Karima Hefnawi Professor Kathleen Mahoney Kawli Mullah Kirt Mausert Kyle Matthews Dr. Laura Madokoro Laurel McBride Mary Purkey Michael Luce Mohammed Ayub bin Mohamed Muhd yunus Bin Nazir Ahamed Neil Funk-Unrau Nisha Toomey Paul A. Turcot Paul Copeland, C.M. Professor Payam Akhavan Peter Goodspeed Rabbi Raysh Weiss Renee Mulligan Dr. Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann Rod Germaine Dr. Ross Michael Pink Sarrah Virji Sharjil Hussain, MD Professor Sharry Aiken Reverend Steve Berube Susan Breau Susan Hartley Yasmin Asgarali Glassford Yuriko Cowper-Smith Zartasha Zainab En français: L’hon. Chrystia Freeland, CP, députée Ministre des Affaires étrangères 125 Sussex Drive Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0G2 Chère Ministre Freeland, Le 25 juin 2019 Nous, sénateurs et leaders de la société civile soussignés, écrivons cette lettre pour exhorter le Canada à prendre des mesures immédiates concernant le génocide en cours contre le peuple Rohingya au Myanmar en engageant des poursuites devant la Cour internationale de justice. Près d'un million de réfugiés rohingyas ont fui au Bangladesh. En mars 2019, le Bangladesh avait informé le Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies qu'il n'accepterait plus les réfugiés Rohingya fuyant le Myanmar. Pour les Rohingya, il est clair que la situation ne fait que s'aggraver. Dans son rapport de 2018 intitulé « Dites-leur que nous sommes humains » : ce que Canada et lemonde peuvent faire au sujet de la crise des Rohingyas / rapport de l’envoyé spécial du premier ministre, l’honorable Bob Rae, souligne que « c'est un principe fondamental de la politique étrangère du Canada : les responsables de crimes internationaux, y compris les crimes contre l'humanité et le génocide, doivent en être tenus responsables ». En tant que parlementaires et membres de la société civile concernés, nous sommes fermement convaincus que les responsables du génocide contre les Rohingya doivent être tenus responsables par la communauté internationale. Nous sommes fermement convaincus que le Canada est en mesured’exercer un leadership fort et efficace à l’échelle mondiale en réponse au génocide enpoursuivant cette affaire devant la Cour internationale de justice. Comme vous le savez, en septembre 2018, la Chambre des Communes et le Sénat ont adopté àl’unanimité la motion du député Andrew Leslie reconnaissant la situation des Rohingya commeun génocide. Le 3 avril 2019, la sénatrice McPhedran a annoncé au Sénat qu'elle présenterait laMotion 476 tendant à exhorter le gouvernement à invoquer la Convention sur le génocide afind’obliger le Myanmar à respecter ses obligations et à trouver des solutions qui permettront deréparer les torts causés au peuple rohingya. Cette motion a été élaborée en consultation avec des experts de la société civile et du monde universitaire afin de réaffirmer l’engagement du Canada en faveur des droits de la personne par le biais d’actions concrètes à mener dans le cadre de lacampagne de génocide menée par le Myanmar contre les Rohingya. La motion 476 du Sénat renforce la demande formulée dans une lettre du 29 mai 2019 du Groupe parlementaire multipartite pour la prévention du génocide et autres crimes contre l'humanité, demandant au Canada d'entamer des procédures judiciaires devant la Cour internationale de Justice en ce qui concerne la violation par le Myanmar de la Convention des Nations Unies sur la prévention et la répression du génocide. La sénatrice McPhedran a présenté la motion 476 au Sénat le 11 avril 2019. En mai 2019, les sénateurs Omidvar, Ataullahjan, Ravalia et Cordy ont exprimé leur soutien et le Sénat a accepté un amendement du sénateur Ravalia visant à supprimer les mots « pour libérer les journalistes de Reuters incarcérés, et » de la motion 476 parce que, heureusement, ces journalistes ont été relâchés pendant le débat sur la motion. Cependant, depuis que la sénatrice Yonah Martin a prisl’ajournement le 16 mai 2019, la motion 476 n'a plus été débattue, malgré de nombreuses tentatives. À l'approche des vacances parlementaires, la sénatrice McPhedran, le