Southeast Asia

Burma (Myanmar)

For the first time, the Burmese military admitted its participation in crimes against humanity by sentencing 7 soldiers for killing 10 Rohingya men last September. The work of two Reuters reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, helped convict the soldiers. First Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and her government are pressing charges in this criminal case against the two reporters, who have remained in detention since December, and face a possible 14-year conviction for possessing classified documents. Their report includes testimony from security officers, relatives of the victims, and Buddhist villagers, and describes how Burmese soldiers and villagers executed the 10 men and dumped the bodies into a mass grave. They also possessed photographs of these killings, further implicating the troops and villagers.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is facing the tensely debated issue of whether or not they have jurisdiction over Burma’s deportation of Rohingya Muslims. While Bangladesh, the country to which they have fled, is a member of the ICC, Burma is not. The ICC’s Chief Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, is a strong proponent, claiming jurisdiction on the basis that the crux of these allegations – deportation – can only occur when victims are forced across an international border, and that “exercising jurisdiction would be in line with the court’s legal framework and also recognize consequences of forced migration.”

Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times visited Burma in March, writing about what he witnessed. He said that he “enter[ed] Myanmar on a tourist visa, [and] was able to slip undetected into five Rohingya villages. What [he] found was a slow-motion genocide. The massacres and machete attacks of last August are over for now, but Rohingya remain confined to their villages — and to a huge concentration camp — and are systematically denied most education and medical care.” Kristof speaks about how Burma uses “guns and machetes for ethnic cleansing” and explores how “it also kills more subtly and secretly by regularly denying medical care and blocking humanitarian aid to Rohingya.”

Suu Kyi, who had been recognized by The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) with their prestigious Elie Wiesel Award in 2012, was rescinded this award earlier this year because of her lack of action and sometimes active discrimination against the Rohingya. She and her political party “have refused to cooperate with United Nations investigators, blocked access to journalists and ‘promulgated hateful rhetoric against the Rohingya community.’” In the letter from USHMM to Suu Kyi, museum leaders wrote that, as attacks against the Rohingya unfolded, they “had hoped that [Suu Kyi]—as someone [they] and many others have celebrated for [her] commitment to human dignity and universal human rights—would have done something to condemn and stop the military’s brutal campaign and to express solidarity with the targeted Rohingya population.”

Bangladesh

As the Rohingya refugee population in Bangladesh increases and sanitation and security concerns continue to rise, so has international support. The UAE donated $2 million in April to the United Nations Refugee Agency in order to aid Rohingya women and children refugees in Bangladesh. This funding will support the UN’s larger mission to help 1.3 million displaced individuals this year, including 884,000 Rohingya and 336,000 host communities. India’s Foreign Secretary Vijay Keshav Gokhale met with Bangladeshi officials in April to organize humanitarian efforts, including women and child care, medical equipment, and “relief supplies including milk powder, baby food, dried fish, cooking stoves and cooking fuel, raincoats and gumboots.” These goods were requested by Bangladesh officials in advance of monsoon season, which will only exacerbate existing public health issues.

In the camps, a looming disaster awaits. Overpopulated, built of bamboo and plastic sheets, and located on steep hillsides, the camps are exceedingly prone to landslides and flooding as monsoon and cyclone season begins. A two-year-old Rohingya boy was among the first killed last week when a mud wall fell on him. Along with the extreme dangers of such floods and other natural disasters, this season will also lead to a public health crisis. Poor waste management, overflow from latrines, standing water, and even “improperly buried dead bodies” lead to high risk for the spread of disease, which already includes cholera, measles, and diphtheria.

Mohammad Shah Kamal, the top civil servant in the Bangladesh Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, claimed that the government is working with international aid agencies to relocate 100,000 Rohingya, and “as of the first week of June, more than 28,000 refugees had been relocated [from the camps].” About 200,000 people are identified as “high risk,” but relocation proves difficult due to the lack of alternative flat ground, says the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, although the Government of Bangladesh has now “granted hundreds of additional acres for this purpose.”

Middle East and North Africa

Syria

Since the peaceful revolution in 2011, and the bloody crackdown by Bashar al-Assad’s regime, conflict has raged between anti-government rebel groups and the government  militia, causing the largest refugee crisis since World War II, the proliferation of terrorist groups like ISIS, and horrific atrocities against civilians.

In April, claims of chemical weapons attacks in Douma prompted the United States, Britain, and France to carry out a wave of airstrikes on Syrian targets. The chemical weapons attack was denied by both Russia and the Syrian government, but it was clear through reports by doctors and first responders that the attacks contained chemical components. The attacks not only killed many civilians, but also sent hundreds to hospitals because of exposure to chemical agents.

In the southwest, Syrian government and rebel forces are fighting over control of the southwest border areas. Russian-Israeli coordination has reached unprecedented levels in recent weeks, leading the United States back into diplomatic talks. Last year, the U.S. agreed to take more of a backseat approach to the Syria conflict, moving away from arming moderate rebel groups, and instead calling for a ceasefire and negotiations. The United States now must to decide its strategy: whether it will give up influence in southwest Syria, or whether it will increase military action in the region, either directly or through support of rebel groups. Either could be devastating to the already suffering civilian population.

As the Syrian government and its aligned forces continue to try and take land, suffering of the civilian population persists. In February, the government clashed again with rebels in Eastern Ghouta in an attempt to take over the area that has been a rebel stronghold for years. Backed by Russian war planes, the fighting killed hundreds of civilians in just days. After a ceasefire on February 24, the Syrian army deployed ground troops to gain control of the area. Evacuations of rebel groups started in April and now the area is completely under control of the Syrian army and Russian forces. The five-year siege of Eastern Ghouta was the longest in modern history, and this year’s two month offensive, in which government forces indiscriminately attacked civilians, and denied them food and medicine, was found by a UN Commission of Inquiry to constitute crimes against humanity. Likewise, attacks by rebels on civilian-inhabited areas of Damascus were condemned by the Commission.

In March, Turkish forces and Syrian allies started an eight-week campaign to drive out Kurdish rebels in the town of Afrin in northwest Syria. More than 150,000 civilians from the town were forced to flee because of the fighting. Turkey, which views the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as a terrorist group, has been accused of “quietly orchestrating a demographic shift,” wherein they seek to change the balance of Afrin’s population from predominantly Kurdish to majority Arab.

In April, Yarmouk refugee camp, the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, was attacked by Syrian allied militias in order to drive out ISIL and gain a stronger foothold in the region. The forces launched air strikes on the refugee camp that was home to around 160,000, and dwindled down to only 6,000 in April due to the attacks. Dozens of Palestinian refugees were killed.

The Syrian refugee crisis is worsening every day, and has reached an estimated 11 million people. In the past year, the United States has only hosted a total of 11 Syrian refugees. This number is in stark contrast to the nearly three million Syrian refugees in Turkey, and about one million in both Jordan and Lebanon. 

Sudan

In eastern Sudan, drinking water shortages have left the area of El Mazmum with almost no drinking water. “About 160,000 people living in El Mazmum and surrounding villages [have been] suffering from thirst” for the past week. An administration leader explained that the root of the problem is “malfunctioning of the main water carrier line from Wad El Nil station,” which has caused many citizens to drink from unclean and unsanitary reservoirs, causing serious health concerns. Meanwhile, their livestock may soon die due to lack of water. In addition, power cuts have left residents in the dark for over six months. On Saturday, amid protests of these conditions, “security forces intervened during vigils in various neighbourhoods, [arresting] dozens of people, among them a number of minors.”

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda called for accountability for crimes against humanity in Darfur. She presented a six-month report to the UN Security Council on June 20, asking the Council to play a more active role in the process of bringing the accused perpetrators to justice and to better support her office with cooperation and funding. Bensouda also requested that the suspects be arrested as a step toward justice for the victims. She said that it is “past time” to work together to “ensure full implementation and compliance” with Resolution 1593, which emphasizes the need for reconciliation and truth commissions to reinforce peace efforts.

