Protect, Reintegrate Children at Risk in Cabo Delgado Province A mother walks with her daughters in the community of Saul, in the Metuge region of Cabo Delgado province, Mozambique, on March 26, 2024. © 2024 Juan Luis Rod/AFP via Getty Images (Johannesburg) – An armed group linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) has ramped up abductions of children in northern Mozambique ’s Cabo Delgado province, Human Rights Watch said today. Most of the abducted children are being used for transporting looted goods, forced labor, forced marriages, and taking part in the fighting. National civil society groups and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report that such kidnappings are on the rise. While the armed group, locally known as Al-Shabab, released some of the children they abducted earlier this year, a number of children remain missing; those who have returned to their communities struggle with reintegration.  “The surge in abductions of children in Cabo Delgado adds to the horrors of Mozambique’s conflict,” said Ashwanee Budoo-Scholtz , deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Al-Shabab needs to spare children from the conflict and immediately release those who have been abducted.” In May and June 2025, Human Rights Watch interviewed nine people in Mozambique, including residents of Cabo Delgado, journalists, civil society activists, and a UN official, all of whom expressed concern about the resurgence of kidnappings. “In recent days, 120 or more children have been abducted,” said Abudo Gafuro, executive director at Kwendeleya, a national organization that monitors attacks and provides support to victims.  On January 23, 2025, Al-Shabab attacked the village of Mumu, in Mocímboa da Praia district, and  abducted four girls and three boys. During Al-Shabab’s subsequent retreat, two children were released, but five remain missing. In March, the armed group abducted  six children in Chibau to carry looted goods; four were released the following day. On  May 3 , Al-Shabab abducted a girl in the village of Ntotwe, Mocímboa da Praia district; on  May 11 , they kidnapped six girls and two boys near Magaia village in Muidumbe district.  When Al-Shabab fighters “enter or attack certain areas, they tend to abduct children,” said Augusta Iaquite, coordinator at the Association of Women in Legal Careers in Cabo Delgado. “They take them to train them and later turn them into their own fighters.”  When children who have been abducted return to the community, there are few resources to help them reintegrate, Human Rights Watch said. “The country needs a clear strategy on what to do when a child, especially one that has been rescued, returns,” said Benilde Nhalivilo, executive director at the Civil Society Forum for Children’s Rights.  Civil society organizations have called on Mozambique’s government to fulfill the country’s obligations under domestic and international law to protect the nation’s children.  Mozambique’s  Constitution and  the 2008 Law for the Promotion and Protection of Children's Rights enshrine the state’s duty to protect children from all forms of violence, exploitation, and abuse. Additionally, Mozambique is a party to various international and regional instruments that guarantee children’s rights, including the  UN Convention on the Rights of the Child   and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child . Both explicitly prohibit the abduction, recruitment, and exploitation of children. The UN Optional Protocol to the Child Rights Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict, ratified by Mozambique in 2004, prohibits non-state armed groups from recruiting or using children under 18.  Under customary international humanitarian law and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, children are entitled to special respect and protection, and recruiting or using children under the age of 15 to participate actively in hostilities is a war crime.  Mozambican authorities should seek to prevent further abductions, investigate existing cases and fairly prosecute those responsible, and ensure proper support for victims, Human Rights Watch said. Rescued children need medical care, psychosocial assistance, and reintegration mechanisms that provide for their protection and well-being. “Mozambique’s government needs to take concrete actions to safeguard children and prevent armed groups from using them as tools of conflict,” Budoo-Scholtz said. “There is a need to ensure that there are robust reintegration measures so that the children are not further ostracized when they come back to the community.” © 2025 Human Rights Watch

Bringing back an idea from 2019 and citing a lack of police officers, the Republika Srpska government voted in favour of law amendments allowing the Serb entity to establish a controversial reservist police force. Azem Kurtic, June 23, 2025 Republika Srpska police march during a parade to mark the 27th anniversary of the Republika Srpska, January 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE/VLADIMIR STOJAKOVIC. The government of Bosnia’s Serb-dominated Republika Srpska entity voted on Monday in favour of legal amendments which would allow the Serb entity to set up a controversial reservist police force.  Voting under an urgent procedure, the government approved the amendments of a policing and internal affairs law that would allow them to form the new force.  Speaking to the media, Republika Srpska Interior Minister Sinisa Karan said that the decision comes because the entity needs more than a 1,000 police officers during what he described as “emergency situations such as floods, fires, landslides, and so on”. “We defined it in the law as a reserve police force. This has nothing to do with any paramilitary formation or something like that. It’s a reserve,” Karan told the media.  However, when the same idea was introduced back in 2019, it came under criticism from Bosniak war victims’ groups and from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Western allies because Bosnian Serb reservist police officers were involved in a series of war crimes during the 1992-95 Bosnian conflict.  The proposal allows the Interior Ministry to establish a reservist police force when there is a need for a large number of officers, with recruitment carried out through a public competition.  The decision to deploy the reservist force is made by the Interior Minister on the recommendation of the Police Director. During their deployment, members of the reserve force are subject to the provisions of the Law on Police relating to the rights and duties of police officers.  The Interior Minister of Bosnia’s Bosniak and Croat-dominated Federation entity, Ramo Isak, announced that if Republika Srpska introduces the reservist police force, the Federation will do the same. Both entities planned to do the same in 2019, but following pressure, Republika Srpska shelved the proposal and formed the heavily armed gendarmerie unit in response.  Igor Crnadak, vice-president of the opposition Party of Democratic Progress questioned the Republika Srpska authorities’ sanity over plans to form an auxiliary police force, recalling that terms like “territorial defence” and “reserve police” once signalled troubling times, referring to the 1992-95 war in the country.  The proposed amendments still need to be confirmed by lawmakers in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska. Copyright BIRN 2007

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos), a communist state in Southeast Asia, has been under one-party rule since 1975, following a 16-year civil war . The government controls political, judicial, and civil institutions, suppresses dissent, and restricts press freedom. Ethnic minorities like the Hmong, Khmu, and indigenous hill tribes, and religious minorities, particularly Christians, face systematic discrimination, forced displacement, and state-sponsored violence.   Lao people walking past the national flag in the capital, Vientiane, Laos.  © 2013 AP Photo/Manish Swarup via Human Rights Watch The Hmong, branded as “ hostile dissenters ” for their U.S. alliance during the Vietnam War, are denied indigenous status, stripping them of legal protections . Since the late 1970s, military offensives have killed thousands  and displaced around 300,000 . Those remaining , particularly in Phou Bia and Xaisomboun, endure attacks, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and military blockades.     Driven by development and Chinese-funded projects, the government has seized Hmong ancestral lands . Reports  indicate the use of heavy artillery, chemical weapons and starvation tactics to displace the Hmong.   Villages and resources are destroyed , and civilians are subjected to (gender-based) violence  and forced labour . Hmong families  have been forcibly relocated to military-controlled villages, stripped of land rights, and impoverished.     In 2021, Hmong leader Chue Youa Vang  was executed, with his picture circulated as an alleged deterrent. In 2020, Vacher Her and Zoua Her  disappeared, with no investigations. Despite UN concerns , Laos refused international inquiries and aid, isolating affected communities. Reports  raise concerns regarding a deliberate effort to remove the remaining Hmong in Phou Bia, increasing genocide risk .        Christian minorities , especially Hmong Christians , face harassment, violence, forced renunciations, arrests, village expulsions, and church destruction. Christians are often denied education and government jobs . The government bans unregistered religious activities , framing Christianity as a foreign threat to communist national ideology . In its 2024 reporting period, Open Doors International  reported at least four Christians killed, 159 expelled from their communities, 60 arrested, and 25 churches attacked. Christians also face economic retaliation, with homes and farmland targeted .      The government suppresses civil society , criminalizing unregistered civil society organizations, dissolving dissenting organizations and restricting foreign funding. Protests  are suppressed, media censored , and critics  face violence, detention, and enforced disappearances. Notable cases include the 2012 disappearance of Sombath Somphone , and the 2023 assassination attempt on Anousa Luangsuphom .     Genocide Watch categorizes Laos at Stage 4:   Dehumanization,  as ethnic and religious minorities are branded as state enemies. Stage 6: Polarization  is evident as propaganda fuels divisions, intensifying hostility. Stage 8: Persecution  is ongoing, with forced displacements, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and military attacks targeting minorities.     Genocide Watch recommends :    The UN Human Rights Council should mandate independent experts to investigate human rights abuses.   The Lao government must end persecution against minorities and activists and protect their rights.  The Lao government must grant human rights NGOs and humanitarian organizations access to all regions.  The Lao government must recognize the Hmong as an indigenous group of Laos and protect their land and rights.  The Lao government must repeal repressive laws, free political prisoners, investigate human rights violations, and hold perpetrators accountable.  The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Human Rights Council should pressure Laos to end persecution and forced displacement of Hmong and other minority groups.  Human Rights NGOs and humanitarian organizations should have access to Hmong and other minority regions.