professeur Irwin Cotler, le conseiller municipal de Montréal, Marvin Rotrand, et les leaders de la société civile, M. Fareed Kahn du Réseau des droits de la personne Rohingya, et Mme Catherine Morris, de Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada, ont tenu une conférence de presse le 13 juin expliquant la nécessité urgente pour le Sénat d'adopter la motion 476. On espérait que le fait d'exprimer publiquement ses préoccupations auprès des parlementaires, des universitaires, des municipalités et de la société civile servirait de rappel important que les canadiens n'ont pas oublié le génocide en cours contre les rohingyas et que les canadiens souhaitent que le gouvernement fasse preuve de détermination pour suivre les paroles de la motion conjointe de la Chambre des Communes et du Sénat de septembre 2018 et lutte contre l'impunité dont jouit actuellement l'État du Myanmar, l'auteur des crimes. Madame la ministre, comme vous le savez bien, la motion parlementaire conjointe de septembre 2018 a fait du Canada le premier pays au monde à nommer officiellement ce génocide. Avec cette lettre ouverte, nous exhortons le gouvernement du Canada à passer à la prochaine étape en invoquant la Convention sur le génocide afin de tenir le Myanmar responsable, car nous avons l'obligation morale et juridique de le faire. Nous vous remercions de l'attention que vous portez à cette question importante. Cordialement, L’hon. Raynell Andreychuk, sénatrice pour la Saskatchewan L’hon. Jane Cordy, sénatrice pour la Nouvelle-Écosse L’hon. Mobina Jaffer, sénatrice pour la Colombie-Britannique L’hon. Paul Massicotte, sénateur pour le Québec (De Lanaudière) L’hon. Lillian Dyck, sénatrice pour la Saskatchewan L’hon. Elaine McCoy, sénatrice pour l’Alberta L’hon. Larry Campbell, sénateur pour la Colombie-Britannique L’hon. Yonah Martin, sénatrice pour la Colombie-Britannique L’hon. Salma Ataullahjan, sénatrice pour l’Ontario (Toronto) L’hon. Larry Smith, sénateur pour le Québec (Saurel) L’hon. Jean-Guy Dagenais, sénateur pour le Québec (Victoria) L’hon. Paul McIntyre, sénateur pour le Nouveau-Brunswick L’hon. Frances Lankin, P.C., sénatrice pour l’Ontario L’hon. Ratna Omidvar, sénatrice pour l’Ontario L’hon. Raymonde Gagné, sénatrice pour le Manitoba L’hon. Diane Griffin, sénatrice pour l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard L’hon. Gwen Boniface, sénatrice pour l’Ontario L’hon. Wanda Thomas Bernard, sénatrice pour la Nouvelle-Écosse L’hon. Lucie Moncion, sénatrice pour l’Ontario L’hon. Kim Pate, sénatrice pour l’Ontario L’hon. Marilou McPhedran, sénatrice pour le Manitoba L’hon. Tony Dean, sénateur pour l’Ontario L’hon. Éric Forest, sénateur pour le Québec (Gulf) L’hon. Raymonde Saint-Germain, sénatrice pour le Québec (De la Vallière) L’hon. Marc Gold, sénateur pour le Québec (Stadacona) L’hon. Rosa Galvez, sénatrice pour le Québec (Bedford) L’hon. Mary Coyle, sénatrice pour la Nouvelle-Écosse (Antigonish) L’hon. Marty Deacon, sénateur pour l’Ontario (Waterloo Region) L’hon. Yvonne Boyer, sénatrice pour l’Ontario L’hon. Colin Deacon, sénateur pour la Nouvelle-Écosse L’hon. Julie Miville-Dechêne, sénatrice pour le Québec (Inkerman) L’hon. Bev Busson, sénatrice pour la Colombie-Britannique L’hon. Paula Simons, sénatrice pour l’Alberta L’hon. Rosemary Moodie, sénatrice pour l’Ontario Organisations de la société civile: Arakan Historical Society Barreau de l’Ontario Burmese Muslim Association Calgary Karen Community Association Canadiens pour la justice et la paix au Moyen-Orient Canadians in Support of Refugees in Dire Need Canadian Rohingya Development Initiative Canadians United Against Hate Centre de recherche et d'enseignement sur les droits de la personne, Université d’Ottawa Le conseil canadien des femmes musulmanes Edmonton Karen Community Association Innerspeak Media Inter Pares Karen Community of Canada Karen Community of Hamilton Karen Community of Leamington Karen Community of Lethbridge Karen Community of London Karen Community of Ottawa Karen Community of Regina Karen Community of Saskatoon Karen Community Society of British Columbia Karen