The UN Security Council is expected to approve cuts to Darfur’s peacekeeping mission, which is tasked with monitoring human rights and publicly reporting on findings in Darfur. The mission is set for renewal by the end of June, but the Security Council is expected to close 14 African Union-United Nations mission sites, limiting the mission’s operation to only 13 sites in the area where the government has been attacking civilians in fighting against opposition groups. Under this new plan, peacekeepers would also no longer carry out patrols in the region, which have been necessary for the security of humanitarian aid groups, and which would limit their ability to monitor and address security and protection concerns.

Central Africa

South Sudan

In a press release this month, it was reported that South Sudan is experiencing the highest level of food shortages the country has ever witnessed. Along with an insurgence of fighting in the country and attacks on aid workers, the lack of food is devastating already food insecure communities. “The UN’s deadly prediction of record numbers of hungry people in South Sudan is already unfolding from what I’m seeing,” said Jan Egeland, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, while visiting South Sudan, a “relentlessly hostile operating environment.” Over 100 aid workers have been killed since December 2013, and “in April alone, there were 80 reports of aid workers prevented from delivering aid. In May NRC was forced to suspend an emergency food distribution in Unity State because of active fighting in the state.”

South Sudan has proposed an increase to its 2018-2019 financial budget by 75 percent, which is set to be approved next week. Although details have not yet been revealed, the cabinet is hoping that the $63 million budget will provide long desired economic reform. Much of the funding will come from the oil industry, which has been a mainstay of the nation’s economy since its independence from Sudan in 2011.

Foreign ministers of Inter-Governmental Authority on Development in Africa (IGAD) member states agreed in a meeting held earlier this month to work to “revive the peace process in South Sudan and urge the parties to the conflict to implement a peace deal brokered by the IGAD in August 2015.” South Sudan President Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar, who has been under house arrest in South Africa since 2016, and whose sentence has been called into question by several Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) members, met for the first time in two years with the hopes of brokering an agreement. South Sudan, however, ruled out the possibility of Machar rejoining the government, effectively ending the possibility of successful talks.

South Sudan has made strides in eliminating a major source of suffering within their country: Guinea worm, an infection caused by contaminated drinking water. Developing countries like South Sudan, with few sources of potable water, are often massive hotspots for this ailment. Known as the “fiery serpent” because of its debilitating effects, this affliction has received very little international coverage or response because it is not lethal like other widespread diseases such as malaria. Nevertheless, efforts by the Carter Center, including distributing water filters and launching educational campaigns on hygiene, resulted in a 15-month streak of zero reported cases of Guinea worm.

Lt. Gen Lam of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) released 7 aid workers who were captured on the Ugandan border after three weeks of detention. Since 2013, 99 aid workers have been killed in South Sudan. Aid workers play a key role in providing basic nourishment, vaccinations, and other critical services. The International Organization of Migration claims that there are over 5 million people still in need of health care in Sudan, so it is crucial that aid workers have unrestricted access to these populations.

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

Fears abound that another Congo war could be in the making as President Joseph Kabila has continued to delay presidential elections since 2016, and is now in his seventh year of a five year term. Elections are now scheduled for December 2018. Late last year, there was massive police and militia violence against protesters who oppose Kabila’s efforts to extend his term. As the Economist reports, “there were protests at Catholic services in Kinshasa, the capital, and 12 other cities. Mr Kabila cracked down hard. Police surrounded 134 churches in Kinshasa alone, beat and tear-gassed churchgoers, and shot live rounds into fleeing congregations. At least eight people died and probably many more. Human Rights Watch reports that bodies were dumped into the Congo river.” In total, around 13.1 million Congolese are in need of humanitarian assistance – twice as many as last year.

Violence has also taken place in rural areas, as rebel groups target civilians in those areas. Over 2 million people fled their homes in 2017, and 4.3 million are now internally displaced. New rebel groups are forming because of distrust of the government, and are often formed along ethnic lines. Old rebel groups are now resurfacing, like the Bundu Dia Kongo, and are once again attacking the Congolese military. In the past year, the country has seen several prison breaks, attacks on cities, and a major insurgency in the Kasai province that has caused thousands of deaths.

In January 2018, a military tribunal investigating massacres in the eastern town of Beni convicted 134 people. These massacres, which killed more than 800 people in one night alone, were originally blamed on Ugandan rebels, but through trial it was discovered that the massacres were in part committed by Congolese army officials, civilians, and local area chiefs. The trial included 249 interviews with perpetrators, witnesses, and victims, and found that Congolese army officials “collaborated with local fighters and, in some cases, soldiers secured the perimeters so that victims could not escape.“ However, during the trials, only one Congolese army official was convicted, receiving a four-year jail term.

Central African Republic (CAR)

The humanitarian crisis in CAR continues to place pressure on the country and the region. The number of refugees has risen to over 582,000 and 1 in 3 children still in the Central African Republic are out of school.

On April 10, MINUSCA, CAR’s UN Peacekeeping mission, clashed with the Séléka coalition, a mainly Muslim rebel group who ousted former President Francois Bozize in 2013, in response to an attack on their forces. 21 people were killed, many of whom were civilians. In response, protesters placed at least 16 of those corpses in front of the UN headquarters in CAR to denounce alleged MINUSCA shootings at civilians. The UN claimed that this action was a form of propaganda and did not fully represent the situation. Violence against peacekeepers is becoming a norm in CAR, where attacks come from both the Séléka coalition and the Anti-balaka, a mainly Christian group who fights against the Séléka.  

The UN Peacekeepers deployed in CAR, many of whom are from Burundi, are under investigation for human rights violations, including unlawful killings and rapes. The MINUSCA mission, which is supposed to protect the civilians of CAR, has faced countless accusations of abuse since the start of its operations in 2014. The UN Department of Peacekeeping has documented 10 formal accusations, but civilians and local activists claim there to be many more.

In May, at least 20 civilians were killed and 90 injured in an attack on a church in the capital city of Bangui by government forces in an attempt to arrest a suspected rebel group member. When the security forces came, a self proclaimed “self defense” group opened fire, escalating the violence and leading to deaths of civilians.

On June 8, the International Criminal Court overturned its war crimes conviction on the DRC’s former vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba who was convicted in 2016 of failing to prevent his militia from commiting crimes in CAR that included rape, murder, and pillaging. This acquittal means that the victims in CAR will lose all hopes of reparations through the ICC, and will have to seek justice at the Special Criminal Court in the Central African Republic, a hybrid tribunal that is expected to launch investigations this year. The new Special Criminal Court is especially important because it is an avenue for victims of human rights violations and attacks to gain justice.

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Charlotte Abin is a rising senior at Gettysburg College, where she studies History and Political Science. She is currently interning at STAND in their D.C office. She is passionate about doing her part in making the world a more accepting place.

Elizabeth Sturley is a rising junior at Amherst College, where she is majoring in Political Science and Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought, with a certificate in International Relations. She is a summer intern with STAND in the DC office and is extremely passionate about international human rights and everything related to social justice issues!

This week’s update focuses on failing peace talks in South Sudan and Burundi; hunger and famine in South Sudan and Nigeria; the proposed halt to the US conflict minerals rule, which will affect progress made on armed group funding, supply chain transparency, and money laundering; renewed fighting in the Central African Republic; and protests against Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari.

South Sudan

On February 7, The Sudan Tribune published a report that two women have died from starvation in South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria state. The incident reflects the food security difficulties that South Sudan is currently facing.

Since South Sudan’s controversial 2015 peace deal has created controversy because it requests that rebels who fought the administration of President Salva Kiir return to Juba, the capital city of South Sudan. The peace deal was administered by the former Botswana president Festus Mogae, who serves in the Joint Evaluation and Monitoring Commission (JMEC). Mogae reportedly said to the BBC that former Vice President Riek Machar should not return to Juba. These comments have raised the concerns of human rights experts who believe that Mogae’s remarks show favoritism toward the government of South Sudan. As the administrator of the peace deal, Mogae should not show favoritism to either side.