Pakistan-administered Kashmir: Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir ...credit Organiser Since the 1947 partition of British India, Pakistan-administered Kashmir (Pakistani Kashmir), comprising Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, has been a focal point of the ongoing conflict  between India and Pakistan. Both countries claim the entire Jammu and Kashmir region , resulting in repeated conflicts and military tensions. The Line of Control  separating Pakistan-administered Kashmir and India-administered Kashmir further intensifies regional instability.   While Azad Jammu and Kashmir (Azad) and Gilgit-Baltistan (Gilgit) are legally autonomous, they are heavily controlled by Pakistan, with limited local governance and significant federal oversight over security, the judiciary, and policy matters. Azad has its own government but remains restricted  in areas like defense and foreign affairs, while Gilgit lacks the nominal self-rule of Azad , being governed by Pakistani-appointed officials.   Human rights abuses in Pakistani Kashmir include restrictions on political freedoms , suppression of independence movements , and systemic discrimination against religious minorities . Authorities suppress political parties and activists advocating  for self-determination or greater autonomy, particularly in Gilgit, where anti-terror laws are often misused to target critics. Dissent is met with repression, including arbitrary arrests, torture , and enforced disappearances . Security force s, including intelligence agencies , target activists, journalists, and human rights defenders who criticize Pakistan’s policies or advocate for greater autonomy.   Religious minorities, especially Ahmadis  and Shia Muslims , face targeted violence, sectarian discrimination , and state-backed enforcement of blasphemy laws . Ahmadis are criminalized under anti-Ahmadiyya laws, leading to systematic harassment, arrests and attacks on their communities .   Land dispossession  is a significant issue, particularly in Gilgit, where Pakistani authorities and private entities have been accused of illegally acquiring land for infrastructure projects linked to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, displacing indigenous communities without adequate compensation, causing unrest and anger  among the local population.   Freedom of speech and assembly is heavily restricted . The media faces stringent state controls , and journalists are forced into self-censorship due to state pressure. The Azad interim constitution explicitly prohibits dissent against the ideology of accession to Pakistan , effectively silencing independent voices​. Journalists and activists critical of Pakistan’s policies or those documenting human rights abuses face threats, censorship, and imprisonment.   The UN  and human rights organizations have expressed concern over the region’s human rights situation, including Kashmir’s right to self-determination and the continuing conflict between Pakistan and India. At the 55th UNHRC Session in 2024, the United Kashmir People’s National Party (UNKPNP)  urged global action. Meanwhile, Pakistan maintains tight control over the territories, stifling reform.   Genocide Watch  categorizes Pakistani Kashmir at Stage 3 (Discrimination)  due to marginalization of religious minorities. Stage 5 (Organization)  due to laws that suppress minorities and the opposition. The systematic targeting of minorities, activists, journalists, and human rights defenders are indicators of Stage 8 (Persecution) .   Genocide Watch recommends : Pakistan should grant genuine autonomy to Azad and Gilgit, guaranteeing local governance and political freedom. Pakistan should cease using anti-terrorism and sedition laws to suppress dissent. Pakistan should halt displacement of indigenous ethnic groups, ensuring fair compensation and land rights protection. Pakistan and India should resolve the Kashmir conflict through peaceful dialogue, prioritizing self-determination, human rights, and regional stability. The UN Human Rights Council should create an independent commission of inquiry to investigate and document human rights violations in Pakistani Kashmir. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights should support civil society organizations and journalists in Azad and Gilgit to amplify their voices and protect their right to safely report human rights abuses.

UN special rapporteurs have issued a stark letter to the Thai government, pressing for clarification on ten critical points regarding its efforts to combat cross-border human trafficking linked to online scam operations in Southeast Asia. The Nation (Thailand) June 23, 2025 Illustrative image. Source unknown. On 10th March 2025, a formal communication from the UN’s Special Rapporteurs on Contemporary Forms of Slavery and on Trafficking in Persons (with a focus on women and children) was sent to Bangkok.    The letter highlights serious concerns over intelligence received about individuals from across the globe – including East Asia, South Asia, Africa, the Middle East, North America, and South America – being duped into forced labour within sophisticated online scam centres.   These centres, the UN alleges, exploit victims through coerced criminal activities such as financial fraud, romance scams, fake digital asset investments, and illicit gambling.    The victims are reportedly lured by deceptive online job adverts promising lucrative incomes, only to find themselves imprisoned in guarded compounds, stripped of their passports and personal belongings.    Accounts detail physical abuse, sexual harassment, and forced labour for minimal or no pay. Those who fail to meet targets or attempt to escape face severe punishment or are 'sold on' to other illicit operations.   The UN letter points out Thailand's pivotal role as a transit hub for victims en route to these scam centres in neighbouring countries , particularly in border regions with Myanmar's Karen State.    Worryingly, some of these operations are said to rely on resources from the Thai side, including power, communications, and proximity to financial networks.    A key concern raised by the special rapporteurs is the failure to identify many of these individuals as trafficking victims, with some subsequently facing prosecution or punishment for offences committed under duress, such as illegal immigration or crimes perpetrated while enslaved in these scam centres.   Ten Urgent Questions for Bangkok The UN’s letter formally requests the Thai government to provide detailed clarification on the following ten points: Government's Stance : Thailand's official position on all the allegations outlined in the UN's letter. Bilateral/Multilateral Measures : Details of any joint efforts with other nations to prevent and address this specific form of human trafficking. Victim Identification Challenges : Obstacles faced in identifying victims coerced into criminal acts, and the strategies employed to overcome these. Non-Punishment Principle : Steps taken by Thailand to ensure human trafficking victims are not penalised for offences directly resulting from their exploitation. Consular Training : Information on the training provided to Thai consular and embassy staff for identifying and assisting victims. Victim Repatriation Support : The nature of aid provided to victims returning to Thailand, including rehabilitation and access to their rights. Post-Release Care : Measures for individuals released from scam centres, especially in light of external pressures from entities like China or armed groups in Myanmar. Resource Misuse Prevention : Actions to prevent Thai resources from being used to support these illicit scam operations. National/Regional Responses : Details of Thailand's participation in national and regional initiatives to tackle this type of organised crime. Public Protection : Measures in place to prevent Thai citizens from becoming victims, particularly through deceptive online job adverts, and the role of the private sector and digital platforms.   The special rapporteurs underscore Thailand's obligations under international human rights law, specifically referencing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Palermo Protocol , and the ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (ACTIP).   They particularly highlight the crucial Non-Punishment Principle for victims, urging Thailand to uphold these commitments fully.   It's noted that similar letters have also been dispatched to the governments of Myanmar, China, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and the ASEAN Secretariat, indicating a broader regional concern. © 2025 All rights reserved, The Nation

UN General Assembly overwhelmingly backs Gaza ceasefire resolution A view of the vote during the 60th plenary meeting of the General Assembly. The meeting discussed illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. 12/06/2025 The move followed the Security Council ’s failure to pass a similar resolution last week owing to a lone veto by permanent member the United States. The resolution was backed by 149 Member States, with 12 voting against and 19 abstaining. Among those opposing the resolution were the United States and Israel, who were joined among others by Argentina, Hungary and Paraguay. India, Georgia, Ecuador, Romania and Ethiopia were among the countries abstaining. End starvation as weapon of war Brought forward by over 20 countries, it strongly condemns the use of starvation as a weapon of war, demands a full lifting of the Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid, and insists on the protection of civilians under international law. Although General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, they carry significant political and moral weight. On 4 June, the Security Council failed to adopt its draft resolution after a veto by the United States, a permanent member. Meanwhile, famine conditions continue to threaten lives across Gaza, and reports persist of civilians being killed or injured while trying to access food at distribution points operated independently of the UN but supported by Israel and the US. Assembly steps in as Security Council stalls Opening the special session, General Assembly President Philémon Yang said that “the horrors in Gaza must end” after 20 months of war. He criticised the Security Council’s ongoing paralysis and inability to fulfil its core responsibility to uphold peace and security. He called the situation on the ground “unacceptable”, highlighting the deprivation of food, water and medicine for civilians, the continued captivity of hostages, and the need for urgent international action. Mr. Yang noted that next week’s high-level meeting in New York on implementing a two-State solution, chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, saying it would offer a chance for renewed commitment towards peace in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Key elements of the resolution: Ceasefire: Calls for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire by all parties. Hostages: Demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other armed groups. Implementation: Urges the full and immediate implementation of Security Council resolution 2735 (2024), including the ceasefire, hostage and prisoner exchanges, return of displaced persons, and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. International law: Reaffirms that all parties must uphold international humanitarian and human rights law, with particular attention to civilian protection and accountability for violations. Starvation as a weapon: Strongly condemns the use of starvation and the denial of aid as tactics of war. Humanitarian access: Demands the full, safe and unimpeded delivery of aid – including food, medicine, water, shelter and fuel – throughout Gaza. Detention practices: Calls for the humane treatment and release of those arbitrarily detained, and the return of remains. ICJ advisory opinion: Recalls the request for an urgent advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on Israel’s obligations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. End of blockade: Demands Israel immediately lift the blockade on Gaza and open all border crossings for aid deliveries. Accountability: Urges Member States to take necessary steps to ensure Israel complies with its international legal obligations. UN and humanitarian personnel: Calls for full respect for the work and immunity of UN staff and humanitarian workers. Protection of aid workers: Urges both humanitarian and UN bodies to ensure the safety of their personnel. Medical neutrality: Underscores the duty to protect medical workers, health facilities, and transport routes. You can catch up with the full meeting by going to our live coverage of the emergency session and today’s developments in Gaza, here .