Community of Toronto Karen Community of Winnipeg Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada Mae Sot Education Project Magrath's International Legal Counsel Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies Mouvement Québécois pour la Paix National Union of Public and General Employees Nobel Women’s Initiative Peacemakers Trust Project Umbrella Burma Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights Résau de droits de la personne Rohingya Rohingya Activists Rohingya Association of Canada Rohingya ROSE FC Samuels & Company Save Rohingya World Wide Shaarei-Beth El Congregation Thunder Bay Karen Community Association YWCA Canada Comme individus: Abu Bakkar Siddik Aliya Khan Areeba Munawar Asie Uhlla Aslam Bulbulia Aung Kyaw Htet Brandon Silver Brian Rowe Catherine Morris Dean E. Peachey Elizabeth Lee Enam Ullah Fareed Khan Fareed Uddin Fiona Jeyachandran Frances Deverell Gail Davidson Gloriana Arnesto Hanna Bokhari L’hon. Irwin Cotler, Ancien ministre de la Justice et procureur général du Canada Jenny Reid Jodi Dueck-Read Joey Doyle Professeur John Packer Jon Sears Joshua Lam K’Nyaw Htoo Karima Hefnawi Professeure Kathleen Mahoney Kawli Mullah Kirt Mausert Kyle Matthews Dr. Laura Madokoro Laurel McBride Mary Purkey Michael Luce Mohammed Ayub bin Mohamed Muhd yunus Bin Nazir Ahamed Neil Funk-Unrau Nisha Toomey Paul A. Turcot Paul Copeland, C.M. Professeur Payam Akhavan Peter Goodspeed Rabbi Raysh Weiss Renee Mulligan Dr. Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann Rod Germaine Dr. Ross Michael Pink Sarrah Virji Sharjil Hussain, MD Professeure Sharry Aiken Révérend Steve Berube Susan Breau Susan Hartley Yasmin Asgarali Glassford Yuriko Cowper-Smith Zartasha Zainab © June 2019. All Rights Reserved.

WFP spokesperson accuses Yemen's rebels of holding up a shipment destined to feed about 100,000 families. Yemen's Houthi rebels blocked a food shipment earmarked to feed 100,000 families in the impoverished nation that has been pushed to the brink of starvation by more than four years of war. A World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Tuesday the aid was prevented from reaching civilians after the UN body partially suspended relief efforts last week, accusing the rebels of looting it. The suspension follows a dispute over control of biometric data that WFP uses to ensure food aid was not being diverted from its intended recipients. The Houthis, who control northern Yemen, said the WFP's insistence on controlling the data breached Yemeni law and launched a fierce media campaign against the UN organisation, accusing it of sending spoiled food. The WFP spokesperson said the rebels blocked more than 8,000 tonnes of flour that was sent from the Red Sea port of Hodeidah. The Houthis claimed it was contaminated with dead insects. A subsequent check of the cargo, now docked in Oman, showed it was clean. 'Funding military operations' UN food chief David Beasley said on Friday that WFP estimated at least 10 percent of the $175m in monthly food aid it provided was being diverted in Houthi areas to help fund the conflict. Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in Yemen in 2015 to try to restore the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after the Houthis seized much of the country, including the capital Sanaa. Both parties in the four-year conflict, widely seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, have used access to aid and food as a political tool. "At this stage, you can clearly say the humanitarian system is funding military and political operations. We are independent, neutral, impartial and if we can can't guarantee that we shouldn't be there," Beasley said. "The entire humanitarian system is at stake here." The Yemen conflict has killed tens of thousands of people since March 2015, according to the World Health Organization. Fighting has triggered what the UN describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with 3.3 million people displaced and 24.1 million - more than two-thirds of the population - in need of aid. © June 2019 Al Jazeera. All Rights Reserved.

