After Trump-backed peace deal, survivors recount M23 massacre in Eastern Congo The Washington Post August 20, 2025 By Katharine Houreld Rwandan-backed M23 rebels killed scores of civilians this month in eastern Congo, survivors recounted, just weeks after a peace deal hailed by the White House. An armed M23 fighter stands near civilians in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, on July 24. (Jospin Mwisha/AFP/Getty Images) Rwandan-backed fighters from the M23 rebel group killed scores of civilians last month in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to survivors, undermining a new American push to resolve one of the world’s most complex and intractable conflicts. The violence exploded about two weeks after President Donald Trump said  he had brokered a peace deal between Rwanda and Congo, which have long supported an array of militias and proxy forces in Congo’s mineral-rich east. “We just ended a war that was going on for 30 years,” Trump said in the Oval Office on June 27, flanked by the Congolese and Rwandan foreign ministers. But in a report out Wednesday , based on interviews with two dozen witnesses, Human Rights Watch (HRW) found that M23 “summarily executed over 140 largely ethnic Hutu civilians in at least 14 villages and small farming communities” in mid-July, and that the death toll could exceed 300, ranking “among the worst atrocities” by the rebel group in years. The Washington Post interviewed three witnesses to the initial massacre, as well as six residents of the nearest town, and reviewed photographs and videos from the aftermath. Locals described farmers being gunned down indiscriminately by M23 fighters as they worked the fields and survivors hiding for days among the dead. They spoke on the condition of anonymity, communicating by voice notes on borrowed phones, out of fear for their safety. Rwanda has always denied backing M23 — despite overwhelming evidence  to the contrary from U.N. experts — and the rebels were not signatories to the U.S.-backed peace deal. M23 representatives and the government of Congo signed an agreement  on July 19 pledging to establish a ceasefire as part of a separate peace process mediated by Qatar, though M23 told the BBC on Monday  it was pulling out of the Doha-based talks, saying Kinshasa had reneged on the deal. President Donald Trump announces a peace agreement with the Rwandan and Congolese foreign ministers in the Oval Office on June 27. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images) It was not immediately clear how the killings would affect the U.S.-backed peace deal. Earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions  on an armed group opposed to M23, as well as Chinese and Congolese mining companies it said were fueling the region’s illicit mineral trade. The announcement noted that the “Rwanda-backed” M23 group “has rapidly expanded its territorial control in eastern DRC and is responsible for human rights abuses.” U.S. officials, however, have made no public comment about the recent killings and the president claimed again on Monday to have “settled 6 wars in 6 months,” a count that includes the conflict in Congo. “It’s well past time that President Trump was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last month. Massad Boulos, Trump’s senior Africa adviser, said in statement to The Post that “we will continue to work through any challenges to ensure that 30 years of war come to an end, and people can live in peace.” The White House press office said Trump had secured a “historic agreement” between Rwanda and Congo and that his administration would ensure that all sides “honor their commitments.” In an Aug. 7 post on X, Congo’s ministry of information said M23 had killed more than 300 civilians in the North Kivu region; M23 swiftly denied any role in the killings and dismissed what it called “false accusations.” In an interview with The Post, Congolese Information Minister Patrick Muyaya called for an international investigation: “Any kind of violence must be condemned by the U.S.,” he said, urging American officials to “continue to put pressure so we can fully implement the Washington accord and get Rwandan troops out of DRC.” Rwandan government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo said the country’s forces had “absolutely nothing to do” with the latest violence, adding that M23 is not “Rwandan-controlled.” Lawrence Kanyuka, the M23 spokesman targeted with sanctions by the U.S. government in February, did not respond to a request for comment. Bonfires burn during a protest by families of Congo soldiers who died during clashes with M23 rebels, in Beni, Congo, on July 14. (Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/Reuters) Kigali accuses Congo of supporting the remnants of ethnic Hutu militias responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide ; Congo accuses Rwanda of using proxy forces, including M23, to terrorize Hutu communities and loot the country’s vast but underdeveloped  mineral reserves. In January, M23 fighters seized control  of the regional capital of Goma in a lightning offensive and have taken more Congolese territory in recent months, including the area where the July killings took place. Support from the Rwandan Defense Forces “played a critical role in the territorial expansion of [M23] and its occupation of new territories,” a report  by a U.N. panel of experts found last month. The latest massacres happened near Binza, about 65 miles north of Goma, in mid-July, but information has been slow to trickle out because phone networks are unreliable and locals fear further reprisals from M23. Residents and survivors told The Post that the violence originated with clashes between M23, which controls the town, and the Wazalendo, a loose array of local militias often supported by the Congolese government. After losing a skirmish, M23 fighters turned against civilians working in the fields of Binza on July 13, three survivors said. A man told The Post he began to run as soon as he heard the first shots, tripping on a body as he fled. Many victims came from different villages, he said, and his brother was still missing. “I saw many dead people on the way home,” he said. He estimated at least 50 people were killed that day. The Post could not independently verify the toll. Terrified residents told him “the M23 were killing anyone they found,” the man said. A woman who escaped the initial massacre said she spent three days hiding among corpses with no food or water. When she finally made her way back to the town of Nyamilima, she said, she walked past at least 20 bodies. “It was the M23,” she told The Post. “People were massacred … and until now they have not been buried.” A second woman who survived said she knew it was the M23 because their fighters controlled the area and had a jeep waiting for them. The Wazalendo don’t use vehicles, she said. Congolese military helmets are abandoned at the Goma airport after the town was seized by the M23 rebels, in Goma, in March. (Zohra Bensemra/Reuters) In one video from the aftermath, the bodies of two men and a woman in a yellow skirt are seen with flies buzzing around deep machete wounds. An unidentified narrator said it was filmed on July 15 in Busesa, an agricultural area outside Binza. In another video, five decapitated male bodies, some with their hands bound behind their backs, lay near a pile of heads. A blindfold is visible on one of them. The victims “were all farmers in the field who were surprised by M23,” the second woman said. “I saw three people shot dead on the spot.” One farmer told HRW he saw his wife and their three children — ranging from 9 months to 10 years old — shot dead by rebels. A woman, who said her husband was killed in front of her with a machete, recounted being marched to the Rutshuru River with around 70 people, including children. Fighters executed people on the banks of the river, she said, but she fell in without being shot. The killings continued for several days, according to HRW. A Binza resident told The Post she attended a public meeting held by an M23 official in the nearby town of Nyamilima on July 22 where the local commander, whom she identified as Mr. Hatimana, acknowledged the killings but claimed the victims were Wazalendo fighters. Families said they have been unable to publicly mourn their loved ones because they fear M23 retaliation. Many of those wounded in the attack were too afraid to receive treatment, according to a medical professional in Binza. One resident said he knew of at least seven small villages that reported people missing after the killings, but relatives were still barred from traveling to the area where they were last seen. M23 has now prohibited locals from farming on pain of death, three residents said. “We will starve if we cannot go to the fields,” one said. Jubilé Kahsay contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/08/20/congo-drc-rwanda-m23-killings-trump/

