It Can Happen Here: Assessing the Risk of Genocide in the US - Dr. James Waller, Keene State College The Center for the Development of International Law (CDIL) and the Institute for Global Policy (IGP) are pleased to release an important white paper titled “It Can Happen Here: Assessing the Risk of Genocide in the United States” by Professor James E. Waller, Cohen Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College in New Hampshire, United States. Professor Waller’s paper questions: Could a long, slow attrition of civil and human rights bring our country [the United States] again to the point where genocide – at home or abroad – stands justified as sound political, social, national, and economic strategy? If so, could we recognize the warning signs in that process and have the collective resolve to resist and mitigate them? The purpose of this paper is to offer a sober real-time analysis of those warning signs and assess the degree of risk for genocide in the US. It would be the epitome of American exceptionalism to believe that we, alone among nations in the world, are immune to genocide. Every country in the world, including the US, is at risk of genocide. Countries simply differ in their degree of risk. William Pace, President of CDIL and Executive Director of IGP stated, “ While we agree with Professor Waller that the danger of genocide being committed in the United States is presently very remote, the increased incidence of hate crimes and xenophobia are undeniable. Our websites have published the warnings issued in the last six months by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, about the dangerous political statements by Donald Trump and other extremist Western politicians. The High Commissioner warned that campaigns promoting religious discrimination and fear were destabilizing nations and increasing support for terrorist organisations like ISIS.” CDIL and IGP are honored to publish papers related to the purposes and principles of our missions. The Center and the Institute have as primary goals the national, regional and global legal enforcement of international humanitarian laws, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The views expressed in the papers we publish and publicize are solely the views of the author(s) and not necessarily the view of the organizations. The paper is available for download below : https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54e1399ce4b014cdbc3d1860/t/58d123041b631b09415ce996/1490100997135/Waller+White+Paper+on+US+and+Genocide.pdf __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________(c) 2017 The Center for the Development of International Law (CDIL) and the Institute for Global Policy (IGP)

Asmot Ara, 18, holds her seven-day-old unnamed daughter as she poses for a photograph inside their shelter in Balukhali unregistered refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar. Bangladesh, February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain Scared, hungry and badly beaten, Rohingya women fleeing an army crackdown in Myanmar recount harrowing tales of destruction and death: a father burned alive, an uncle slaughtered with a machete, a brother arrested and not heard from again. But huddled in makeshift refugee camps, dependent on food rations and the mercy of fellow refugees, they also carry something else: hope inspired by their newborn children, for whom Bangladesh is now home. The babies' delicate features present a sharp contrast with the squalid conditions of the makeshift refugee camp, where a skipped meal or food poisoning can mean the difference between survival or death. The Myanmar army launched its "clearance operation" after Rohingya insurgents attacked border guard posts in northwestern Rakhine state in October. The United Nations said it had committed mass killings and gang rapes and burned villages in a campaign that may amount to crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. "One-and-a-half months ago the military came to our village and kept firing their guns," said Amina, one of the refugees, as she cradled her 16-day-old daughter, Sumaiya. "You see us alive only because god was so kind," added Amina, 30. "They caught my uncle and my younger brother and we don't know whether they are dead or alive." The military calls its crackdown on the Muslim minority a lawful counterinsurgency operation to defend the country and has denied the allegations. Myanmar launched several investigations into the alleged abuse, but human rights monitors say they lack credibility and independence. Amina is one of about 75,000 refugees to have successfully made an often perilous crossing through the fields, eventually fording a river boundary to reach Bangladesh. Some starved for weeks, while others gave everything they had to pay off people smugglers. Many never made it, drowning or getting shot by Myanmar security forces on the journey. Survivors, who rely on shelters of bamboo sticks and black plastic sheets for protection from a scorching sun, face a major challenge in keeping their newborns alive. The camps often lack medical facilities and running water, leading aid agency workers to worry about an outbreak of water-borne diseases such as cholera. "People are living in tough circumstances. Most don’t have access to regular medical services and are not getting enough food," said Azmat Ulla, an official of the International Federation of Red Cross in Bangladesh, launching an emergency appeal for help on Monday. SURVIVING ON RATIONS Many women struggle for funds, having lost male relations, the sole breadwinners in most families. They rely on handouts from the World Food Program and other agencies. Clinics run by non-government bodies and the U.N. are overrun, scrambling to treat thousands of patients each month. Minara Begum, 22, calms her crying one-month-old son, Ayub, as she tells of fleeing from her village of Nasha Phuru with her husband and mother-in-law. "My child doesn't get enough breast milk as I don't eat enough nutritious food," she said. "I have to buy milk powder, though it's not very good for my son." Many women said they survived or witnessed acts of gang rape by soldiers. An official of a large Western aid agency told Reuters it had distributed more than 660 "dignity kits" for assault victims, besides counseling nearly 200 women who suffered trauma after the killing of a family member, usually male. "This is just the tip of the iceberg," said the worker, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to talk to the media. LUCKY TO BE ALIVE The quiet of Cox's Bazar, a beachside resort town, makes for a jarring contrast with the temporary camps amid rice paddies and salt flats just an hour's drive away. Large groups of desperate women line the roads, begging for money from passing cars, often well after sunset. A red blanket spread on the earthen floor of her shelter, Rehana Begum, 25, cares for her one-day-old daughter. "We were in our home and suddenly the military came to our village and started shooting," said Rehana Begum, who fled her village of Jambuinna in Myanmar three months ago. "When we heard the sound of gun shots we immediately went to our relatives. We walked for four hours without any food and water to reach the border at 1 a.m. We paid $18 to a broker to cross." The figure is equivalent to 25,000 Myanmar kyat. Intercepted by Bangladesh border guards, Rehana Begum's family narrowly escaped being sent home. "They wanted to send us back, but then we heard gunshots from the Myanmar side and the guards released us, saying, 'Stay in Bangladesh and save your lives'," she said. (C) 2017 The Reuters

