© UNICEF/Ahmed Mohamdeen Elfatih The looting of critical supplies from a hospital in Khartoum, Sudan, risks worsening the humanitarian crisis in the region. The attack on one of the last operational hospitals in the area further deepened the ongoing humanitarian crisis sparked by the civil war between rival militaries , the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which started in April 2023. Among the stolen supplies were 2,200 cartons of ready-to-use therapeutic food – a crucial treatment for children suffering from severe acute malnutrition , a life-threatening condition characterized by severe weight loss and muscle wasting. Also stolen were iron and folic acid supplements for pregnant and lactating women, as well as midwife kits and primary healthcare supplies meant for mothers, newborns and children. Attack on their survival “Stealing life-saving supplies meant for malnourished children is outrageous and a direct attack on their survival,” said Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF . “These unconscionable acts against vulnerable children must end. All parties must adhere to international humanitarian law, protect civilians, and ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian access to those in need.” UNICEF had successfully delivered these supplies on 20 December last year, marking the first humanitarian shipment to Jabal Awlia in over 18 months. However, the looting, combined with escalating violence that has forced aid operations to suspend, is pushing the region’s most vulnerable closer to disaster. Children pushed closer to catastrophe The hospital is situated in Jabal Awlia, one of 17 localities at risk of famine. The region has been struggling with severe shortages of food, medicine and other essentials. Fighting has blocked commercial and humanitarian supplies for more than three months, leaving thousands of civilians trapped amid intensified fighting. More than 4,000 people have been forced to flee, further deepening the crisis. Unprecedented humanitarian crisis Beyond Jabal Awlia, the humanitarian disaster extends across Sudan, where millions are facing life-threatening conditions. More than 24.6 million people – over half the population – are facing acute food insecurity, and the collapse of health services, the closure of schools and record levels of displacement have created an unprecedented crisis. In the face of rising challenges, UNICEF called on all actors to urgently ensure unimpeded humanitarian access to deliver aid, the protection of hospitals and civilian infrastructure, as well as security guarantees for aid workers to ensure life-saving assistance can reach those in need. Copyright © United Nations

Israeli forces intensify ground operations in northern and southern Gaza as Defence Minister Katz warns of seizing territory if all captives not released. An Israeli tank manoeuvres inside Gaza in front of destroyed buildings on March 19, 2025 [Amir Cohen/Reuters] Israel’s military assault on the Gaza Strip has continued for a fourth day as its ground forces expand their operations in northern and southern Gaza and the Israeli defence minister threatens to seize land in the coastal enclave. Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Friday that Israeli forces would “intensify” the military campaign against Hamas and use “all military and civilian pressure, including evacuation of the Gaza population south and implementing United States President [Donald] Trump’s voluntary migration plan for Gaza residents”. Katz instructed the army “to seize additional areas in Gaza, evacuate the population and expand security zones around Gaza to protect Israeli communities and [Israeli army] soldiers”, local media quoted him as saying. He also warned that Israel would seize land in Gaza until Hamas agrees to release all captives still held in the Strip. “The more Hamas persists in its refusal to release the hostages, the more territory it will lose, which will be annexed to Israel,” Katz was quoted by The Jerusalem Post newspaper as saying. “If the hostages are not released, Israel will continue to take more and more territory in the Strip for permanent control.” As Israeli ground forces pressed deeper into Gaza, Israeli jets continued a ferocious bombardment of the enclave. Five people, including three children, were killed in an Israeli air strike that hit a house in the Tuffah district of Gaza City in the enclave’s north, while two people – a woman and her daughter – were killed by tank fire in Abassan near Khan Younis in the south, according to Palestinian medics. Later, the Israeli military said it had intercepted two projectiles fired from northern Gaza after alerts were activated in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. No Palestinian group immediately claimed responsibility. The developments come after Israeli troops invaded the Shaboura area of Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city near the Egyptian border, and Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, late on Thursday. Earlier this week, Israel said it had closed off the territory’s main north-south route as part of its expanding ground operations. Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from central Gaza, said according to residents in Beit Lahiya and Rafah, Israeli forces did not give any warnings of their activities. “They did not throw leaflets or drop any warnings asking people to evacuate those areas,” she said. A Palestinian woman mourns among bodies of those killed in Israeli attack at the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya, Gaza, on March 20, 2025 [Abdalhkem Abu Riash/Anadolu] The ground operations come after Israel shattered a nearly two-month ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday with a relentless wave of bombardments after imposing a renewed blockade on the Palestinian territory. More than 590 people, including about 200 children, have been killed in the renewed attacks, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. Israel said it resumed its attacks after Hamas failed to agree to a new version of a ceasefire. Israeli authorities wanted an extension of the first phase of the three-phase truce and the release of most of the 59 remaining captives in Gaza – of which about two dozen are believed to be alive – without committing to end the war. The Palestinian armed group has stressed that it wanted to stick to the original accord signed in January, according to which the two sides should have started negotiations on the second phase of the deal, which would address the release of the remaining captives, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the enclave and a permanent cessation of hostilities. The United States, Israel’s staunch ally, has insisted that Hamas was to blame for Israel resuming its bombardment of Gaza. “Hamas bears full responsibility for the ongoing war in Gaza and for the resumption of hostilities. Every death would have been avoided had Hamas accepted the bridge proposal that the United States offered last Wednesday,” acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea told the United Nations Security Council on Friday. Lack of aid, hospitals ‘overwhelmed’ UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said the situation in Gaza is gravely concerning amid huge reductions in aid supplies. “This is the longest period since the start of conflict in October 2023 that no supplies whatsoever have entered Gaza,” UNRWA’s Sam Rose told reporters, speaking from central Gaza. “The progress we made as an aid system over the last six weeks of the ceasefire is being reversed.” “We can stretch that by giving people less, but we are talking days, not weeks,” Rose said of how long the aid will last, adding that six of 25 bakeries that the World Food Programme supports have had to close down. Khoudary said health workers and hospitals in the Strip have been overwhelmed during Israel’s renewed assault. “We are talking about 18 days of zero aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip. Not one single truck of medical supplies has been entering the Gaza Strip,” she said. “Talking to doctors, they are saying that most of these injuries are very serious and most of the injured are children, women and the elderly.” Moreover, the lack of fuel in the coastal enclave is making the situation worse. “Most of Gaza’s hospitals are at risk of collapsing and shutting down if they do not receive fuel in the coming days,” Khoudary said. On March 2, Israel blocked all humanitarian aid into Gaza after the first phase of the ceasefire expired, cutting off food, medicine and fuel. This resulted in global condemnation with European nations warning that the blockade could breach international humanitarian law. © 2025 Al Jazeera Media Network