In a country once lauded as a progressive bastion in Latin America, protections are being dismantled by a populist leader, and gender-based offences are on the rise. Women march on Argentina’s congress to protest against gender violence in Buenos Aires. The writing on the mask, Vivas nos queremos, translates as: ‘We want ourselves to be alive.’Photograph: Mariana Nedelcu/Reuters In the week before her murder, Fernanda Soledad Yramain lay awake at night listening as a motorbike circled the house where she was hiding. “She kept saying ‘it’s him’,” remembers Daniella Viscarra, Soledad’s sister-in-law with whom she had sought refuge in the Tucumán countryside. “She was scared all of the time.” A month earlier, in September 2024, 29-year-old Soledad had ended a relationship with her boyfriend, Francisco Timoteo Saldaño. They had been together since she was 14 and he was 35, and shared three children. In the final year of their relationship, Saldaño had turned violent. “She started coming round with bruises on her arms, crying. He held a knife to her throat and said he would kill her,” says Sandra Yramain, Soledad’s aunt. Together, Sandra and Soledad went to the police station to request protection. “They said that ‘these things take time’,” Sandra says. “But nobody ever called.” Over the ensuing week, Soledad returned to the police station three more times. “She was certain he would kill her,” says Daniella. “So she kept trying.” Less than a day after her fourth – and final – visit to beg the police to protect her, Saldaño stabbed Soledad to death with a butcher’s knife, before killing himself. “Soledad did everything she was meant to do,” says Sandra. “But, because the police did not care, she was cut in half.” While  Argentina  was once celebrated as a bastion for women’s rights in Latin America, now, amid a rise in populism under far-right leader Javier Milei, protections for women are quickly being eroded. Women’s rights groups warn that more women like Soledad could die as a result. Soon after taking power in December 2023,  Milei dissolved the undersecretariat  for protection against gender violence and closed the ministry of women. “For the first time in nearly 40 years, Argentina has no dedicated institution to prevent, punish and eradicate gender-based violence,” says Mariela Belski, executive director of Amnesty International Argentina. The administration has also slashed funding for programmes aimed at combating gender violence.  The Acompañar programme , which provided financial and psychological assistance for victims of gender-based violence, has been drastically defunded, while the 144 emergency hotline lost 42% of its staff by July 2024. “The government is turning its back on women facing violence,” says Belski. In November, Argentina was the only country to vote against a UN general assembly resolution to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls. Two months later, Milei’s administration went further, pledging to strike the  aggravating factor of femicide , defined as when a woman dies at the hands of a man on the basis of her gender, from the penal code – a move that drew swift condemnation from human rights groups. Belski says removing the legal definition would “weaken the state’s ability to prevent and punish such crimes”. Now, human rights experts warn that Milei’s rhetoric is gaining traction nationwide. In Tucumán, a conservative province, lawyers and advocates say that legal protections for women are already being dismantled. “Tucumán is one of the places where the situation is worsening,” says Myriam Bregman, a socialist leader. “It follows the political line of the national government, of cutting women’s rights protection programmes, which were already very scarce.” Soledad Deza, the Tucumán lawyer supporting Yramain’s family and the president of  Fundación Mujeres Por Mujeres  (Women for Women Foundation), shared data showing a sharp drop in court-issued protection orders since Milei took office. Between January and September 2024, according to information obtained from the authorities by Deza and shared with the Guardian, family courts in Tucumán issued 4,856 protection orders, while criminal courts issued 754. By comparison, across the whole of 2023, those figures were 7,549 and 2,448 respectively. Deza says that women in the province have struggled to access support because of funding cuts, and that the justice system is failing to investigate their reports. Law enforcement agencies have also been slow to respond, says Sofia Quiroga, of international women’s rights organisation Equality Now. “Worryingly, the police in Tucumán have stopped investigating why protection orders are needed in the first place,” she says. Luciana Belén Gramaglio, a feminist lawyer from Tucumán, says that the provincial government had embraced, “the regressive and stifling policies promoted by Milei”. At the start of 2025, she says, the Tucumán government reduced the number of prosecutorial offices dedicated to investigating cases of gender-based violence and sexual abuse from seven to four. Gramaglio suggests almost half of the cases that enter the judicial system are linked to violence against women. “How then, is the reduction in prosecutorial offices justified?” The weekend that Soledad was killed, two other women in the Tucumán province were murdered; both cases officially classified as femicides.  Official data  from the National Ombudsman’s office found that 295 cases of femicide were reported nationally between 1 January and 31 December 2024, or one every 30 hours. The MuMaLá women’s organisation reported a  15% increase in femicides in the first four months of 2025, compared with the same period a year earlier. Lawyers and advocates also warn of a growing narrative that women are fabricating claims of gender-based violence. In 2024, senator Carolina Losada, with the support of national justice minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona, introduced a bill to increase penalties for false accusations of  gender-based violence . “The credibility of the victims is being challenged by the narratives of the Milei administration. These narratives have unlocked a whole spectrum of hatred and obstacles,” says Deza. “This is simply an indirect threat, to discourage women from reporting crimes.” Mariela Labozzetta, head of the specialised prosecutorial unit on violence against women, says that despite funding cuts, the justice system and the public prosecutor’s offices across Argentina continue to function. But, she adds that “to prevent the risks faced by victims from worsening, support programmes are necessary, and these have been eliminated”. Deza says that because Argentina “has stripped away gender violence prevention programmes” women are left with little recourse but to remain “hypervigilant”. She has filed a complaint against the police in Tucumán regarding Soledad’s case, and hopes that the criminal justice system investigates why her calls for help went unanswered. The Tucumán state and police did not reply to requests for comment, nor did the Milei administration. For Soledad’s family, the government’s proposal to eliminate femicide from the penal code came as a fresh shock. “I only hope that her death was not in vain,” says Sandra. “And that no other woman is killed because the authorities didn’t take control.” © 2025 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. (dcr)

