Radislav Krstic, wartime commander of the Bosnian Serb Army’s Drina Corps, who is serving 35 years in prison for aiding the Srebrenica genocide, has asked for early release and said he wants to ask the victims’ families for forgiveness. Lejla Memic, November 13, 2024 Radislav Krstic in the courtroom in The Hague in 2000. Photo: EPA PHOTO/REUTERS/POOL/Fred Ernst. The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague has made public Radislav Krstic’s latest request for early release and his letter admitting guilt for aiding the 1995 genocide of Bosniaks from Srebrenica by Bosnian Serb forces. “I accept the verdicts of the Tribunal from 2001 and 2004, where it is established that the forces of the army to which I belonged committed genocide against Bosniaks in Srebrenica in July 1995, and that I helped and supported the genocide by knowing that some members of the General Staff had the intention to commit genocide,” Krstic, now 76, said in the letter. In the letter, Krstic wrote that he aided and abetted the crime against humanity through participation in a joint criminal enterprise to forcibly displace Bosniak civilians, that he participated in the creation of a humanitarian crisis that preceded the forced transfer of women, children and the elderly people from Srebrenica, knowing that civilians were exposed to murders, rapes, beatings and other abuses. He admitted that he knew that the General Staff of the Bosnian Serb Army did not have enough forces to carry out the executions of Bosniaks from Srebrenica in July 1995 without the use of Drina Corps troops, who were under his command. “I knew that the use of forces under my command would significantly contribute to carrying out the execution of Bosniak prisoners,” he added. He said that he would like to “bow down before the victims and ask for forgiveness”, and said that he would do so if the families of the victims allow him. Krstic also praised the UN General Assembly’s adoption last year of a resolution designating July 11 as a day of remembrance for the victims of genocide. The wartime Drina Corps commander was sentenced by the Hague Tribunal to 35 years in prison for aiding and abetting the genocide in Srebrenica under a final verdict in 2004, and then sent to Britain to serve his sentence. However, he was returned to The Hague after being attacked in prison in the UK, and then subsequently sent to Poland to serve the rest of his sentence. His request for early release, sent in June but only recently made public by the UN court, stated that he is ready to accept all the conditions set for early release if it is approved. Krstic has previously made several requests for early release, all of which have been denied – the most recent at the beginning of the year. Copyright BIRN 2015

A court in The Hague trying Kosovo Albanian former guerrilla fighters has begun issuing compensation orders for their victims, but getting hold of the money is proving difficult. Serbeze Haxhiaj, November 15, 2024 Kosovo Liberation Army ex-officer Pjeter Shala at the war crimes court in The Hague, July 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE/PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW/POOL. Sentenced in July to 18 years in prison for war crimes committed during the 1998-99 Kosovo war, Kosovo Albanian former guerrilla Pjeter Shala will find out at the end of November how much compensation he owes his victims. Experience so far, however, cast doubts as to whether he they will ever be paid. Shala is expected to become the second convicted ex-guerrilla to be ordered to compensate his victims, after Salih Mustafa was instructed in April last year to pay eight victims a total of 207,000 euros for “harm inflicted” on them by the crimes Mustafa was convicted of, including arbitrary detention and torture. The victims are still waiting, however, amid a row between Kosovo and the Hague-based Specialist Chambers set up to try former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, whom most Kosovo Albanians consider heroes for their fight against Serbian forces in the late 1990s. After judges at the Specialist Chambers conceded Mustafa did not have the means to pay the sum, the Chambers issued an order for the confiscation of his assets, but even then the total won’t be met. The Chambers says that ultimately Kosovo should pay, but the government has refused, saying court bodies cannot apply on behalf of victims to the state’s general fund for victims of violent crime. The issue risks harming Kosovo’s reputation in the eyes of its Western backers, given that many of the victims in question are ethnic Serbs and Roma while the ex-guerrillas being tried in The Hague benefit from substantial legal aid from the Kosovo state. Experts say the issue of compensation needs to be properly regulated. “There has been no political will to address this issue and regulate it normatively,” said Ehat Miftaraj, director of the Pristina-based Kosovo Law Institute. “Given that the Specialist Chambers have already issued judgments and that crime victims have no clear path to seek compensation, this constitutes a violation and denial of their rights.” Procedural dispute Salih Mustafa in court in The Hague, December 2022. EPA-EFE/Peter Dejong Salih Mustafa’s family say the former Kosovo Liberation Army commander has “no other assets” beyond the house where they live. But according to the law on the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, the court may require a convicted person to compensate victims, or it may order the forfeiture of property to allocate assets among the victims. Any funds obtained through such measures would be deducted from the total amount owed. The Agency for the Administration of Sequestrated or Confiscated Assets, an executive agency within Kosovo’s justice ministry, says that any confiscated assets are to be managed by a parallel institution of the Specialist Chambers. “Property or proceeds from the sale of real estate confiscated in Kosovo due to enforcement of a judgment by the Specialised Chambers will be transferred to the custody and control of the Special Court,” the ministry told BIRN. The law governing the operations of the Specialist Chambers envisages payments for lawyers and visits by family members of defendants, but nothing for the victims. If convicted war criminals like Mustafa cannot pay reparations and their assets are insufficient, the court expects the Kosovo state to do so on their behalf, but the government says there is no legal basis for the Victims’ Counsel – a lawyer representing victims who participate in proceedings before the Specialist Chambers – to apply for compensation because it would represent a conflict of interest. The Victims’ Counsel is part of the Registrar, the highest administrative authority of the Specialist Chambers. The court argues that the Registrar – a position currently held by Irish lawyer Fidelma Donlon – is a neutral authority and so there can be no conflict of interest. Kosovo law does envisage compensation for victims of violent crime in general, via a body called the Crime Victim Compensation Programme. Its head, Rrustem Thaci, said that, in the case of Mustafa’s victims, “any person who considers themselves a victim of violence… can apply for compensation, and the Commission will decide on the merits of the request”. “However, applying or having the right to apply does not guarantee approval,” Thaci, a Supreme Court judge, told BIRN. ‘Inequality of treatment’ Judge Rrustem Thaci, head of the Crime Victim Compensation Programme in Kosovo. Photo: BIRN. The Specialist Chambers has no authority to compel Kosovo to pay, but in their 2023 Reparation Order judges “reminded Kosovo of its obligations concerning victims’ right to an effective remedy, as outlined in [Kosovo’s] constitution.” Under Kosovo’s Law on Crime Victim Compensation, compensation applications must be submitted within three years of receiving the final judgment, provided the victim has sought but not already received full or partial compensation from the convicted person. During a visit to Kosovo in October, the president of the Specialist Chambers, Ekaterina Triandafilova, met with representative of EU member states including the German ambassador to Pristina. In a written response to BIRN, the German embassy highlighted that Kosovo’s Transitional Justice Strategy, as it stands, primarily addresses victims from the country’s ethnic Albanian community. In the case of the Specialist Chambers, however, many of the victims are ethnic Serbs or Roma. “This approach undermines the broader inclusivity that is necessary, particularly in a historical context,” the embassy said, and called for the establishment of a victims’ compensation mechanism. The current Crime Victim Compensation Programme, which falls under the jurisdiction of the justice ministry, is not seen as sufficient; this programme offers a maximum of 10,000 euros compensation for an individual victim of violence, but in Mustafa’s case the highest amount ordered by the court for one victim was 80,000 euros. “This need is underscored by the fact that defendants receive substantial legal aid from the state, regardless of financial need,” it embassy added. The European Commission’s latest report on Kosovo’s progress towards EU accession, also emphasized the importance of transitional justice, stating that “it is essential for Kosovo to address this inequality of treatment”. Angela Griep, spokeswoman for the Specialist Chambers, told BIRN the court “has not yet sought or reached any reparations agreement with a state”. Copyright BIRN 2015