Farina So’s gripping monograph of the memories of Cham Muslim women after the Khmer Rouge opens Sya Taha’s eyes to their experiences. Stories of gender-based violence, especially in times of conflict, is nothing new. But what pulled me towards this book was the geopolitical situation and demographics of conflict: the Khmer Rouge regime (also known as Democratic Kampuchea) of 1975-1979, and women of the targeted minority group of Cham Muslims. The sober dark purple and black cover foretells the sinister atrocities that I am set to read about; stories told by Cham Muslim women about life under the Khmer Rouge regime. Based on the author’s master thesis at Ohio University, The Hijab of Cambodia is divided into five chapters. After an introduction and a first chapter explaining the historical background of the Cham Muslim community and the developments leading up to the Khmer Rouge regime in 1975, the book goes on to chronologically lay out the women’s stories according to three main themes: the women’s changing roles in the family, their attempts at preserving their religion and identity, and the forms of violence they faced Khmer Rouge regime The genocidal policies of the Khmer Rouge had the goal of homogenizing Cambodia’s population – to make everyone Khmer by silencing, killing, or forcing minority ethnic and religious groups to hide their identities, languages and religions. This was part of an overall plan for a utopian socialist and classless Cambodia that was based on mostly agricultural work, shunning capitalism and persecuting people who were deemed to be capitalist. Thus, the Khmer Rouge persecuted scholars, soldiers, doctors and others, and defrocked Buddhist monks – many were killed or sent to the battlefields. A distinctive desire to eliminate religion, in general, was manifested in the desecration of mosques and monasteries, and the burning of religious books like the Buddha Dharma doctrine and the Qur’an. Speaking to Stuart Alan Becker of the Phnom Penh Post, author Farina So surmises that two instances of Cham uprisings in late 1975 during Ramadan caused the Khmer Rouge to particularly target Cham Muslims for extermination.[i] As a result, many of the 500,000 to 700,000 Cham Muslims had to pretend to be Khmer, changed their names, and took special care to not speak the Cham language. Despite this, many of them were still killed. Acts of resistance The women’s stories are situated in the post-1975 period of forced evacuation to the countryside. Millions of people were deported to rural areas to undertake manual and agricultural work. Across these three themes of family, religion and violence, an overarching interest is the covert and overt forms of resistance enacted by Cham Muslim women, motivated by the desire to maintain their ethnic and religious identities. For example, Chapter 3 details how the regime instituted communal dining and living (thus separating parents from their children) according to their ideas of women empowerment and liberation from household duties. In response, Cham Muslim women resisted by secretly meeting their children to emotionally nurture and advise them, scavenging extra morsels like seafood and water spinach to cook late at night and eating together – eating at home was a sign of rebellion – or giving their newborn children Muslim names and reciting the adhan and shahada in their ears each night. Chapter 5 also describes how the women used strategies to avoid punishment, rape or imprisonment. Many of these stories are riveting in relating the degree of horror and fear that these women faced; readers will be hard-pressed to even imagine themselves in such situations. Resisting by practicing Islam Most of the 60 Cham Muslim women interviewed tried to hold on to religious tenets by modifying some of their religious practices. The issue of ritual purity was especially sensitive, because the communal kitchens often served pork meat and soup, while some of the agricultural work involved feeding and washing pigs. Some women would try to avoid eating pork as much as possible, which was not easy because there was not enough food to eat in the first place. Others would secretly prepare and eat whatever items they could find. “Every time I think about prayer and religious practices during the Khmer Rouge, I want to cry because we were so oppressed in all aspects of our lives,” recalls Halimah, one of 12 women who gave in-depth interviews for The Hijab of Cambodia. Chapter 4 describes the particular difficulties that the women faced in trying to pray in a situation where they were constantly being watched, trying to fast during food shortages, and for some, covering their hair. Some tried to pray sitting down, quickly, and without wearing specific prayer attire (the standard uniform was a black blouse). Nevertheless, most of the women took comfort in the fact that they were able to perform their shahada (profession of faith) without anyone ever noticing. They also appreciated the Islamic principle of sabr, hoping that their patience in enduring all their difficulties would be rewarded someday. Diversity of Islam One of the most interesting things about this book is learning about how diverse the practices of Islam are amongst its followers across the world. Much of what is deemed “Islamic” is often highly contextualized and influenced by the history, politics, and socio-cultural fabric of a place. For example, among Cham Muslims, daughters receive more inheritance under their Sharia laws. There is also a broad division of orthodox and traditionalist followers, with the latter having different practices such as praying only on Fridays.[ii] The Cham Muslim women in the book also appear to be fairly dogmatic in following what they considered to be important aspects of Islam, thus creating the dilemma of being caught between “religious observance and survival” (p.60). I found it interesting that none of the women justified their modified practices as being caused by exceptional circumstances of emergency when the Qur’an gives many examples of lightening or reducing an act of worship because religion is not meant to be difficult (see for example, 22:78). I take issue with many concepts that were taken for granted, such as women being the “caretakers of Islamic practices” (p.57) or “Islam’s system of justice” (p.102). These could have been explained and deconstructed more thoroughly for clarity; however, perhaps that was not the explicit aim of the book. As the Cham language is also similar to Malay, I would have found it interesting if more of the interview excerpts were provided in the original language of the interviews. This would have also helped in avoiding some of the more awkward expressions in English. The Hijab of Cambodia opened my eyes – not only to the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime, but also to how women, particularly Cham Muslim women, experienced specific sufferings. Farina’s work is invaluable as an enduring testament of these women’s stories, for educating the next generation, and for informing the rest of the world. _____________________________________ [i] Stuart Alan Becker, ‘Heroic Cham women used emotional power to help save their people’, The Phnom Penh Post, 4 Nov 2011, available here [ii] Ibid. © June 2019 Aquila Style. All Rights Reserved.