Impunity Granted to Security Forces Violates Peru’s International Obligations President Dina Boluarte during an ordinary session of the National Council for Citizen Security in Lima, Peru, on March 18, 2025. © 2025 Presidencia del Perú (Washington DC) –  Peruvian  President Dina Boluarte has signed into law an amnesty  bill  that grants impunity for serious crimes committed during the country’s internal armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said today. Peru’s Congress passed the  law  on July 9, 2025, and President Boluarte signed it into law on August 13. It provides blanket amnesty to members of the Armed Forces, the police, and self-defense committees accused of or under investigation for alleged crimes committed during Peru’s internal armed conflict between 1980 and 2000. It also mandates the release of people sentenced for crimes committed during the armed conflict who are over age 70. “This law is quite simply a betrayal of Peruvian victims,” said  Juanita Goebertus , Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “It undermines decades of efforts to ensure accountability for atrocities and weakens the country’s rule of law even further.” On July 24, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights  ordered  Peru to refrain from carrying out the bill until the court analyzes the amnesty’s compatibility with its previous orders to investigate abuses committed during the armed conflict. On July 31, however, during a National Police ceremony in Lima, President Boluarte  said  that her government would move forward with the law regardless of the court’s position.  During the armed conflict, Peruvian security forces committed grave abuses including many that constitute war crimes, such as extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, torture, sexual violence, and other serious human rights violations. According to the  National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation , an estimated 70,000 people were killed and more than 20,000 disappeared between 1980 and 2000. Peruvian courts have issued final convictions in more than 150 cases and over 600 more remain pending, according to the  National Human Rights Coordinator . Under the American Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Peru has a legal obligation to investigate, prosecute, and punish serious human rights violations. Amnesty laws that block accountability for crimes such as extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, and torture violate these obligations and deny victims their right to access justice. The Boluarte administration, Congress, and other authorities have in recent years repeatedly defied orders from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. In December 2023, the Constitutional Tribunal, in violation of Peru’s obligations as a party to the American Convention on Human Rights,  ordered  the release of former President Alberto Fujimori, in office from 1990 to 2000, who was serving a 25-year sentence for serious human rights violations. Despite an  order  from the human rights court to Peru not to release Fujimori pending an assessment of the facts, the Boluarte government went ahead and  released  him.  In July 2024, Congress approved a  bill  establishing a statute of limitations for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed before 2003. The bill directly disregarded a specific  order  from the human rights court instructing Congress to suspend debate on the matter due to its apparent incompatibility with international human rights law. President Boluarte did not veto the bill, and it became  law  in August. “Peru is joining the ranks of Nicaragua, Venezuela, and others that defy the Inter-American human rights system and, in doing so, dismiss the rights of victims,” Goebertus said. “The amnesty bill should never have been made law and should be repealed.” © 2025 Human Rights Watch

A Bolivian Indigenous woman walks past a car with campaign posters of Bolivian presidential candidate Samuel Doria Medina  © MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP The "Titanic," as the tallest building in the city is known, serves as the latest in a collection of uber-flamboyant neo-Andean "cholets" -- a mix of chalet and "chola" or Indigenous woman -- built by Bolivia's Aymara bourgeoisie over the past two decades. Victor Choque Flores, a self-made 46-year-old businessman, forked out millions of dollars for his "ship in a sea of bricks," as he calls his futuristic 12-story palace which looms large over El Alto's red-brick homes. "It's a bit like us," he said, adding that while rooted in the past, Indigenous Bolivians are "looking towards the future." For many Aymara, that future no longer includes the ruling socialists, who emancipated the Indigenous majority over the past two decades. For the first time since 2005, the political right is expected to triumph in presidential elections as Bolivians ditch the left over a deep economic crisis. Gratitude, frustration Nearly 20 years after one of South America's longest-serving presidents, Evo Morales, was elected on a promise of socialist revolution, the Andean country is running on empty. Widespread shortages of dollars, fuel and basic foodstuffs have left some Bolivians worse off than before he took over. Choque Flores still feels grateful to Morales, Bolivia's first Indigenous president, for throwing open the doors of power to the country's brown-skinned majority. But El Alto, a flourishing merchant city, is also increasingly defined by its residents' desire to simply get ahead. Accusing the socialists of multiple "failures," Choque Flores said he was ready to vote for "another political direction," without revealing which candidate. Gas War cauldron The fate of Bolivia's left is inextricably linked with El Alto. Morales came to power in the wake of a bloody crackdown on a revolt in the city over gas exports, which led to over 60 deaths and the fall of a US-backed president in 2003. In the years since, Morales repeatedly dispatched his supporters down the mountain from El Alto to the seat of government in La Paz to defend his causes. But the winds of change are blowing on the streets of the Andean metropolis, where women in traditional bowler hats, flouncy "pollera" skirts and shawls hawk goods as gleaming cable cars ferry commuters overhead. Across the million-strong city, walls are covered with leading center-right presidential candidate Samuel Doria Medina's promise to restore supplies of fuel and dollars in "100 dias carajo" (100 days goddammit). In a sign of the importance of the Indigenous vote, Doria Medina, who is running neck-and-neck with right-wing ex-president Jorge Quiroga, staged his final campaign rally in El Alto on Wednesday. Jonathan Vega, a 25-year-old chef who attended the gathering, said he was counting on Doria Medina to "restore stability." A 72-year-old farmer invited to discuss the election at the local "San Gabriel" Aymara-language TV and radio station also backed change. Arcenio Julio Tancara lambasted Morales's call for voters to spoil their ballot over the refusal by authorities to allow him to run for a fourth term. "He has always called for unrest and for strikes and blockades. "At first, we understood that it might be necessary, but since we've seen that it wasn't for a cause, but simply so that he'd be named leader." 