By Khalid Abdelaziz , Jana Choukeir and Nafisa Eltahir Sudanese army members film themselves inside the presidential palace, after, according to the Sudanese army, they took the control of the presidential palace, in Khartoum, Sudan, March 21, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. Social Media via REUTERS The Sudanese army seized full control of the presidential palace in downtown Khartoum on Friday, it said in a statement, in what would be a major gain in a two-year-old conflict with a rival armed group that has threatened to partition the country. The army had long been on the back foot but has recently made gains and has retaken territory from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the centre of the country. The RSF has consolidated control in the west, hardening battle lines and moving Sudan towards de facto partition. The RSF is setting up a parallel government in areas it controls, although that is not expected to secure widespread international recognition. The RSF said on Friday, hours after the army statement, that it remained in the vicinity of the palace, and that it had launched an attack that had killed dozens of army soldiers inside. Army sources said the fighters were about 400 metres away. They said the army's forces had suffered a drone attack that killed several soldiers as well as three journalists from state television. The RSF rapidly seized the presidential palace in Khartoum, along with the rest of the city, after war broke out in April 2023 over the paramilitary's integration into the armed forces. The army shared videos of soldiers cheering on the palace grounds, its glass windows shattered and walls pockmarked with bullet holes. Images showed the cladding of the recently constructed palace torn off by explosions. Many Sudanese welcomed the army's statement that it had control of the palace. "The liberation of the palace is the best news I've heard since the start of the war, because it means the start of the army controlling the rest of Khartoum," said 55-year-old Khartoum resident Mohamed Ibrahim. "We want to be safe again and live without fear or hunger," he said. Late on Thursday the RSF said it had seized a key base from the army in North Darfur, a region in the west of the country. The conflict has led to what the U.N. calls the world's largest humanitarian crisis , spreading famine in several locations and disease across the country of 50 million people. Both sides have been accused of war crimes, while the RSF has also been charged with genocide. Both sides deny the charges. GUNFIRE IN KHARTOUM Intermittent gunfire was heard in Khartoum on Friday and bloody fighting was expected as the army seeks to corner the RSF, which still occupies swathes of the territory to the south of the palace. "We are moving forward along all fighting axes until victory is complete by cleansing every inch of our country from the filth of this militia and its collaborators," the army statement said. RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, had instructed troops earlier this week to maintain control at the palace. Although the RSF still has positions in Khartoum, its foothold there is more tenuous than at any point since the conflict began and the trajectory suggests the RSF will be pushed out completely, said Ahmed Soliman, senior research fellow at Chatham House. The army is likely to continue the war in the west, he added, leaving Sudan facing "a contested, partitioned reality". The war erupted two years ago as the country was planning a transition to democratic rule. The army and RSF had joined forces after ousting Omar al-Bashir from power in 2019 and later to oust civilian leadership. But they had long been at odds, as Bashir developed Hemedti and the RSF, which has its roots in Darfur's janjaweed militias, as a counterweight to the army, led by career officer Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz and Jana Choukeir in Dubai, Nafisa Eltahir in Cairo Additional reporting by Tom Perry Writing by Jana Choukeir and Nafisa Eltahir Editing by Himani Sarkar, Michael Georgy, Saad Sayeed and Frances Kerry Source: Reuters

CNN —  A mother and her daughter hunch down by the windows of their attic as armed men gather outside the gate. They try not to make a sound. But in the video that they furtively recorded of this fraught moment, it’s clear they can barely control their panicked breathing. Earlier that day, on March 7, the patriarch of the Khalil family had assured them that they were not in danger. The forces aligned with Syria’s new Islamist government who had descended on their village of al-Sanobar were only going after people affiliated with the recently toppled dictator Bashar al-Assad , he reasoned. “We haven’t done anything wrong,” his relative recalled him saying as they watched fighters storming their neighbors’ home from their windows. Hours later, she said the patriarch was dead, his lifeless body splayed out on the patio next to his son’s corpse. A masked fighter filmed himself parading around the ransacked home, singing “ethnic cleansing, ethnic cleansing” and posted the video to his Facebook page for 28,000 followers to see. Family members hiding in the upper floor told CNN they heard the raid, including the executions, unfold. The killings at the Khalils’ home, recounted through video and survivor testimonies, was one of many similar incidents that played out across Alawite communities in Syria’s coastal region earlier this month. A CNN investigation zeroes in on the events in Sanobar, or the “Pine village” in English, a town of several thousand members of Syria’s minority Alawite community in Latakia governorate. The attacks on the village, where swathes of farmland surround small clusters of buildings, reveal fresh details about the intensity of some of the sectarian violence that swept Syria’s coast. Drawing on interviews with seven survivors, satellite imagery and verified footage from the ground, CNN was able to shed light on the scale of the carnage in the town, where government-aligned forces subjected largely unarmed villagers to summary executions, looting, arson and sectarian slurs, and bodies were piled up in two mass graves. CNN tallied at least 84 bodies in videos geolocated to the Pine village, which has a population of a few thousand. Locals said they counted over 200 dead – the vast majority of whom were male. The eyewitnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. The attacks against Alawites raise questions about whether interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa can fulfill his promise to rule Syria in an inclusive way, ensuring the protection of minorities, and stop any insurgent factions from becoming a serious threat to the country’s prospects for peace. People in the Syrian village of Al-Janoudiya attend a funeral procession Saturday, March 8, for four Syrian security force members who were killed in clashes with loyalists of ousted President Bashar al-Assad. Clashes between government security forces and Assad supporters have killed hundreds this month, according to a monitoring group. The latest cycle of violence began when Assad loyalists staged a bloody ambush on forces aligned with Syria’s new Sunni Islamist government on March 6 in what appeared to be a coordinated attack. It was Syria’s worst violence since Assad was toppled last December and it prompted