Bev Sellars is the author of Price Paid: The Fight for First Nations Survival. (Talonbooks) Award-winning author Bev Sellars is a survivor of the residential school system. Her 2013 memoir, They Called Me Number One, tells the chilling details of being ripped away from her family, culture and identity and the lasting effects of her traumatizing childhood. In February, the former chief of the Xatśūll First Nation spoke to Shelagh Rogers at the University of Victoria about her new book, Price Paid: The Fight for First Nations Survival. It takes a look at the misconceptions, myths and falsehoods about Indigenous people and their monumental contributions that have gone undocumented for centuries. Learning to live with each other I would like people to understand that the Indian Act needs to go out the window. But at the same time, you can't do away with the Indian Act without replacing it with something. What we need are just and fair treaty settlements. None of us are going anywhere. We're all here to stay. But we have to learn to live with each other and Aboriginal people need to be a big part of how things operate in the territories. I think people will find that the way we want to operate is actually good for the environment and for the rest of society. "What do you want?" ​I really struggle with that word "reconciliation." People have asked me, "What do you want?" And I want the struggle for First Nations survival to end. I want recognition of all the Indigenous contributions to be recognized and put in the school curriculums. I want people to really understand the history of Canada and that includes at the very beginning —Aboriginal people and how they helped everybody get established in this country. That's what I want. Bev Sellars' comments have been edited and condensed. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 CBC/Radio-Canada

Western Cape Premier Helen Zille has turned on her own party‚ saying that the Democratic Alliance risks falling prey to “African racial nationalism”. Zille‚ former leader of the DA‚ caused a storm last week after she suggested on Twitter that colonialism had contributed positively to modern South Africa. The DA then instituted disciplinary proceedings against Zille‚ who has since apologised for offending fellow South Africans. But on Monday Zille fought back in a column published by news website Daily Maverick. “‘Speaking while white’ is considered the ultimate sin‚ in terms of the increasingly popular ideology called ‘critical race theory’‚” Zille said. “The real danger is that the DA‚ in its quest for votes‚ may start to swallow every tenet‚ myth and shibboleth of African racial-nationalist propaganda‚ including the scape-goating of minorities‚ populist mobilisation and political patronage.” Zille is currently being investigated by her party and might face charges after she tweeted on Thursday: “For those claiming legacy of colonialism was ONLY negative‚ think of our independent judiciary‚ transport infrastructure‚ piped water etc.” A second tweet read: “Would we have had a transition into specialised health care and medication without colonial influence? Just be honest‚ please.” The tweets drew wide-ranging criticism. Members of her own party‚ including DA leader Mmusi Maimane‚ distanced themselves from Zille’s remarks. In her column this week‚ the former DA leader said South Africans paid lip service to equal citizenship and that every opinion was judged on the basis of the colour of the person who expressed it. She said institutionalised corruption would be next. “If this were to happen‚ it will be irrelevant whether we win or lose elections‚ because we will no longer offer an alternative. That is why these debates are not a diversion. It is essential to have them‚” she added. Zille said her tweets had been inspired by a trip to Singapore‚ where she had witnessed how former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew had “generally used the legacy of colonialism to his advantage”. “While travel broadens the mind‚ I tend to forget that‚ on returning to South Africa‚ it is best to shrink your mind again to fit the contours of political correctness. Especially if you are white.” ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 The Herald, South Africa

Bangladesh cabinet today approved March 25 as Genocide Day, clearing all formalities to recognise the brutal genocide committed on this day in 1971. The approval was given in the regular cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Cabinet Secretary M Shafiul Alam told reporters. Members of the cabinet reached a consensus and identified the event as an ‘A Grade’ event. From now on, the Government of Bangladesh will observe March 25 as Genocide Day. “Foreign ministry has started efforts to recognise the day internationally,” the cabinet secretary said. On March 11, Bangaldesh’s parliament adopted a resolution to observe the day as Genocide Day. The proposal was forwarded by Ministry of Liberation War Affairs. On this day in 1971, Pakistani army cracked down on the Bangalees and killed them indiscriminately. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina chairs a meeting of the cabinet at Bangladesh Secretariat in Dhaka. PID file photo _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 The Daily Star

Children from Bakala in a displacement camp in Grimali, Central African Republic, January 24, 2017. Approximately 10,000 people have fled fighting between the UPC and the FPRC in Ouaka province since late November 2016. © 2017 Edouard Dropsy for Human Rights Watch A rebel group in the Central African Republic executed at least 32 civilians and captured fighters after clashes in December 2016 with another rebel group in the Ouaka province. In the town of Bakala, rebels from the Union for Peace in the Central African Republic (l'Union pour la Paix en Centrafrique, UPC), on December 12, executed 25 people after calling them to a school for an alleged meeting. Earlier that day, UPC fighters executed seven men who were returning from a nearby gold mine. Accounts of the incidents were provided by a survivor and eight witnesses, including five men who were forced to help dispose of the bodies. At least 29 other civilians have been killed in fighting around Bakala since late November. A rebel group in the Central African Republic executed at least 32 civilians and captured fighters after clashes in December 2016 with another rebel group in the Ouaka province. “These executions are brazen war crimes by UPC fighters who feel free to kill at will,” said Lewis Mudge, Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The group is carrying out its killing sprees with no fear of punishment, despite the presence of United Nations peacekeepers.” The appointment on February 15, 2017 of a chief prosecutor for the Special Criminal Court – a court to be staffed with national and international judges and prosecutors in the capital, Bangui, to prosecute grave human rights violations since 2003 – marks an important step towards accountability, Human Rights Watch said. The court should now be further staffed without delay, so it can begin investigations and prosecutions. Local residents and officials told Human Rights Watch that tensions between the UPC and the Popular Front for the Renaissance in the Central African Republic (Front Populaire pour la Renaissance de la Centrafrique, FPRC), another rebel group drawn from the predominantly Muslim Seleka fighters, began escalating late last year. Fighting started around Mourouba, 18 kilometers west of Bakala, on November 27, 2016, and the UPC then attacked civilians they suspected of belonging to anti-balaka militia allied with the FPRC. The FPRC has allied itself with anti-balaka militias, its former enemy, to fight the UPC. The anti-balaka emerged in 2013, largely from existing self-defense groups to resist Seleka abuses, and themselves went on to commit serious abuses against civilians. In late January 2017, Human Rights Watch interviewed 28 people in and around Bakala, including victims of other UPC crimes, relatives of victims, and UPC commanders. The total number of victims is most likely higher than the 32 people executed and the 29 civilians killed during clashes because dozens of other people are unaccounted for, family members of the missing