The EU alleges the Hungarian law undermines core human rights values while Budapest says it wants to protect children. Al Jazeera, November 19, 2024 An employee of a bookstore in Budapest wraps a book featuring LGBTQ content in closed packaging to comply with the Hungarian Child Protection Act [File: Bela Szandelszky/AP Photo] The top court in the European Union has started hearing a case that marks a major confrontation between Hungary and the bloc over a law criticised as being anti-LGBTQ. A lawyer for the European Commission, which in December 2022 referred the case to the Court of Justice, told the tribunal on Tuesday that the legislation was a “massive and flagrant violation of several important EU rules”. “This is a frontal and serious attack on the rule of law and more generally on European society.” The Hungarian Child Protection Act is legislation approved by the Central European country in 2021 with the ostensible goal of safeguarding children from harm, including by imposing a zero-tolerance policy for convicted pedophiles. But it also puts restrictions on depictions of homosexuality and gender reassignment in media and educational content made for children under 18, prompting outrage from activists and many politicians in other EU countries who criticised the law for stigmatising LGBTQ people and equating same-sex relations to pedophilia. The European Parliament in April adopted a resolution that strongly condemned the law and alleges it works towards dismantling democracy and the rule of law in Hungary. Sixteen of the 27 member states of the bloc, including France and Germany, also joined in on the legal action taken against Budapest in what has been described as the largest human rights case in EU history. They believe the law is modeled after a similar piece of legislation enacted in Russia, which was declared unlawful by the European Court of Human Rights in 2017. In Hungary, bookstores and shops have received hefty fines for depicting blacklisted content after the government started implementing the legislation. The European Commission alleges the legislation violates core EU values on fighting discrimination and upholding human rights while undermining single market rules on services and audiovisual media. Budapest has dismissed the allegations, arguing that the law is meant to protect children and a referendum held on the subject favoured the legislation. If Hungary is found to be at fault by the Court of Justice, it could potentially be ordered to pay a large fine, or such a verdict could even lead to procedures that could suspend the country’s voting rights in EU meetings. Many EU countries have also been angered by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s close relations with Russia and delays in support for Ukraine since Moscow’s invasion of the country nearly three years ago. The EU has other legal proceedings under way against Hungary, including over its “sovereignty” and foreign influence law. © 2024 Al Jazeera Media Network

By Vibhu Mishra The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday called on the UN Security Council to help execute arrest warrants against suspects allegedly linked to a brutal Libyan militia blamed for committing atrocity crimes in the town of Tarhuna, where mass graves were discovered in 2020. The six who remain at large were either key members or associated with the Al Kaniyat militia that controlled Tarhuna from at least 2015 to June 2020, when government forces ousted them from the city, which is located about 65 kilometres (about 40 miles) southeast of Tripoli. The arrest warrants against Abdurahem Khalefa Abdurahem Elshgagi “ Al Khani ” ,  Makhlouf Makhlouf Arhoumah Doumah “ Douma ” ,  Nasser Muhammad Muftah Daou “ Al Lahsa ” , Mohamed Mohamed Al Salheen Salmi “ Salheen ” , Abdelbari Ayyad Ramadan Al Shaqaqi “ Al Shaqaqi ” and Fathi Faraj Mohamed Salim Al Zinkal “ Al Zinkal ” were unsealed last month . Since June 2020, hundreds of bodies have been exhumed from mass graves in and around Tarhuna, allegedly victims of crimes amounting to war crimes, including murder, torture, sexual violence and rape. Dignified, Steely Determination Briefing ambassadors on the Security Council from the Libyan capital Tripoli, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan spoke of his meetings and interactions with families of the victims. “Today, one individual said something very simple and very true, that every household in Tarhuna has a victim. Every person that detailed a loss has suffered an end to their universe, and heartbreak was palpable and sincere,” he said. He also relayed their “steely determination”. “They have a clear conviction – the justice and accountability and fair processes are essential for themselves, their families, their community and for Libya at large,” he added, stressing the importance of international support to execute the warrants. He called for the assistance of the Security Council, State Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC, and other non-State Parties to ensure that the suspects are apprehended and brought to justice, in an independent, free and fair trial. New Paradigm Shift Mr. Khan also highlighted a “new paradigm shift” that progress is possible, discernible and can be identified. He noted significant progress in investigations related to detention facility crimes and crimes committed between 2014 and 2020, adding that further applications for arrest warrants are expected over the coming months. Some of the applications may be secret to seize arrest opportunities, he said. Mr. Khan also highlighted the need for continued partnership with Libyan authorities to achieve these goals, citing positive outcomes of his meetings with Libyan officials, including the Attorney General and the establishment of a new mechanism to coordinate investigations and prosecutions. The ICC team has also intensified engagement with civil society organizations, noting that his team met with over 70 Libyan civil society groups and human rights defenders and discussed their expectations. “[They] are not an appendage [but] at the heart of our discussions,” Mr. Khan said. Plans are Working In conclusion, he recalled the roadmap for completing the investigative stage of the judicial process. “I believe, collectively through these combined activities, these plans are working,” he said, stressing that the “hopes, expectations and steely determination of victims need to be at the forefront.” While there are many challenges and the next steps will not be straightforward, he expressed his belief that there is space to develop solutions to problem that has plagued Libya for over 13 years. Security Council Referral While not a UN organization, the ICC has a cooperation agreement with the United Nations. When a situation is not within the Court’s jurisdiction, the Security Council can refer the situation to the ICC granting it jurisdiction. The situation in Libya was referred to the ICC Prosecutor by the Security Council in resolution 1970, adopted in February 2011. In March, the Prosecutor announced the decision to open an investigation. In that resolution, the Council also imposed targeted sanctions , including a travel ban on President Muammar Al-Qadhafi and other senior figures in his administration, including some family members. Copyright © United Nations. All rights reserved.