a deadly reprisal in the Latakia and Tartus provinces that the new government described as an effort to contain remnants of the former autocratic regime. The state blamed the mass killings on rogue elements. Al-Sharaa set up a fact-finding committee to investigate the killings and has vowed to hold the culprits to account. The attacks targeted the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam that the Assad family are members of, and which dominated their regime for over half a century until they were ousted. Videos reviewed by CNN posted by Sunni Islamist militants loyal to Sharaa’s government called for the “ethnic cleansing” of Alawites. CNN has reached out to the government for comment on the bloodshed in Pine village. ‘They called us Alawite dogs’ Human rights watchdog, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) , said more than 800 people were killed in attacks following the ambush. Other rights groups say the number is even higher. Assad loyalists have staged several smaller attacks on government forces since then, according to authorities. Survivors said the attacks in Pine village began in the early hours of Friday, March 7, a day after the initial ambush by Assadist loyalists was reported. Mohamed Khalil, left, is pictured with his son Zain. They were gunned down on March 7. Their bodies appear at the feet of the fighter who filmed himself as he ransacked their home. CNN identified the armed man who filmed himself at the home of the Khalil family by matching his facial details, clothing and build with other photographs and video on his Facebook profile. A cached version of his account shows the video was later deleted. Two survivors, who viewed the footage of him shared on social media, also said he was the same man who was rampaging through their town. CNN reached out to the man on Facebook but has not received a reply. In the days that followed, another video surfaced on social media showing him singing, with bodies littered behind him. “We’ve come to you. We’ve come to you with the taste of death.” CNN was able to verify the location in the video as the entrance to the village using a line of pine trees, utility poles and a curving road, which corresponded to satellite imagery. Residents also identified the bodies of the men pictured in the video. “The sword of the people of Idlib wants only you,” he sings, referring to the territory in northern Syria that was ruled by al-Sharaa’s now dissolved Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), before the forces wrested control from the old regime and became the de-facto government. HTS fighters now compose most of the country’s General Security forces. In his Facebook profile picture, the fighter is seen in fatigues embroidered with what appears to be HTS insignia. Three military experts said the patch on his shoulder was consistent with several HTS units, but the photograph was too blurry to determine the specific brigade. A fighter parades through the streets of Pine village in a screen grab from a video posted on social media. In his Facebook profile picture, the fighter is seen in fatigues embroidered with what appears to be HTS insignia. Another fighter is identifiable in two videos that CNN geolocated to Pine village and are believed to have been filmed over the course of the attack. The bearded man with red hair is seen in the footage taken in the Khalil home and at the entrance of Pine village. Another clip verified by CNN shows a militant dragging a middle-aged man – identified by local sources as villager Yazan Mostafa – out to his execution, carried by other unidentified fighters. Eyewitnesses who spoke to CNN detailed the hours leading up to the executions. “They came in (to our home) saying they were looking for remnants of the (Assad) regime, or any armed people,” one woman told CNN on Tuesday, three days after she said her father and two brothers were executed. Images that she shared of the aftermath at the household helped CNN corroborate her account. “At first, they went to homes and confiscated mobile phones they were able to find… and then they left the village. Then they returned and ransacked our home. Then they left,” she added between tears. “And then a third time, they entered the house and demanded that all the men step outside.” “My father and my two brothers. My father was a 75-year-old retired teacher… they shot my father in the head… they shot my brother in the heart.” She said another brother, who was injured by a bullet to the right side of his body, pretended to be dead while he bled out. As night fell, he attempted to escape. According to the woman, the fighters shot him six times as he limped through the fields. Her mother was sitting in shock and grief between her dead male relatives when, she said, one armed fighter pulled a gun to her head and called her an “‘Alawite dog.’” A destroyed home in Pine village lies in ruin in Latakia, Syria, on March 13. Another local woman also told CNN that fighters had entered her home several times before they dragged her husband outside and shot him and several other men in a ditch. Locals said only a handful of men survived. One man told CNN that he tried to reason with the fighters, ultimately saving his own life, but was unable to stop them from killing his brother who he said they executed. “I did not run away. I confronted them wisely, and they shot the ground beneath us to intimidate me and my family,” he told CNN. “I opened my house to every faction that asked, and they pointed their guns at my chest more than once.” “God’s will saved me,” he added. “I begged them to release my brother, but no one listened.” One woman told CNN she was rescued by a fighter, who she said was from Idlib, who granted her safe passage. “The man who killed my family was from Idlib. The man who saved my life was also from Idlib,” she said. Collecting the bodies For nearly three days, corpses littered the streets of Pine village, after villagers said fighters forbade them from collecting their dead, according to three of the locals CNN spoke to. On March 10, armed men oversaw the retrieval of bodies that took place over two days, according to residents. A video verified by CNN shows bodies piled up along the side of the road. Locals said the bodies were piled into mass graves near the village’s Alawite shrine. Some of this was captured in videos and imagery that CNN geolocated to the area, matching it against satellite imagery to verify the date. A photograph, which CNN determined was taken at the cemetery of the village shrine, captured at least 10 bodies wrapped in shrouds, laid in two narrow graves. In one video, CNN counted at least 42 shrouded bodies dumped along a roadside, with three more in a shallow grave. Nearby mounds of earth suggested additional burials. Another verified video showed at least 29 bodies in two shallow graves, where an excavator appeared to be refilling one of them with soil. CNN could not confirm whether the bodies in the two videos and photograph depict different individuals or the same. The bodies and graves can also be seen in satellite imagery reviewed and verified by CNN. Aerial images provided by Airbus from March 11 show ground disturbances near the shrine, where CNN identified graves. The imagery also appears to capture bodies covered in shrouds and the excavator seen in one of the videos geolocated to the same site. Maxar imagery from March 14 also shows evidence of the soil being displaced. Maxar told CNN the approximate dimensions of the excavated and then smoothed-over grave site were 26 meters by 16 meters (about 85 feet by 52 feet). The villagers said they were still trying to give their loved ones a burial in accordance with Islamic rites. “Without a doubt, we will give our dead a proper religious burial,” said the survivor whose father and brothers were killed. “But for that we will need to return to the village, and we are too afraid to return.” CNN’s Kareem El Damanhoury contributed to this report. © 2025 Cable News Network. A Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All Rights Reserved.