people say. Human Rights Watch was unable to confirm all reported killings due to limited access and security concerns. In December 2016, a rebel group in the Central African Republic executed at least 32 civilians and captured fighters after clashes with another rebel group in the Ouaka province. In the town of Bakala, rebels from the Union for Peace in the Central African Republic (l'Union pour la Paix en Centrafrique, UPC) on December 12 executed 25 people after calling them to a school for an alleged meeting. Earlier that day, UPC fighters executed seven men who were returning from a nearby gold mine. At least 29 other civilians have been killed in fighting around Bakala since late November. “A UN helicopter circled the town for some time so we knew things were not normal,” said a 41-year-old man, when describing how UPC fighters gunned down civilians on December 11. “When the helicopter left, the Peuhl [UPC fighters] attacked. The town was encircled. I took my children and ran, but they were shooting at anything that moved.” Around 5 a.m. on December 12, a group of UPC fighters detained and killed seven men in Bakala as they returned from a nearby gold mine. “I was hiding in a house and I saw the Peuhl [UPC fighters] gather the men in front of a neighbor’s house and take them inside,” said “Joseph,” a 55-year-old resident of Bakala. “A short time later I heard screams from the men. They were yelling, ‘Why are you killing us?’ and ‘I’m dying!’ I also heard shots. This was all at 5 a.m. A short while later the Peuhl found me and made me help throw the bodies in a well.” A Human Rights Watch researcher inspected the well and noted a putrid smell that might have come from decaying bodies. Another local resident, interviewed separately, said UPC fighters also forced him to help throw bodies in the water source. Later that morning, UPC fighters in Bakala executed another 24 men and at least one boy, whom they accused of supporting the anti-balaka. Bakala residents said that UPC fighters sent a message around town that they would hold a meeting at a local school. Some men were already held at the school from the previous night and when others arrived, the fighters seized the men and gunned them down. “I jumped up and managed to escape, but everyone else was killed,” said 24-year-old “Laurent,” whose 17-year-old brother was killed. “I ran into the bush and just heard shooting as I ran.” A local official said he heard the shooting and then UPC fighters forced him to help them throw the bodies into a nearby well, located on the other side of town from the well into which the seven other victims had been thrown. “[The victims were] young anti-balaka and civilians,” he said. “Their bodies were scattered outside the school and the gendarmerie. I counted 25 bodies.” Under the command of General Ali Darassa Mahamant, the UPC has controlled much of Ouaka province since 2013. The UPC has close links to the minority ethnic Peuhl, and armed Peuhl often fight with the group. On January 23, 2017, Darassa told Human Rights Watch that his men did not kill any civilians in Bakala or the surrounding villages. “Soldiers in the UPC cannot execute civilians or prisoners,” he said. “What you have heard about the UPC are lies.” Darassa said that he exerts full control over his men. The fighting in Bakala and the surrounding area displaced between 9,000 and 10,000 people, a town official said. Some of them are staying in other towns, and thousands are living in the forest savannah in Ouaka province. The UN peacekeeping force in the country, the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), has 12,870 armed members and a temporary base in Mourouba. Consistent with its mandate, MINUSCA should take active steps to protect civilians, including when necessary by using force, Human Rights Watch said. On February 11, MINUSCA helicopters opened fire on FPRC forces that were moving from Ippy to Bambari, destroying at least four vehicles and killing Seleka General Joseph Zoundeko. The FPRC forces had crossed MINUSCA’s declared “red line,” established to separate the FPRC and UPC and to protect civilians. “MINUSCA is facing significant fighting in the center of the country, and it’s encouraging to see it enforce its mandate to protect civilians,” Mudge said. “Abusive commanders like the UPC’s Darassa need to understand that peacekeepers will not tolerate their attacks and they can be held accountable for war crimes committed by their forces.” Conflict in the Central African Republic The Central African Republic has been in crisis since late 2012, when mostly Muslim Seleka rebels opened a military campaign against the government of Francois Bozizé. The Seleka seized the capital, Bangui, in March 2013. Their rule was marked by widespread human rights abuse, including the wanton killing of civilians. In mid-2013, Christian and animist anti-balaka militia organized to fight the Seleka. Associating all Muslims with the Seleka, the anti-balaka carried out large scale reprisal attacks against Muslim civilians in Bangui and western parts of the country. In 2014, African Union and French international forces pushed the Seleka out of Bangui. Ethnic divisions, rivalries, disagreements over resource control, and disputes over strategy quickly tore the Seleka apart. By late 2014, the Seleka had split into several factions, each controlling its own area. In November 2016, skirmishes erupted between two of the factions, the UPC and FPRC, over control of roads leading to diamond mines around Kalaga, a town 45 kilometers from Bria. Both groups collect “road taxes,” especially in mining areas and on migration routes for Peuhl herders. The skirmishes escalated into more serious fighting. The Union for Peace in the Central African Republic (UPC) The UPC is a splinter group of the Popular Front for Redress (Front populaire pour le redressement, FPR), a Chadian rebel group mainly consisting of Chadian and Central African Peuhl and commanded by Chadian Babba Laddé. The group’s second in command, Ali Darassa Mahamant, joined the Seleka and officially created the UPC in September 2014. He continues to serve as its president and commander. To keep control of Bambari and the strategic roads that connect it to other parts of the country, including lucrative trade routes toward Sudan, UPC fighters target those they believe are members of or support the anti-balaka. Fighting between the UPC and other splinter groups began in November 2016, in the central town of Bria, in the Hautte-Kotto province. Those clashes over 11 days left at least 14 civilians dead and 76 wounded. Fighting continued during the following days on the road to Ippy, a town north of Bambari, and near Ndassima, a gold mine, and then spread south and west to Ouaka province. FPRC fighters and allies from another Seleka group, the Central African Patriotic Movement (Mouvement Patriotique pour la Centrafrique, MPC), joined their former enemy, anti-balaka fighters, against the UPC. FPRC and MPC fighters have killed civilians in past attacks, such as when they razed a camp for displaced people in Kaga-Bandoro in October, killing at least 37 civilians and wounding 57. In the latest Bakala fighting, however, Human Rights Watch did not document any civilian deaths by the FPRC or MPC, although some might have taken place. Attack on Bakala and Summary Executions Bakala has numerous gold mines around the town, making it a strategic post for any group. Since fighting between the two Seleka forces began, control for the town has gone back and forth between the FPRC and the UPC. On December 11, the UPC temporarily took the town after a major attack. They quickly started to kill civilians, associating them with either FPRC sympathizers or anti-balaka. A 55-year-old resident said: The attack by the UPC lasted about three hours. I waited in the bush near the town until it was calm. When all was quiet, I went back in. It was the end of the day. I saw bodies of fighters all over, but