US President Donald Trump with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. credit Reuters Saudi Arabia Country Report 2024   Saudi Arabia is an Arab Sunni Muslim absolute monarchy led by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS). The dominant groups that face persecution in Saudi Arabia are Shia Muslims , women, migrant workers, and critics of the government and royal family.   In 2023, Freedom House  ranked Saudi Arabia as the world’s seventh most authoritarian regime. There is no religious freedom in Saudi Arabia. Christians may not build churches or worship in public. Saudi Arabia finances madrassas around the world that teach religious intolerance and violent jihad. Women have almost no independent civil rights. They are legally dependents of their husbands.   Saudi Arabia's normalization of relations with Syria’s dictator, Bashar Assad, is of particular concern. Syria was welcomed back into the Arab League during a summit in Saudi Arabia, with MBS’s support. Saudi Arabia reopened its embassy  in Damascus in September 2024.   Saudi Arabia halted normalization with Israel under the 2020 Abraham Accords  when Israel attacked Gaza in the war that began after Hamas’ genocidal massacre of October 7, 2023 . In September 2024 Crown Prince MBS announced that diplomatic relations  with Israel would not be possible without the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.   Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have bombed Yemen’s Shia Houthis and blockaded Yemen’s ports to restore Yemen’s Sunni government in exile. Saudi bombing is supported by its purchases of US Raytheon missiles and US fighter bombers as well as massive arms purchases  from the UK. The UN estimated in 2020 that over 233,000 civilians  had died in the war. At least twice as many have died since then. Starvation is a war crime, crime against humanity, and an act of genocide.   Saudi bombing lessened after Saudi acceptance of the Grundberg Peace Plan . But the plan is rejected by Houthis, who continue their Iranian backed missile attacks on Israel and on shipping in the Red Sea.   The Saudi border with Yemen is a major smuggling route for African refugees who are attempting to reach Europe. Amnesty International , Human Rights Watch , and the  Mixed Migration Centre   report that Saudi border guards routinely beat, sexually abuse, detain, deport, and murder refugees. The reports document the murders by Saudi security forces of 869 Ethiopians as well as critical injuries to over a thousand more in 2022-2023. Saudi officials have faced no sanctions for these crimes against humanity.   LGBTQ+ persons are persecuted in Saudi Arabia, where their status and actions are criminalized. In its bid to host FIFA 2034 Saudi Arabia’s sports minister  pledged that all guests to FIFA 2034 will be welcome, including those with LGBTQ+ orientation. However, today LGBTQ+ persons are regularly jailed.   Human Rights Watch reports that 2 football fans were imprisoned because of a Shia chant in March 2024. Shia Muslims have faced discrimination and violence for centuries in Saudi Arabia.   HRW reports persistent mistreatment of migrant workers who construct most buildings and roads and are service workers in Saudi homes. Many are held in virtual indentured servitude by Saudi employers. Violations include deceptive recruitment, beatings and other physical mistreatment, underpayment, overwork, and confiscation of passports to prevent escape. American and French companies have also exploited migrants, including Amazon in 2023 and Carrefour in 2024.   Saudi Arabia was one of only eight nations that abstained from voting for the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights in  1948, due to Article 18 which states that everyone has the right "to change his religion or belief", and Article 16 on equal marriage rights.   MBS’s alleged orders to torture, murder and dismember Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi , and MBS’s orders to  bomb and starve Yemen’s Houthis violate the Convention Against Torture and the Genocide Convention, both of which permit no immunity for heads of state.   US State Department lawyers wrongly prevailed on a US court to grant MBS such head of state immunity in a lawsuit by Khashoggi’s widow.   The US, most nations in the EU, and all 174 states-parties to the Torture Convention  and 153 States-Parties to the Genocide Convention  are obligated to try or extradite torturers and genocidists no matter where their crimes were perpetrated. Neither convention grants head of state immunity. Saudi Arabia has been a state-party to the Genocide Convention since 1950 and a state-party to the Torture Convention since 1997.   Genocide Watch considers Saudi Arabia to be at   Stages 1 Classification  of Shia Muslims; 2 Symbolization: prohibition of Christian churches;  3 Discrimination  against Shia and migrants; 4 Dehumanization  of Shia as heretics or infidels and of migrants as hereditary servants with no civil rights; 5 Organization of Security Services to arrest dissenters and to murder royal critics; 6 Polarization  against Shia Muslims; 7 Preparation by arming with US and UK Raytheon missiles and war planes for bombing Yemen; Support for Wahabi madrassas that preach hatred for Shias and Christians; 8 Persecution of Shias, Christians, and women; 9 Extermination  of Shia Houthis in Yemen; and 10 Denial  that Saudi Arabia is committing any crimes against humanity, war crimes, or genocide.   Genocide Watch Recommendations:   ·       Suspend US Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia : Reinstate the US Congress’s legal suspension of US offensive weapons sales to Saudi Arabia until investigations into civilian harm and human rights violations are completed.   ·       Protest normalization of Saudi relations with Syria’s Assad : Condition strong US relations with Saudi Arabia on reversal of Saudi initiatives to normalize relations with the Assad regime, which legitimize Syria’s history of genocide and crimes against humanity.   ·       Charge Saudi Arabia in the International Court of Justice with violation of the UN Convention Against Torture and the UN Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide . States-Parties to the Torture and Genocide Conventions should file cases in the International Court of Justice for Saudi Arabia’s violations of those treaties.