Rwanda as Occupying Force May be Responsible for War Crimes Displaced people board a bus after undergoing checks at the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, in Goma, May 19, 2025. United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) vehicles transported them to Rwanda.  © 2025 JOSPIN MWISHA/AFP via Getty Images (Nairobi) – The  Rwandan -controlled M23 armed group has deported over 1,500 people from occupied eastern  Democratic Republic of Congo to Rwanda in violation of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, Human Rights Watch said today. The Rwandan government and the M23 should immediately stop forced transfers of Congolese citizens and Rwandan refugees, which are war crimes. Rwanda’s military, logistical, and other support to the M23 was critical for its capture of Goma and Bukavu, the provincial capitals of North and South Kivu respectively, from Congolese forces in early 2025. In February, the M23  ordered several hundred thousand people to leave displacement camps around Goma and  dismantled virtually all the camps. In May, the M23 rounded up and transferred previously displaced people to Goma, where many were unlawfully deported to Rwanda with the assistance of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). “The forcible transfer of civilians to Rwanda, whether Congolese citizens or Rwandan refugees, is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions,” said  Clémentine de Montjoye , senior Great Lakes researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Rwanda’s control over the M23 in eastern Congo makes it ultimately responsible for the armed group’s numerous abuses.” Rwanda’s effective control over parts of eastern Congo through its own armed forces and the M23 appears to meet the international humanitarian law standards for a belligerent occupation. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits, as a war crime, forcible transfers within a country and deportations from occupied territory to other countries, regardless of the motive. On June 9, 2025, Human Rights Watch wrote to the Rwandan authorities with its findings but has not received a response. Human Rights Watch from February to May interviewed 14 people who were forced to leave displacement camps near Goma after the M23 ordered them dismantled, including 8 people who were forcibly transferred to Goma in May. On May 12, the M23 rounded up as many as 2,000 people from the town of Sake, 25 kilometers west of Goma, and forcibly transferred them to Goma, where many were then deported to Rwanda. This appeared to be part of a broader  M23 operation against suspected members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda, or FDLR), a largely Rwandan Hutu armed group, some of whose leaders took part in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Many of those in Sake were originally from Karenga, in Masisi territory, which is  considered an FDLR stronghold. M23 officials used the Lake Kivu Christian Center (Centre Chrétien du Lac Kivu or CCLK) transit center, named after its location in Goma, to deport people to Rwanda. Between May 17 and 19, 2025, several convoys departed from the transit center to Rwanda. UNHCR usually uses the transit center for voluntary refugee repatriations to Rwanda. However, eight people at the center said that both Congolese citizens and Rwandan refugees were among those being deported against their will. Many expressed fear that they would face abuse in Rwanda. The M23 deployed forces around the facility to prevent people from escaping. Some of the people deported  spoke to the media to criticize the manner in which they were forcibly transferred to Rwanda. The Rwandan authorities have long  targeted those who have criticized the government publicly, including  refugees and asylum seekers under UNHCR protection . UNHCR should take steps to protect the safety of those deported to Rwanda. Human Rights Watch has not been able to communicate with any of those deported from the transit center since their deportation to Rwanda. UNHCR wrote to Human Rights Watch on May 27 that “1,600 [Rwandan refugees] were brought to the CCLK transit center in Goma as a result of cordon and search exercises conducted by the de facto authorities,” that UNHCR’s screening was “done under pressure,” and that for this group, returning to Rwanda “was the only available option.”  Under the Geneva Conventions, the transfer or deportation needs to be “forcible” to constitute a war crime. Consent to be moved has to be voluntary and not given under coercive conditions. A transfer is not voluntary when people agree or seek to be transferred as the only means to escape risk of abuse if they remain. The International Criminal Court prosecutor has  announced that his office would renew investigative efforts in Congo with a focus on crimes in North Kivu since January 2022. The court can  prosecute the war crime of “the deportation or transfer [by the Occupying Power] of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory,” as well as the crime against humanity of “deportation or forcible transfer of population.”  “The Rwandan government and the M23 are committing war crimes by forcibly transferring and deporting people within occupied territory and to Rwanda,” de Montjoye said. “Concerted international pressure is needed on Rwanda to immediately end the deportations, ensure the security of everyone in occupied areas, and hold those responsible for abuses to account.” For additional details on the deportations, please see below.  The People Transferred Since the  resurgence of the M23 in late 2021, Congolese and Rwandan armed forces, along with the armed groups they support, have displaced hundreds of thousands of people in North and South Kivu, often multiple times over prolonged periods. Combatants have forced civilians from their homes and lands, looted their property, and punished them for suspected collaboration with enemy groups. Many of the internally displaced people who were living in camps around Goma before the M23 captured the city had fled abuses from both sides, including killings, rape, burning of property, pillaging, and forced recruitment and labor. On February 24, 2025, in Karenga, a local chief accompanied by armed M23 fighters told people originally from Karenga, Tuonane, and Mugando, near Virunga National Park, that they had to leave by the following day. Many then sought shelter in schools and other locations in nearby Sake.  “They chased us from Karenga saying those who refuse [to leave] will ‘get a bullet,’” said a 25-year-old woman Human Rights Watch interviewed. A man, 36, said that the chief “told us that those who need an explanation should go to Kitchanga [a strategic town under M23 control] to ask the authorities there. He also said the Red Cross will collect the body of anyone who is found in the village after the deadline.” Many of the displaced people interviewed who returned to Karenga in February had fled ahead of the M23’s capture of the area in November 2023. The M23 provided no reason for expelling the population, although some sources thought the decision was related to suspected FDLR members in the area. Interviewees said that although some of the people formerly displaced from Karenga were of Rwandan origin, many were Congolese citizens or had lived in Congo their entire lives. Of the people forcibly moved from Sake on May 12, 2025, the M23 transferred some of the men, and later their relatives, to the Stade de l’Unité (Unity Stadium) in Goma. The M23’s military spokesperson, Willy Ngoma, presented 181 men at the stadium  to the media , calling them “Rwandan subjects,” even though they had Congolese documents. Witnesses said the M23 burned people’s Congolese electoral cards, the main form of identification in Congo, and told people perceived to be of Rwandan origin to return to Rwanda.  Congolese citizenship is difficult to establish due to the absence of a functioning national ID system and decades of cross-border population movements, driven by both conflict and economic opportunities, between Congo and Rwanda. The voter’s card is the only documentation available to many people, if they are registered and of voting age. At the stadium, the M23 accused people of having “falsified” cards, effectively rejecting their Congolese citizenship, based on  media reports and witness accounts. The M23 has accused suspected opponents, often without basis, of supporting the FDLR. Witnesses said that on May 12 in Sake, the M23 took away at least five young men suspected of being FDLR members. At the stadium, the M23 also sought to separate those perceived to support the Congolese army or its allies: “Those who were identified as members of FDLR or Wazalendo [pro-Congolese government coalition of armed groups] were put on a bus, and we don’t know where they went,” said a man who had been at the stadium. Deportations from the Transit Center People marked for deportation were transferred to the CCLK transit center, which the Congolese National Commission for Refugees (Commission Nationale pour les Réfugiés) and UNHCR use for Rwandan refugee repatriations under the 2010 tripartite agreement on voluntary returns between UNHCR, Rwanda, and Congo.  The tripartite agreement sets the conditions for the voluntary return of Congolese refugees in Rwanda and Rwandan refugees in Congo. Under UNHCR guidelines, refugees and asylum seekers do not need to state explicitly that they are being forced back for UNHCR to conclude that their repatriation is involuntary.  UNHCR noted in its response to Human Rights Watch that refugee repatriations “must be voluntary, safe, and carried out in dignity” to comply with the principle of nonrefoulement: the international legal prohibition against returning people to risks of persecution, torture, or other serious harm. But people at the center said that even though UNHCR agents interviewed them about their origins, UNHCR did not give them a choice about being sent to Rwanda. A Congolese woman said: “[UNHCR] does what they want with us. We don’t have a choice.” UNHCR issued a  statement on May 22, 2025, saying it was monitoring and involved in “the evolving situation concerning the group of individuals” at the transit center as well as “more than 1,700 refugees” returned to Rwanda. However, Human Rights Watch interviews indicate that some people forcibly taken to the center and then deported to Rwanda were not registered Rwandan refugees. Three Congolese citizens said that on May 27, UNHCR transported 74 people, mostly women and children, back to Sake after confirming that they were Congolese nationals. They said some Congolese at the transit center were not able to prove their identity because the M23 had burned their documents and that these people were later forcibly transferred to Rwanda. “There are people I know from Karenga who are Congolese and were sent to Rwanda,” said one man who was transferred back to Sake. “Others accepted to go because they were afraid of the M23. The M23 burned my voter card.… I can’t leave Sake now. If I get stopped, I’ll be accused of being FDLR.” On May 17, Rwanda’s foreign affairs minister  claimed that the repatriated refugees were formerly held hostage by the FDLR, apparently attempting to justify the deportations. Congo’s Interior Ministry  disputed this assertion.  Rwanda’s Occupation of Eastern Congo Rwanda’s deployment of up to 9,000 troops in eastern Congo at the height of the M23’s offensive in January and February and its apparent overall control of the M23, the de facto authorities, indicates that Rwanda is an occupying power under international humanitarian law. Witnesses to incidents,  media reports , and UN and military sources have said that Rwandan military personnel have directed and led operations during offensives, including those that captured Goma and Bukavu.  