On February 17, South Sudanese minister of Labor Lieutenant General Gabriel Duop Lam joined the side of the rebels, marking the second high-level resignation this week from the government. The defection was confirmed at a news conference in Juba on Friday.

On the same day, a senior UN human rights official called for the need for accountability for “those committing atrocity crimes in conflict-torn South Sudan.” UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Andrew Gilmour said, “This is a war that has been waged against the men, women and children of South Sudan, and the only way of ending this onslaught will be when the perpetrators face consequences for what they’re doing.” Mr. Gilmour travelled to the country last month, where he observed the devastation and human rights abuses suffered by civilians. Gilmour went on to emphasize his frustrations with the limited access available to the UN Mission to South Sudan, whose mission is to protect and provide humanitarian assistance to civilians.

Great Lakes Region of Africa

Burundi

Peace dialogue in Burundi is crumbling as the government continues to refuse to participate. The Burundian government’s refusal to participate lies in the invitation of groups who they do not consider peaceful stakeholders. Meanwhile, the National Council for the Respect of the Arusha Accord (CNARED), an opposition group predominantly in exile, complained that Benjamin Mkapa, former president of Tanzania and mediator of the talks, was not including all invested groups in the dialogue and was therefore failing to represent the views of the Burundian people. In an attempt to satisfy CNARED’s concerns, Mkapa agreed to allow individuals accused of participating in a 2015 coup attempt to participate in the discussion. This decision spurred the Burundian government’s refusal to continue the peace talks, leading many in the region to doubt that the dialogue will see any success. The talks were scheduled to run from February 16 to 18, but the Burundian government refused to send representatives.

The government in Burundi maintains that the political crisis has ended and that Burundi is now a safe country, issuing a call for refugees to return home. The response from surrounding countries has been hesitant at best. In Uganda, contradictory statements have been made regarding the return of refugees to Burundi. The Minister for Disaster Preparedness Hillary Onek said that refugees would receive a three-month extension if they desired to stay, but the minister’s deputy Musa Ecweru claimed that the laws regarding refugees require that their return be voluntary. The Commissioner for Refugees of the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr. Kazungu Apollo, released a clarification that Uganda will support Burundians seeking asylum until they feel it is unsafe for them to return home.

The UN peacekeepers Burundi has sent to other countries, especially Somalia, have provided a source of financial support to the country’s defense department. The continued use of Burundian peacekeepers has raised concerns that the UN is indirectly funding repression in Burundi. Though the European Union pays the Burundian soldiers’ salaries, it has requested that the African Union find a way to pay Burundian peacekeepers without passing through Burundian banks.  

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

Although pressure has been applied to the Congolese government to hold elections in 2017, the budget minister claimed on February 15 that “it would be difficult to gather the necessary $1.8 billion” for the election. The minister, Pierre Kangudia, claims that the government does not have the money to host elections in 2017 come just twelve days after the death of opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi. Tshisekedi was expected to lead a transitional government with the current President Kabila until elections could be held later this year. His death, along with the statements from the budget minister, have led to a renewed uncertainty about the future of democracy in DRC. The minister also stated that “we have to fill the holes before we can even put anything in it [the treasury],” a reference to the corruption present in the country.

Meanwhile, President Trump re-ignited a conversation about conflict minerals and the Dodd-Frank law in the United States when a directive was leaked that would temporarily suspend the Dodd-Frank law for two years. The executive order declared that the secretary of the treasury would “review regulations on financial institutions and report back specific recommendations.” The Dodd-Frank act requires US firms to “declare where they’re sourcing their gold, tin, and other minerals, often used in consumer electronics.” Removing this piece of legislation, or even simply suspending it, could lead to a resurgence in investment in conflict minerals: gold, tin, tungsten, and tantalum. In eastern Congo, armed rebel groups sell these resources to fund violent activities, and this policy change opens the possibility of a backslide in improvements made in responsible sourcing practices in the past few years.

Violence between the government and various militias in the DRC continues. Over a five-day span from February 9 to February 13, soldiers killed at least 101 people in an altercation with the Kamwina Nsapu group in central Congo. UN human rights spokesperson Liz Throssell accused the troops of “firing indiscriminately” and using “excessive and disproportionate” force to handle the situation. The deaths of 39 women in this altercation support the accusation. The UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC also stated that the Kamwina Nsapu group had “committed violent atrocities and used child soldiers.”

Major armed groups active in the eastern DRC include the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which also carries out abuses in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), comprised predominantly of Rwandan Hutu linked to the 1994 genocide, the Forces for Patriotic Resistance in Ituri (FRPI), which is responsible for various abuses against civilians, local Mai-Mai community-based militias, and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed Ugandan group that has bases in eastern Congo.

Central and West Africa

Central African Republic (CAR)

In the last three weeks, the Central African Republic (CAR) has seen a resurgence of violence perpetrated by armed groups. On February 7, rebels killed at least five civilians after the Central African army, with support from UN peacekeepers, killed Youssouf Malinga, also known as “Big Man,” a leader of a local Muslim militia group, during an operation. Additionally, over two dozen were wounded, and two churches and a school were destroyed. Just four days earlier, a clash between two armed groups in Bocaranga killed civilians and compelled thousands to flee to nearby forests.

Much of this violence continues because of its political and economic expediency. Warlords continue to exploit religious tensions in the country to gain popular support and strengthen their political bargaining power, thus increasing their chances of earning a government position. Because the judicial system has been unwilling or unable to prosecute these individuals for their crimes, a culture of impunity has been created, encouraging such behavior. In fact, the idea of blanket amnesty for war crimes recently arose while President Faustin-Archange Touadéra was meeting with the leaders of several armed groups. Beyond political rewards, the revenue that armed groups obtain from natural resource extraction further incentivizes them to continue to perpetuate violence. This may be exacerbated if President Donald Trump follows through on a proposal that would suspend federal rules on conflict minerals. Members of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) say that this policy could lead to “the resurgence of armed groups controlling and exploiting minerals. This might ultimately lead to a generalised proliferation of terrorist groups, trans-boundary money laundry and illicit financial flows in the region.”

Much of the future of CAR depends on action taken by the international community. On February 15, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous warned the international community not to turn away from the country, as armed groups remain a grave threat. As such, the peacekeeping force in the country has changed its deployment to more effectively protect the country. Regional organizations have also gotten involved, with the African Union, the Economic Community of Central African States, and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region launching a joint-initiative for a national peace and reconciliation agreement. Only concerted international attention will allow this lengthy conflict and humanitarian crisis to cease.

Nigeria

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), at least half a million children under the age of five in northeastern Nigeria will suffer from severe acute malnutrition during this upcoming year, leading up to twenty percent of them to die, unless more aid is given. At least fourteen million require some type of humanitarian assistance. The hunger crisis in the northeast is caused primarily by Boko Haram, whose attacks have displaced millions of farmers, significantly reducing their ability to farm. The man-made famine is the first in over a decade. Donor countries from 14 countries pledged to scale up funding for vulnerable groups threatened by famine at the Oslo conference last month.

Thousands of Nigerians are expressing their grievances at the present humanitarian situation by protesting the government of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. Although much of Boko Haram has been defeated, citizens believe Buhari has failed in his other responsibilities related to eliminating corruption, bolstering the education system, and promoting economic growth. In particular, the economy has suffered under Buhari with plummeting exchange rates and virtually non-existent foreign direct investment. Anger is exacerbated by Buhari’s decision to receive medical treatment outside of the country, attesting to his lack of trust in local healthcare. Concern for the president’s health—and questions about whether it may be worse than government officials are saying—is putting further pressure on the government and raising concerns about the continued functioning of the political system.