Biden Allows Ukraine to Strike Russia With Long-Range U.S. Missiles The New York Times November 17, 2024 With two months left in office, the president for the first time authorized the Ukrainian military to use the system known as ATACMS to help defend its forces in the Kursk region of Russia. Mr. Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to use Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, came in response to Russia’s decision to bring North Korean troops into the fight. Credit...John Hamilton/White Sands Missile Range, via Associated Press By  Adam Entous , Eric Schmitt  and  Julian E. Barnes Reporting from Washington President Biden has authorized the first use of U.S.-supplied long-range missiles by Ukraine for strikes inside Russia, U.S. officials said. The weapons are likely to be initially employed against Russian and North Korean troops in defense of Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region of western Russia, the officials said. Mr. Biden’s decision is a major change in U.S. policy. The choice has divided his advisers, and his shift comes two months before President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office, having vowed to limit further support for Ukraine. Allowing the Ukrainians to use the long-range missiles, known as the Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, came in response to Russia’s surprise decision to bring North Korean troops into the fight, officials said. Mr. Biden began to ease restrictions on the use of U.S.-supplied weapons on Russian soil after Russia launched  a cross-border assault in May  in the direction of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. To help the Ukrainians defend Kharkiv, Mr. Biden allowed them to use the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, which have a range of about 50 miles, against Russian forces directly across the border. But Mr. Biden did not allow the Ukrainians to use longer-range ATACMS, which have a range of about 190 miles, in defense of Kharkiv. While the officials said they do not expect the shift to fundamentally alter the course of the war, one of the goals of the policy change, they said, is to send a message to the North Koreans that their forces are vulnerable and that they should not send more of them. The officials said that while the Ukrainians were likely to use the missiles first against Russian and North Korean troops that threaten Ukrainian forces in Kursk, Mr. Biden could authorize them to use the weapons elsewhere. Some U.S. officials said they feared that Ukraine’s use of the missiles across the border could prompt President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to retaliate with force against the United States and its coalition partners. But other U.S. officials said they thought those fears were overblown. The Russian military is launching a  major assault by an estimated 50,000 soldiers , including North Korean troops, on dug-in Ukrainian positions in Kursk with the goal of retaking all of the Russian territory that the Ukrainians  seized in August . The Ukrainians could use the ATACMS missiles to strike Russian and North Korean troop concentrations, key pieces of military equipment, logistics nodes, ammunition depots and supply lines deep inside Russia. Doing so could help the Ukrainians blunt the effectiveness of the Russian-North Korean assault. Whether to arm Ukraine with long-range ATACMS has been an especially sensitive subject since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Some Pentagon officials opposed giving them to the Ukrainians because they said the U.S. Army had limited supplies. Some White House officials feared that Mr. Putin would widen the war if they gave the missiles to the Ukrainians. Supporters of a more aggressive posture toward Moscow say Mr. Biden and his advisers have been too easily intimidated by Mr. Putin’s hostile rhetoric, and they say that the administration’s incremental approach to arming the Ukrainians has disadvantaged them on the battlefield. Proponents of Mr. Biden’s approach say that it had largely been successful at averting a violent Russian response. Allowing long-range strikes on Russian territory using American missiles could change that equation. In August, the Ukrainians launched their own cross-border assault into the Kursk region, where they seized a swath of Russian territory. Since then, U.S. officials have become increasingly concerned about the state of the Ukrainian army, which has been stretched thin by simultaneous Russian assaults in the east, Kharkiv and now Kursk. The introduction of more than  10,000 North Korean troops  and Mr. Biden’s response come as Mr. Trump prepares to re-enter office with a stated goal of quickly ending the war. Mr. Trump has said little about how he would settle the conflict. But Vice President-elect JD Vance has outlined a plan that would allow the Russians to keep the Ukrainian territory that their forces have seized. The Ukrainians hope that they would be able to trade any Russian territory they hold in Kursk for Ukrainian territory held by Russia in any future negotiations. If the Russian assault on Ukrainian forces in Kursk succeeds, Kyiv could end up having little to no Russian territory to offer Moscow in a trade. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has long sought permission from the United States and its coalition partners to use long-range missiles to strike Russian soil. The British and French militaries have given the Ukrainians a limited number of  Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles , which have a range of about 155 miles, less than the American missile system. While British and French leaders voiced support for Mr. Zelensky’s request, they were reluctant to allow the Ukrainians to start using their missiles on Russian soil unless Mr. Biden agreed to allow the Ukrainians to do the same with ATACMS. Mr. Biden was more risk-averse than his British and French counterparts, and his top advisers were divided on how to proceed. Some of them seized on  a recent U.S. intelligence assessment  that warned that Mr. Putin could respond to the use of long-range ATACMS on Russian soil by directing the Russian military or its spy agencies to retaliate, potentially with lethal force, against the United States and its European allies. The assessment warned of several possible Russian responses that included stepped-up acts of arson and sabotage targeting facilities in Europe, as well as potentially lethal attacks on  U.S. and European military bases . Officials said Mr. Biden was persuaded to make the change in part by the sheer audacity of Russia’s decision to throw North Korean troops at Ukrainian lines. He was also swayed, they said, by concerns that the Russian assault force would be able to overwhelm Ukrainian troops in Kursk if they were not allowed to defend themselves with long-range weapons. U.S. officials said they do not believe that the decision will change the course of the war. But they said Mr. Biden determined that the potential benefits — Ukraine will be able to reach certain high-value targets that it would not otherwise be able to, and the United States will be able to send a message to North Korea that it will pay a significant price for its involvement — outweighed the escalation risks. Mr. Biden faced a similar dilemma a year ago when U.S. intelligence agencies learned that the North Koreans would supply Russia with long-range ballistic missiles. In that case, Mr. Biden agreed to supply several hundred long-range ATACMS to the Ukrainians for use on Ukraine’s sovereign territory, including the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula. Those supplemented the more limited supplies of Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles that the Ukrainians received from Britain and France. The Ukrainians have since used many of those missiles in a concerted campaign of strikes against Russian military targets in Crimea and in the Black Sea. As a result, it is unclear how many of the missiles the Ukrainians have left in their arsenal to use in the Kursk region. Adam Entous  is a Washington-based investigative reporter focused on national security and intelligence matters.  