'They disinfect themselves' Morales, who is wanted on charges of trafficking a minor, has sought to galvanize his base by warning that hard-won Indigenous rights are under threat if light-skinned politicians of European heritage take over. It's a tactic that plays well with rural Aymara particularly. "We don't want to go back to the 20th century," said Matilde Choque Apaza, the leader of an Indigenous and rural women's association, who wore a colorful "aguayo" hold-all knotted around her neck. Opposition candidates, she said, "clasp (Indigenous) hands tightly" when on the campaign trail, but when they get into their cars or go home, "they disinfect themselves." She backed the appeal made by Morales for a mass campaign of spoiled ballots to sap the election of legitimacy. Polls show around 14 percent of voters are set to answer his call -- a far cry from the three outright majorities Morales secured during his 2006-2019 rule. Santos Colque Quelca, a 38-year-old presenter at San Gabriel radio, said that growing numbers of listeners were swearing "never again with Evo or (current President Luis) Arce" and were switching their support to the "least bad" opposition candidate. Pablo Mamani Ramirez, a sociologist at UMSA university in La Paz, said Morales' bid for "eternal" rule ran counter to Indigenous traditions. "The logic of the Andean world is that power is rotated." © 2025 AFP

The country faces an extension on gang detentions amidst constitutional reforms which abolished presidential term limits earlier this month. A woman protests the new changes by the Bukele administration (Photo by Marvin RECINOS / AFP) By AFP at Tico Times August 16, 2025 El Salvador’s Congress, controlled by President Nayib Bukele, voted Friday to extend the detention of tens of thousands of alleged gang members until at least 2027, giving prosecutors time to prepare charges for around 600 planned mass trials. The measure is part of a reform to the Organized Crime Law, passed just ten days before the deadline that required authorities to either charge or release 88,750 people arrested under the state of exception in place since 2022. Those detained are accused of being gang members or collaborators. Fifty-seven ruling party lawmakers in the 60-seat Legislative Assembly approved the reform, granting the Attorney General’s Office 24 months to file charges, with the option of an additional 12-month extension if approved by a judge. Ruling party lawmaker Caleb Navarro defended the reform, saying it ensures “gang members never return to the streets.” Bukele remains popular for his “war” on gangs , but the state of exception has been condemned by international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. They report at least 433 deaths in custody, allegations of torture and abuse, and claim thousands of innocent people have been jailed. Opposition lawmaker Francisco Lira told Congress, “I don’t defend gangs or criminals or extortionists, but we could be talking about 40% of those detained being innocent people.” Two weeks earlier, Congress also paved the way for Bukele’s indefinite re-election . He argues that El Salvador is now the safest country in the Western Hemisphere thanks to the state of exception, which allows arrests without a warrant and suspends due process guarantees. The Attorney General’s Office plans to group defendants by gang affiliation, alleged crimes, or the areas where they operated. Forty-four judges specialized in organized crime will oversee the mass trials, including cases of minors who will be accompanied by other judges to ensure their rights, though without influence over sentencing. On Friday, about 200 people marched in San Salvador, organized by the Movement of Victims of the Regime (Movir), calling for the state of exception to be declared unconstitutional. Protesters chanted “freedom for the innocent” and “they were taken alive, we want them alive” outside the Legislative Assembly before heading to the Supreme Court. Human rights groups report that of the 88,750 detainees, around 15,000 remain held at the massive Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) prison, with tens of thousands more in overcrowded medium and maximum-security facilities. Authorities claim some 8,000 detainees have been released, though NGOs note they remain under surveillance and legal proceedings. © 2025 The Tico Times

Central Election Commission revokes Milorad Dodik’s mandate as Republika Srpska entity president after confirmation of his prison sentence and ban on holding presidential office. Azem Kurtic, August 6, 2025 Milorad Dodik entering the court in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Photo: N1/F.Z. Bosnia’s top election regulator, the Central Election Commission, revoked Milorad Dodik’s presidential mandate on Wednesday following his one-year prison sentence and six-year ban on holding the office of president of Republika Srpska. Dodik was convicted of not complying with the decisions of Bosnia’s international peace overseer, the High Representative. Dodik’s defence has up to two days to appeal the decision before the Appellate Division of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which handles electoral complaints. Once the appeals process is exhausted, the decision will become final. The Central Election Commission will then issue a decision on calling early elections. Responding in a post on X soon after the decision was made public, Dodik described it as “more bullshit from Sarajevo. No more.” In another post, 30 minutes later, Dodik added that, “surrender and giving up do not exist. Surrender is not an option.” Speaking to the Serb entity’s public broadcaster, RTRS, the speaker of the Republika Srpska assembly, Nenad Stevandic, said Dodik cannot be barred from political life, as his political influence remains undisputed and rooted in strong electoral support. “Dodik is not a chair that someone can hand over and replace with another,” Stevandic told RTRS. “He represents a political agenda that received the highest number of votes in Bosnia and Herzegovina – no one in the Federation [entity], which is twice as large [in population. terms], has ever won as many votes as Dodik. That is a historical fact, but it’s also our current reality.” Dodik was convicted on August 1 of knowingly defying decisions issued by Bosnia’s High Representative, Christian Schmidt, in July 2023. Bosnia’s international overseer had blocked implementation of two laws adopted by the Republika Srpska authorities – one preventing enforcement of state-level Constitutional Court rulings in the entity, and another amending legislation on publishing official acts. Despite this, Dodik continued legislative procedures in defiance of Schmidt’s decisions. Following the verdict, Dodik stated defiantly that he would continue performing his duties despite the verdict, while his legal team announced it will appeal to the Constitutional Court. The government of Republika Srpska at an emergency session on Tuesday adopted eight conclusions, including rejection of the verdict issued by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. All the political parties in the Serb-led entity were called upon to “stand in defence of Republika Srpska and its president”. Copyright BIRN 2007