Both Boko Haram and other militants in the Niger Delta continue to pose a problem in Nigeria. Seven suicide bombers, six of whom were women, launched an attack in Maiduguri on February 16. Though there were no civilian casualties during this attack, such attacks continue to occur with regularity around the country. Horrifically, Boko Haram is now deploying children as young as nine, who are able to get through security checkpoints more easily. The petroleum minister of Nigeria also recently announced that armed groups in the Niger Delta cost the  country between $50 and $100 billion in oil revenue as it was forced to cut back production by nearly two hundred thousand barrels per day. Although a detailed plan has recently been released to end the insurgency through development of infrastructure and social institutions, it remains to be seen whether Nigeria will have the financial or technical capacity to effectively do the job.

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Justin Cole is STAND’s Central and West Africa Coordinator. He is a Junior at UNC Chapel Hill where he majors in Economics and Peace, War, and Defense.

Elizabeth Westbrook is STAND’s Great Lakes of Africa Coordinator. She is a Junior at UNC Chapel Hill where she is a Political Science major.

Joanna Liang is STAND’s Sudan and South Sudan Coordinator. She is a Junior at the University of Delaware where she majors in History Education.

Jason Qu is STAND’s Emerging Conflicts Coordinator, focusing today on Nigeria. He is a Senior at Bronx High School of Science.

This week’s news brief focuses on President Kabila’s struggle for power in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the threat of  terrorist attacks in Burundi, and a renewal of violence in the Central African Republic despite recent pledges of aid. Though Boko Haram has continued to wreak havoc in Nigeria, the Nigerian army has had some recent successes against the terrorist group.

Great Lakes Region of Africa

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

Concerns over increasing violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo mounted as December 19 approached without any likelihood of a peaceful transition of power. Over the past months, violence has periodically erupted  in direct response to the continuation of President Joseph Kabila’s term, as well as by militant groups, particularly in the east, who benefit from a lack of law enforcement. President Kabila remains in office due to the ruling of the constitutional court, which claims that he has the right to remain in office until a new president can be elected democratically. In the leadup to the 19th, the government police force declared all protest illegal.

LUCHA, a youth-led rights group in the DRC, maintains, along with many members of opposition parties, that the end of Kabila’s term was December 19,  2016. Multiple activists in the group, which organized peaceful protests as the date approached, have been detained unjustly. The detentions, along with the violent response to peaceful protests by the Congolese government, led to an increase in violent altercations between protesters and security forces.

Opposition members claimed that they intended to protest until Kabila was forced to step down. The opposition held protests on September 19 as a warning, and were met with overly aggressive and violent police action resulting in at least 50 deaths. Within two days of Kabila’s decision not to step down, demonstrations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo led to the deaths of over 20 people. Protesters in the capital Kinshasa set fire to the headquarters of the ruling party. Police responded to protesters with tear gas and by opening fire on multiple demonstrations. Meanwhile, members of the police force went door to door arresting known opposition members in cities considered to be strongholds. Congolese diaspora also participated in demonstrations in both Belgium and South Africa.

Access to phone lines and the internet was restricted before the election, making it more difficult for opposition groups to communicate and for the community to receive outside information. The main target was social media, which is especially important to young members of the opposition. Youth in Congo make up a significant portion of opposition movements as they pursue a more positive future.

International pressure is increasing from all directions on Kabila to step down and to respect the rights of his citizens. Calls for Kabila to respect human rights came from the United Nations, the European Union, Britain, France and the United States. Lawmakers in the United States also pushed Kabila to step down, however he has clearly chosen to remain.

Over the weekend of December 4, 31 people were killed in an altercation  between an insurgent group and government forces. The violence occurred in the Kasai province and has claimed to have been “sparked by a row between an uncle and a nephew over the title of a traditional chief.” The “row” resulted in the deaths of eighteen militiamen and thirteen members of the force sent to end the violence.

On November 27, an attack by a militia group killed 34 people in the North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Mai-Mai Mazembe militia group who perpetrated the attack are one of many established by warlords in eastern DRC. In addition to this violence, there have been disputed reports of the Twa ethnic group attacking a freight train resulting in one death and seventeen injuries. The actions of various militia and ethnic groups have become more transparent as forces anticipate a transition into a more lawlessness.

Human Rights Watch Senior Researcher Ida Sawyer testified at the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission to draw attention to the violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and call on the US government to continue to apply sanctions and pressure for a transition of power. She suggested the possibility for the government to combine forces with various militias to maintain control over the country, which may lead to mixed results.

Burundi

Burundi faces the threat of potential terror attacks on Western and local targets while dialogue attempting to find a solution to conflict remains stagnant.

In Burundi, police have been informed of threats from regional terror groups to the Bujumbura International Airport and the Kajaga neighborhood. The police force claims that it has received similar threats in the past beginning in 2007 with their support of peacekeeping missions in Somalia. The US embassy has issued a warning to all travelers to take extra precautions when traveling by air or in the Kajaga neighborhood.

Other residents of Burundi face terror as they discover crosses painted on their homes in the middle of the night. Local governments claim that “no political, ethnic or religious group in particular was targeted” and that the Imbonerakure, the youth wing of the ruling CNDD-FDD party, was not responsible because they were included in the targeted houses. However, residents of the town are skeptical and believe that the Imbonerakure is at fault and is targeting those in opposition to the ruling party.

On December 8, dialogue facilitator former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa arrived in Bujumbura for a series of meetings. There is uncertainty over who will participate in the dialogue, as members of various opposition parties have previously fled Burundi to other East African countries, and CNARED-GIRITEKA, the main opposition coalition group, has said that they no longer consider Mkapa as a legitimate facilitator of dialogue. This move came after Mkapa publicly recognized Nkurunziza and his government as the legitimate leaders of Burundi, saying that those who believe otherwise are “out of their mind.” Mkapa is basing his meetings off of a roadmap developed to engage Burundian politicians and parties and to encourage stabilization of the country, and has said he would like an agreement signed by June. Mkapa has met with political parties, religious groups, and other members of Burundian society. However, the current government claims it will not be speaking with opposition parties. The dialogue has received expressions of support from France, who has been a crucial aid provider in recent years.

In Gitega, attempts at a grassroots solution to peace are arising. Open discussions invite anyone able to participate to come and express their concerns. Some negotiators see this method as a potential way to include local people in high-level mediation talks, which have thus far only included elites and political opposition members.

The progress of human rights in Burundi is still deeply debated as the President of the National Independent Human Rights Commission claims improvements have been made this year in comparison to 2015. However, on December 18, more than 500 families were forcibly removed from their homes in the Kagaragara locality of Buringa Commune by the government. This is a new and unprecedented level of invasion into personal life. The governor of the area claims that families were moved into a more stable area because criminals in the Western region are destabilizing it. Individuals who were removed no longer have access to important documents and personal items that were stored in their homes. They also no longer have access to money and their crops, which will lead to an even greater increase in hunger in this region of Burundi.

Central and West Africa

Central African Republic (CAR)

On November 18, European donors at the Brussels Conference pledged approximately $2.2 billion of aid to the Central African Republic (CAR) after President Faustin-Archange Touadéra described his strategies for bringing long-term peace to his country. Although this amount is short of the $3 billion requested by the government in its recovery plan, Federica Mogherini, the foreign affairs chief of the European Union, stated his hope that the financial assistance would move the CAR towards “sustainable growth, deep reforms, and national reconciliation.” Such progress is needed quickly given the severe humanitarian crisis in the country. Data from the United Nations demonstrates that twenty percent of children will die prior to turning five years old and half of those remaining will experience chronic malnutrition. Clearly, any help from the international community cannot arrive quickly enough.