I also saw the Peuhl kill two civilians. They had set up a base near the market and they would stop men coming from the mines. They took their things and then hung them from a tree until they died. Then they threw the bodies in the [Ouaka] river. Other residents said that UPC fighters tied up at least two other men, slit their throats, and threw their bodies into the Ouaka River. A Human Rights Watch researcher saw one decayed body of an unidentified person in the river on January 22, 2017. Destroyed FPRC (Seleka) truck in Bakala, Central African Republic, after the violence of December 11, 2016. Photo taken on January 22, 2017. © 2017 Edouard Dropsy for Human Rights Watch A day later, UPC fighters killed at least seven men who were returning to the town from the nearby mine. Human Rights Watch spoke with one witness and another man, who along with the witness was forced to help throw seven bodies into a well. Later that morning, UPC fighters sent a message that they would hold a meeting at the École Sous-préfectorale, where it was already holding some men who had been captured the day before. When people gathered there, UPC fighters seized at least 24 men and one boy, gunning them down. Some were walked across the street and killed in front of the gendarmerie station. A 40-year-old woman, “Claudette,” from Bakala, said she hid with her husband and six children in the Mangoléma neighborhood during the fighting. On December 12, they heard a message that the Seleka were holding a meeting for town residents at the school. She explained: We did not know if it was the Ghoula [FPRC] or the Peuhl [UPC] who had won the day before. My husband said, “Well, if there is a meeting I will go and see what they have to say.” He went with two neighbors, Edgar and Romain, and my stepson Arnaud [approximately 20-years-old]. A short time later I heard many shots coming from the school. People who had been to the meeting then came running and told me that my husband and Arnaud had been killed. A 35-year-old woman from Bakala, “Odette,” said she saw UPC forces take men to the school and then heard shooting: On December 12, some of us women decided that we would try to cross the river and go to Bambari. As we walked we saw some Peuhl who told us not to leave. One said, “Return home, you are all wives of anti-balaka.” But we were scared so we went to the Catholic Church, where many people were hiding. A short time later some Peuhl arrived. They said they were looking for men to take to the school for a meeting. They said they were looking for anti-balaka but I know that some of the men they took were civilians. They took some men and a short time later I heard many shots. Then the Peuhl came back and told a man at the church that he needed to arrange to have the bodies buried. A local official explained how he heard shooting and then saw many bodies at the school: It was the morning of the 12th, around 9 a.m. I was down near the river when I started to hear many shots coming from the school. I asked a UPC fighter nearby if he was going to kill me too, but he said, “No, we are only killing the anti-balaka.” They took me to the school and I saw bodies all over the ground. The Peuhl told me that they knew these men and they justified the killing by saying they were all anti-balaka. But I knew some of them were not. They ordered me to help bury them. A 24-year-old survivor of the attack, “Laurent,” described how the UPC forces opened fire on their detained men: After the attack on the 11th we were all hiding in the bush. We were called to a meeting at the school by youth from the town. They were saying, “Come to a meeting to see how the people can work with the Seleka.” I decided to go to the meeting. When I arrived there I saw my uncle and my little brother there as well. All the people at the meeting were men. I knew that something was not right. Personally, I had thought it was a meeting for the FPRC because I still did not know which side had won the fight the day before. I was scared when I saw the Peuhl. Once I arrived they put me in a small group of nine people and told us to go sit down near the gendarmerie, across the road. My brother and my uncle were with me. Once we sat down I heard someone at the school yell, “You are all anti-balaka!” Then they started to shoot at us. I jumped up and managed to escape, but everyone else was killed. My brother was 17-years-old. I ran into the bush and just heard shooting as I ran. I think everyone at the school was killed, but I did not see it. After the killing, local men were forced to help throw the bodies into a nearby well. One of these men, 46-year-old “Daniel,” said a UPC fighter told him, “We had no choice; we had to kill all the anti-balaka.” When Human Rights Watch visited Bakala on January 22, the UPC had again lost control. Discarded clothing lay in front of the school where the men were shot and one classroom had what looked like blood stains. Human Rights Watch has documented previous UPC attacks around Bakala, in 2014. Between April and June of that year, UPC soldiers killed at least 20 people, including children, in Bakala and Mourouba. Attacks Around Bakala In January 2017, UPC fighters killed a man and two of his children in Mourouba, 18 kilometers from Bakala. Two other children survived. One, a 15-year-old boy, said they were attacked as they tried to go home: When Mourouba was attacked, we ran a few kilometers into the woods to hide. But after a few days my dad took me and my three brothers back to the village to look for manioc. In the village, the UPC saw us. One asked, “Were you sent here by our enemies to know our position?” My dad said, “No, we are just looking for food.” But the Peuhl took us and tied all our hands behind our backs. They took us into the bush and then tied a rope around our necks and attached it to our hands. Then they started to kick us and stab us with bayonets. My father and my brother Viviane [approximately 10 years old] died because they could not breathe. They stabbed my older brother, Charlie [approximately 16 years old] to death. After they stabbed us all they assumed we were all dead and they took our shoes and left us. I saw that my dad was dead and that one of my little brothers was not moving. Charlie was still breathing, but he died shortly after. My youngest brother was alive so I took him and we ran away before the Peuhl came back. Human Rights Watch saw scars on the boy that appeared to be from stab wounds. Four residents of Yambélé, a small mining center 110 kilometers southeast of Bambari, said that UPC fighters attacked the town in late December, killing at least 10 civilians. One survivor, a 39-year-old woman, said: It was in the evening. The Peuhl [UPC] came from the direction of Alindao. When we heard the attack, we tried to run into the bush, but some fighters saw us women and told us to go home, they said they would not hurt us. I watched them gather some men at a house and I then heard shots. Then I ran into the bush. As I was running I saw Peuhl burning houses. I also saw the bodies of people I knew. I stopped by the body of Felix Gandaya, my neighbor [25 years old], but he was already dead. He had been shot and stabbed in the neck. On December 8, UPC fighters attacked the village Piangou, 40 kilometers east of Bakala, on the road to Ippy. A resident said that FPRC fighters had been based in Piangou for several days before the attack and from there opened attacks on Ndassima, 45 kilometers away. On December 8, the FPRC fighters retreated to Bakala, and UPC fighters entered the village a short time later. “The UPC arrived at around 10 a.m.,” explained one resident, a 45-year-old man. “They did a patrol in the village and killed four people. When I heard the shots, I ran.” Displacement and Humanitarian Needs Fighting in the Ouaka province has forced about 10,000 residents of Bakala and Mourouba to flee. Some are living in homes in Mbrés, while others have sought shelter in displacement