Military sources said that several hundred Rwandan troops, operating modern weaponry such as armored drones and GPS-guided mortars, led the advance on Goma. Rwandan soldiers have also commanded patrols in Masisi and Rutshuru territories. Rwandan military commanders have been present during the training of recruits in at least two training centers in Congo, former recruits told Human Rights Watch. Rwandan authorities have also coordinated a press visit to occupied territory in eastern Congo. In May, more than 10 journalists went on a press trip from Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, to Goma, and to Masisi territory, organized and accompanied by staff of the Rwandan Office of the Government Spokesperson, according to four journalists and messages reviewed by Human Rights Watch. Rwanda has also been involved in  negotiating ceasefires and other actions on behalf of the M23. The M23’s  capture of the town of Walikale in March forced Alphamin Resources at Bisie mine, a major tin mine that produces six percent of the global tin supply, to suspend its activities. Reuters  reported that the United States directly engaged with the Rwandan and Congolese governments to secure guarantees of the M23’s withdrawal and that the Congolese forces would not attack to allow operations to resume. Alphamin Resources  announced a resumption of operations after the M23 withdrew. These actions by Rwandan forces, and the absence of Congolese authority in the area, would meet the international law standards for a belligerent occupation of parts of eastern Congo. Occupation Under International Law The international humanitarian law of occupation is primarily set out in the  1907 Hague Regulations , the  Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 ,  Protocol I of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions , and  customary international humanitarian law . Article 42 of the Hague Regulations states: “Territory is considered occupied when it is actually placed under the authority of the hostile army. The occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and can be exercised.” The  2016 Commentary of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Common Article 2 to the Geneva Conventions sets out three requirements for a situation of belligerent occupation: the presence of foreign military forces without the consent of the sovereign state; the foreign military’s ability to exercise authority over the territory; and, the related inability of the sovereign state’s authorities to exert its control over the territory. These elements have been described in  judicial cases ,  military manuals , and  academic writings as the “effective control test” to determine whether a situation qualifies as an occupation for the purposes of international humanitarian law. Under the effective control test, the occupying force largely controls the territory and can deploy troops as needed. These forces need not be present throughout the territory but must be able to exert authority as necessary. The sovereign state must be substantially incapable of exerting its authority because of the presence of foreign forces. However, the mere presence of national armed forces or armed groups opposing the foreign forces does not negate the occupation.  In addition, effective control over a territory may be exercised by surrogate armed forces or nonstate armed groups so long as the occupying forces maintain overall control. Thus, a state would be an occupying power when it exercises overall control over de facto local authorities or armed groups that effectively control all or part of a territory. This indirect effective control aims to prevent a legal vacuum arising from a state using local surrogates to evade its obligations, including to provide for food and medical care to the population, under occupation law. © 2025 Human Rights Watch

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Photo Credit: Illustration: R. Rajesh     Taking Iran’s Incitement to Commit Genocide Against Israel Seriously     Testimony before the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development of the Parliament of Canada   By Professor Gregory H. Stanton1  5 May 2009   German Chancellor Angela Merkel was the first world leader to recognize the connection between Iran's uranium enrichment, its testing of long-distance missiles, and the genocidal statements of its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. A day after declaring that Israel "should be wiped off the map" on October 25, 2005, he incited students to scream "death to Israel," at a government-sponsored conference called the "World without Zionism."   Chancellor Merkel declared: "A president that questions Israel's right to exist [and] denies the Holocaust, cannot expect to receive any tolerance from Germany. We have learned our history." Will Chancellor Merkel's warnings of the parallels between Iran's actions today and Nazi Germany's first steps towards genocide in the 1930's prod the world into effective deterrent action?   On 28 October 2005, the UN Security Council condemned the words of the Iranian president. While the Security Council only issued a press statement - the weakest form of expression - it was still a diplomatic defeat for Iran.2 Despite numerous U.N. Resolutions since, Iran continues to develop nuclear weapons, and its leadership has not changed its apocalyptic views.   On 1 February 2006, The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) passed a resolution (See Appendixi ) noting that Iran's actions, including Ahmadinejad’s statements, are early warning signs of genocide. These signs include open expressions of an exclusionary ideology characterized by hate speech, an authoritarian government that represses dissent, the organization of fanatical militias, such as the Revolutionary Guards, and a sustained record of support for terror attacks against Jews around the world. In December 2005, President Ahmadinejad added to the list the denial of a past genocide, the Holocaust.   The U.N. Security Council and Secretary-General condemned his statements.3   U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was "shocked" to see the remarks attributed to Ahmadinejad. Annan urged U.N. member nations "to combat such denial, and to educate their populations about the well-established historical facts of the Holocaust, in which one-third of the Jewish people were murdered, along with countless members of other minorities." The secretary-general had previously criticized Ahmadinejad when he said Israel should be "wiped off the map." [CNN 10 December 2005.] This is the same language seen in the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, Bosnia, Kosovo, Rwanda, Darfur and elsewhere in the world.   The development of a covert nuclear weapons program and long- range missiles by a state whose leader declares genocidal intent states the case for urgent deterrent actions. As we address the Iranian threat, it is helpful to recall that genocide was the deadliest crime against humanity in the 20th century, resulting in some 150 million preventable deaths: more than from all wars combined. The Genocidal Process   Genocide is not an accident. It develops in a predictable process. I have analyzed most of the genocides in recent history and have discovered a predictable pattern. I call the process the  Ten Stages of Genocide . (See Appendix 2.)ii  Every one of the first eight stages has already happened in Iran. Historians have established that governmental incitement and use of hate language is a recognized predictor, initiator, promoter and catalyst of genocide. The direct and public incitements to genocide by Iran's President are not only openly stated declarations of aggressive intent, but are in violation of Art. 2 (4) of the UN Charter, of the Genocide Convention, and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Articles 6 and 25 (3)(e).   President Ahmadinejad's attempted "clarification" that he merely advocates the "transfer" of Jews in Israel to German and Austrian provinces is itself advocacy of forced deportation, another crime against humanity, and is contradicted by his own actions and long- term Iranian policy, including terror attacks on Jews outside Israel, such as the bombing of a synagogue in Buenos Aries, the arming of Hezbollah and Hamas, and advocacy of murder of Jews everywhere by Iranian financed media such as Palestinian television. Palestinian Authority television carried a Friday sermon calling for the butchering of all Jews everywhere.4 Iran could soon be an independent nuclear power, possessing advanced missile delivery systems. Iran has never renounced its aggressive and genocidal aims against the Jews of the State of Israel and elsewhere, which are longstanding policy. In 2000, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Muslim worshippers in Teheran, referring to Israel: "We have repeatedly said that this cancerous tumor of a state should be removed from the region."5 The unprecedented threat of nuclear genocide necessitates an urgent response because, aside from the clear warning signs we have indicated, an actual apocalyptic nuclear attack could occur without further warning sufficient to engage in preventive action. Israel is a small country that can be reached within minutes by Iranian ballistic missiles. It is densely populated, and home to the largest number of Holocaust survivors in the world. Time is of the essence and delay could be catastrophic. The Responsibility to Protect   The ethical principle that needs to guide international action to prevent all genocidal threats is that human life is the most fundamental human right, because without life there are no other human rights. Canada has been the most important leader in creating a newly emerging norm of international law. The International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty sponsored by the Canadian government defined what is now called “the Responsibility to Protect,” which was affirmed in the Millennnium Summit Outcome of 2005. It is based on the principle that the international obligation to protect human life and well-being overrides the sovereignty claims of any government whose actions demonstrate genocidal intent.   The Precautionary Principle   Because the dangers of inaction could be catastrophic, we repeat the calls of Genocide Watch and the International Association for Genocide Scholars call for the application of the Precautionary Principle, a powerful tool for decision making in public health, for prevention of this and all other genocidal threats. This principle states that when there is uncertainty concerning the risk from a situation with potentially catastrophic effects upon human health and safety, the risks of inaction far outweigh those of preventive action.   The Precautionary Principle - which British Foreign Minister Jack Straw has already applied to this case - shifts the burden of proof from those warning of a risk of catastrophic event to those denying this risk. Preventive action, of course, means the obligatory imposition of effective sanctions to prevent Iranian development of nuclear weapons, and includes immediate and continuous IAEA inspections of all Iranian nuclear facilities, as well as confiscation of all technology, equipment, and nuclear material that could be used by Iran to manufacture nuclear weapons.   Because the obligation to protect life and safety overrides state sovereignty, Iran's genocidal declarations and actions undermine its claims to responsibly utilize its nuclear material for peaceful means.   All this, however, is insufficient. Historians have recognized that genocide results from the conscious choices of elites and occurs when there is indifference of outsiders to early warning signs, particularly hate language that serves to catalyze genocidal actions.   Accordingly the UN Security Council should follow the landmark precedent of its referral of Sudanese leaders to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and refer Mr. Ahmadinejad, to the ICC for incitement to commit genocide. Canada, as a state-party to the Genocide Convention, should also take a case against Iran to the International Court of Justice for violation of that convention through its incitement.    Those convicted for incitement to commit genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda were sentenced to prison terms up to life imprisonment included Rwanda's former prime minister, a historian, a newspaper editor, a minister of information, and a journalist.   Ahmedinijad, Khameini and other specific perpetrators must be stopped.  Economic sanctions which would target the Iranian people collectively should be rejected. Iran has a glorious past and culture, which this president definitely does not represent.   It is time for the UN to go from commemorating past genocides, such as the Holocaust and Rwanda, to stopping current genocides such as is still raging in Darfur Sudan, and deterring and preventing future ones.   Indicting President Ahmadinejad for incitement to commit genocide would send a clear non-violent message to Iran's authoritarian leaders to back down from pursuing a genocidal ideology. It would be a major step towards deterring others planning future Bosnias, Kosovos, Rwandas and Darfurs. Chancellor Merkel has reminded us of the consequences of the world's ineffectual response to Hitler in the 1930's.   The world now has to choose between indifference and deterrence, not only to "save Israel," but to save itself. Consider these two chilling facts:   Iran is the only country since Nazi Germany that has openly expressed its genocidal intent to wipe another nation off the map while pursuing a program to develop nuclear weapons. Few believed that Hitler was serious about his genocidal intentions until Nazis carried out the Holocaust. The Iranian President denies that the Holocaust even happened.   The country most likely to be blackmailed by an Iran with nuclear weapons is Israel.  