Unfortunately, there was an abrupt renewal of violence shortly after the announcement of this news. On November 21, fighting between the Popular Front for the Renaissance of the Central African Republic (FPRC) and the Union for Peace in Central Africa (UPC) that began in Bria spread to Bambari. At least eighty-five people were killed, dozens more were wounded, and over ten thousand people have been forced to flee their homes from clashes between these groups. What is perhaps most troubling about this incident is that the FPRC allegedly targeted ethnic Fulani citizens, killing them in their homes and making it impossible for survivors to access hospitals. Adama Dieng, the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, warned that continuing to commit such crimes could make the perpetrators subject to the jurisdiction of international courts. In response, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission (MINUSCA) sent more troops to the territory surrounding Bria.

In the midst of these atrocities, the UN recently finished investigating the stories of dozens of women and children who allege they were subjected to sexual assault by peacekeepers in CAR. Because the crimes allegedly took place long before the beginning of the investigation in April, interviews conducted with nearly one hundred and fifty women and children were the main focus of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS). Although some evidence was dismissed as unreliable, the OIOS ultimately released the names of forty-one peacekeepers who may have committed such crimes, sixteen of whom were from Gabon and twenty-five of whom were from Burundi. The OIOS has requested that these governments process these individuals in their respective judicial systems, noting that “responsibility for further investigations lies with Burundi and Gabon.” Even though the United Nations condemned these crimes, it will likely be far more difficult now to build trust between peacekeepers and the local population in CAR, which will be crucial for the cycle of violence to end and for the country to move forward.

On December 14, the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) reported an “alarming increase” in atrocities in the Central African Republic (CAR) over the last few months. Specifically, 1,301 human rights abuses have been confirmed, which represents a seventy percent increase when compared to the time between September 2014 and May 2015. MINUSCA noted that the abuses “were primarily arbitrary executions, cruel treatment, sexual violence, deprivations of liberty, destruction of private property, and restrictions on freedom of movement.” Séléka and anti-Balaka militia groups continue to exert a great deal of authority in the CAR as the government struggles to contain them.

Human Rights Watch released a report on December 20 detailing the rise of a new armed group in the Central African Republic (CAR) known as “Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation,” or 3R. The group emerged in the northwest, which has largely been neglected by the fragile CAR government as well as the international community, and continues to claim that it is attempting to protect the minority Peuhl from anti-Balaka fighters. Human Rights Watch has confirmed that 3R has slaughtered civilians, raped women, and destroyed countless villages as MINUSCA has been unable to curtail the violence.

Much of the ongoing violence in CAR can be tied to impunity. Although those who commit crimes in CAR can be prosecuted by both the International Criminal Court and the Special Criminal Court, a court consisting of both national and international judges to investigate human rights abuses since 2003, there has not been enough international support for these bodies to operate effectively.  Worse, it has been incredibly difficult to negotiate with the warlords who lead armed groups because they have too much to lose. Not only would they lose access to the natural resources in their pockets of territory, but they would potentially be subject to punishment for their role in human rights abuses. It is yet to be seen whether the $2.2 billion of aid recently pledged at the Brussels Conference will be enough to end the violence. It may be time for the UN to send a stronger peacekeeping force to the country and to broaden its mandate.

Nigeria

At the third annual Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa that took place on December 6 in Senegal, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari argued that the complete defeat of Boko Haram was imminent. Unfortunately, recent events suggest that this is likely too optimistic. Although the terrorist organization has lost the vast majority of the territory that it once controlled, it remains a deadly force. Yaga Yarkawa, the chair of the Chibok government area, recently stated that “Chibok is not safe, contrary to claims by government and security operatives,” citing attacks against over half a dozen villages by Boko Haram. The terrorist organization has also continued inflicting damage against the military in Nigeria. On November 23, a lieutenant general in the army was pronounced dead and just one day later, two soldiers were killed in Askira Uba in Borno state. On December 12, yet another officer in the Nigerian army was killed, Lieutenant Colonel O. Umusu. Unsurprisingly, Nigeria is ranked third this year with regards to the number of terrorist attacks within its territory and William Assanvo, an expert on militants in Nigeria, recently said that “there is little to indicate the group is nearing its end or even that it is severely weakened.” Concentrated efforts by the Nigerian military must continue if the country is to be successful in defeating the group.

The Nigerian army has had a few recent successes. In a campaign against Boko Haram in the Sambisa Forest, nearly two thousand women and children were reportedly rescued and over five hundred Boko Haram terrorists were captured. On December 20, Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram, was allegedly captured in the area around the Gafa Mountain. However, there is some question as to whether the man seized was actually Shekau.

There is one important bright spot with regards to those living in the Borno State. On December 16, crude oil was discovered in this territory, which could potentially help its economy recover after being ravaged by Boko Haram for years. Unfortunately, it will likely be difficult to obtain the oil until Boko Haram is permanently defeated, which could obviously take many more years.

Though not often talked about, some of the worst atrocities in Nigeria, have been conducted not by Boko Haram, but by Nigerian military officers. According to Amnesty International, Nigerian soldiers have killed at least one hundred and fifty protestors between August 2015 and August 2016 by firing into crowds. Those responsible for these human rights abuses have not been investigated. On the other hand, some progress finally has been made with regards to holding Nigerian soldiers accountable for sexually abusing women and children who were forced to flee from their homes because of Boko Haram. On December 6, Ibrahim Idris, the Inspector-General of Police, said that ten people had been arrested as suspects. He further assured the country that those found guilty of committing such crimes would face justice in court.

Beyond the atrocities committed by both Boko Haram and Nigerian soldiers, the humanitarian crisis in Nigeria continues. The UN estimates that 400,000 children are at risk of starving in northeastern Nigeria. Because homes and farms have been burned by Boko Haram, many families are unable to obtain food, leaving them to hope that the international community will intervene and provide assistance. Unfortunately, the response of the UN has been essentially nonexistent, prompting criticism from some in Europe. Although the international institution finally admitted that “the crisis can no longer be ignored” on December 2, there is concern as to whether this recognition will be enough to save tens of thousands of Nigerians from impending starvation. It is also problematic that Buhari is insisting that the UN is exaggerating the magnitude of the crisis for “financial gain,” a claim repudiated by countless sources.

Over the past two weeks, Boko Haram has continued to commit atrocities throughout Nigeria. On December 10, two schoolgirls blew themselves up in the middle of a market in Madagali, a town in northeastern Nigeria, killing forty-five people and injuring thirty-three more. Using young girls as suicide bombers has become a disturbing trend for Boko Haram, as young girls generally do not attract as much attention from authorities.

South Sudan

On December 20, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that South Sudan may face genocide unless immediate action is taken to enact an arms embargo. He warned, “If we fail to act, South Sudan will be on a trajectory towards mass atrocities.” The U.N. chief urged the Security Council to impose the arms embargo which would “diminish the capacity of all sides to wage war.” U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power has said there will be a vote on the sanctions by the end of 2016 and council members will have to make a decision “on the issues of life and death that have been raised by the secretary-general.”

On December 19, South Sudan President Salva Kiir rejected reports of an imminent genocide in the country, claiming it was only a strategy to justify calls for an imposition of targeted sanctions and an arms embargo.

The humanitarian situation has deteriorated dramatically in the past year. In 2016, 6.1 million people in South Sudan required humanitarian assistance, and the aid community expects this number to rise by 20 percent to 30 percent in 2017.

Conditions for South Sudanese refugees in Uganda are grim. A clinic called Ocea Centre Two that was built in the early 1990s to serve local Ugandans, has become a settlement of some 85,000 South Sudanese refugees. As the UN makes multiple statements regarding ethnic cleansing in South Sudan, Uganda can barely open camps quickly enough to accommodate the influx of refugees. An average of 1,500 have been arriving every day since July 2016.