camps in Bambari. Approximately 2,500 people found shelter in a new displacement camp in Grimali. At least several thousand others are camping out in the savannah woods around Bakala. Due to ongoing security concerns, nongovernmental groups have not been able to deliver adequate levels of aid. The displacement has divided families. On January 24, Human Rights Watch met a man in Grimali who was searching for his six children. They had lost each other in the December 11 Bakala attack. Human Rights Watch also found four children, ages 5 to 11, who were separated from their parents after the attack on Piangou on December 8. Accountability and International Law The crimes in Ouaka province fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC), whose prosecutor opened investigations into crimes in the country in September 2014, as well as the Special Criminal Court (SCC), a new judicial body with national and international judges and prosecutors that, when operational, will have a mandate to investigate and prosecute grave human rights violations in the country since 2003. The government’s cooperation with the ICC is critical, but the ICC’s investigation, which is ongoing, will most likely only target only a handful of suspects. The SCC offers a meaningful opportunity to hold accountable commanders from all parties to the conflict who are responsible for war crimes, such as those committed by the UPC, and needs sustained international support, Human Rights Watch said. On February 15, 2017, president Faustin-Archange Touadéra signed a decree naming Col. Toussaint Muntazini Mukimapa, attorney general of the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, as the prosecutor for the SCC. Extrajudicial killings and targeted killings of civilians violate international humanitarian law and may be prosecuted as war crimes. International humanitarian law also strictly prohibits parties to non-international armed conflicts from any countermeasures against civilians or fighters who have ceased to take a direct part in hostilities. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 Human Rights Watch

Darfur Basics There are many elements to the current critically dangerous situation on the ground in Darfur: [1] Rampant insecurity, increasingly created by irregular and unchecked Arab militia forces; [2] Denial of humanitarian access (to perhaps 30 percent of the population in need according to some humanitarian estimates); the needy population is estimated to be 3 million human beings according to the most recent OCHA figures and denial of access may thus be affecting some 900,000 people; [3] A regional economy that is collapsing with the broader economy in Sudan, fueled in large measure by inflation that now exceeds 50 percent on a year-over-year basis (even the Khartoum regime is compelled by glaring price realities to allow the Central Bureau of Statistics to promulgate an unsustainable inflation rate of 33 percent for February 2017); [4] Threats by Khartoum to begin dismantling camps, throwing many hundreds of thousands of people into a highly insecure environment without organized relief assistance; [5] And the increasing likelihood that the UN/African Union “hybrid” peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) will be drastically reduced when the continuation of its mandate, as well as its size, is debated by the UN Security Council this coming June (2017). Khartoum has made no secret of its insistence that UNAMID be withdrawn, and has in the nine years the mission has been officially deployed repeatedly attacked the personnel of the Mission through proxy militia forces and is overwhelming responsible for the violent deaths of more than 200 military personnel (for a survey of the evidence pointing to Khartoum’s responsibility in the most serious violent assault on UNAMID forces, see my analysis of May 9, 2013 | http://wp.me/p45rOG-11S). If UNAMID withdraws or is cut even more severely than it has to date (to only 70 percent of the originally mandated force size), this will be a signal to remaining humanitarian organizations that whatever protection might have been provided by this disastrously conceived and poorly performing Mission will disappear—and they will withdraw. Human Displacement in Darfur At the center of all of that continues to make this one of the great humanitarian crises in the world today is the massive fact of displacement: some 3 million people—roughly 2.7 million Internally Displaced Persons and some 300,000 Darfuri refugees in eastern Chad cannot return to their homes. These people are overwhelming from the non-Arab/African tribal groups of Darfur, as are the more than 500,000 people who have died directly or indirectly from the violence that has been continuous for the past fourteen years (see | http://wp.me/p45rOG-AB/). The current OCHA figure for the number of IDPs in Darfur is “up to 2.6 million” (“as of December 2015”) (all additions of bold are mine—ER) | http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/OCHA_Sudan_Weekly_Humanitarian_Bulletin_Issue_47_%2814_-20_November_2016%29.pdf/). But this figure, likely not fully inclusive in any event, certainly does not include those displaced during the massive Jebel Marra offensive mounted by Khartoum in 2016, using both regular military forces (the Sudan Armed Forces, SAF) and the militia force of choice, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), now officially incorporated into the SAF. As many as 200,000 newly displaced persons were created by this brutal assault, distinguished by its savagery and its use of chemical weapons. Many of these people fled north to what has become the Sortony IDP camp (North Darfur), near the UNAMID base as this location; many fled to the west or south; and many have returned. Given the absence of other data—an absence expertly engineered by the Khartoum regime—a better estimate of the number of IDPs is 2.7 million. • The figure of 300,000 Darfuri refugees in eastern Chad was conveyed to me by officials of the UN High Commission for Refugees in researching my account of this shamefully neglected population last April (2016): “Invisible, Forgotten, and Suffering: Darfuri Refugees in Eastern Chad.” Images of displacement in Darfur Darfuri refugees in eastern Chad The map above is the most recent representation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) (February 2015). A close analysis of the map reveals why humanitarian access is such a critical issue in Darfur, and why it is so challenging. While there are ten concentrations of IDPs greater than 50,000 in size, there are 208 locations in which IDPs are in camps, gathering points that are not yet camps, and host communities. They are widely scattered in an enormous geographical expanse. Darfur as a whole is the size of Spain, although the northern half of the region is very sparsely populated, this still leaves an area of some 250,000 square kilometers over which a highly vulnerable and needy population is spread. Humanitarian workers are also widely distributed, and hence extremely vulnerable: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Darfur_Presence_of_Aid_Workers_in_National_%26_International_Organisations_A3_1_Jan_2017.pdf Were UNAMID to withdraw, some of these locations would become immediately a great deal more insecure, and relief organizations might themselves withdraw; all of them have contingency plans for rapid withdrawal and re-location of their workers (97 percent of whom are Sudanese nationals and highly vulnerable). Even with the presence of UNAMID, displaced persons are extremely vulnerable and are attacked on a widespread and frequent basis, often by Khartoum’s regular forces. Very recently Radio Dabanga reported: Security force “storms” South Darfur camp March 10, 2017 (Nyala) | A joint force of police and security has stormed Kalma camp for displaced people in South Darfur, causing unrest in the camp and a number of residents to flee this week. Three