Alawites fleeing the violence in Syria's coastal region have been crossing the Nahr el-Kabir river to reach safety in Lebanon. Entire families, including women and children, were killed during the recent violence in Syria's coastal region, the UN human rights office says. A spokesman told reporters that the UN had so far verified the killing of 111 civilians since last Thursday, but that the actual figure was believed to be significantly higher. Many of the cases were summary executions and appeared to have been carried out on a sectarian basis, with predominantly Alawite areas targeted in particular, he added. Gunmen supporting the Sunni Islamist-led government have been accused of carrying out revenge killings following a deadly ambush on a security patrol by loyalists of president Bashar al-Assad, who is an Alawite. A monitoring group has reported that more than 1,200 civilians, most of them Alawites, have been killed in Latakia, Tatous, Hama and Homs provinces. The UN has welcomed the promise by Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa to form an independent investigative committee and to hold those responsible to account. The violence was the worst in Syria since Sharaa led the rebel offensive that overthrew Assad in December, ending 13 years of civil war in which more than 600,000 people were killed. Syria says operation against Assad loyalists over after deadly violence Syrians describe terror as Alawite families killed in their homes Syria leader vows to hunt down those responsible for bloodshed Syria's north-west Mediterranean coast is the heartland of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam to which many of the former Assad regime's political and military elite belonged. Last week, security forces launched an operation in the region in response to a growing insurgency by Assad loyalists. The violence escalated on Thursday, after 13 security personnel were killed in an ambush by gunmen in the coastal town of Jableh. Security forces responded by sending reinforcements to the region, who were joined by armed groups and individuals supporting the government. They stormed many Alawite towns and villages across the region, where residents said they carried out revenge killings and looted homes and shops. A spokesperson for the UN human rights office, Thameen Al-Kheetan, said on Tuesday that reports were continuing to emerge of the "distressing scale of the violence". He said the UN, using strict verification methods, had so far documented the killings of 90 male civilians, 18 women, two girls and one boy. Initial reports indicated that the perpetrators were "unidentified armed individuals, members of armed groups allegedly supporting the caretaker authorities' security forces, and by elements associated with the former government", he added. "In a number of extremely disturbing instances, entire families - including women, children and individuals hors de combat - were killed, with predominantly Alawite cities and villages targeted in particular," he said, referring to combatants who have been captured, expressed an intention to surrender, or are incapacitated. "According to many testimonies collected by our office, perpetrators raided houses, asking residents whether they were Alawite or Sunni before proceeding to either kill or spare them accordingly. Some survivors told us that many men were shot dead in front of their families." Assad loyalists also raided several hospitals in Latakia, Tartous and Baniyas, according to Mr Kheetan. They clashed with security forces, reportedly resulting in dozens of civilian casualties, including patients and medics, was well as damage to the hospitals. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said its civilian death toll had risen to 1,225, after another 132 people were reported killed on Tuesday, including 62 in the town of Baniyas. About 230 security personnel and 250 pro-Assad fighters have also been killed, according to its network of sources. Advertisement Mr Kheetan said the UN human rights chief urged Syrian authorities to carry out prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigations. "All those found responsible for violations must be held to account, regardless of their affiliation, in line with international law norms and standards. Victims and their families have the right to truth, justice and reparations," he stressed. A spokesman for the new investigative committee set up by the government said it was already "gathering and reviewing evidence" and would present a report in 30 days. "No-one is above the law. The committee will relay all the results to the entity that launched it, the presidency, and the judiciary," Yasser Farhan told a news conference. The state-run Sana news agency also reported that four people had been arrested over "bloody violations against civilians" in a coastal village after they were identified in videos. Meanwhile, residents of the region said the situation appeared calm on Tuesday, with only sporadic gunfire heard overnight. A man who fled the town of Baniyas three days ago told the BBC that he had managed to get back to his home to check on it because security forces had set up checkpoints in the neighbourhood to prevent further killings and looting. The man, who asked to remain anonymous, also said the bodies which had been lying on the streets of Baniyas last week were no longer there. The Syrian Red Crescent, with the help of security forces, was said to be recovering bodies and burying them in mass graves in the town's cemetery. However, most families have not returned home, because they are traumatised by what happened and worried about their safety, amid reports of continued killings and looting. Many sought refuge at the Russian-controlled Hmeimim airbase outside the city of Latakia, sheltered in local schools or fled to rural areas. Others crossed into neighbouring Lebanon, where a woman told the BBC that armed men had attacked her house in rural Hama two months ago and killed men from her family. "My nephews were 11 and 12 years old. They rounded them up and lined up all the other young Alawite men," Hind said. "One of them asked his friend about our religion. He said, 'They are Alawites,' so he pointed his gun and killed all the men in front of him." "They see us as guilty just because our president was Alawite. But the truth is we are the poorest. Our young men joined the military only to be taken to fight and to be killed." A young man named Wissam said he no longer trusted the government and security forces. "They're all the same - armed and with covered faces. They have privileges that no-one else has. They do whatever they want," he claimed.

Niger’s military junta tightens control, silencing dissent, detaining opponents, and ruling by decree. Civil liberties erode as repression deepens, leaving citizens fearful and the nation increasingly isolated on the global stage. By Vinciane Joly Soldiers in a Niger army unit / U.S. National Archives / Public domain Since the coup on July 26, 2023,  Niger has been sliding deeper into authoritarianism, human rights violations, and the suppression of civil society voices. In a report released Tuesday after 18 months of investigation and fieldwork, Amnesty International documented the repression of former officials, an increase in enforced disappearances, and accused the ruling junta of failing to keep its promises. “In the name of ‘state security’ or ‘safeguarding the homeland,’ the military leaders who seized power in Niamey have imposed authoritarian practices to silence any critical voices,” said Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International’s acting regional director for West and Central Africa. Freedom of speech, freedom of association, and the right to information have all been trampled. “Arbitrary detentions have become routine, and court rulings are ignored.” “The regime in Niger, under attack from all sides and threatened from the moment it was born, immediately resorted to paranoia, violence, and repression against potential opponents,” said a regional expert. He noted that the previous regime had already cracked down on freedom of expression and the press. “More than in Mali or Burkina Faso, this fragile government has retained a siege mentality from its tumultuous inception,” he added. A prime example of this authoritarian shift is the treatment of ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, who has been detained along with his wife, Hadiza Mabrouk, since the coup. In December 2023, the Economic Community of West African States Court of Justice ruled their detention arbitrary and called for their release—so far, to no avail. In June 2024, after nearly a year behind bars, Bazoum was charged with “high