On December 19, the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that 584,573 South Sudanese refugees have arrived in Uganda since the civil war broke out in December 2013. Resources for the refugees are limited. There isn’t enough food, water, or sanitary pads for women, and education for children is limited. It may be safer in Uganda, but conditions are also inhumane. In August, the World Food Programme (WFP) cut rations by 50 percent for all refugees who had been in Uganda before July 2015. Now, the organization faces a funding shortage of $62 million for all refugee operations in the country for the next six months. If this continues, WFP will be forced to cut the quota for new arrivals as well. Even though they are receiving their allocated amount of food, most newly arrived refugees speak of hunger and say they don’t eat enough.

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Justin Cole is STAND’s Central and West Africa Coordinator. He is a Junior at UNC Chapel Hill where he majors in Economics and Peace, War, and Defense.

Elizabeth Westbrook is STAND’s Great Lakes of Africa Coordinator. She is a Junior at UNC Chapel Hill where she is a Political Science major.

Joanna Liang is STAND’s Sudan and South Sudan Coordinator. She is a Junior at the University of Delaware where she majors in History Education.

This week’s news brief focuses on South Sudan, Sudan, Burundi, DRC, and CAR. Thousands of South Sudanese refugees continue to flee to Uganda each day, and though the Darfur conflict may be forgotten in the international community, it is still far from over. DRC continues to face the possibility of civil war, and violence grows in Burundi as more and more flee the country. A conference held in Brussels on CAR addressed how to obtain long-term peace and resolve the humanitarian crisis within the country.

South Sudan

NPR reports that as violence continues in South Sudan, refugees are flowing into Uganda at a staggering rate; as many as 200,000 since fighting intensified in July. Refugees have been suffering from extreme food shortages, and many have reported being denied food rations. According to the report, “In August, the World Food Programme cut rations in half for families who have been in the country since July 2015 and are not considered extremely vulnerable,” in effect cutting rations from about 2,100 calories a day to about 1,000. A medical officer of Medical Teams International said malaria and malnutrition are two of the biggest concerns since people arriving the settlement camp have already been hungry for a long time.

On November 11, the Sudan Tribune reported that four people were killed in the South Sudan city of Yambio during a rebel attack. The mayor of Yambio said that gunshots erupted in the morning when the armed group came to attack a house belonging to a government security agent in Hai Kuba area. The group killed a young child and injured others.

The UN refugee agency has distributed lifesaving items to more than 6,000 vulnerable families trapped by fighting in Yei River state over the last six months. Internally displaced persons say they want to be allowed to safely return to their homes so that they can harvest the crops they planted. The food rations they are receiving are not enough to survive. Aid workers and local leaders reported thousands of Yei residents have been forced to enter into neighboring Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo because of food insecurity.

According to a November 16 Reliefweb report, many South Sudanese are at imminent risk of violence. The recent violence in the country particularly threatens populations who may be attacked on the basis of ethnicity and presumed political loyalties. UN Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng warned that populations face the threat of genocide unless national, regional and international actors “take immediate measures” to end the violence and uphold the responsibility to protect South Sudanese from atrocity crimes.

Sudan

Darfur’s conflict might be forgotten, but it’s not over. The conflict that broke out in 2003 forced millions of Darfuri refugees to flee the country. Human rights groups, diplomats, and Darfuri diaspora members have limited access to information from inside Darfur. As global interest in the conflict has faded, the Khartoum government has effectively sealed off the region to outsiders and taken control of the narrative around Darfur. In early September, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir traveled to Darfur to declare that peace had officially returned to the region, just weeks after African Union-backed peace talks fell apart in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. There appears to be little interest among global powers in challenging the government’s decision. A recent Amnesty International report documented ongoing government-sanctioned violence across much of the region since the beginning of 2016, including the possible the use of chemical weapons against civilians.

On November 16, Radio Tamazuj reported that Bashir described the South Sudanese government as Sudan’s “enemy.” This remark signifies growing tensions over slow implementation of joint agreements between the two countries. President Bashir said that South Sudan still wants to implement the 2012 Joint Cooperation Agreements signed by the two countries. Separately but concurrently, Bashir rejected calls for additional dialogue initiatives between actors in Sudan and insisted that opponents should join the existing National Dialogue.

Great Lakes of Africa

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

The Democratic Republic of the Congo faces the threat of civil war if Joseph Kabila does not step down from power at the end of his mandate on December 19. The Rassemblement, the group comprised of various opposition parties boycotting Kabila’s decision to delay elections to April 2018, have insisted that elections are the only path to a peaceful solution. Criticizing the deal to postpone elections organized by the DRC’s governing party, Etienne Tshisekedi, the leader of the major opposition party, stated that “Kabila has performed a coup d’état against himself by signing that agreement, because he made an oath to protect the constitution.”

The decision to postpone elections held firm as the DRC’s Prime Minister and Cabinet resigned on November 14 in accordance with the agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, the Prime Minister and Cabinet will be replaced with members of opposition parties who participated in the discussions to establish a balance in the government. Since the majority of opposition parties, as part of the Rassemblement, refused to attend the discussions, the members of the new government will not fully represent the portions of the society who supported the major opposition group.

Opposition leaders in the DRC have compared Kabila’s reign in recent years to that of Mobutu, and new information has strengthened this case by  linking Kabila to the further removal of resources from the DRC. On November 14 it was revealed that Gecamines, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s state mining company, signed over royalty rights to one of Kabila’s close friends. The revenue from the royalties, which could have generated as much as $880 million for the DRC government, is now owned by billionaire Dan Gertler, who has been accused by Global Witness of having played a role in other mining deals that have cost Congo over $1.36 billion in revenue. No reason for the selling of the royalties has been provided, but the rerouting of the income will decrease Congolese spending capabilities.

On November 8, an explosive device in Eastern Congo killed one young Congolese girl and injured two Congolese civilians in addition to 32 members of the MONUSCO task force. The UN responded by calling for action against the perpetrators, but there is no indication of who the perpetrators may be, as multiple militia groups are active in the region.

Human Rights Watch Senior Researcher Ida Sawyer submitted a letter to the UN Security Council on November 9 expressing concerns over the potential for violence if Kabila remains in office. The letter conveys a list of recommendations on how to avert crisis in the DRC. These recommendations include urging Kabila to step down, or at least to find a time before the end of 2017 to step down from his position, as well as a measures to increase the deployment of MONUSCO forces and to press them to focus specifically on the protection of journalists and political opposition.

STAND is working with partners such as The Enough Project, Jewish World Watch, and Stand With Congo, as well as Congolese diaspora and civil society organizations such as Friends of the Congo and LUCHA to push the U.S. to expand sanctions on enablers of violence against peaceful demonstrators in the leadup to December 19. You can join us by following us on twitter @standnow and tweeting/retweeting using #DRCsanctions, #ByeByeKabila, and #KabilaMustGo.

Burundi

The threat of destabilization and increased violence in Burundi has only increased in recent weeks and months, leading to an exodus of refugees leaving Burundi and hunger throughout the country.

The International Federation for Human Rights recently published a report detailing the situation in Burundi and providing specific examples of rights violations throughout the country. The report focused on “Repression and Genocidal Dynamics” and covered extrajudicial executions, targeted assassinations, enforced disappearances, lootings, torture, and ransoms. The report comes amidst concerns that Burundi has been “forgotten” by the international community. Meanwhile, the risk of genocide increases as ideology and identification processes are enforced. At the same time, citizens know little of what is happening outside of their own regions of Burundi and in the rest of the world, as President Nkurunziza has maintained a “vacuum” on all media following his announcement to run for a third term.

Refugees leaving the country now number at 311,083 since April 2015 with Tanzania alone receiving approximately 10,000 per month. Concerns about the great influx of refugees are increasing as violence continues and DRC simultaneously loses stability. UN reporters don’t anticipate any decrease in violence or in the outpouring of refugees. Most of the violence and executions have been politically motivated and directed towards those opposed to Nkurunziza’s third term.