vehicles with Dushka machineguns mounted on top entered Kalma, east of Nyala, at 3.30pm on Thursday, the spokesman for a Darfuri refugee association reported to Radio Dabanga. Hussein Abu Sharati of the Association for the Displaced People and Refugees in Darfur said that another group of security agents had stormed the camp at 11am, using a tinted Land Cruiser. “Their arrival caused panic among the residents. “They did not notify UNAMID prior to their arrival,” he said, pointing out the camp administration has therefore submitted a memorandum to the peacekeeping force to condemn the incidents. But this is nothing new. This same Kalma camp was attacked in 2008 in deadly fashion (see my Wall Street Journal article “Now Sudan Is Attacking Refugee Camps” (September 6, 2008, co-authored with Mia Farrow | https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122065894281205691/): At 6 a.m. on the morning of Aug. 25 [2008], Kalma camp, home to 90,000 displaced Darfuris, was surrounded by Sudanese government forces. By 7am, 60 heavily armed military vehicles had entered the camp, shooting and setting straw huts ablaze. Terrified civilians—who had previously fled their burning villages when they were attacked by this same government and its proxy killers the Janjaweed—hastily armed themselves with sticks, spears and knives. Of course, these were no match for machine guns and automatic weapons. By 9pm, the worst of the brutal assault was over. The vehicles rolled out leaving scores dead and over 100 wounded. Most were women and children. Many other camps have been attacked with the same brutality—often with UNAMID personnel very nearby. Notably, Kalma camp—which now has a population of 126,000 according to the UN—is close to Nyala, the largest city in Darfur. A survey of the IDP map above reveals just how far many camps are from urban areas, which significantly increases their vulnerability. Vulnerability to Malnutrition Food insecurity and malnutrition in Darfur have been quantified, but the UN has often refused to released the assembled data. The most striking instance of this was a UNICEF report on malnutrition in Sudan that revealed shocking data on Chronic Malnutrition (also known as “stunting”), Acute Malnutrition, and Severe Acute Malnutrition. The report—still unpublished—was leaked to Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times, who published it on September 5, 2014. The findings are as shocking as the fact that UNICEF refused to promulgate the report in order to comply with Khartoum’s wishes. Among the most telling figure: “Acute malnutrition rates for children in Sudan among the highest in the world” North Darfur: 28 percent acute malnutrition among children South Darfur: 18 percent acute malnutrition among children East Darfur: 15 percent acute malnutrition among children South Darfur: 13 percent acute malnutrition among children West Darfur: 8 percent acute malnutrition among children “Chronic malnutrition among children is widespread and pervasive” [A graph in the report indicates the following figures for chronic malnutrition among children in Sudan—ER]: Central Darfur: 45 percent East Darfur: 40 percent West Darfur: 35 percent North Darfur: 35 percent South Darfur: 26 percent [The report indicates that the World Health Organization cutoff point for “high” prevalence of chronic malnutrition is 30 percent, and for “very high” prevalence > = 40 percent. Source: S3m Survey, 2013] [See also Save the Children’s Acute Malnutrition Summary Sheet—ER] [A third chart indicates]: “% of under-fives moderately or severely wasted in the 10 most affected countries” [Sudan ranked 4th from the bottom in this category in 2010—ER]: Wasting prevalence for country population under five: Moderate or severe wasting: 16 percent Severe wasting: 5 percent [Two percent is the “emergency” threshold for Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) among children; in developing countries, even in hospital settings, some 20 – 30 percent of all children suffering from SAM die—ER] A child suffering from Acute Malnutrition in the Nuba Mountains The most recent Sudan Bulletin from UN OCHA indicates that the “Global Acute Malnutrition Burden” (or “Caseload”) for Sudan as a whole has ticked upward to 2.2 million people | http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/OCHA_Sudan_Humanitarian_Bulletin_Issue_07_%2827_February_-_12_March_2017%29.pdf?). Measuring a child’s level of malnutrition: why can’t this data be promulgated? This reflects not only the Khartoum regime’s relentless hostility to international relief aid (many hundreds of thousands of civilians in rebel-controlled areas of South Kordofan and Blue Nile are denied all humanitarian access), but the grotesque mismanagement of the economy by the National Islamic Front/National Congress Party. Inflation, verging on hyper-inflation, is symptomatic; but just as significant has been the refusal of the regime to devote national resources to the rehabilitation and modernization of the agricultural sector, which should be the backbone of the Sudanese economy, given the vast tracts of arable land in this still geographically immense country. The International Community and Darfur’s Displaced Despite the horrific realities facing roughly half the population of the Darfur region, the most consequential international actors now refuse to acknowledge the scale of the ongoing crisis (in Darfur, this phrase is not an oxymoron). These include the political side of the UN (and in the past the humanitarian side as well); the African Union, which has spoken only mendaciously about Darfur; the U.S., which lifted sanctions on the Khartoum regime during the last week of the Obama administration (citing a “sea change” in improved humanitarian access); and the European Union, best represented by a recent statement by EU Ambassador Jean-Michel Dumond, as reported by Radio Dabanga: “Situation in Darfur improved”: EU diplomat | February 12, 2017 | EL FASHER The security and humanitarian situation in Darfur has significantly improved, according to the head of the EU Delegation to Sudan. On Wednesday, in a meeting of EU ambassadors with the North Darfur government in El Fasher, EU Ambassador Jean-Michel Dumond said that the EU stays committed to the projects commenced under the auspices of the Darfur Regional Authority (DRA). The mandate of the DRA ended in July last year. The EU Ambassador noted that the security and humanitarian situation in Darfur has significantly improved. He stated that the Union has many commitments in the region, of which the most important are the peace process, stability, and development issues. EU Ambassador Jean-Michel Dumond, the face of European mendacity We might wonder whether Ambassador Dumond knew that he was being led on a guided tour organized and overseen by Military Intelligence, which has long had the security file in Darfur. Did he realize that everything he and his delegation saw was what the Khartoum regime wanted him to see and nothing that it did not want him to see? How can he generalize about the humanitarian and security situation based on such a “Potemkin Village” experience? How can his generalization be made to square with the realities detailed above? Does Dumond actually know anything about these realities? Does he care? It is very difficult to believe he does, especially in light of the EU’s desperate, and finally despicable desire to make friends with the Khartoum regime in order to stanch the flow of African migrants (see a remarkable exposé on this subject by Der Spiegel in May 2016 | http://wp.me/p45rOG-1Tt/). Darfur Tomorrow Khartoum has largely succeed in its genocidal counter-insurgency in Darfur, with only pockets of resistance from the once powerful rebel movements. But violence continues on a vast scale, largely by irregular Arab militias and small armed groups, which Khartoum refuses to control. To be sure, as the attack on Kalma and the “Nertiti massacre” of early