More about Adam Entous Eric Schmitt  is a national security correspondent for The Times, focusing on U.S. military affairs and counterterrorism issues overseas, topics he has reported on for more than three decades.  More about Eric Schmitt Julian E. Barnes  covers the U.S. intelligence agencies and international security matters for The Times. He has written about security issues for more than two decades.  More about Julian E. Barnes    Copyright 2024 The New York Times Company

Government Should Forcefully Disavow Regressive Proposals During a November 6  press conference in Tripoli, the Government of National Unity’s acting interior minister, Emad Trabelsi, vowed to impose wide-ranging “morality” measures targeting women and girls in western Libya. The restrictions on clothing, social interactions, and travel would flagrantly violate the rights of Libyan women and girls, yet the prime minister and other government officials have remained conspicuously silent on the proposals. Trabelsi declared that there is “no space for personal freedom in Libya” and said he would deploy “morality police” to monitor social interactions between women and men, threatening to “imprison” unrelated couples who meet in public. He said women should dress with propriety and modesty in public and that not wearing a hijab headscarf “is not acceptable.” He also called on the education minister to impose the hijab for schoolgirls from the fourth grade onwards. “Morality police” enforcing compulsory headdress for women and girls would be without a legal basis. Trabelsi also announced that women who wished to travel abroad would need the written permission of a male guardian such as a father, husband, or brother. Tying women’s mobility to a  male guardian would violate Libyan women’s right to travel whether for leisure, education, or work. It would be a major step backwards for Libya, placing it in the company of other countries in the  region that allow men to control women’s movements, depriving them of their rights. The acting minister did not explain the legal basis for these arbitrary and draconian measures which would violate  Libya’s interim constitution . As a state party to  numerous international human rights treaties , the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and its  Maputo Protocol on Women’s Rights in Africa, Libya is legally obliged to end all discrimination against women and guarantee the right to freedom of movement. The proposed restrictions would also violate other rights including privacy, bodily autonomy, freedom of expression and of association. The government and international community should not tolerate any measures that would violate the fundamental rights of women. On the contrary, authorities should uphold their obligation to respect and protect the human rights and dignity of everyone in Libya. © 2024 Human Rights Watch

Ukraine Advocacy Task Force Oleksandr Ratushniak/ European Union Licensed under (CC BY-ND 2.0) Unseen Ukraine is a series of short-form reports focusing on aspects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that merit more attention. This initiative highlights destructive processes perpetrated by Russia against Ukraine that are aimed at discriminating against and subordinating the Ukrainian people. They form part of the Kremlin’s broader genocidal campaign against the Ukrainian nation. The goal of this series is to put into focus seemingly unconnected acts of violence that together form a pattern proving Russia’s intent to destroy Ukraine. Our first series examines conflict-related sexual violence  in Ukraine.

By Clothilde Hazard and Olivia Bizot Two years after the Pretoria agreements ended the Tigray war, what’s the situation on the ground? The conflict resulted in nearly 600,000 deaths, with Eritrean soldiers fighting alongside the Ethiopian federal army against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. While the peace deal called for Eritrean troops to withdraw, Eritrea never signed it, and many border areas remain occupied. Those living there feel abandoned. Two years ago, on November 2, 2022, in the South African capital Pretoria, a peace agreement was signed between the Ethiopian federal government and the Tigray rebels. Its goal was to put an end to the conflict that broke out in November 2020 and wracked the northern Tigray region of Ethiopia for two years.  At least 600,000 people were killed during the war, according to an estimate by the African Union 's envoy for the Horn of Africa . The federal authorities blocked all humanitarian aid to the region, as well as suspending banking services, telecommunications and air links.  However, belligerents who had fought alongside the federal forces, such as the Amhara militias and the Eritrean army, were not invited to Pretoria to negotiate the peace agreement. Although the deal provided for the “withdrawal of foreign forces” – an implicit reference to Eritrean forces – the latter have not left the area. In several villages, the inhabitants live under the occupation of these Eritrean forces who impose their law, as they tell our correspondent in this report. © 2024 Copyright France 24

By Simon Vera For the past 20 months, Ethiopia’s Amhara region has been torn apart by a bloody conflict between federal forces and a coalition of militia known as Fano, who demand full Amhara control of all territory they regard as part of their homeland. It’s a war in which the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) has been accused of extreme human rights abuses, and indiscriminate drone strikes by the military have killed hundreds of civilians. The conflict is largely waged in the rural highlands, but Fano has also managed to penetrate urban areas – raids that have triggered a violent response by the security forces. A woman who runs a small coffee stand in the regional capital, Bahir Dar – who asked not to be named for her personal safety – said her brother, a tuk-tuk taxi driver, was one such casualty. He had been on the streets when Fano launched a night-time attack on 26 August. “The police detained him as a suspect,” she told The New Humanitarian. “They wouldn't let me see him. The next morning, friends found his body on the street. He had been shot in the head and hip and was covered in bruises.” Human rights groups have accused the Ethiopian authorities of  extrajudicial killings ,  mass arrests , and attacks on  schools and hospitals . In the widening violence, more than 5,000 women have sought medical treatment after sexual abuse, a fraction of the real toll, notes the  Forum for Higher Education Institutions , a coalition of Ethiopian civil society groups and universities. “The violence is having an immediate [humanitarian] impact,” Laetitia Bader, deputy director of Human Rights Watch Africa, told The New Humanitarian. “Employees are fleeing the region, supplies have a hard