Suppose that Iran demands that Israel pull back to its 1967 borders and allow all Palestinians to return to their pre-1948 homes? Israel says “Nuts!”  Iran then repeats its threat to “wipe Israel off the map,” arms its missiles, and supports Hezbollah terrorist infiltration into Israel. Would Israel launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike on Iran knowing that Iran’s nuclear retaliation would result in Israel’s self- destruction?   Iran’s nuclear weapons program must be stopped. It should be dismantled by diplomacy or destroyed by armed force. NATO’s nuclear shield should explicitly be invoked to protect Israel. Canada, the European Union and the United States should use their full legal and diplomatic force to prevent this genocide in the making. APPENDIX 1 i  Resolution of the International Association of Genocide Scholars Condemning Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s Statements Calling for the Destruction of Israel and Denying the Historical Reality of the Holocaust   1 February 2006   We, the leadership and membership of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, a world-wide professional association of experts on genocide, express profound alarm at statements made by the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, calling for Israel to be “wiped off the map” and inciting students to scream “death to the Jews” at a government sponsored conference on 26 October 2005.   On 14 December 2005, President Ahmadinejad publicly denied the Holocaust and declared it a “myth” created by Europeans to justify creation of a Jewish state in the heart of the Islamic world. The International Association of Genocide Scholars repudiates Holocaust denial, which denies the reality of one of the most indisputably proven crimes in human history.   Since President Ahmadinejad took office, inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency have been denied access to inspect Iranian nuclear development facilities, and Iran has openly re-started enrichment of uranium that could be used for nuclear weapons. Iran has missiles that could carry nuclear warheads to destroy Israel.   Iran’s president has thus not only called for the destruction of a national and religious group, the Jews of Israel, but has authorized creation of the weapons to carry out his genocidal intent. Iran does not yet have such weapons, but is likely to develop them in the near future unless its nuclear weapons program is stopped.   Direct and public expression of genocidal intent by a national leader coupled with a clear and present danger that genocidal acts will be committed is incitement to genocide. The risk of genocide against Israel is not yet imminent, but once Iran has nuclear weapons, it will be.   Early warning signs of genocide include open expressions of an exclusionary ideology (hate speech), denial of past genocide (Holocaust denial), authoritarian government that represses dissent (arrest of Iranian moderates), organization of fanatical militias (Revolutionary Guards) and construction of weapons of mass destruction (the Iranian nuclear weapons program.) All of these early warning signs of genocide are evident in Iran today.   We therefore call upon the United Nations Security Council to determine that there is a threat to international peace, and to take the following actions under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter:   1.  Refer Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, to the International Criminal Court for indictment for direct and public incitement to commit genocide.   2.  Direct the International Atomic Energy Agency to demand immediate IAEA inspections of all Iranian nuclear facilities, cessation of enrichment of uranium, and confiscation of all equipment that could be used to manufacture nuclear weapons.   Association Internationale des études de génocide (IAGS)/International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) –version française   Résolution condamnant l'appel au génocide par Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, le président d'Iran, et la négation de la réalité historique de l'Holocauste.   Appel a la prévention du développent des armes nucléaires iraniennes.   Nous, les exécutifs et membres de l'Association internationale des études de génocide, une association professionnelle globale pour l'étude et la prévention de génocide, voudrons exprimer notre profonde alarme sur les déclarations agressives publiques faites par le président d'Iran, M. Ahmadinejad, appelant a "effacé Israël de la carte" et incitant a la conférence gouvernementale les étudiants a crier "Mort aux juifs” ! (26 oct 2005)   Le 14 décembre 2005, le Président Ahmadinejad a publiquement nié la réalité de l'Holocauste, et a déclaré que c'était un "mythe" crée par les Européens pour justifier la création d'un état juif au cœur du monde arabe. L'association internationale des études et prévention de génocide répudie l'acte de nier l'Holocauste.   Depuis l'avènement du président Ahmadinejad, les inspecteurs de l'agence internationale de l'énergie atomique ont été empêchés d'inspecter les facilites nucléaires importantes. L'Iran a recommence son programme de développer la capacité iranienne a enrichir l'uranium au degré suffisant aux armes atomiques. L'Iran possède des missiles capables de porter les bombes atomiques et a détruire Israël.   Le président Iranien n'a pas alors seulement fait appel a la destruction d'un groupe national et religieux, les juifs d'Israël, mais a autorisé la création de matériaux essentiels a bâtir les armes capables d'accomplir son objectif génocidaire.  L'Iran n'a pas encore produit la bombe atomique, mais peut la développer sous peu, sinon son programme nucléaire ne sera pas défait.   Les précurseurs de précaution qu'un génocide se prépare inclus les expressions ouvertes d'une idéologie exclusionnaire (mots de haine), nier les génocides passes (nier l'Holocauste), un gouvernement autoritaire est répressif (emprisonnement des modères iraniens), l'organisation des milices fanatiques (Gardes Révolutionnaires), et les programmes a développer les armes de destruction de masse (le programme atomique iranien). Il se trouve chaqu'un de ces précurseurs en Iran aujourd'hui.   L'expression publique et directe de l'intention génocidaire par un chef d'état ensemble avec un danger présent et clair que ces actes seront commis est incitement au génocide. Le risque de génocide contre Israël n'est pas encore immédiat, mais au moment où l'Iran aurait produit les armes atomiques, le danger sera immédiat.    Quand l'intention génocidaire est exprimée ouvertement, et les moyens a commettre le génocide se prépare, le principe précautionaire demande la prévue d'innocence sur des génocidaires. L'action préventive urgente doit être prise. Nous appelons au Conseil de sécurité des Nations unis à déterminer que le programme nucléaire l'Iran menace la paix globale, et a prendre les actions diplomatiques et économiques sous le chapitre VII de la Charte des Nations unis.   ii The 10 Stages of Genocide Dr. Gregory Stanton   Genocide is a process that develops in ten stages that are predictable but not inexorable. At each stage, preventive measures can stop it. It is not a linear process, but the stages are logically related. They are like a Russian nesting doll. Outer stages incorporate inner stages, though the inner stages continue to operate throughout the process. The ten stages of genocide are:   Classification, Symbolization, Discrimination, Dehumanization, Organization, Polarization, Preparation, Persecution, Extermination, Denial.   CLASSIFICATION: All cultures have categories to distinguish people into “us and them” by ethnicity, race, religion, or nationality: German and Jew, Hutu and Tutsi. Bipolar societies that lack mixed categories, such as Rwanda and Burundi, are the most likely to have genocide.  The main preventive measure at this early stage is to develop universalistic institutions that transcend ethnic or racial divisions, that actively promote tolerance and understanding, and that promote classifications that transcend the divisions. The Catholic church could have played this role in Rwanda, had it not been riven by the same ethnic cleavages as Rwandan society. Promotion of a common language in countries like Tanzania has also promoted transcendent national identity. This search for common ground is vital to early prevention of genocide. SYMBOLIZATION:  We give names or other symbols to the classifications. We name people “Jews” or “Gypsies”, or distinguish them by colors or dress; and apply them to members of groups. Classification and symbolization are universally human and do not necessarily result in genocide unless they lead to the next stage, dehumanization. When combined with hatred, symbols may be forced upon unwilling members of pariah groups: the yellow star for Jews under Nazi rule, the blue scarf for people from the Eastern Zone in Khmer Rouge Cambodia. To combat symbolization, hate symbols can be legally forbidden (swastikas) as can hate speech. Group marking like gang clothing or tribal scarring can be outlawed, as well. The problem is that legal limitations will fail if unsupported by popular cultural enforcement. Though Hutu and Tutsi were forbidden words in Burundi until the 1980’s, code-­‐words replaced them.If widely supported, however, denial of symbolization can be powerful, as it was in Bulgaria, when many Bulgarians refused to distribute the yellow star, depriving it of its significance as a Nazi symbol for Jews. 3. DISCRIMINATION : A dominant group uses law, custom, and political power to deny the rights of other groups. The powerless group may not be accorded full civil rights or even citizenship. Examples include the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 in Nazi Germany, which stripped Jews of their German citizenship, and prohibited their employment by the government and by universities. Denial of citizenship to the Rohingya Muslim minority in Burma is another example. Prevention against discrimination means full political empowerment and citizenship rights for all groups in a society. Discrimination on the basis of nationality, ethnicity, race or religion should be outlawed. Individuals should have the right to sue the state, corporations, and other individuals if their rights are violated. DEHUMANIZATION : One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are equated with animals, vermin, insects or diseases. Dehumanization overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder. At this stage, hate propaganda in print and on hate radios is used to vilify the victim group.  In combating this dehumanization, incitement to genocide should not be confused with protected speech. Genocidal societies lack constitutional protection for countervailing speech, and should be treated differently than in democracies. Hate radio stations should be shut down, and hate propaganda banned. Hate crimes and atrocities should be promptly punished. ORGANIZATION:  Genocide is always organized, usually by the state, though sometimes informally (Hindu mobs led by local RSS militants) or by terrorist groups. Special army units or militias are often trainedand armed. Plans are made for genocidal killings.  To combat this stage, membership in these militias should be outlawed. Their leaders should be denied visas for foreign travel. The U.N. should impose arms embargoes on governments and citizens of countries involved in genocidal massacres, and create commissions to investigate violations, as was done in post-­‐genocide Rwanda. POLARIZATION:  Extremists drive the groups apart. Hate groups broadcast polarizing propaganda. Laws may forbid intermarriage or social interaction. Extremist terrorism targets moderates, intimidating and silencing the center.  Prevention may mean security protection for moderate leaders or assistance to human rights groups. Assets of extremists may be seized, and visas for international travel denied to them. Coups d’état by extremists should be opposed by international sanctions. PREPARATION:  Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or religious identity. Death lists are drawn up. Members of victim groups are forced to wear identifying symbols. They are often segregated into ghettoes, forced into concentration camps, or confined to a famine-­‐struck region and starved.  