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says two-state solution is ‘humanity’s best hope’ to end suffering in Gaza. Al Jazeera August 11, 2025 Source: Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, news agencies Australia will recognise a Palestinian state in September, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced, drawing condemnation from Israel. Albanese said on Monday that his government would formally announce the move when the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meets in New York. “A two-state solution is humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza,” Albanese said at a news conference in Canberra. Australia’s announcement comes as Canada , France and the United Kingdom are also preparing to formally recognise Palestine at the meeting next month, joining the vast majority of UN member states that already do so. Israeli Ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon said recognition of a Palestinian state will do nothing to end the war in Gaza, telling the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC): “We reject the recognition, unilateral recognition.” Israeli President Isaac Herzog also slammed the Australian announcement as a reward for Hamas for its October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, repeating the Israeli government’s stance on all recognition announcements thus far. This latest recognition comes about a week after hundreds of thousands of Australians marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge to protest Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip. Speaking a day after the protest, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong told ABC that “there is a risk there will be no Palestine left to recognise.” “In relation to recognition, I’ve said for over a year now, it’s a matter of when, not if,” Wong added. The opposition Liberal Party criticised the move, saying it put Australia at odds with the United States, its closest ally, and reversed a bipartisan consensus that there should be no recognition while Hamas remains in control of Gaza. “Despite his words today, the reality is Anthony Albanese has committed Australia to recognising Palestine while hostages remain in tunnels under Gaza and with Hamas still in control of the population of Gaza. Nothing he has said today changes that fact,” Liberal Party leader Sussan Ley said in a statement. “Recognising a Palestinian state prior to a return of the hostages and defeat of Hamas, as the Government has today, risks delivering Hamas one of its strategic objectives of the horrific terrorism of October 7.” The Australian Greens, the fourth largest party in parliament, welcomed the move to recognise Palestine but said the announcement did not meet the “overwhelming calls from the Australian public for the government to take material action”. “Millions of Australians have taken to the streets, including 300,000 last weekend in Sydney alone, calling for sanctions and an end to the arms trade with Israel. The Albanese Government is still ignoring this call,” Senator David Shoebridge, the party’s spokesperson on foreign affairs, said in a statement. The Australian Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) also criticised the announcement, describing it as a “political fig leaf, letting Israel’s genocide and apartheid continue unchallenged, and distracting from Australia’s complicity in Israeli war crimes via ongoing weapons and components trade”. “Palestinian rights are not a gift to be granted by Western states. They are not dependent on negotiation with, or the behaviour or approval of their colonial oppressors,” APAN said in a statement. According to Albanese, Australia’s decision to recognise Palestinians’ right to their own state will be “predicated on the commitments Australia has received from the Palestinian Authority (PA)”. These “detailed and significant commitments” include the PA reaffirming it “recognises Israel’s right to exist in peace and security” and committing to “demilitarise and to hold general elections”, Albanese said while announcing the decision. The PA is a governing body that has overseen parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the mid-1990s. It has not held parliamentary elections since 2006 and has been criticised by some Palestinians for helping Israel to keep tight control over residents in the occupied West Bank. Albanese said the commitments secured by Australia were “an opportunity to deliver self-determination for the people of Palestine in a way that isolates Hamas , disarms it and drives it out of the region once and for all”. Hamas has been in power in the Gaza Strip since 2007 when it fought a brief war against forces loyal to PA President Mahmoud Abbas. New Zealand to decide on recognition next month Meanwhile, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said on Monday that his country’s cabinet will make a formal decision on Palestinian statehood in September. “Some of New Zealand’s close partners have opted to recognise a Palestinian state, and some have not,” Peters said in a statement. “Ultimately, New Zealand has an independent foreign policy, and on this issue, we intend to weigh up the issue carefully and then act according to New Zealand’s principles, values and national interest.” Peters said that while New Zealand has for some time considered the recognition of a Palestinian state a “matter of when, not if”, the issue is not “straightforward” or “clear-cut”. “There are a broad range of strongly held views within our Government, Parliament and indeed New Zealand society over the question of recognition of a Palestinian state,” he said. “It is only right that this complicated issue be approached calmly, cautiously and judiciously. Over the next month, we look forward to canvassing this broad range of views before taking a proposal to Cabinet.” Of the UN’s 193 member states, 147 already recognise Palestinian statehood , representing three-quarters of the world’s countries and the vast majority of its population. Under its 1947 plan to partition Palestine, the UNGA said it would grant 45 percent of the land to an Arab state although this never eventuated. The announcements by Australia and New Zealand on Monday came hours after an Israeli attack killed five Al Jazeera staff members in Gaza City and as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to threaten a full-scale invasion of the city in the north of the Gaza Strip. Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 61,430 people, according to Gaza’s health authorities. More than 200 people, including 100 children, have died from starvation under Israel’s punishing siege, according to health authorities. © 2025 Al Jazeera Media Network

By Erika Noely Moreno, trans activist from Argentina 9 August 2025 Erika Noeli Moreno, a member of Las Historicas, leads an event at the Plaza de Mayo, in front of the Government Palace in Buenos Aires on 24 May 2025. ©Josefina Salomon Content Warning: This story includes examples of discrimination and abuse towards trans women.   We are publishing these details to bear witness to Erika’s experience and evoke positive change for trans women in Argentina.   Erika Noely Moreno is a trans woman and human rights activist from Argentina. She has lived in Ushuaia, in the south of the country, for 30 years and was one of the first trans women to change her gender on her ID card. She is also part of Las Históricas, a movement of older trans women demanding reparations for the discrimination and violence they suffered for much of their lives. She says that authoritarian governments are putting all of their wins at risk, but that today they are more active and determined than ever. This is her story.   