time making it to hospitals, and civilians are too scared to go for treatment.” Humanitarian workers are not exempt from the unrest. Six have been  reportedly killed , and 11 kidnapped by unidentified criminal groups in the growing chaos. On UN access maps, virtually the whole of Amhara is deemed at-risk – undermining the aid response to  drought and displacement . “Ongoing security threats threaten [the World Food Programme’s] ability to support almost half a million vulnerable people in the region,” said a WFP spokesperson, who asked not to be named. On the front lines of the insurgency Last month, The New Humanitarian visited Gojjam in southern Amhara, one of the centres of the Fano rebellion. It provided a rare close-up look at the unfolding insurgency – and the impact of the violence on people’s lives. The name “Fano” loosely translates as freedom fighter, and stretches back to the successful campaign by a volunteer army against the Italian fascist occupation of Ethiopia in the 1930s. The Fano of today are an  ethno-nationalist group that claims to represent the Amhara, Ethiopia’s second-biggest community, and seem to have widespread popular support. Asres Mare Damte is the deputy chairman of Fano Gojjam, the largest and most influential of two factions operating in the southern region. “We are fighting for our survival,” the former lawyer said. “For the last 28 months, I have been in the jungle struggling for my people.” The New Humanitarian spoke to many rural people who see Fano as their protection against the ENDF. “We can move around freely and work without worry,” said a civil servant. “If Fano leaves, I could die – just because I am speaking to you now.” Support can go beyond sentiment. A farmer said he and his local community had raised enough money to buy 10 machine guns from Sudan for Fano. “I hope they never leave,” he added. “We want them here.” Fano has resisted repeated pushes by the ENDF. There has also been an   increasing number of strikes by Ethiopia’s Turkish and Chinese-made drones, which in the past year have reportedly killed   more than 300 civilians . Some Amahara civic groups claim the real death toll is  far higher . The New Humanitarian witnessed the consequences of one of those strikes in the town of Afessa. A drone hit the grounds of the local high school on 18 October, just hours before this reporter got there. Dead livestock lay scattered around the impact crater, and flies and street dogs – tearing at the carcasses – seemed to have taken over the compound. Among the casualties were two Fano fighters, but also four children – the youngest just seven years old. At least eight other civilians were injured, some critically. The town, close to what could roughly be termed the “front line”, seemed to hold no strategic importance. Two Fano units, consisting of dozens of fighters, had been present in the school compound but had left before the drone arrived. Fano had retaken control of Daghi, a nearby town, the day before. The belief was that this was a revenge attack. The wounded were treated in a cramped, poorly lit mud-and-straw house. Fear of another strike prevented them from being transported to the local health post. “Some are in terrible shape,” said a civilian doctor, who asked not to be named, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “A woman has a fractured back and skull, and a man has lost too much blood. They need to get to a real hospital, but the roads are bad, and ambulances are targeted by drones.” Soldiers have beaten, arbitrarily arrested, and intimidated medical professionals for treating patients suspected of being Fano, according to a report by  Human Rights Watch . Hospitals have also been raided and ambulances attacked. Why Rebellion has Taken Root The Amhara have historically dominated economic, cultural, and political life in Ethiopia: Ethno-nationalists see their community as the embodiment of “ Ethiopianness ”. The stated goal of the insurgency is to end the “oppression” of the Amhara, and the “balkanisation” of Ethiopia under the current federal constitution, which divides the country into 12 states based on language and ethnicity. But critics suspect Fano’s approach is an attempt to restore Amhara dominance   under the guise of national unity. The movement grew out of the mass protests of 2016-2018 against the former federal government led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Many of Fano’s current leaders – mostly young professionals – were detained during the unrest and later released by Ethiopia’s current prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, who came to power in April 2018. Fano volunteers, along with Amhara regional paramilitary special forces, fought alongside the federal government during the Tigray war in 2020 against the TPLF. The conflict allowed  Fano to expand – attracting new members and improving their military capabilities. Fano’s focus was on western and southern Tigray, two disputed territories. Under Ethiopia’s current territorial arrangement they are part of Tigray, but are also claimed by the Amhara, who call them Welkait and Raya.  Fano  ethnically cleansed both areas during the two-year war, their extreme violence forcing hundreds of thousands of  Tigrayans to flee . Asres, however, distanced himself from those actions. “We were not organised as a group then,” he said. “You cannot put the responsibility of that on the current Fano organisation.” A peace agreement reached in Pretoria in 2022 between the government and the TPLF ended the fighting, but Amhara forces did not sign. The deal is vague on the future of the disputed regions, which is currently governed as a new zone of the Amhara region. That they could be returned to Tigray as part of a future settlement is anathema for many in Amhara. After Pretoria, the distrust deepened. In 2023, the federal government called for the disbandment of all regional special forces and their absorption into the ENDF. Many Amhara believed the edict would leave them defenceless against what they viewed as security threats from the rival regions of Tigray and Oromia. A sizable number of former special forces left for the bush where they joined Fano. Amhara anger with the government in Addis Ababa escalated into confrontation between Fano and regional forces. By July, major cities were under attack and the regional government requested federal help. The ENDF restored order the next month, but there were many civilian casualties in the process. Fano has since grown into a more effective guerrilla force. Between  July and September , attacks on the ENDF tripled compared to the previous year – despite Addis Ababa drafting in fresh troops and equipment. According to Fano, they control over 80% of Amhara, with the government only holding the main towns, and most of the highways. Government troops have also defected – or surrendered – in significant numbers. At least 30% of the Fano soldiers The New Humanitarian spoke to were former ENDF or Amhara regional forces. “They say they’ve deployed 30,000 additional soldiers, but we’ve seen no difference,” said Asres. His regret, he noted, is the drone strikes: “We take responsibility for failing to protect our people during these attacks.” The Politicisation of Ethnicity The regional government’s call for help from Addis Ababa has increased Fano’s legitimacy as the “people’s protector”, said Amanuel Gedebo, an Ethiopian analyst with the Dutch think-tank Clingendael.  “[They] are seen as the ones who brought in the army to fight Fano,” said Gedebo. “So they are seen as playing second fiddle to the federal government, and being complicit in the human rights violations.” There is much talk in Amhara of “genocide” – a reference, in particular, to the ethnic killings in the neighbouring Oromia region and the border area of Benishangul-Gumuz, where minority Amhara communities have been targeted.  Other ethnic groups in Ethiopia do not recognise the image of the Amhara as being marginalised under the current federal constitution. Joe Siegle, at the Washington-based Africa Center for Strategic Studies, says many communities in Ethiopia push a narrative of being disadvantaged as a way of politicising ethnicity. “Our aim is for a paradigm shift. This country needs a constitution that will take the country beyond hate politics. A constitution without any ethnic dimensions to it.” -Eskinder Nega, head of the Amhara Fano People’s Organisation “Ultimately, this is about regional leaders who refuse to relinquish power,” he told The New Humanitarian. “Abiy wants to centralise power, which would mean disbanding regional forces, but they refuse to put down their arms and join the national army.”  Ethnic violence against the Amhara has occurred in border areas – usually over land – but Siegle sees the genocide tag as a way for Fano to legitimise its actions. “Ethiopia’s ethnic federal system only fuels these narratives,” he added. Both Abiy and Fano are calling for a new constitution. But in Abiy’s case, his critics say the goal is to take power from the regions and concentrate it in Addis Ababa. In Amhara, the prime minister is considered an Oromo nationalist due to his part Oromo heritage. Although all Fano groups agree that the constitution needs to change, there are differences over what that would ultimately look like. “We can only decide on a new constitution together with other ethnic groups,” said Asres. “Our aim is for a paradigm shift,” said Eskinder Nega, who heads the Amhara Fano People’s Organisation. “This country needs a constitution that will take the country beyond hate politics. A constitution without any ethnic dimensions to it.” At the moment, that can only be achieved through armed struggle. “We will not stop until Abiy’s government is gone and the constitution is changed,” said Asres. “If necessary, we will march on Addis Ababa.” But despite the war talk, there have seemingly been some small steps towards dialogue. Although Abiy in the past has said Fano is too disorganised to negotiate with, discussions are reportedly under way with some of the militia groups – even though most Fano leaders deny this and regard the government as untrustworthy. Asres was one of the few commanders open to negotiations – but only after Fano was fully in control of Amhara. “Once we take over the regional government, and something changes in the federal arrangement through negotiation or reconciliation, that could be the end of the war,” he said. This article was published with the support of the “exceptional journalism fund” of the Belgian  Fonds Pascal Decroos .   Edited by Obi Anyadike. The New Humanitarian © All rights reserved 2024

Louisa Loveluck and Lior Soroka Updated November 11, 2024 at 3:11 p.m. EST Published November 11, 2024 at 12:43 a.m. EST Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks at a conference in southern Israel on the resettlement of the Gaza Strip on Oct. 21. (Tomer Appelbaun/Reuters) Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich welcomed President Donald Trump’s electoral victory Monday, saying that “the time has come” to extend full Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank. “Trump’s victory brings an important opportunity for the State of Israel,” Smotrich told supporters at a party conference, according to comments shared by his spokesman. During Trump’s first term, he said, “we were on the verge of applying sovereignty over the settlements” in the West Bank, “and now the time has come to make it a reality.” Smotrich said that he had instructed the Defense Ministry’s settlement administration division, as well as the Israeli army’s Civil Administration in the West Bank, to prepare plans accordingly, according to a summary shared by his spokesman. Since late 2022, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government has dramatically expanded Israel’s footprint in the occupied West Bank, where an estimated 3 million Palestinians live alongside more than 500,000 settlers. Netanyahu’s administration has approved strategic land seizures and major settlement construction, escalated demolition of Palestinian property and increased state support for illegally built settler outposts. Jewish settler violence against Palestinian residents has grown commonplace, often taking place with Israeli soldiers or policemen at the scene. The announcement Monday appeared to suggest that Israel was moving toward consolidating changes announced in late May, when the army reassigned significant management powers over the West Bank to a newly created “deputy head” position within the Civil Administration, Israel’s governing body there. That same day, the role was given to Hillel Roth, a close associate of Smotrich, who is himself a longtime settler advocate. “Moving forward, I intend to lead a government decision stating that the Israeli government will work with President Trump’s new administration and the international community to apply sovereignty and seek American recognition,” Smotrich said. The Israeli government has routinely ignored the Biden administration’s insistence that any diplomatic solution to the war in Gaza include a path to an independent Palestinian state. Full annexation of the West Bank would mark the death knell to that lingering ambition, rights groups say. In his comments Monday, Smotrich explicitly linked Trump’s election to his proposed path forward. “After years in which, unfortunately, the current administration chose to interfere in Israeli democracy and personally refused to cooperate with me as Israel’s finance minister, Trump’s victory also brings an important opportunity,” Smotrich said, adding that “2025 is the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” using the biblical name for the West Bank. © 1996-2024 The Washington Post

The Washington Post November 4, 2024 By Abbie Cheeseman At least 10 of 14 strikes Friday that caused casualties in the northern Bekaa Valley were outside the Israeli military’s evacuation zone, a Post review found. Several villages near Baalbek were also hit last week, resulting in casualties. (Lorenzo Tugnoli for The Washington Post) BEDNAYEL, Lebanon — The bomb that crashed into a residential building here in rural Lebanon on Friday turned the sky black, residents said. It took almost 10 minutes for them to figure out what had been hit. In the afternoon light the next day, the remains of the two-story building were scattered over the street. The apartments had collapsed in on one another, killing eight people, Lebanese health officials said. Last week, Israel’s military issued an evacuation order for the entire eastern city of Baalbek, home to about 100,000 people, telling residents it would “act forcefully against Hezbollah interests in your city and villages.” But most of the strikes, like the one in Bednayel, about 14 miles from Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley, have hit outside the evacuation zone. “If they were going to bomb us, why couldn’t we be in the red area?” 23-year-old Bilal, who lives in a nearby building, asked as he stood outside the flattened complex. Like others in this