At this stage, a Genocide Alert must be called. If the political will of the U.S. Government, NATO, and the U.N. Security Council can be mobilized, armed international intervention should be prepared, or heavy assistance to the victim group in preparing for its self-­‐defense. Otherwise, at least humanitarian assistance should be organized by the U.N. and private relief groups for the inevitable tide of refugees to come. 8. PERSECUTION:  Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or religious identity. Death lists are drawn up. Members of victim groups may be forced to wear identifying symbols. Their property is often expropriated. Sometimes they are segregated into ghettoes, confined in concentration camps, or deported to a famine-struck region and starved. Genocidal massacres begin. These are acts of genocide because they intentionally destroy part of a group. But lawyers, diplomats, and others opposed to any forceful response will still refuse to call these crimes “genocide.” They instead use euphemisms like “ethnic cleansing” that have no legal consequences. The U.N. will pass resolutions. It may send “commissions of inquiry” or even “peacekeeping forces” with weak mandates. Perpetrators see if there is any effective response. If there is not, the killers know they can commit genocide with impunity. At this stage, a Genocide Emergency must be declared. If the political will of the great powers, regional alliances, the U.N. Security Council or the U.N. General Assembly can be mobilized, armed international intervention should be prepared. Diplomatic and material support for armed resistance should be provided to the victim group to prepare for its self-defense. Humanitarian assistance should be organized by the U.N. and private relief groups for the inevitable tide of refugees to come. EXTERMINATION  begins, and quickly becomes the mass killing legally called “genocide.” It is “extermination” to the killers because they do not believe their victims to be fully human. When it is sponsored by the state, the armed forces often work with militias to do the killing. Sometimes the genocide results in revenge killings by groups against each other, creating the downward whirlpool-­‐like cycle of bilateral genocide (as in Burundi).  At this stage, only rapid and overwhelming armed intervention can stop genocide. Real safe areas or refugee escape corridors should be established with heavily armed international protection. (Insecure “safe” areas are worse than none at all.) A multilateral force authorized by the U.N., should intervene. It is time to recognize that the international law of humanitarian intervention transcends the narrow interests of individual nation states. If NATO nations will not send troops, they should provide the airlift, equipment, and financial means necessary for regional states to intervene with U.N. authorization. DENIAL is the stage that operates throughout and follows a genocide. It is among the surest indicators of further genocidal massacres. The perpetrators of genocide dig up the mass graves, burn the bodies, try to cover up the evidence and intimidate the witnesses. They deny that they committed any crimes, and often blame what happened on the victims. They block investigations of the crimes, and continue to govern until driven from power by force, when they flee into exile. There they remain with impunity, like Pol Pot or Idi Amin, unless they are captured and a tribunal is established to try them.  The response to denial is punishment by an international tribunal or national courts and genocide education. There the evidence can be heard, and the perpetrators punished. Tribunals like the Yugoslav or Rwanda Tribunals, or a mixed domestic /international tribunal to try the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, or an International Criminal Court may not deter the worst genocidal killers. But with the political will to arrest and prosecute them, some may be brought to justice. 1 President, International Association of Genocide Scholars; President, Genocide Watch; James Farmer Professor in Human Rights, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA; Research Professor in Genocide Studies and Prevention, Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, Arlington, VA, USA. 2 "Uno verurteilt Irans Attacken gegen Israel," NZZ Online, 29 October 2005 [German].   3 "The members of the Security Council reaffirm the rights and obligations of the state of Israel as a full and long- standing member of the United Nations, and reaffirm that, under the United Nations Charter, all members have undertaken to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state." 4 Manfred Gerstenfeld, "The 21st Century Total War against Israel and the Jews: Part One," Post- Holocaust & Anti-Semitism, No. 38, 1 November 2005.   5 "Iran Leader Urges Destruction of 'Cancerous' Israel," CNN, 15 December 2000.

UNICEF/Osman Khayyam Girls are excluded from secondary education in Afghanistan following a December 2024 ban In the past decade, the UN has bemoaned the chronically low level of participation by Afghan women and girls in decision-making bodies and in secondary and higher education. But recently, the level of participation has reached a new low – zero. Zero women in national or local decision-making bodies. Zero girls projected to be in secondary education following a December 2024 ban. These numbers are part of the index released Tuesday by gender equality agency UN Women, which is the most comprehensive study on gender inequality in Afghanistan since the Taliban resumed de facto control in 2021. It paints a sobering picture of the state of gender equality in Afghanistan. “Since [2021], we have witnessed a deliberate and unprecedented assault on the rights, dignity and very existence of Afghan women and girls. And yet, despite near-total restrictions on their lives, Afghan women persevere,” said Sofia Calltorp, UN Women chief of humanitarian action, at a briefing in Geneva. Second-widest gender gap in the world The report released by UN Women noted that while the Taliban regime has presided over “unparalleled” gender inequality, disparities existed long before 2021. “The issue of gender inequality in Afghanistan didn’t start with the Taliban. Their institutionalised discrimination is layered on top of deep-rooted barriers that also hold women back ,” Ms. Calltorp said. According to the index, Afghanistan currently has the second-worst gender gap in the world, with a 76 per cent disparity between women’s and men’s achievements in health, education, financial inclusion and decision-making. Afghan women are currently realizing only 17 per cent of their potential , and recent policies by the de facto government — including the December 2024 ban on women in secondary education and the increasingly stringent restrictions on women’s movement — will perpetuate and perhaps worsen this under-realized potential. Systematic exclusion and social effects This sort of systematic exclusion of women from society at all levels not only impedes progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and gender equality but also exacerbates poverty and instability more broadly, making it harder for the economy to diversify labour sources. “Afghanistan’s greatest resource is its women and girls. Their potential continues to be untapped ,” said UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous. Right now, only 24 per cent of women are part of the labour force, compared to 89 per cent of men. Continued protracted economic strife has led to the number of women in the workforce increasing. “Overlapping economic, political, and humanitarian crises — all with women’s rights at their core — have pushed many households to the brink. In response – often out of sheer necessity — more women are entering the workforce,” Ms. Calltorp said. Nevertheless, women are still predominantly working in lower-paid and less secure positions and are overwhelmingly responsible for all unpaid domestic work. Ms. Calltorp noted that despite the “devastating” daily constraints that Afghan women face, they continue to advocate for themselves and their rights. “[Afghan women] continue to find ways to run businesses and advocate for their rights – and the rights of all Afghans…Their courage and resilience spans generations,” Ms. Calltorp said. Stark choices Alongside a deteriorating gender equality landscape, the aid outlook in Afghanistan is increasingly bleak with only 18 per cent of the 2025 humanitarian response plan for Afghanistan funded. This is having tangible impacts on the ground, leading UN agencies and partners to call for action and funds. “Time and time again in Afghanistan, we have seen how donor support can be the difference between life and death…We make an urgent appeal to donors to increase flexible, timely and predictable funding,” they said. Women, girls and other vulnerable groups are particularly impacted by these funding shortages — 300 nutrition sites for malnourished mothers and children have shut and 216 gender-based violence points have suspended work impacting over one million women and girls. “The choices we make now will reveal what we stand for as a global community. I f the world tolerates the erasure of Afghan women and girls, it sends a message that the rights of women and girls everywhere are fragile and expendable ,” Ms. Calltorp said. “Afghan women and girls haven’t given up, and we will not give up on them.” Copyright © United Nations

A New Frontline Emerges as Jihadists Eye West Africa Coast The New York Times June 16, 2025 By Elian Peltier  Photographs by Arlette Bashizi Insurgents are expanding from West Africa’s Sahel region toward Atlantic coastal nations such as Ivory Coast, creating new terrorism hot spots and displacing millions. Makamoussa Ouattara, who survived a jihadist attack on a mosque where she was praying in Bolè, Ivory Coast, in 2021.Credit ...Arlette Bashizi At a market in Tougbo, a small town in northern Ivory Coast, the smell of dried fish and fried dough filled the air. Children ran around the bustling stalls where women sold the corn and cassava they had carried on their heads for miles in the countryside. Muslim elders watched the crowds on the sandy main street, while Christian worshipers poured out of church after Sunday mass. Yet the bustle belied an insidious threat. About half of terrorism deaths worldwide in 2023 were recorded in the Sahel, the arid region in West Africa known for its seminomadic tribes and ancient trade routes. Emboldened by their success in the landlocked nations of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, insurgents affiliated with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State are moving south toward the Atlantic and into coastal nations such as Ivory Coast. Jihadist attacks: 2019-2021. Both periods 2022-2025 MALI. Jihadist activity has moved south.Source: Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. By Samuel Granados African and Western officials fear the advance will further destabilize West Africa at a time when the United States and European allies have drawn down their presence here, and the Trump administration has turned its attention to a chaotic deportation policy and travel ban that does not include any nations in the Sahel. As the insurgents push toward the Atlantic, fears are growing that an area with one of the world’s youngest populations and high levels of poverty will soon fall under jihadist rule. “One of the terrorists’ new objectives is gaining access to West Africa coasts. If they secure access to the coastline, they can finance their operations through smuggling, human trafficking and arms trading,” Gen. Michael E. Langley, the head of U.S. Africa Command, said last month . “This puts not just African nations at risk, but also increases the chance of threats reaching the U.S. shores.” The Al Qaeda branch operating in West Africa is now one of the group’s most powerful franchises, and Islamic State militants have staged so many attacks in the region recently that Vladimir Voronkov, the United Nations’ top counterterrorism official, has warned that “a vast territory stretching from northern Nigeria to Mali could fall under their effective control.”   