I am a survivor. I have been surviving since I was five years old. Just by existing as a trans child, I was already a human rights activist. I was born in 1974, just before the military dictatorship began in Argentina (1976-1983). Those were very difficult times. My family and I moved out of the capital of Córdoba because life there became very hard. When I was 12, we moved to Villa Maria, another city, but that’s where the real hell began because it was a place where there was a lot of discrimination. It was then that I was forced into the closet, but it didn’t last long. I always say that I began my transition at the age of five and finished it at 18. I went to Buenos Aires for a while and then I moved back to Córdoba to live alone.   ‘I was trapped’   In the city, I was a sex worker. I was locked in a private apartment 24 hours a day, where sex was exchanged for money. I had no contact with society because I knew that if I went out on the street, I would end up in prison or dead, so I stayed inside, always having to be available for clients. If someone arrived at 3 a.m., I had to wake up and serve them.   I feel I was trapped in that system, which is imposed on us because of the lack of opportunities, for two years. Then I went out to work on the streets for a few months, and it was very difficult because the police treated us very badly. That’s when I met someone who was looking for people to work in bars in Río Gallegos, in Patagonia. I didn’t think twice and I went with him. Two years later I came to Ushuaia to do the same thing. There was a lot of work because many men came to the ports in the city.  Life in Ushuaia   Things were a little different in Ushuaia. People accepted me because I commanded respect. Soon after, I met a hairdresser who offered me a job, and I stayed with them for eight years. People fell in love with me, and that changed my life.   I came to Ushuaia for 15 days and stayed for 30 years. Now I’m married, I have my husband and the whole city is my family. But this is not the same as what happens to other trans women, particularly the older ones many of whom are still trying to survive by working on street corners.  In 2012, when the gender identity law was passed, the government of Tierra del Fuego wanted to give the first ID card to someone from the community. I told them that there was another trans woman, Laura Aixa Xuxú Aguilar Millacahuin, who had transitioned in her place of birth, which is very difficult. So, they gave us both our new I Ds together ( Laura was murdered by her ex-partner in 2013 ) .    For us, the only option has always been to fight. We are survivors. Nothing can stop us.  Las Históricas In Argentina, much progress has been made in terms of trans rights, but there is still a long way to go and now everything is in jeopardy.   Trans women have very difficult stories and now, those of us who have survived discrimination, violence, police beatings and murders are still demanding justice and reparations.   Las Históricas is a collective that was formed many years ago by these survivors. One day they were walking together and said, “We are still alive, we are the historic ones.”  My comrades adopted me, they opened their doors to me. They are my sisters, my aunts, my mothers, and we work for justice on behalf of ourselves and our dead. We fight in the streets, we occupy public spaces, and we work to change the laws.  The reality of life as a trans person in Argentina   We fought and won laws such as gender identity, for the non-binary ID cards, equal marriage and the quota for  trans workers in the public sector , but there are many of our sisters who still cannot find work. We work all our lives and we are an active part of society, but we continue to be the outcasts of a society that continues to punish us for who we are, for our identities. We have been expelled from the education system, from the justice system. We have been killed, we have been expelled from the private sector, we have been discriminated everywhere – it is for all this and more that we demand reparations. Older trans people wake up in the morning and ask themselves, “What am I going to do to eat today?” Many continue to have to exchange sex for money. We are still in the same situation. ‘We have seen it all’ I am 51 years old, but sometimes I feel like I am 300, with everything I have been through. Imagine those who are 60 and 70. We have been through everything, physically and psychologically. We have seen it all. But now we are seeing a change in society. People are understanding us more because everyone in Argentina is losing their rights. This was clearly seen with the global anti-fascist march. When we heard Milei’s speech in Davos we said “no!” and that was a tipping point. We are activists all the time. As soon as I leave the house, I educate everyone I talk to about our struggle and all the struggles of others like us. ‘Not just banners’ Trans women have nothing to lose because we have already lost everything. Without the strength we have, we would not have survived. We are indomitable and they will never silence us.   To the younger generations, I say that much progress has been made, but there is still a long way to go. You have to participate, occupy political spaces, raise your voices in the streets.   And to trans youth, I say that we are here to take care of you, to protect you and encourage you to fight, to fight for your rights and to occupy political spaces to achieve real public policies, not just banners.  This story was originally published in  ElDiarioAr . © 2025 Amnesty International

By Reuters, August 5th, 2025. A graffiti is seen near the UN-controlled buffer zone in Nicosia, Cyprus July 17, 2025. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File Photo Decades-old property disputes stemming from Cyprus's unresolved division are stirring tensions on the island, threatening to derail fragile progress in United Nations-led reconciliation attempts. Recent detentions on both sides over disputed property claims have exposed the enduring grievances of tens of thousands of internally displaced people. "I'm very concerned. I fear the property issue will cause major problems in the coming months," outgoing U.N. envoy Colin Stewart said in an interview with Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen. Five Greek Cypriots have been in Turkish Cypriot custody since July 19 and face charges of trespass for visiting Trikomo, a predominantly Greek Cypriot area before the island was split by a Turkish invasion in 1974, triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup. Now known by the Turkish name Iskele, it has attracted considerable development in recent years. A property developer active in the region holding joint Israeli and Turkish citizenship has been in custody for more than a year in Cyprus's south on accusations of cashing in on Greek Cypriot properties. In May, a court jailed two people from Hungary for brokering sales of Greek Cypriot-owned properties in the north. Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides called the arrest of the Greek Cypriots an "act of piracy". In response, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar - who had previously accused Greek Cypriots of weaponising the property issue by prosecuting the developer - criticised Christodoulides for showing disrespect to Turkish Cypriots and the judicial process. Both are key players in a U.N.-backed process to foster trust-building between Cyprus's Greek and Turkish communities, but progress has been slow. The cases highlight the complexity and sensitivity over territory on the island, where the seeds of partition were sown after independence from Britain in the early sixties, when a power-sharing administration fell apart. Most people who fled communal conflict could never return, and in many cases in the north properties were re-distributed."This underlines the need for a settlement, because the only way to address the property issue is to solve the Cyprus problem," a diplomatic source told Reuters. Reporting By Michele Kambas; Editing by Alex Richardson © 2025 Reuters.