Meanwhile, the World Food Program has determined that over 600,000 people out of Burundi’s population of 10 million are “short of food due to drought and flooding.” Most of those affected live in the Northern and Eastern provinces. Though Burundi ended its food exports to Rwanda earlier this year to attempt to prevent major shortages, it is still unable to provide enough food for all of its citizens.

Central and West Africa

Central African Republic (CAR)

The Brussels Conference, hosted by the European Union on behalf of the Central African Republic (CAR), began on November 17. The main objectives of the conference are to obtain long-term peace and address the humanitarian crisis that has engulfed the country. The success of both of these goals depends largely on the financial pledges of donors at the conference.

When France ended its military mission in CAR at the end of October, there were fears of fresh waves of violent attacks even though over ten thousand peacekeepers from the United Nations remained in the country. Though a brief period of peace lasted in early November, a fresh wave of violence between two Séléka groups in late November resulted in 14 deaths and 76 wounded citizens. The country continues to struggle with stability as most of the armed groups around the country continue to bare arms while the security sector remains woefully unequipped to execute the process of disarmament. The judicial system also remains incapable of providing justice. Many individuals who have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the conflict have not been prosecuted because of poor administration and a lack of funding. As a result, many feel as though they are able to kill again with impunity. A recent news release by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stressed that lasting peace would not be achieved without truth and reconciliation. For that reason, organizations such as Human Rights Watch have urged donors at the Brussels Conference to invest in the Special Criminal Court, which was established in June 2015 to prosecute those who committed crimes during the most recent conflict in CAR.

Beyond the struggle to achieve peace and justice, there is also a significant humanitarian crisis in CAR. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recently found that over 850,000 people, half of whom are children, are internally displaced or refugees. One third of children in the country do not have access to education. Furthermore, over forty percent under the age of five are chronically malnourished. The healthcare system has also suffered drastically. Hospitals do not have enough staff or supplies to effectively deal with disease. As a result, respiratory infections are the third most significant cause of death for children in CAR. Given that the country is ranked second to last in development by the UN, however, any assistance given during the Brussels Conference should not focus solely on mitigating the short-term crisis, but also on solving long-term problems.

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Justin Cole is STAND’s Central and West Africa Coordinator. He is a Junior at UNC Chapel Hill where he majors in Economics and Peace, War, and Defense.

Elizabeth Westbrook is STAND’s Great Lakes Coordinator. She is a Junior at UNC Chapel Hill where she is a Political Science major.

Joanna Liang is STAND’s Sudan and South Sudan Coordinator. She is a Junior at the University of Delaware where she majors in History Education.

This week’s news brief focuses on the Central African Republic (CAR), Nigeria, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Burundi. Human rights are under attack in Burundi as its leaders undergo steps to remove themselves from the International Criminal Court (ICC) and deny UN investigators access to the country. Violence continues to grow in the Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, there is some good news from Nigeria, where Boko Haram released 21 school girls previously held captive.

Great Lakes Region of Africa

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

Congolese President Joseph Kabila, his party, the People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and smaller opposition parties have officially proposed to delay the presidential election until April 2018. The proposal would allow Kabila to stay in power until elections, but with a Prime Minister selected from the opposition. On Monday, October 17, the Constitutional Court gave the electoral commission permission to delay the election, following the signing of the deal.

The main opposition bloc was not involved in the decision making of the election delay, and an official of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress, the largest opposition party in the DRC, Jean-Marc Kabund, claimed that his group did not recognize the agreement, which he described as a working document. The bloc has claimed they will continue to apply pressure to have the transition of power take place as originally planned in December, which could lead to more violent protests similar to those held in September.

On October 13, Human Rights Watch (HRW) distributed a message to European Union (EU) member states encouraging the imposition of targeted sanctions to “help prevent the situation in Congo from spiraling out of control in the coming weeks.” HRW has encouraged the EU to place sanctions on senior security forces officials, intelligence officers, and government officials to send the message that the international community will not tolerate repressive actions. HRW also issued a report that found that security forces used excessive force in September, resulting in the the deaths of 56 opposition protesters. In response, Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, sent a delegation to the DRC to call for restraint from both the opposition and the ruling party.

Meanwhile, in Katanga province, a dispute erupted between the Batwa and Luba ethnic groups. The Batwa accused the Luba of beating up vendors and imposing an illegal tax on the sale of caterpillars, which are one of the Batwa’s main sources of income. In response to the tax, members of the Batwa group killed several members of the Luba ethnic group, who in response killed thirteen Batwa. The groups have never fought over caterpillars before, suggesting that motivation for the violence comes most likely from their ongoing feud.

Burundi

Burundi has attempted to remove themselves from the scrutiny of the international community by officially declaring their withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) and by denying three United Nations (UN) rights investigators access to the country.

On October 18, Burundi became the first country to begin the withdrawal process from the ICC. President Pierre Nkurunziza signed legislation following a vote by lawmakers to withdraw; however, the withdrawal will not stop existing investigations that began before their withdrawal. The ICC began a preliminary investigation in April of this year, but will face difficulties pursuing a formal investigation because the government refuses to allow outsiders, and in particular those with a human rights focus, into Burundi.

Three UN investigators, Pablo de Greiff, Christoff Heyns, and Maya Sahli-Fadel, submitted a report on September 20 accusing the Government of Burundi and the people associated with it of “gross, widespread and systemic human rights violations.” These included enforced disappearances, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, and extrajudicial executions. The Burundian government has since banned all three investigators from entering the country. There are concerns that mounting violence will lead to genocide, however it is important to note that the violence and repression thus far appear to be limited to political opponents rather than ethnic or religious groups.

The political crisis in Burundi is leading to a greater economic crisis in the country. The government has banned food exports to Rwanda in hopes of meeting greater demand in Burundi, and fuel shortages have hurt the production of coffee, Burundi’s largest revenue source. In addition, the violence and political unrest are deterring tourists from entering the country, further damaging the economy. These blows to the economy have significantly lowered the living standards for those within Burundi.

Central and West Africa

Central African Republic

Two days after Marcel Mombeka, the head of the armed forces in the Central African Republic (CAR), was killed in the capital of Bangui on October 4, eleven civilians were killed in the PK5 neighborhood, a predominantly Muslim area of the city that had been largely peaceful since a visit by Pope Francis last November. Exactly one week later, fighters from the Séléka rebel group killed thirty in Kaga-Bondoro, allegedly in response to the death of four Muslims in the town. A different attack against a camp for displaced people in Ngakobo resulted in the deaths of eleven more.

These clashes are emblematic of two main realities. First, there are a number of “lawless enclaves” in CAR where the government lacks control. In these areas, armed groups have readily exerted influence by extorting taxes from the terrified population. Second, the goals of demobilization and reconciliation championed by President Faustin-Archange Touadéra are going to be far more difficult to achieve than anyone had hoped. Violence in certain neighborhoods have made people reluctant to return to their homes; as a result, close to 400,000 people remain displaced. Worse, the recent violence is making it more difficult to convince certain groups to disarm and reintegrate into society. After the recent violence in Bangui, anti-Balaka groups talked for three hours about whether they would still participate in the disarmament process. Although they ultimately did not withdraw, they made it quite clear that they would respond with violence if the Séléka fighters did not cease their attacks. They also expressed that their desire to be integrated into the military and involved in policymaking. Given that the government has rejected both of these demands already, the prospect of peace remains uncertain.

Beyond the violence, there remains a serious humanitarian crisis in the country, which is at least in part due to attacks against humanitarian organizations throughout the country. CAR ranks the highest on the Global Hunger Index, with malnutrition and starvation widespread around the country. There has also been an outbreak of monkeypox, the magnitude of which public health organizations are still trying to determine. As long as violence continues, however, it will be difficult to resolve such crises.