A market in Tougbo, Ivory Coast, last year. The town sits on the front line of Ivory Coast’s fight against Islamist insurgents. Mariam Cissé, 60, a Malian refugee, at a store where she is taking refuge with her family in the town of Ouangolodougou, northern Ivory Coast. Women from Burkina Faso drawing water at a refugee camp near Ouangolodougou, Ivory Coast. Jihadist violence has displaced millions of people in the Sahel. Last fall, The New York Times spent weeks documenting the jihadists’ movement south. On one side of this new frontline are the three landlocked nations, all of which are ruled by military juntas and include vast swaths of territory already under jihadist control . On the other are the coastal nations of Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Benin, which are trying to keep the insurgents out. Those coastal nations have collaborated with Western governments for years. But as the Trump administration dismantles decades of foreign policy, including eliminating tens of millions of dollars in U.S. security assistance, African allies are growing wary of Washington’s counterterrorism efforts on the continent. “Ivory Coast is an example of stability in the region, but the lock can break,” said Lassina Diarra, a researcher at the International Academy for the Fight against Terrorism in Ivory Coast. Jihadists Moving Freely After French and American troops were kicked out of the junta-led nations of the Sahel, countries like Ivory Coast became the focus of the West’s new containment strategy. The United States provided  Ivory Coast with $65 million to support counterterrorism and border security last year. About 50 U.S. military personnel and contractors are deployed here, according to the U.S. Africa Command. General Langley met with top military and government officials here earlier this year amid rumors that the United States plans to build a drone base in the country. But continued support remains uncertain. A $20-million program financed by the United States Agency for International Development that identified early signs of extremism was terminated in January, after President Trump announced the freezing of all U.S. foreign aid. The map locates the cities of Ouangolodougou, Korhogo, Tougbo, Bolè, Kafolo, and Doropo, as well as Comoé National Park in northern Ivory Coast, just below the Burkina Faso border. Credit: The New York Times Tougbo sits on the front line of Ivory Coast’s fight against the insurgents. Soldiers stand guard in fortified outposts at the town’s entrance and exit. Burkina Faso is just miles away. Despite the military’s presence, jihadists move freely, locals and security officials said. “They’re among us,” said a doctor working near the border, who like most locals in the area spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of his safety. “We see them,” he added. The insurgents buy supplies at the market or through young people seeking quick cash. They wear civilian clothes and do not openly carry weapons. But they entice young men with lucrative offers to do business in exchange for silence. “It is because of a lack of jobs that our sons join this garbage,” said Kadidja Barry, a community leader in Doropo, a hub near the border. Week after week, local women come and sit on plastic chairs under her towering mango tree as Ms. Barry warns them about the menace creeping toward their town. “‘Keep your sons away from the jihadists,’” she tells them. “‘They’re a mafia.’” Al Qaeda-affiliated insurgents mostly recruit Fulani men, the ethnic group to which Ms. Barry belongs. Their recruitment has heightened discrimination against the Fulani community in Ivory Coast, which has seen a large influx of Fulani refugees from Burkina Faso . “We must protect them, we must send them to school,” Ms. Barry said of the young men in her community. “But in some areas, some of the youth are almost forced to join these groups.” Kadidja Barry, left, listened to local women during a community meeting in Doropo. “Keep your sons away from the jihadists,” she said. Kadidja Djallo, 70, a refugee from Burkina Faso, poses in Doropo. Ms. Djallo’s husband was killed in an attack by state-sponsored militiamen on her village in Burkina Faso, she said. Workers unloaded cows at a cattle market near the border with Burkina Faso. Cases of cattle theft have sharply increased as insurgents creep toward the border. At night, insurgents sneak into health care centers in Ivory Coast seeking treatment for wounds sustained while fighting in Burkina Faso, according to medical workers. They have also moved into nearby Comoé National Park, a sprawling forest that is now off limits because of the violence. Kidnappings and cattle theft have also increased. “What we used to see in Burkina Faso, we now see it here,” said Iréné, a cattle owner who lost dozens of cattle last year. When his employee crossed into Burkina Faso in search of the missing animals, Iréné said, he was kept hostage for weeks by men who said they were jihadists. ‘Mistakes and Transgressions’ Ivory Coast has erected military outposts, ramped up intelligence gathering and deployed ground troops along its border in an effort to keep the insurgents at bay. By some accounts, these methods are working. A senior military officer, speaking on condition of anonymity to openly discuss the country’s national security, acknowledged that the army had previously underestimated the threat. “Now, we’re squeezing them,” the officer said. “But we also know that the populations say, ‘Hi,’ to us when we patrol, but then do business with the jihadists.” In the village of Bolè, dozens of armed men calling themselves “fighters of Islam” took residents hostage one evening during the month of Ramadan in 2021, according to victims and witnesses. The insurgents ordered the villagers to stop informing the army of their presence or face deadly consequences. But after the insurgents left, local leaders called the military anyway, and soldiers have remained posted near the village ever since. Ousmane Sall, 37, heads out for a fishing trip on the Comoé River in Kafolo. The border town has not seen an attack since 2023. Another border town, Kafolo, faced two deadly attacks on soldiers in 2020 and 2021. The military erected a new base there in 2023 and Kafolo hasn’t seen another attack. “With the security forces, the fear is gone,” said Lamissa Traoré, a youth leader in Kafolo. The Support Group for Islam and Muslims, the umbrella organization that includes Al Qaeda’s local franchise and is known by its Arabic acronym, JNIM, has tried to present a more amenable face to locals in some parts of the Sahel. It has vowed to protect residents from corrupt government officials who they say are responsible for the region’s poverty. Yet deaths attributed to the organization in 2023 were at their highest since 2017, when the group was founded, according to the Global Terrorism Index . In response to questions from The Times, the emir of Al Qaeda’s branch operating in West Africa said his group was “formally active” in Ivory Coast and other coastal nations. “If they wish, they can leave the situation as it is,” Abu Yusuf Ubaydah al-Annabi, the emir, said of the local governments. “Or perhaps it will get worse.” Yakaria Ouattara, the imam of Bolè, wearing a white robe and green scarf, leaving the mosque with his congregation after leading an afternoon prayer. Dozens of armed men took residents hostage in 2021. Hassan and Ousseinou Ly, twin brothers and Fulani refugees from Burkina Faso, transcribed sections of the Quran at their new home in Doropo, Ivory Coast. Al Qaeda affiliated insurgents often recruit Fulani men. Koko Kambire, a welding trainee, at a workshop in Kafolo, a village in northern Ivory Coast. The government sponsors job training programs in the country but some trainees still lack paying jobs after six months of training. When asked about human rights abuses committed by the group, Mr. al-Annabi said the insurgents had made “some mistakes and transgressions.” But, he added, “the only person who never makes mistakes is the one who does not work.” ‘A Ticking Bomb’ Ivory Coast’s approach to keeping the jihadists away has been hailed by security analysts  for its combination of military efforts and economic development. International nonprofits have helped renovate dams to irrigate farms for hundreds of villagers. The government has built roads along the border, provided electricity in remote areas and trained more than 50,000 young   Ivorians in farming, welding and mechanics. But many young Ivorians say they’re not seeing any benefits. Youth Minister Mamadou Touré cited poverty as the main driver of recruitment into the extremist groups. More than three quarters of Ivory Coast’s population is under 35. Most are looking for work. “Either we provide innovative and satisfying answers to unemployment, or it will remain a ticking bomb that can explode at any time,” Mr. Touré said. The youth ministry sponsors a job training program, but some trainees still lack paying jobs after six months of training. Two former trainees at a garage in Korhogo, the largest city in northern Ivory Coast, said their boss gave them free soap on weekends as compensation. “Young people are being trained, but after that, what?” said Abdoulaye Bamba, a youth leader in the border town of Ouangolodougou. “Then the terrorists come and offer them a brand-new motorcycle.” “One day it will blow up,” he said, referring to the insurgents’ creep into Ivory Coast. “And politicians won’t be able to say that we didn’t warn them.” On a road previously targeted by militants in Téhini, Ivory Coast. Alassane Coulibaly and Hermann Sié contributed reporting. Elian Peltier  is The Times’ West Africa correspondent, based in Dakar, Senegal. Elian Peltier and Arlette Bashizi traveled 500 miles across northern Ivory Coast to document the spread of jihadist insurgents in West Africa. A version of this article appears in print on June 20, 2025, Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Jihadists Pose Growing Peril In West Africa.   Copyright 2025 The New York Times Company https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/world/africa/africa-terrorism-trump-ivory-coast.html

Community groups say people who attended cultural events have faces questioning when visiting turkey Diane Taylor Istanbul airport. People visiting Turkey from the UK say they have been questioned over their links to community groups. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Members of the Turkish and Kurdish community in the UK have accused the Turkish government of intimidating and interrogating them for holding arts and cultural events in London parks. They claim that about 150 people who have participated in activities organised by Gik-Der – Refugee Workers’ Cultural Organisation have been detained by Turkish authorities when visiting Turkey and questioned about their involvement with the organisation. They say they have been accused of having links to an illegal organisation. Gik-Der, which was established 34 years ago and is a registered charity, strongly denies this and says it is a community organisation that works with the London boroughs of Enfield and Haringey to stage events including its park festival, an annual celebration of arts and culture. It provides classes for children who need extra help with maths, English and science, and it received many commendations for helping people during the pandemic by delivering food and other essentials. The charity believes that the UK-based individuals have been targeted after photos of them attending events were posted on Facebook and then “scraped”, with facial recognition technology used to identify them when they visited Turkey. Gik-Der is preparing to file a legal action against the Turkish government, describing the investigations as “absurd”. Mehmet Ovayolu, of Ovayolu Law Office in Istanbul, said: “The main purpose is to frighten people away from joining in with community organisations. We will defend our human rights, we will not kneel to these threats to open and legitimate activities.” He said participating in the summer arts festival in north London could not be considered a crime and he described the allegations by the Turkish government as “baseless and unfounded”. He is planning to file criminal complaints against Turkish authorities believed to be responsible for detaining and questioning the people from the UK. Other Turkish and Kurdish groups in London have reported similar stories of some of their members who had posted photos of cultural activities on social media visiting Turkey and being interrogated about their involvement with these organisations. One Alevi youth group had posted a photo of 20 people after a theatre practice in London, nearly all of whom were detained one by one when they later visited Turkey. The Kurdish Community Centre reported similar experiences. Those targeted have been taken into rooms and questioned about who the organisers of the London-based organisations are, their roles and the activities they are involved with. They have been released after questioning. Several Turkish and Kurdish organisations held an emergency meeting on 29 May to raise their concerns about what they say is surveillance and intimidation by the Turkish government. In a statement, Gik-Der said: “Over the past two years, approximately 150 people have been detained and questioned due to their involvement with our organisation. We have received a list of more than 30 individuals currently being targeted simply for attending our annual culture and arts festival.” The charity has committed to a public campaign in defence of human rights, saying “we are not scared”. It said: “We need to imagine a country where singing songs is not a crime.” Foreign Office sources said officials consistently underlined the importance of treating all civilians with fairness and respect when engaging with regional and international partners. The Turkish embassy has been approached for comment. © 2025 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies.