By UN News, August 10th, 2025. © UNOCHA/Ali Haj Suleiman | A building burns in Sweida City in western Syria, as hostilities broke out during July 2025. Unrest began on 12 July when mutual kidnappings escalated into armed conflict between Druze groups and Bedouin tribes, drawing in Syrian security forces. The violence spiralled, with reports of extrajudicial executions, desecration of corpses and looting. Footage circulated widely on social media fanned sectarian tensions and disinformation. Nearly 200,000 displaced In a presidential statement adopted on Sunday, ambassadors said they were “deeply concerned” by the recent fighting, which has included “mass killings” and led to the internal displacement of some 192,000 people. The Council “strongly condemns the violence perpetrated against civilians…and calls on all parties to adhere to the ceasefire arrangement and to ensure the protection of the civilian population.” The 15-member body reminded all sides of their obligations under human rights and international humanitarian law, stressing in particular the duty to “respect and protect” all medical and humanitarian personnel. Council members urged all parties to allow “full, safe, rapid and unhindered humanitarian access” to affected communities in the heavily-Druze Sweida area and across Syria, in line with the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence. They also underscored the need to ensure the humane treatment of all combatants, including those who have surrendered, are wounded, detained, or have laid down their arms. Protection for all The statement called on the Syrian interim authorities to protect all Syrians “regardless of ethnicity or religion” and warned that “there can be no meaningful recovery in Syria without genuine safety and protection for all Syrians.” The Council welcomed the interim authorities’ condemnation of the violence and their commitment to investigate those responsible, but urged them to ensure “credible, swift, transparent, impartial, and comprehensive investigations… in line with international standards.” Reaffirming resolutions including 2254 (2015), the Council reiterated its “strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic” and called on all States to avoid “negative or destructive interference” that could further destabilise the country. The statement also recalled the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and the mandate of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) tmonitoring and patrolling the contested Golan on the Syria-Israel border, urging all parties to abide by its terms to maintain calm. On the threat of terrorism, the Council cited the latest report of its Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, voicing “grave concern over the acute threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters” in Syria. It urged the country to take decisive measures against ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida, in line with relevant resolutions. Looking ahead, the Council repeated its call for “an inclusive, Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process” based on resolution 2254, to safeguard the rights of all Syrians and enable them to “peacefully, independently and democratically determine their futures.” ©UN News, 2025.

Mr. Kasuwa Paje, a civilian guard injured in Margif, Mushere on August 5th. Credit Kopmut Monday Shadrach. Fulani Ethnic Militia by the Hundreds Advancing Without Opposition: Eyewitnesses By Masara Kim In Nigeria’s Northwest, where the military has intensified operations, terrorists are reportedly backing down and opting for dialogue. However, in the Christian Middle Belt region, civilian residents endure daily assaults by militants who have reportedly seized control of dozens of communities and established camps, according to town leaders. Monitoring groups report that more than 500 Christians have been killed across central Nigeria since a Father’s Day attack left more than 200 refugees dead in the town of Yelewata in Benue state. The latest violence in Plateau State has targeted a farming area near the border with Nasarawa state, where terrorists seeking to overrun vast areas have established camps, according to tribal lawyer Farmasum Fuddang. TruthNigeria learned that at least five residents, including a pastor, have been killed between August 4th and 7th in a group of villages known as Mushere. It is the latest in a series of ongoing assaults displacing thousands in the Bokkos county (Local Government Area), Fuddang wrote in a press statement. “More than ten [local]villages have been completely deserted, with terrorists looting and demolishing homes and food storage facilities,” Fuddang wrote. “Across the [Mushere] district, crops including corn, potatoes, and sugar cane nearing harvest have been destroyed across thousands of acres.” Fuddang, who serves as the Chairman of the Bokkos Cultural Development Forum (BCDF) Vanguard, fears the militants are preparing to occupy these areas in the coming months. “The strategy apparently is to keep pounding the surviving communities until they are completely annihilated or they get tired and flee, enabling them to take over,” he wrote, noting that more than 100 people have been killed in ongoing assaults in the Bokkos county since April alone. The farming county known for potato production, borders Mangu, Barkin Ladi, Riyom, and Quanpan counties. In recent years, it has been a center of sustained violence by Fulani-speaking militants, including a six-day village-burning during the Christmas season two years ago. “Despite this, the world continues to overlook the imminent threat of annihilation faced by the remaining residents of Bokkos, whose presence at the border between Plateau State and Nasarawa State is the only barrier preventing terrorists from the Northwest and Northeast from overrunning Plateau State,” Fuddang wrote. Five Dead, Church Burned The latest violence took place between August 4 and 7, leaving five people, including a pastor, dead in the southern part of Bokkos, TruthNigeria learned. According to a local youth leader, Kopmut Monday