January 2017 make clear, government-controlled security elements are still capable of outrageous violence, and this will intensify with the eventual closing of the camps—something Khartoum has made fully explicit it intends to accomplish, and not in the distant future. Victim of the Nertiti massacre, January 2017; not mentioned by EU Ambassador Jean-Michel Dumond Darfur’s displaced, whether inside camps or in an unimaginably threatening environment without any meaningful international presence, will in the vast majority of cases never return to their homes. The immense and violent expropriation of African farmlands by Arab militia forces and other armed Arab groups has effected permanent changes in the demographic geography of Darfur—and come close to fulfilling the ambitions announced by notorious Janjaweed leader Musa Hilal in a directive from his Misteriya headquarters in August 2004: “change the demography” of Darfur and “empty it of African tribes” (http://wp.me/p45rOG-1Oo/). Musa Hilal—the face of evil That such ambitions have been realized over the course of the past fourteen years, with continuous if now highly attenuated reporting, makes clear that genocide as a national security policy is alive and well in Khartoum. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 SUDAN Research, Analysis, and Advocacy

Pope Francis. The Holy See should break the ice and apologize for Church’s role in the 1994 Genocide. Kagame wants the Pope to do it, not anyone else. Vatican could break the ice tomorrow regarding Roman Catholic Church participation in 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. President Paul Kagame is in Rome, on invitation by the Holy Father tomorrow, according to Louise Mushikiwabo, Minister of Foreign Affairs. On Twitter, Mushikiwabo wrote, “After a successful visit to China, President Kagame is now in Rome, on invitation by the Holy Father tomorrow Rwanda – Vatican ties.” The President’s meeting with the Pope comes barely four months after the Catholic Church’s local Episcopal Council issued a statement apologizing for the participation of some of its church members in the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi. The tragedy cost life to more than 1 million Tutsi within three consecutive months, becoming the worst tragedy of 20th century. The role the church played through the classic ten phases of the genocide, including execution and denial, is obvious in the eyes of many Rwandans, especially Genocide survivors who share live testimonies every year during commemoration period. Anyone who has eyes to see can also, by common sense get a level of understanding while seeing numerous Churches that were turned into mass graves. The Church however, disregarded any fact linking it with the Genocide for the last 23 years. In November last year, Episcopal Council of Rwanda issued a statement apologizing for the participation of some of its clergy and church members in the genocide against Tutsi. The statement however received negative reactions among Rwandans especially members of Ibuka – an umbrella organization of Genocide survivors who said, it tried to show that only individuals participated in the Genocide, and church is clean. The government also dismissed the statement, and called for an entire Catholic Church in the world to collectively apologise to Rwandans. During the National Diologue (Umushyikirano) last year, President Kagame personally came out to speak about the matter – calling for Pope Francis to apologise on behalf of the Catholic community. This was after Bishop Philippe Rukamba, President of Episcopal council reiterated a shocking statement that, “I have never seen any letter with the church telling its children to go and commit genocide. We thought the way we formulated the apology makes sense.” For over two decades now, relations between Rwanda and the Catholic Church have gone sour – regarding the Church’s slow pace or complete refusal to apologise for its role in planning and execution of a genocide of over one million victims. Nyamata Genocide memorial. Priests went as far as violating the ‘sacred’ Hostia. During the 1994 genocide, Catholic Churches acted as hotspots for the killing spree, where priests and nuns led the massacres. Some of the famous Churches in which tens of thousands of Tutsi died while expecting safe haven from the priests include St. Famille in the capital Kigali, Ntarama, Nyamata and Kiziguro in the East; Mibirizi and Nyange in the West and Kabgayi in South. It was even worse when it reached Kibeho, a ‘Holy Place’ in Southern Rwanda that was proclaimed a place where to do pilgrimage after it was confirmed that Mary, Mother of Jesus appeared to three school girls in 1980s. Churches becoming such a curse for the Tutsi was not an accident because nuns, priests and even some bishops, leave alone a great number of Christians, were part of the killing machinery. Since the Genocide, Catholic priests and nuns have been convicted of genocide crimes and received different sentences, while others remain covered up by the Vatican. Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka The highest ranking Church official to be tried for genocide was the late bishop Augustin Misago, who was later acquitted and freed from prison in June 2000. Others are Father Emmanuel Rukundo and Joseph Ndagijimana from Kabgayi diocese, Wenceslas Munyeshyaka from Sainte Famille in the Capital Kigali. Meanwhile, other Catholic nuns including Maria Kizito and Geltrude Mukangango were convicted of genocide crimes by Belgian courts and were sentenced to 12 and 15 years respectively. The above cases have been clear evidence that the Catholic Church played an active role in the genocide. Vatican Reluctant For President Kagame, he does not understand why the Vatican has failed to say sorry for the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda, yet the Pope has been able to apologise for lesser offences committed globally by the clergy. ”I don’t understand why the Pope would apologise for sexual offences, whether it is in the US, Ireland or Australia, but cannot apologise for the role of the Church in the genocide that happened here,” the President asked last year during the National Diologue. Earlier before the President’s reaction, Msgr. Rukamba, had commented on the apology statement saying the Church as an institution bears no responsibility. “So far what we understand, the Church as an institution did not participate in the genocide. The Church did not send people to kill others. There is nothing to show that it did, whether it is a letter or a document,” Bishop Rukamba said. Rukamba’s statement was massively turned down by participants at the dialogue attended by all government leaders from Central and local government as well as Rwandans and friends of Rwanda. “But as we said in our recent apology, church members did participate in the genocide and that is what we apologized for and seek forgiveness for,” Rukamba said. Despite the negative side of the Catholic Church, Rwanda has for many years had partnerships with the church in different projects. For instance, at least 65% of all public schools in Rwanda are co-owned by the Catholic Church, Smaragde Mbonyintege, Bishop of Kabgayi diocese told KT Press. The Church also owns other different infrastructure projects across the country. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 KT Press

