war crimes - The African Mirror

Feb

2024

Sudan’s warring sides commit abuses, including strikes on fleeing civilians, UN report says

BOTH sides in Sudan's civil war have committed abuses that may amount to war crimes including indiscriminate attacks on civilian sites like hospitals, markets and even camps for the displaced, the U.N. human rights office said. Efforts have so far failed to end the 10-month-old conflict that pits Sudan's regular armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Thousands of people have been killed and some eight million forced to flee their homes, making it the country with the largest displaced population in the world. "Some of these violations would amount to war crimes," Volker Turk, the U.N. High…

Jan

2024

By MICHELLE NICHOLS

ICC prosecutor believes warring parties committing war crimes in Darfur

NEWS

THE International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor told the U.N. Security Council that "there are grounds to believe" both Sudan's regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are committing war crimes in Darfur at present. War erupted in Sudan on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese armed forces and the RSF. ICC prosecutor Karim Khan launched an investigation in July last year into the surge of hostilities in Sudan's Darfur region. The ICC's founding treaty, the Rome Statute, gives the court jurisdiction over four major crimes - genocide, crimes against humanity, crimes of aggression and war crimes - that are grave…

Dec

2023

By MARIA GERTH-NICULESCU

In Burkina Faso’s blockaded towns, war crimes and mutual aid

NEWS

AROUND a million people in Burkina Faso are living under suffocating blockades imposed by jihadist groups on dozens of towns and villages – a tool of war that is destroying local economies and leading to mass hunger and deaths from treatable diseases. Insurgents have used siege tactics for several years against communities they accuse of supporting government forces, but the number of blockades has increased since a junta seized power from different military leaders late last year. The new junta has ramped up military operations and enrolled tens of thousands of civilians into a nationwide anti-jihadist volunteer force. Jihadist groups…

Dec

2023

By DAPHNE PSALEDAKIS, HUMEYRA PAMUK and NAFISA ELTAHIR

US declares warring parties in Sudan committed war crimes

NEWS

THE United States formally determined that warring parties in Sudan committed war crimes, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, as Washington increases pressure on the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to end fighting that has caused a humanitarian crisis. Washington also determined that the RSF and allied militias committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing, Blinken said in a statement. The fighting, which broke out in mid-April, has displaced more than 6.5 million inside and outside Sudan, killed more than 10,000 and decimated the economy. "The expansion of the needless conflict between RSF and the SAF has caused grievous human…

Jun

2023

By WENDELL ROELF

BRICS ministers put on show of strength as Putin arrest warrant looms large

NEWS

BRICS foreign ministers asserted their bloc's ambition to rival Western powers but their talks in South Africa were overshadowed by questions over whether Russia's president would be arrested if he attended a summit in August. South Africa's foreign minister Naledi Pandor said her country was mulling options if Vladimir Putin, the subject of a war crimes arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), came to the planned BRICS summit in Johannesburg. As a member of the ICC, South Africa would theoretically be required to arrest Putin, and Pandor was bombarded with questions about that as she arrived for…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

ICC arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin: a king-size dilemma for South Africa

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an international arrest warrant for Russian president Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes regarding the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia. Such acts are war crimes under two articles of the Rome Statute, which established the court. Author SASCHA-DOMINIK (DOV) BACHMANN, Professor in Law and Co-Convener National Security Hub (University of Canberra) and Research Fellow (adjunct) - The Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa, Faculty of Military Science, Stellenbosch University- NATO Fellow Asia-Pacific, University of Canberra ICC arrest warrants against sitting heads of state are rare. Putin faces arrest…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Putin visits Russian-occupied Mariupol after ICC issues arrest warrant

WORLD

LIDIA KELLY and MARK TREVELYAN A day after being accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court, President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol, the scene of some of the worst devastation of his year-old invasion. State television showed extended footage of Putin being shown around the city on Saturday night, meeting rehoused residents and being briefed on reconstruction efforts by Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin. The port city of Mariupol became known around the world as a byword for death and destruction as much of it was reduced to ruins in the first…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Explainer: What does the ICC arrest warrant mean for Putin?

WORLD

ANTHONY DEUTSCH and STEPHANIE VAN DEN BERG VLADIMIR Putin may not see the inside of a cell in The Hague any time soon, but his war crimes arrest warrant could hurt his ability to travel freely and meet other world leaders, who may feel less inclined to speak to a wanted man. Putin is just the third head of state to be indicted by the International Criminal Court while still in power. Following is a look at what the consequences could be for the Kremlin leader. WHAT IS THE CASE? The ICC accuses Putin of responsibility for the war crime…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

ICC expected to launch war crimes cases against Russians over Ukraine war

WORLD

ANTHONY DEUTSCH and MIKE COLLETT-WHITE THE International Criminal Court (ICC) is planning to seek the arrest of Russian officials for forcibly deporting children from Ukraine and targeting civilian infrastructure, a source said, in what would be the first international war crimes cases arising from Moscow's invasion. The source said the arrest warrants could include the crime of genocide and were expected to arrive in the "short term" if the court prosecutor's request was approved by a pre-trial judge at the Hague-based court. The office of the prosecutor at the ICC declined to comment. Russia's defence ministry did not immediately respond to…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

‘Massive’ violations in Ukraine a focus as UN human rights body meets

WORLD

GABRIELLE TÉTRAULT-FARBER and EMMA FARGE THE U.N. rights chief condemned Russia's "senseless" invasion of Ukraine at the start of a Human Rights Council session at which countries want to strengthen scrutiny of Moscow's alleged war crimes and raise China's treatment of Muslim Uyghurs. Volker Turk, the United Nations high commissioner, in one of his first speeches to the 47-member council, warned that human rights gains were being reined back and even reversed, citing Russia's invasion of Ukraine as an example of oppression. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a separate speech that the war had triggered "massive violations" of rights.…