article, he spoke on the condition that only a first name be used, fearing Israeli reprisals. Still others spoke on the condition of anonymity. On Saturday, Hezbollah granted a Washington Post reporter and photographer access to the Bekaa Valley, requiring that representatives of the group accompany the team during their trip. The representatives did not arrange or take part in interviews, and Hezbollah did not review any of the reporting. The Post talked to survivors and witnesses of four of the 14 strikes that resulted in casualties in the Baalbek region on Friday, all of which took place within approximately 90 minutes, they said. While thousands of families in Baalbek have heeded Israeli evacuation orders and are packed into schools and others shelters in surrounding communities, at least 10 of the 14 areas hit Friday were outside the evacuation zone, according to a Post review of strike locations. By the end of Friday, at least 52 people had been killed and 76 wounded cross the Baalbek-Hermel region, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. It was one of the deadliest days in the Bekaa Valley since Israel’s cross-border conflict with Hezbollah burst into full-scale war in late September. The Israel Defense Forces did not respond to questions about the specific attacks, or about why so many strikes were hitting areas not covered by evacuation orders. It also didn’t answer why strikes on individual buildings were not preceded by warnings to residents, as has been done with some airstrikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs. The most central strike Friday hit the Ras El Ein neighborhood of Baalbek — less than a mile from the city’s UNESCO-protected Roman ruins. On a normal Saturday afternoon, the leafy street in one of the world’s oldest cities would be filled with the sound of children playing in a park on the corner; families would be enjoying a leisurely lunch in the courtyard of Layalina Cafe, a tourist favorite. Now, the block lies silent and in ruin. “It felt like an earthquake,” said Aya, 22, a local resident, pausing to take in the wreckage Saturday. She was about 200 yards away when the Israeli strike hit, she said. Aya and her family, who she said are Sunni Muslims with no ties to Hezbollah, cannot afford to leave Baalbek and do not know where to go for safety. Although talks for a potential cease-fire in Lebanon appeared to gather momentum last week ahead of the U.S. presidential election, Israel’s aerial and ground campaign has expanded and intensified. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war will continue until some 60,000 displaced people — forced from their homes by Hezbollah rocket fire last October — are able to return safely to their communities in Israel’s north. Bachir Khodr, the governor of the Baalbek-Hermel region, which stretches along Lebanon’s eastern border to the northernmost part of the country, says there have been 57 strikes in the region since Oct. 28, resulting in 145 killed and 178 wounded. Eighty-five percent of the strikes in which casualties were recorded took place outside the Israeli evacuation zone, according to a Post analysis of Khodr’s data. The Bekaa Valley is a critical foothold for Hezbollah, partly because of its proximity to the Syrian border, which makes it a vital conduit for arms and advisers from Iran, the group’s main patron. Support for Hezbollah runs deep in Shiite Muslim communities, which rely on the extensive social welfare network it has built in one of country’s most underdeveloped areas. The attacks, people here believe, are aimed at sapping popular sympathy for Hezbollah. Friday’s strikes overwhelmed already overstretched civil defense volunteers, who raced to dig out bodies from beneath the rubble with limited equipment. Doctors in local hospitals said the majority of the casualties they treated were children, while the second-largest group was women. In Bednayel, Bilal pointed to his friend and neighbor staring despondently at the rubble — his grandparents, uncles and cousins had been killed in the destroyed apartments. “We pulled them out in pieces,” said the grandson, 20. It had taken civil defense workers and locals who rushed to help more than four hours to retrieve the remains. “I could not recognize them,” he said. Minutes later, someone found a hand in the rubble. “Who is driving the hand to the hospital? Put it in the car — someone needs to drive it to the hospital,” one man yelled. “We need to figure out whom it belongs to.” The grandson, neighbors and the mayor said the family had no links to Hezbollah. “What were they targeting here?” the grandson asked, listing the ages and occupations of his dead relatives. Flies swarmed over the bodies of their sheep, nearly decapitated by shrapnel; pages of children’s books and the Quran scattered in the wind. “They are trying to break our will and make us skeptical about the resistance,” another neighbor said, referring to Hezbollah. “The answer is the resistance,” the mayor, Ali Suleiman, countered as he surveyed the strike site. Eleven passersby in cars were wounded in the strike in central Baalbek, a local Hezbollah official said, though residents of the building that appeared to be the target had evacuated. A crater, strewn with carpets and clothes, marked the spot. A building next door that housed a pharmacy on its ground floor was heavily damaged. The popular restaurant was a shell of twisted metal and broken glass. The local Hezbollah official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the damage, estimated that about a third of the city’s residents have stayed behind — some out of defiance, others simply not knowing where to go. Although there were still people on the streets Saturday, Baalbek — which has been inhabited continuously for 11,000 years — was mostly shuttered. But it is outside the city, and the evacuation zone, where strikes have been the heaviest and the most destructive. Shattered buildings and piles of rubble line the roads on the drive through the Bekaa Valley. Local officials and hospitals say the civilian toll is mounting. “I would never leave my children in a place if I thought it was at risk of being bombed,” said Abdulaziz, 45, who was sitting next to his injured daughter in Rayak Hospital, one of the main medical centers in the valley. “Of course I would evacuate if they told me to. What parent would not?” His daughter, Shayma, 18, had been walking home from her grandparents’ house in Hawsh al Nabi when an airstrike hit a building under construction, he said. The force of the blast threw her at least 15 yards. She landed on her back and broke both of her shoulders, doctors found. Still in agony, she lay silent in the hospital bed, wincing as her father recounted trying to find her. Abdulaziz has moved his family to live with relatives in a neighboring community, but that village is being hit, too. Hassan Abdallah, one of the managers of the hospital, described the situation as “catastrophic.” They had received 35 casualties from Friday’s strikes, he said, and only two had been men. In the hospital room next door lay Nimr, 15, who was injured in the same strike. He said he had been at home, scrolling on his phone, when the building next door was obliterated. He remembered waking up beneath the rubble. His 2-year-old cousin was killed in the strike, and his mother is in critical condition. “It was just out of nowhere,” he said, his forehead wrapped in bandages. “I never expected once that they would bomb here. We are just civilians.” © 1996-2024 The Washington Post