treason” and “conspiracy to undermine state security or state authority.” No charges have been filed against Mabrouk. “The junta fears being overthrown, particularly by ‘Bazoumists’—loyalists of the former regime—or even facing dissent within Niger’s own military,” said the Sahel specialist. “Proof of this paranoia? It is said that leader Abdourahamane Tiani rarely, if ever, leaves the presidential palace.” Seven former ministers, some of whom have called for the ousted president’s release, remain arbitrarily detained despite court orders demanding their freedom. “This is the clearest example of the junta’s disregard for judicial rulings,” said Ousmane Diallo, Amnesty International’s Sahel researcher. “We are witnessing the normalization of arbitrary rule and the erosion of the rule of law.” Ruling by decree Another sign of the junta’s tightening grip is its restrictions on the legal framework. Since July 26, 2023, Niger has been governed by decree, without a transition charter, and with all executive, legislative, and judicial powers concentrated in the hands of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, the junta’s ruling body. Political parties have been suspended, and the military leaders act at their own discretion. The junta has also introduced a decree establishing a list of “individuals or entities involved in acts of terrorism or any other offenses threatening the strategic and/or fundamental interests of the nation.” These vague criteria allow the government to target critics. Those placed on the list may have their assets frozen or even be temporarily stripped of their nationality. “Since the coup, there are two categories of people in Niger: patriots and stateless persons—those who hold the ‘wrong’ political opinions,” Diallo said. The crackdown has sent shockwaves through civil society. Journalists and human rights activists fear imprisonment. “If you criticize the government, you can be sure you’ll be arrested,” a Nigerien civil society member told Amnesty International. The organization reported that “in this repressive climate, self-censorship has become the norm, driven by fear of retaliation.” “Civil society actors are less vocal, more hesitant to speak to foreign media,” Diallo added. “With the suspension of numerous outlets, including France 24, RFI, and the BBC, information flows far less freely than before the coup.” Source: La Croix International

© MONUSCO/Aubin Mukoni | People continue to flee fighting in the eastern DR Congo where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have made major gains. 4 March 2025 Peace and Security In the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), insecurity and horrific sexual violence have left tens of thousands fleeing across borders with no sign of the exodus stopping, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday. “Near the frontlines, sexual violence and human rights abuses remain rampant, as is the looting and destruction of civilian homes and businesses,” said Patrick Eba, Deputy Director of UNHCR ’s Division of International Protection. Speaking in Geneva, Mr. Eba told journalists that that North and South Kivu provinces remain unstable, with “hundreds of thousands of people on the move”. Close to 80,000 people have fled armed clashes between Congolese Government forces and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels into neighbouring countries and some 61,000 have arrived in Burundi since January, Mr. Eba stressed. 60 rape victims a day A staggering 895 cases of rape were reported to humanitarian actors in the last two weeks of February alone, the UN refugee agency official continued - an average of more than 60 a day. The UNHCR official highlighted other risks faced by civilians, including the dangers posed by explosive remnants of war to children and farmers trying to tend their fields. On Monday, the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office ( OCHA ) reported that armed men had raided at least two hospitals in North Kivu’s capital Goma, abducting dozens of patients. The fighting has also impeded humanitarian access to people on the move. The UN World Food Programme ( WFP ) has had to pause its aid operations in conflict-affected areas but was resuming emergency food assistance “in some parts of North Kivu” according to a post on social media platform X on Tuesday morning, aiming to reach over 210,000 people. M23 forced evictions Inside North and South Kivu, “significant” population movements have continued, in line with reported M23 orders issued to internally displaced people (IDPs) to leave the camps around Goma, UNHCR’s Mr. Eba said. “Today, only around 17,000 people are left residing in IDP sites, schools and churches around Goma, while an estimated 414,000 of their neighbours have been on the move for the past four weeks, encouraged by the de facto authorities to return to their villages of origin,” he explained. Given the widespread insecurity in eastern DRC, “many more” people may need to cross borders in search of safety, Mr. Eba warned. UNHCR’s position regarding returns to the area is that “Congolese nationals fleeing the conflict, as well as those who are outside the country, who originate from the areas affected by the conflict, may need refugee protection under international and regional legal frameworks,” he said. The UNHCR official emphasized the importance of “informed decision-making” for any voluntary returns to conflict-affected areas. Exempt from funding freeze Asked about the impact of the United States’ humanitarian funding freeze on operations in the country, UNHCR spokesperson Eujin Byun confirmed that the agency had received a waiver lifting the 90-day suspension for “a few emergency countries, including DRC”. Assistance for the current crisis that was spawned by a decades-long conflict in the mineral-rich region had “always been underfunded”, she said, expressing hope that UNHCR will be able to “continue to support this emergency”. There are over one million Congolese refugees across Africa, mainly in neighbouring countries. Uganda hosts more than half of that total, while Burundi has seen most new arrivals since January’s flash M23 offensive. Prior to the current crisis, some 6.7 million people were internally displaced within the DRC. Copyright ©United Nations.

Amid truce negotiations, Russian forces were stirring in the south after pushing Ukraine out of Kursk. Olha Kyzym, head of the department of education of the Pechenihy village council, picks up a piece of shrapnel of a Shahed drone on the rooftop of a village school [Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters] By  John T Psaropoulos Published 20 Mar 2025 Ukraine faced grim military and diplomatic developments over the past week, as Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected a complete ceasefire by suggesting there were “issues” that needed ironing out. Vladyslav Voloshyn, a spokesman for Ukraine’s southern forces, said Russian forces were increasing their mechanised attacks as spring weather firmed up soggy ground. “The mud has disappeared … there is more vegetation, and there is less visibility. Therefore, the enemy is trying to improve its tactical position,” said Voloshyn. Russian forces on Tuesday entered the village of Stepove in western Zaporizhia, a southern Ukrainian province Russian forces partly occupy. The capture would complicate local Ukrainian logistics, said a Russian official. “There is a road running from Orekhov to Kamenskoye through Stepove, which the enemy constantly used … They will have to move along longer routes. This brings about positive changes for us on the Zaporizhia front as a whole,” Vladimir Rogov told the Russian state news agency TASS. There was also bad news for Ukrainian forces in the Russian province of Kursk, where they staged a counter-invasion last August, drawing much of Russia’s firepower away from Ukrainian soil. Russia recaptured its city of Sudzha on March 13, pushing Ukrainian forces almost to the border, and appeared intent on pressing into Ukrainian territory. “Not only will we have liberated our own land, but we will also establish the buffer zone that [Putin] has tasked us with creating,” Apty Alaudinov, commander of the Chechen Akhmat special forces unit, told Rossiya-1 television network. Source: Al Jazeera Putin called for the creation of a “sanitary zone” inside Ukraine a year ago. “It is crucial that this zone be no less than 20 kilometres wide [10 miles], and preferably 30 kilometres [20 miles], extending deep into Ukrainian territory,” a battalion deputy commander, Oleg Ivanov, told state news service TASS. Putin seeks selective ceasefire Buoyed by these successes, Putin rejected a United States-Ukrainian proposal for a complete ceasefire on the day Sudzha fell to him. “Who will determine where and who has violated a potential ceasefire agreement along 2,000km [1,240 miles]? And who will then blame who for violating that agreement?” Putin  said, referring to the length of the entire Russian-Ukrainian border. “The situation on the ground … is rapidly changing,” he told reporters. Putin also claimed Ukrainian forces in Kursk were encircled. Ukraine’s general staff denied the claim, saying, “Reports of the alleged ‘encirclement’ … are false and fabricated by the Russians for political manipulation and to exert pressure on Ukraine and its partners.” That did not stop US President Donald Trump from believing them. “[Russians] have encircled about 2,500 soldiers, they’re nicely encircled,” Trump said in a televised interview. There was no subsequent indication they had been captured. Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, told reporters on Tuesday that instead of a full ceasefire, Putin agreed to a ceasefire on long-range aerial attacks against power stations and general infrastructure, as well as long-range naval attacks in the Black Sea. The agreement was sealed after two meetings between Witkoff and Putin lasting almost eight hours, followed by a two-hour phone call between Putin and Trump. “Up until recently, we really didn’t have consensus around these two aspects, the energy and infrastructure ceasefire and the Black Sea moratorium on firing. And today, we got to that place, and I think it’s a relatively short distance to a full ceasefire from there,” Witkoff said. The Kremlin’s version of events suggested a Black Sea moratorium was still not there. Putin “reacted constructively” to the idea, a Kremlin press statement said, and “agreed to start negotiations to further study the specific details”, whereas on energy and general infrastructure, Putin “immediately gave the Russian military the appropriate command”. Witkoff said details remained to be worked out on Sunday when US and Russian delegations were to meet in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Source: Al Jazeera Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would consider the partial ceasefire after speaking with Trump, “so that we could understand the details”, he was quoted as saying by Ukrainian news portal, Obshchestvennoye Novosti on March 19. But the deal between Trump and Putin puts him in a difficult position. The full ceasefire would have stopped a slow but relentless yearlong Russian advance, while a simultaneous long-range ceasefire would have protected Russian energy infrastructure and the Russian Black Sea fleet from attacks by Ukrainian unmanned vehicles, which have been highly successful. On Wednesday, for example, Ukrainian-made drones struck a refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region. Last Friday, they destroyed four Pantsir-1 surface-to-air missile systems on Russian soil; while the day before, three drones reached Moscow. Zelenskyy said a Ukrainian-made drone had passed the 3,000km (1,860-mile) test on Tuesday, suggesting Ukraine was aiming for ever-deeper strikes against weapons factories and refineries in enemy territory. The absence of such symmetry in a partial ceasefire gives Ukraine no respite or retribution for ongoing Russian attacks on its soil. The direct talks between Russia and the US have also frustrated Zelenskyy, who enjoyed unqualified support from former US President Joe Biden. In a virtual meeting with NATO and European Union allies on Saturday, Zelenskyy expressed frustration that Trump was discussing European security guarantees with Putin. “This is a very bad signal – taking the Russians’ opinion into account,” regarding a European-led peacekeeping  force in Ukraine, he said. “It is not [Putin’s] business to decide anything about Ukraine’s and Europe’s security,” he said. Source: Al Jazeera Putin, on the other hand, sounded bullish when addressing the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, whose leaders he told to get used to Western sanctions. “Only those countries that can ensure real, full-scale sovereignty and remain resilient, both generally and to external pressures in particular, are capable of dynamic, progressive development in the interests of their peoples,” he said. Any ceasefire would be designed to lead to negotiations for long-term peace, but neither Russia nor Ukraine have budged from their fundamental positions. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told an interviewer on Monday that Ukraine had to agree never to become part of NATO. Russia has also demanded that Ukraine withdraw from its four provinces that Russia has formally annexed and partly controls – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson. Ukraine would never recognise its occupied territories as Russian, said Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelenskyy’s office, days after being appointed to lead Ukraine’s negotiating team on Friday. The EU, too, has taken a grim view of Putin’s intentions. “Those conditions that they are presenting show that Russia doesn’t really want peace because they are presenting as conditions all the ultimate goals that they want to achieve from the war,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said at the start of Monday’s meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers. Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said territorial concessions would be part of a deal, while NATO membership for Ukraine was “extremely unlikely”. “We can talk about what’s right and wrong, and we can also talk about the reality of the situation on the ground,” said Waltz in an interview with ABC News on Sunday. Source: Al Jazeera Granting Russia the territories it holds would cripple Ukraine’s future defence, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank. “The current front lines do not provide the strategic depth that Ukraine will need to reliably defend against renewed Russian aggression,” wrote the ISW. “Russian forces are just across the Dnipro River from Kherson City, roughly 25 kilometres [15 miles] from Zaporizhzhia City, and 30 kilometres [20 miles] from Kharkiv City. Russian troops on the Dnipro River could use a ceasefire to prepare for the extremely difficult task of conducting an opposed river crossing undisturbed.” It concluded, “Ukraine would likely need an even larger military with greater capabilities to play its critical role in deterring and, if necessary, defeating future aggression,” while “the US and Europe would likely need to provide military aid to Ukraine more rapidly, in much larger volumes, and at higher cost”. There was some good news for Ukraine during the past week. Germany’s Christian Democrats and Social Democrats passed a resolution in the Bundestag on Tuesday to create a 500bn euros ($546bn) fund for defence and infrastructure spending, overcoming a political tradition against high deficits. It still has to pass the upper house of Parliament. Germany on Monday announced a new weapons and ammunition package for Ukraine, which included missiles for the Iris-T. Also on Monday, the European Council said Ukraine will soon receive approximately 3.5bn euros ($3.8bn) after the Council approved a third payment of non-repayable grants and loans to Kyiv under the Ukraine Facility, which supports reconstruction and modernisation. Source: Al Jazeera © 2025 Al Jazeera Media Network

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks, during a joint press conference with Finland's President Alexander Stubb, at the Presidential Palace, in Helsinki, Finland, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via Associated Press) By  HANNA ARHIROVA  and JILL LAWLESS Updated 10:40 AM MEZ, March 20, 2025 KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Senior officers from countries across Europe and beyond were due to meet Thursday at a military headquarters on the outskirts of London to flesh out plans for an international peacekeeping force  for Ukraine as details of a partial ceasefire are worked out. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the “coalition of the willing” plan, led by Britain and France, is moving into an “operational phase.” But it’s unclear how many countries are willing to send troops, or whether there will be any ceasefire to protect. Ukraine and Russia agreed in principle Wednesday to a limited ceasefire after President Donald Trump spoke with the countries’ leaders this week, though it remained to be seen when it might take effect and what possible targets would be off limits to attack. The tentative deal to partially rein in the three-year war came after Russian President Vladimir Putin rebuffed Trump’s push for a full 30-day ceasefire. The difficulty in getting the combatants to agree not to target one another’s energy infrastructure highlights the challenges Trump will face in trying to fulfill his campaign pledge to quickly end to the war. Despite the negotiations, hundreds of drone attacks were launched overnight by both sides, causing several injuries and damage to buildings. Ukraine said Russia had launched 171 long-range drones and it shot down 75 while another 63 decoy drones disappeared from radar after likely being jammed. Russia said it destroyed 132 Ukrainian drones in six Russian regions and the annexed Crimea. If peace comes to Ukraine, the size of any force that might help enforce it is vague. Officials have cited figures of between 10,000 and 30,000 troops. Only Britain and France have said they are willing to send troops, though countries including Australia, Canada, France and Finland say they are open to being involved in some way. Around 30 leaders were involved in a video meeting on Saturday including Macron, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, leaders from Australia, Canada and New Zealand and officials from NATO and the European Union. Russia has said it will not accept any troops from NATO countries being based on Ukrainian soil. And Trump has given no sign the U.S. will guarantee reserve firepower in case of any breaches of a truce. Starmer says the plan won’t work without that U.S. “backstop.” Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

© UNFPA/Karel Prinsloo: Sudanese refugees at the Korsi camp in the Central African Republic. 20 March 2025 Peace and Security Dozens of civilians, including local humanitarian volunteers, have been killed by artillery shelling and aerial bombardment in the eastern part of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) reported on Thursday. The office has condemned the escalating violence as the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and their former ally, the paramilitary group – Rapid Support Forces (RSF) –continues to impact civilians. Credible reports indicate that RSF fighters and allied militias have raided homes in eastern Khartoum, carrying out summary killings,  arbitrary detentions and looting of essential supplies from community kitchens and medical clinics. OHCHR has also received “ worrying allegations of sexual violence  in the Al Giraif Gharb neighbourhood”, noted spokesperson Seif Magango. Meanwhile, SAF-affiliated fighters have reportedly engaged in similar looting and criminal activities in Khartoum North (Bahri) and East Nile, with widespread arbitrary arrests ongoing in the latter. Growing humanitarian crisis The humanitarian situation in Omdurman and Khartoum is worsening, with reports of residential areas increasingly being targeted. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ( OCHA ), a drone strike in East Khartoum’s Imtedaad Nasir area killed five women and injured several others on Tuesday. On Monday, artillery shelling in Karari, north of Omdurman, killed multiple people and left more than 40 others injured, including children. OCHA has renewed its urgent call for all parties to refrain from targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. Zamzam camp under siege Beyond Khartoum, the situation in North Darfur remains dire. Armed clashes in and around El Fasher have forced thousands to flee to Zamzam camp, which is under siege and facing famine. OCHA reports that resources and services are critically overstretched and checkpoints around the camp are blocking civilian movement, isolating vulnerable people from lifesaving aid. Water trucking has been suspended due to security risks, increasing the likelihood of waterborne disease outbreaks in the camp. “We continue to call for an immediate cessation of hostilities across Sudan and full, unhindered humanitarian access to ensure lifesaving aid reaches those most in need,” OCHA said. Calls for de-escalation With the situation deteriorating, the UN and humanitarian agencies are urging all parties to prioritise the protection of civilians and allow safe access to humanitarian aid. OHCHR has reiterated its call for both warring parties and all States with influence over them to take concrete steps to ensure the effective protection of civilians and end the continuing lawlessness and impunity. Copyright © United Nations

© The Leaflet. On March 8, as Palestinian protestor Mahmoud Khalil was being detained by U.S.’s federal immigration authority, Umar Khalid completed 1538 days in jail without trial. The U.S. under Trump and India share, clearly, a common authoritarian vision where national security laws can easily dismantle constitutional protections on free speech to stifle political dissent. THE recent arrest of Mahmoud Khalil in the United States, an active member of Columbia University’s protests against the ongoing genocide  in Gaza, takes me back to 2016 when student political leaders   Umar Khalid, Kanhaiya Kumar and Anirban Bhattacharya were arrested by the Delhi Police on charges of sedition. A controversy had stemmed from an alleged event at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) where slogans allegedly critical of India and sympathetic to Afzal Guru, had been raised .  The two incidents are not isolated legal actions—they are blatant examples of how governments manipulate national security laws to silence dissent. These cases expose the deep flaws in the so-called democratic legal systems of the U.S. and India, where constitutional guarantees of free speech crumble the moment political activism threatens the ruling establishment. The strategic abuse of criminal law ,  whether through immigration detention or sedition charges, demonstrates how both governments use legal systems as tools of authoritarian control rather than for protectors of civil liberties. The Council on American-Islamic Relations and other civil rights groups condemned the detention as a clear violation of his First Amendment rights.  Who is Mahmoud Khalil ?  Khalil is a Palestinian origin U.S. green card holder,  married to an American citizen. He recently graduated as a master’s student from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. Khalil was at the forefront of pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia last year, which saw students demanding an end to Israel’s  genocide  in the Gaza Strip.  He largely served as a spokesperson and negotiator between the protesting students and the Columbia administration.  On March 8, 2025, Khalil was detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (‘ICE’) while on his way back home along with his pregnant wife. The Council on American-Islamic Relations and other civil rights groups condemned the detention as a clear violation of his First Amendment rights.  As of now, no criminal charges have been pressed against Khalil while he still is in detention. As of March 17, New York federal Judge Jesse Furman blocked any immediate effort to deport Khalil until his attorneys and the federal government appear in court.  The federal officials have justified Khalil’s detention and, deportation  under Section 237 (a) (4)(C)(i) of  the Immigration and Nationality Act  (‘INA’), which allows deportation of individuals whose presence or activities would have adverse foreign policy consequences for the U.S. — a provision so broadly defined and vague that it leaves space for too much discretion. The Federal Authorities are citing concerns about possible extremist affiliations and linking Khalil’s activism with Hamas. The Trump Administration that Khalil’s  pro-Palestine activism has allegedly undermined national security interests of the U.S.   Khalil’s arrest, seemingly for a ‘thought crime’, seemingly the first of its kind, has set the stage for suppressing dissenting voices by targeting foreign students and pro-Palestine demonstrators on college campuses by the Trump administration. It raises concerns over how the American legal system, despite its strong constitutional protections, is being manipulated  by the Trump administration to destroy free thinking while overlooking due process and free speech along the way.  The 2016 JNU incident A parallel can be drawn to India’s crackdown on dissent in 2016 when student leaders Khalid, Kumar, and Bhattacharya were arrested by the Delhi police after being charged under Section 124 of the Indian Penal Code.*  The pretext?  They allegedly participated in an event where “anti-India” slogans were raised.  Their arrest sparked a nationwide debate about free speech, nationalism, the misuse of colonial-era sedition laws, and the role of state power in curbing dissenting voices.  