22 March 2017 – 9:30 – 12:00 European Parliament, Brussels REGISTRATIONS CLOSED The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), in collaboration with the People’s Alliance for Freedom and Democracy (PAFD) and MEP Liliana Rodrigues (S&D), will be holding a conference entitled ‘Women’s Inferno in Ethiopia’. The primary aim of the conference is to raise awareness about the deteriorating condition of human rights in Ethiopia. While the eventual objective is to galvanise the international community and enact change, it is essential to first focus on the realities at hand. This focus comprises the human rights abuses faced by marginalised ethnic groups, and more specifically, the rife sexual and gender-based violence that disproportionately affects women in these communities. To this end, the conference will centre on the plight of women from Ogaden and Oromo, but also from Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambella, and Sidama. Despite being a party to most United Nations human rights treaties and having specific provisions for minority rights in its Constitution, human rights in Ethiopia are still jeopardised. Fearing further destabilisation in the Horn of Africa, international donors like the European Union (EU) continue funnelling humanitarian and development aid into Ethiopia by virtue of its perceived stability within a region marred by volatility. Considering the widespread intimidation tactics used during national elections, which resulted in a complete sweep of all 547 Parliamentary seats by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), it is evident that democratic processes in the country are hindered by power players. The populations of Ogaden, Oromiya, Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambella, and Sidama, among others, suffer grave injustices at the hands of Ethiopian authorities and their allies. The oppression and restriction of civil liberties in these regions comes in many forms: land-grabbing, military crackdowns, evictions, extrajudicial killings, and rape, to name only a few. Sexual and gender-based violence is devastating Ethiopia’s most vulnerable communities, and chances for redress are slim to none. Often used as retaliation for political dissent and to instil fear within these communities, the scale and pattern of this violence is akin to that of a “weapon of war”. Sexual violence has become another insidious method of suppression for marginalised groups in these regions. Two years have passed since UNPO’s conference entitled ‘Minority Women’s Rights: an Ethiopian Inferno?’, and now the organisation seeks to bring these issues back to the table with a particular spotlight on sexual violence. Bringing together a variety of internal and peripheral perspectives, this conference will converge around broad issues, such as the state of human rights in Ethiopia, and the more detailed concerns regarding institutionalised rape and other forms of gender-based violence. Registrations are now closed. The conference programme is available below: http://unpo.org/downloads/2054.pdf For further information, please contact Julie Duval (j.duval@unpo.org). _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 UNREPRESENTED NATIONS AND PEOPLES ORGANIZATION

March 17, 2017, 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Join an expert panel as they examine the specifics of women’s experiences and their representations of trauma in the context of the Holocaust and other genocides. Panel members: Dr. Myrna Goldenberg (professor emerita and author of numerous articles about women in the Holocaust) Dr. Dorota Glowacka (University of King’s College) Dr. Ariela Freedman (Concordia University) Dr. Myriam Denov (McGill University) Moderated by Dr. Norma Joseph (Concordia University). Where: Room H-767, Henry F. Hall Building (1455 De Maisonneuve W.), Sir George Williams Campus Cost: This event is free Speakers: Myrna Goldenberg, Dorota Glowacka, Ariela Freedman, Myriam Denov, Norma Joseph Organizer: Catherine Person Organization: Azrieli Foundation, Concordia University, Montreal Holocaust Museum Contact: 514 282 1155 Category: Workshops & seminars ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 Concordia University

Malaysians will soon be able to read a blow-by-blow account of the atrocities committed by the Myanmar junta on the Rohingya people in a book set to be republished by non-governmental organisation, Muslim Care Malaysia. Published by Bangladesh-based Kaladan Press Network, ‘Witness To Horror’ documents the first-hand experiences of 20 Rohingya women who fled across the Myanmar border to neighbouring Bangladesh. "The book contains the accounts of the 20 women, as well as pictures and locations of the horrors committed by the Myanmar military on Rohingya men, women and children in Arakan (Rakhine state) since the latest conflict erupted on Oct 9, 2016. The atrocities include murder, rape, torture and countless other crimes against humanity. "We have already published 2,500 copies of the book in Bangladesh, and 200 have been brought into Malaysia. Together with Muslim Care, we hope to make more copies available in Malaysia," executive editor Mohammed Taher told reporters here at the launch of the book in Malaysia. Muslim Care deputy president Mohd Johari Ismail said plans are afoot to republish the book in Malaysia, and for it to be sold at bookshops, human rights conferences and forums in the country. Proceeds raised from the book sales will be channelled to the estimated 3 million Rohingya Muslims in Arakan, Myanmar, and refugee camps in Bangladesh. Mohd Johari said the book is believed to be the first of its kind in Malaysia, and there are also plans to republish it in Thailand. Mohammed was one of the speakers at the 2017 International Conference last week on the Rohingya – Plight of the Rohingya: Searching for Solutions – which was closed by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. "For the past 20 years, I have been active in assisting Rohingya refugees at the Kutupalong refegee camp in Teknaf, near the Bangladesh-Myanmar border," said Mohammed, himself a Myanmar native born in Maugdaw, Arakan. He also manages 45 schools within the refugee camp and its outskirts, providing education to 4,000 Rohingya children. In the book, the interviews with the 20 women were conducted by Razia Sultana, a Chittagong-based lawyer, with the assistance of Pippa Curwen, a human rights activist active with the Burma Relief Centre based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 News Straits Times

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo — Seven Congolese Army officers have been arrested and charged with war crimes after a video surfaced last month that appeared to show uniformed soldiers opening fire on a group of civilians in a massacre that left at least 13 people dead, the military’s auditor general said on Saturday. The video depicts a squad of soldiers gunning down a group of people, which included women and possibly children, in Congo’s Kasaï-Central Province. Most of the victims were unarmed, though a few men appeared to be holding slingshots. Several analysts who saw the video said that it revealed a government-sponsored massacre of civilians and that the video could be used as evidence of war crimes. “In connection with this video, we have found seven suspects, all are F.A.R.D.C. elements, who are currently in detention,” said the auditor general, Gen. Joseph Ponde Isambwa, using an abbreviation for the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The officers, he said, had been charged with several crimes including “war crime by murder, war crime by mutilation, war crimes by cruel inhuman and degrading treatment and denial of an offense committed by persons subject to military jurisdiction.” Among those arrested was Sgt. Maj. Maneno Katembo, a rifleman who is believed to have recorded the video. Congo has a history of government-led atrocities, including gang rapes and the slaughtering of civilians. The government initially labeled the video a hoax, before reversing itself and ordering the officers’ arrest. The country is nearly lawless, and the government forces are known to be brutal, underpaid and among the most dreaded. On Monday, two United Nations officials — an American and a Swede — were kidnapped along with four Congolese also in Kasaï-Central Province. On Saturday, the United Nations mission in Kinshasa released a statement expressing concern over reports of renewed fighting in the restive region. (c) 2017 The New York Times