This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows a Russian-made Su-24 fighter-bomber on April 14, 2025, at an airbase in the Malian capital, Bamako. (Maxar Technologies via AP) By  MONIKA PRONCZUK , JOHN LEICESTER and MICHAEL BIESECKER Updated 6:11 AM CEST, June 10, 2025 DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Even as it pounds Ukraine , Russia is expanding its military footprint in Africa , delivering sophisticated weaponry to sub-Saharan conflict zones where a Kremlin-controlled armed force is on the rise. Skirting sanctions imposed by Western nations, Moscow is using cargo ships to send tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and other high-value equipment to West Africa, The Associated Press has found. Relying on satellite imagery and radio signals, AP tracked a convoy of Russian-flagged cargo ships as they made a nearly one-month journey from the Baltic Sea. The ships carried howitzers, radio jamming equipment and other military hardware, according to military officials in Europe who closely monitored them. The deliveries could strengthen Russia’s fledgling Africa Corps as Moscow competes with the United States, Europe and China for greater influence across the continent. The two-year-old Africa Corps, which has links to a covert branch of Russia’s army, is ascendant at a time when U.S. and European troops have been withdrawing from the region , forced out by sub-Saharan nations turning to Russia for security. Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have been battling fighters linked with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group for more than a decade. At first, mercenary groups with an arms-length relationship to the Kremlin entered the fray in Africa. But increasingly, Russia is deploying its military might, and intelligence services, more directly. ”We intend to expand our cooperation with African countries in all spheres, with an emphasis on economic cooperation and investments,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “This cooperation includes sensitive areas linked to defense and security.” This satellite image provided by Planet Labs PBC shows the Russian flagged cargo ship, Patria, unloading military vehicles, May, 27, 2024, in Conakry, Guinea. (Planet Labs PBC via AP) From the ports, Russian weapons are trucked to Mali Russia’s 8,800-ton Baltic Leader and 5,800-ton Patria are among hundreds of ships that Western nations have sanctioned to choke off resources for Russia’s war in Ukraine. The ships docked and unloaded in Conakry, Guinea, in late May, AP satellite images showed. Russia’s 8,800-ton Baltic Leader and 5,800-ton Patria are among hundreds of ships that Western nations have sanctioned to choke off resources for Russia’s war in Ukraine. The ships docked and unloaded in Conakry, Guinea, in late May, AP satellite images showed. Other ships made deliveries to the same port in January. They delivered tanks, armored vehicles and other hardware that was then trucked overland to neighboring Mali, according to European military officials and a Malian blogger’s video of the long convoy. In this photo released by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and Guinea’s Foreign Minister Morissanda Kouyate shake hands near a portrait of Guinea’s President Mamadi Doumbouya in Conakry, Guinea, on June 3, 2024. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP, File) The military officials spoke to AP about Russian operations on condition of anonymity. The AP verified the blogger’s video, geolocating it to the RN5 highway leading into Bamako, the Malian capital. After the latest delivery in Conakry, trucks carrying Russian-made armored vehicles, howitzers and other equipment were again spotted on the overland route to Mali. Malian broadcaster ORTM confirmed that the West African nation’s army took delivery of new military equipment. AP analysis of its video and images filmed by the Malian blogger in the same spot as the January delivery identified a broad array of Russian-made hardware, including 152 mm artillery guns and other smaller canons. AP also identified a wheeled, BTR-80 armored troop carrier with radio-jamming equipment, as well as Spartak armored vehicles and other armored carriers, some mounted with guns. The shipment also included at least two semi-inflatable small boats, one with a Russian flag painted on its hull, as well as tanker trucks, some marked “inflammable” in Russian on their sides. The military officials who spoke to AP said they believe Russia has earmarked the most potent equipment — notably the artillery and jamming equipment — for its Africa Corps, not Malian armed forces. Africa Corps appears to have been given air power, too, with satellites spotting at least one Su-24 fighter-bomber at a Bamako air base in recent months. This undated photograph handed out by the French military shows three Russian mercenaries, right, in northern Mali. (French Army via AP) Moscow’s notorious secret unit For years, French forces supported counterinsurgency operations in Mali and neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. But France pulled out its troops after coups in Mali in 2020 and 2021, in Burkina Faso in 2022 and Niger in 2023. Russian mercenaries stepped into the vacuum . Wagner Group, the most notable, deployed to Sudan in 2017 and expanded to other African countries, often in exchange for mining concessions. It earned a reputation for brutality, accused by Western countries and U.N. experts of human rights abuses , including in Central African Republic, Libya and Mali. Of 33 African countries in which Russian military contractors were active, the majority were Wagner-controlled, according to U.S. government-sponsored research by RAND. But after Wagner forces mutinied in Russia in 2023 and their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin , was killed two months later in a suspicious plane crash , Moscow tightened its grip. Russian military operations in Africa were restructured, with the Kremlin taking greater control through Africa Corps. It is overseen by the commander of Unit 29155, one of the most notorious branches of Russia’s shadowy GRU military intelligence service, according to the European Union. Unit 29155 has been accused of covertly attacking Western interests for years, including through sabotage and assassination attempts. The EU in December targeted Unit 29155 Maj. Gen. Andrey Averyanov with sanctions, alleging that he is in charge of Africa Corps operations. “In many African countries, Russian forces provide security to military juntas that have overthrown legitimate democratic governments, gravely worsening the stability, security and democracy of the countries,” the EU sanctions ruling said. These operations are financed by exploiting the continent’s natural resources, the ruling added. The Russian Ministry of Defense didn’t immediately respond to questions about Averyanov’s role in Africa Corps. Africa Corps recruitment Researchers and military officials say the flow of weapons from Russia appears to be speeding Africa Corps’ ascendancy over Wagner, helping it win over mercenaries that have remained loyal to the group. Africa Corps is also is recruiting in Russia, offering payments of up to 2.1 million rubles ($26,500), and even plots of land, for signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense, plus more on deployment. Within days of the latest equipment delivery, Wagner announced its withdrawal from Mali, declaring “mission accomplished” in a Telegram post. Africa Corps said in a separate post that it would remain. The changeover from Wagner to Africa Corps in Mali could be a forerunner for other similar transitions elsewhere on the continent, said Julia Stanyard, a researcher of Russian mercenary activity in Africa. “Bringing in this sort of brand-new sophisticated weaponry, and new armored vehicles and that sort of thing, is quite a bit of a shift,” said Stanyard, of the Switzerland-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. Armed groups in Mali have inflicted heavy losses on Malian troops and Russian mercenaries. The al-Qaida linked group JNIM killed dozens of soldiers in an attack this month on a military base. Insurgents also killed dozens of Wagner mercenaries in northern Mali last July. Some of the latest hardware could have been shipped over specifically in response to such attacks, military officials said. They said the jamming equipment, for example, could help defend against booby traps detonated using phone signals. This satellite image provided by Planet Labs PBC shows trucks lined up on a dock as the Russian-flagged cargo ship, Siyanie Severa, unloads its cargo, May 29, 2025, in Bata, Equatorial Guinea. (Planet Labs PBC via AP) Russian escort’s red flags The latest convoy attracted attention because a Russian Navy warship, the Boykiy, escorted the ships after they set off in April from Russia’s Kaliningrad region on the Baltic. Last October, in what’s considered a hostile act, the Boykiy’s radar systems locked onto a French Navy maritime surveillance plane on patrol against suspected Russian efforts to sabotage underwater cables, according to military officials. The convoy included a third sanctioned Russian cargo ship, the Siyanie Severa. It continued onward as Baltic Leader and Patria unloaded in Conakry, docking in Bata, Equatorial Guinea. Satellite imagery from May 29 shows trucks lined up on the dock as the ship unloaded. The AP could not verify whether the cargo included weapons or the ultimate destination for the shipment, though Wagner has maintained a strong presence in the nearby Central African Republic. Leicester reported from Paris and Biesecker from Washington. Beatrice Dupuy and Rachel Leathe in New York contributed. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press.