It is being argued that Mahmoud Khalil’s activism at Columbia University did not meet the standards prescribed in Schenck and Brandenburg. Yet, he has been arrested under immigration law Free Speech in the U.S. and India    Both the United States and India have constitutional safeguards for free speech. In the U.S., the First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, including freedom to be part of political protests. In India, Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression. However, under Article 19(2), certain  “reasonable restrictions” on grounds of national security and public order can be imposed. In the U.S. , restrictions against Free Speech exist as well. Most notably, the Supreme Court of the United States in  Schenk v. United States  (1919) held that, “If speech is intended to result in a crime, and there is a clear and present danger that it actually will result in a crime, the First Amendment does not protect the speaker from government action.” In  Brandenburg v. Ohio  (1969),   the Court also held that “A state may not forbid speech advocating the use of force or unlawful conduct unless this advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action”.  Green card holders in the U.S., who are lawful permanent residents, are protected by theFirst Amendment as it does not distinguish between a citizen and non-citizen. It is being argued that Mahmoud Khalil’s activism at Columbia University did not meet the standards prescribed in  Schenck  and  Brandenburg.  Yet, he has been arrested under immigration law, which looks like a deliberate legal manoeuvre to bypass First Amendment protections. Instead of criminally charging him, which would require evidence and a fair trial, the U.S. government is using  237 (a) (4)(C)(i) of the INA to detain him indefinitely and deport him without presenting evidence of any criminal wrongdoing. In India, Section 124A, which criminalised any speech or expression that could “bring hatred or contempt” against the government, is presently in abeyance following the Supreme Court’s directions in  S.G. Vombatkere v. Union of India   (2022). However, before this suspension, the sedition law was frequently misused to suppress political dissent rather than to address actual threats to public order. Section 152 of the newly enacted Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) criminalises any act exciting secession, armed rebellion, and subversive activities. It also criminalises acts encouraging feelings of separatism or endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India. The Rajasthan High Court, in  Tejender Pal Singh v. State of Rajasthan   (2024), cautioned against using Section 152 as a tool to stifle legitimate dissent.  In 1962, the Supreme Court reconsidered the scope of sedition via Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India, 1950 in  Kedar Nath Singh v. State of Bihar  (1962). The Supreme Court held that the crime of sedition was restricted to when there was a  tendency  of ‘actual violence or incitement to violence’ against the Government. However, despite these clear judicial restrictions, the State has repeatedly invoked sedition charges against individuals engaged in legitimate political speech and activism.  In the JNU sedition case (2016) ,  the alleged slogans raised during the student event neither  incited any violence nor did it lead to public disorder, or pose any real threat to national security. Yet, the students were booked and jailed.  Therefore while the BNS does not formally use the term ‘sedition’, the Rajasthan High Court’s decision hints that the spectre of sedition still looms large in the BNS.  Khalid’s detention in the U.S. and the JNU arrests in India were not simply matters of law enforcement but politically motivated actions aimed at discouraging opposition to government policies.  Both U.S.A and India are democracies with very strong constitutions. However, the application of criminal law against student protesters in both countries demonstrates a strategic use of legal mechanisms to curb dissent by the ruling dispensation. Both Khalil and the three Indian student political activists were exercising their right to dissent in a campus space. For this, they were called terrorist sympathisers and presented as threats to national security.   Khalil, a Green Card holder, has not been charged under criminal statutes but has been detained under immigration laws, which allows the government to act unilaterally against non-citizens without the need for criminal prosecution.  Khalil’s green card has not yet been revoked – which, by US law, cannot be done without a lot of due process. In India, these three students were arrested under flimsily charges of sedition and were put in jail.  Such incidents have a debilitating effect on the morale and spirit of the citizens who raise their voice against any injustice or violence. At such times, all citizens turn their face towards the judiciary- seeking its protection from any arbitrary action of the executive.  Khalid, though on bail in the JNU edition case, continues to be in jail in a separate case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 (UAPA). The UAPA is a stringent anti-terror statute in India, which has also been repeatedly invoked against human rights activists and political dissenters. Despite differences in legal systems, both incidents share a striking similarity in how the State perceives political activism as a threat to national security. Khalid’s detention in the U.S. and the JNU arrests in India were not simply matters of law enforcement but politically motivated actions aimed at discouraging opposition to government policies. The broader implications of these cases go beyond the individuals involved. They reflect a global pattern where governments use existing legal frameworks to suppress dissent under the pretext of national security. Whether through direct criminal prosecution or indirect immigration detention, both cases show how legal systems can be manipulated to serve political interests. While the U.S. and India differ in their legal structures, the Khalil and JNU cases illustrate how the boundary between legal enforcement and political suppression continues to blur in democracies worldwide. 2025 © The Leaflet. All Rights Reserved

Midhat Fatimah  with DPA, AFP news agencies 03/19/2025March 19, 2025 ARSA chief Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi is accused of carrying out deadly 2017 attacks that led to a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar and forced 750,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi police arrested Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi along with his five associates near Dhaka [FILE: July 26, 2024] Image: picture alliance/NurPhoto Police in Bangladesh  have arrested the leader of a Rohingya  insurgent group who was allegedly involved in carrying out attacks against Myanmar  security forces, authorities said on Tuesday. Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi, the 48-year-old chief of the  Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) , was arrested near the capital Dhaka as he was suspected of murder and carried out acts of sabotage, district police chief Praytush Kumar Majumder told the media. Jununi and five of his associates were arrested by the elite Rapid Action Battalion on Tuesday. Another four of his associates were arrested in the central district of Mymensingh, police said. The police first took them into custody for interrogation. Later, a district court approved a 10-day remand for custodial interrogation of the suspects in connection with charges of murder, sabotage, and illegal entry into Bangladesh, police inspector Kaiyum Khan said. ARSA's history of criminal activity ARSA was formed as an insurgent group  against the stateless Muslim minority's persecution in Myanmar. Jununi has headed the insurgent group in Myanmar's northern Rakhine State since 2016, according to a report by the International Crisis Group. While Jununi was leading ARSA in 2017,  the organization was accused of carrying out deadly attacks  on security posts in Rakhine. He is believed to have orchestrated the 2017 attacks. He first came to public attention soon after in videos posted online, where he was seen with masked gunmen vowing to liberate the Rohingya from "dehumanized oppression." The attacks prompted a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar that drove more than 750,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh. Jununi is also accused of involvement in the murder of a Bangladeshi military intelligence officer. ARSA is also accused of cross-border drug smuggling, kidnappings, abductions, extortion and torture in Bangladeshi refugee camps . Edited by: Wesley Dockery Midhat Fatimah  Writer and reporter based in New Delhi © 2025 Deutsche Welle