Shadrach, the attacks in a group of villages known as Mushere started in the early hours of August 4, targeting returning residents who had been previously displaced by terrorists. “In the early hours of Monday, August 4, 2025, a troop of armed Fulani terrorists launched a brutal invasion on the peace-loving villages of Kopmur and Mbor at about 1 a.m.,” Shadrach told reporters in Jos. “The attackers unleashed unprovoked violence, leaving scores of villagers grievously injured, while Mrs. Rifkatu Ayuba tragically lost her life amidst the chaos.” Shadrach, the President of the Mushere Youth Movement, said the assailants continued their campaign the next day, August 5, targeting Margif Community. “There, they burned homes; raped women, destroyed cultivated farmlands, and launched a frenzied attack on innocent civilians. Approximately 12 individuals, including women and children, sustained varying degrees of gunshot and machete wounds as they fled for their lives,” he said, noting four additional fatalities including a Pastor were recorded as the attacks escalated the following two days. “On Wednesday, August 6, 2025, at about 4:30 pm, the terrorists escalated their atrocities by invading Ndimar Community in Ik’ngwakap, the very heart and headquarters of Mushere Chiefdom. This daylight assault left numerous villagers dead and saw the COCIN Church (Church of Christ in Nations), alongside several homes, set ablaze,” he said. Shadrach alleged that soldiers of Operation Safe Haven, a joint military task force located in the immediate vicinity failed to respond to distress calls. “These heinous acts occurred a few meters away from a military checkpoint at Horop Community, yet no intervention were made by the security personnel stationed there. The attackers were neither apprehended nor neutralized, casting a dark shadow of doubt over the efficacy and willingness of security forces to protect our people,” he said. A witness, Kasuwa Paje, who was among a group of 10 to 15 civilian guards defending the area with homemade single-shot pipe guns, recounted being overwhelmed by dozens of terrorists armed with assault rifles. “Those who invaded my house alone were more than 20,” Paje told TruthNigeria. “They shot me in the back and in the leg as I tried to escape, leaving me for dead,” he said. Paje was rescued by his friends minutes after the militants retreated. ‘Daylight Assaults’ Police and army authorities in Plateau State have not responded to queries from TruthNigeria. However, the Chairman of Bokkos county, Samuel Amalau, has defended a Forward Operating Base in Bokkos. “Residents confirmed that while the swift intervention of security agents on Monday morning helped to prevent what could have been a larger tragedy, Tuesday’s attack was far more devastating,” Amalau said in a press statement. “Eyewitnesses recounted over 500 armed Fulani militias descended on the community in a coordinated onslaught, resulting in widespread destruction,” he said, adding “What began under the cover of darkness has now escalated into coordinated daylight assaults, continuing from Monday through Tuesday with increased intensity.” Amalau condemned the attacks, stating, “This is not just an attack on Mushere—it is an attack on the soul of Bokkos. We cannot continue to watch our people be slaughtered and their livelihoods destroyed in broad daylight. Enough is enough.” Barr. Farmasum Fuddang fears that the attacks in Mushere could have wider implications for the entire state. He accused local authorities of not doing enough to stop the violence, which he believes could enable militants to “move freely from the Northwest and Northeast, where military operations have recently intensified, to capture territory and establish safer camps throughout Plateau State.” Fuddang claims that several communities have already been seized and turned into no-go zones for Christian natives, with abandoned homes belonging to the Berom, Mwagavul, and Ron ethnic groups now occupied without modification. He said government authorities have witnessed this land grab and ethnic displacement but seem to ignore it. However, Governor Caleb Mutfwang has recently established a committee to investigate claims of land seizures and has promised to recover lands forcibly occupied by trespassers. © Newspaper WordPress Theme by TagDiv

The state court accepted a plea from Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, who was sentenced to a year in prison and given a six-year ban on holding political office, to convert his jail term to a fine of 18,660 euros. Selma Melez, August 12, 2025 Milorad Dodik in the Republika Srpska parliament. Photo: BIRN. The Bosnian state court on Tuesday accepted a proposal from Milorad Dodik’s defence to convert his one-year prison sentence for disobeying the decisions of the High Representative, the international overseer of the implementation of the peace deal that ended the Bosnian war, into a fine. Dodik will now pay 36,500 Bosnian marks (around 18,660 euros) instead of serving time behind bars, as Bosnia’s criminal code allows. He is also barred from holding office as president of the country’s Serb-dominated entity Republika Srpska for six years. After the verdict was handed down, the Central Election Commission stripped Dodik of his mandate as president of Republika Srpska. However, the Election Commission’s decision can be appealed. Dodik described the electoral body’s ruling as “more bullshit from Sarajevo” and vowed to keep fighting. “Surrender is not an option,” he declared. Dodik was convicted on August 1 of knowingly defying decisions issued by the High Representative, Christian Schmidt, in July 2023. Bosnia’s international overseer had blocked implementation of two laws adopted by the Republika Srpska authorities – one preventing enforcement of state-level Constitutional Court rulings in the entity, and another amending legislation on publishing official acts. Despite this, Dodik continued legislative procedures in defiance of Schmidt’s decisions, pushing forward his secessionist Serb agenda and seeking to undermine state-level institutions. Copyright BIRN 2007