Nigeria

On October 13, twenty-one of the nearly three hundred Nigerian schoolgirls captured from a Chibok school in northern Nigeria were freed by Boko Haram. With the help of the International Red Cross and the government of Switzerland, the government of Nigeria and Boko Haram were finally able to come to an agreement after numerous failed negotiations that have taken place over this past year. The girls were found to be in “reasonably good health,” but were sent to medical facilities for monitoring. Despite this good news, the vast majority of the kidnapped girls remain captives. Although similar negotiation tactics could be used to free the remaining girls, Yemi Osinbajo, the vice-president of Nigeria, suggested that such talks with the terrorist group could also potentially compromise the safety of the country overall. If the government does believe such a tradeoff exists, it remains to be seen if all the girls will be rescued.

Although the release of these girls is rightly viewed as a success for President Muhammadu Buhari, he has also faced severe criticism as of late. Although he pledged both to defeat Boko Haram and to reduce corruption in the government, he has accomplished neither objective so far. On October 19, the terrorist organization attacked a small military encampment in the northeastern part of the country, wounding thirteen soldiers. For months, Boko Haram focused exclusively on attacking soft targets designed to kill civilians. This most recent attack, which is one of three recent strikes against the Nigerian army, may indicate that the terrorist group is regaining strength, despite the efforts of Buhari. The president is also widely acknowledged to have failed with regard to his second goal. Although he recently put two of his reportedly ten presidential jets up for sale in an attempt to “cut waste,” many critics argue that these actions are not enough. BudgIT has claimed that more money is spent on the presidential fleet than on higher education. Worse, many Nigerian lawmakers make handsome salaries as the vast majority of civilian suffer from the economic recession. Discontent has grown so great that Aisha Buhari, the first lady of the country, has said that she may not back her husband in the next election. The political turmoil within the government will likely make it even more difficult to address the recession that is hitting the people of Nigeria hard.

Sudan

On Friday, October 21 the 5th Annual Symposium on Women and Genocide took place in Washington, DC, featuring a series of panels and testimonies from genocide survivors to bring together scholars, student activists, and educators to discuss ongoing issues of genocide and mass atrocities throughout the world. The conference focused primarily on ongoing violence against women and children in Darfur. According to the UN, at least 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in Darfur since the outbreak of the genocide in the early 2000s.

On October 25, Sudan president Omar al-Bashir accused Amnesty International of spreading rumors that Sudanese government forces had used chemical weapons to attack civilians in Darfur. Amnesty had previously issued a report that Sudanese forces had used more than 30 suspected chemical weapons in a mountainous area in Darfur, which killed up to 250 people, including a large number of children. Darfur has been wrapped up in a deadly conflict since 2003 when different ethnic groups took up arms against Bashir’s Arab-dominated government.

On September 27, the UN reported that the Sudanese government continues to broach sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council because of their violent actions in Darfur. A group of experts issued the report, which found violations of the arms embargo and the use of cluster bombs, which have historically caused incredible harm on civilians in places ranging from Vietnam in the 1960s to Yemen and Syria today. The report also included numerous human rights violations committed by the government. Human Rights Watch’s Deputy U.N. Director Akshaya Kumar has argued that the sanctions “now exist in name only.”

South Sudan

On October 25, Amnesty International issued another report on recent atrocities committed by South Sudan’s army. The new report describes the murder of a 6-year old girl and a journalist and the gang-rape of a 15-year-old girl as among the crimes committed by South Sudanese soldiers during the clashes with the opposition in the capital city of Juba, where hundreds of people were killed in July.

In recent days, Sudanese rebels were given an ultimatum to leave South Sudan within 30 days. The two countries signed a non-aggression pact which demands that the two nations take no military action against each other. In order to show its full and sincere commitment to respecting the deal, the South Sudanese government has given armed groups from Sudan fighting the Sudanese government the opportunity to leave at the end of November, a move that contradicted the government’s earlier claims that it did not host armed dissidents opposed to the Khartoum regime within its borders.

On October 24, Ellen Margrethe Løj, the head of the UN mission in South Sudan, said the road to peace in South Sudan would be challenging. The South Sudan peace deal has stood at the verge of complete collapse since fighting broke out in the capital Juba last July, forcing the country’s former first vice president Riek Machar to flee. Løj heads a 12,000-strong peacekeeping force to protect civilians, some 200,000 of whom are sheltered at 6 UN bases in various parts of South Sudan. The number continues to rise as violence in the country continues.

After nearly three years of devastating civil war, several South Sudanese artists have recently launched a public art project in Juba, which aims to incite discussion about peace. The works of art, painted on walls, shipping containers, bakeries, schools, and cultural centers across Juba, often seek to emphasize the suffering of children and the self-destructive nature of the conflict to encourage work towards reconciliation.

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Justin Cole is STAND’s Central and West Africa Coordinator. He is a Junior at UNC Chapel Hill where he majors in Economics and Peace, War, and Defense.

Joanna Liang is STAND’s Sudan and South Sudan Coordinator. She is a Junior at the University of Delaware where she majors in History Education.

Elizabeth Westbrook is STAND’s Great Lakes Coordinator. She is a Junior at UNC Chapel Hill where she is a Political Science major.

This week’s news brief focuses on the Central African Republic (CAR), Nigeria, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Burundi. In Nigeria, violence is on the rise by both Boko Haram and the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA). In South Sudan, the UN is threatening an arms embargo if a peacekeeping force is not allowed by the government. Those opposed to a third term for President Kabila DRC are preparing for a fresh wave of protests, as he is constitutionally mandated to step down in December.

Central and West Africa

Central African Republic

On September 23, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, the president of the Central African Republic (CAR), spoke optimistically about the status of his country at the annual general debate of the United Nations General Assembly. Praising the United Nations, Touadera stated that he was proud of the progress that had already been made in establishing peace and stability in the country. Yet his speech also remained somber as the president acknowledged challenges still facing the state. Just five days before this speech, rebels killed dozens of citizens in the small village of Ndomete in one of the worst episodes of violence in the past few months. In response, the peacekeeping mission in the country elected to bolster its position in the area surrounding the site of the massacre. The lack of security in the country was also on display in the capital of Bangui on October 4. Three men grazing their flocks were killed, and Marcel Mombeka, the head of the armed forces in CAR, was assassinated. The combination of these two incidents has prompted some concern among those who fear that the country could spiral back into violence.

In the midst of this fragile peace, CAR also is attempting to rebuild the country, which has a long history of human rights abuses and mass atrocities, most recently in the wake of the 2012 coup d-état. On November 17, the CAR Donors and Investors Conference will take place in Brussels and will focus on rebuilding the capacity of the government so that it will be able to provide public goods such as security and social welfare programs. Unfortunately, there has been some criticism that such a conference will not do enough to involve local communities, which have grown increasingly capable of solving their own problems in the absence of a functional national government. As such, the national government must use pledged funds not as a temporary solution to immediate problems, but as a foundation to permanently rebuild the country.

Nigeria

On September 25, Boko Haram launched two different assaults against military positions in northeastern Nigeria. The first attack killed four soldiers in Logomani, and the second killed three soldiers and an officer near Bama. Both positions are under seventy miles from Maiduguri, the capital city of Borno state, where Boko Haram has been the most active.

Nigeria is also dealing with a second insurgency led by a group known as the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) who have been attacking oil and gas pipelines in an attempt to expel multinational oil companies from the country and obtain a more equitable distribution of revenue from such commodities. On September 23, the group, which had briefly halted its assaults, launched an attack against the Bonny crude export line. Just under a week later, they struck again against the Unenurhie-Evwreni delivery line. In response to these attacks, the National Association of Nigerian Students has attempted to reach out to the militants in this region and has urged them to end the violence, arguing that it only contributes to environmental degradation and economic setback. The Nigerian military has opened up a negotiation process with the militants, but also warned the group that it will strike back hard against those who do not participate.

The aggressiveness of Boko Haram and the Niger Delta Avengers combined with the steep decline in oil prices have had a severe impact on the economy of Nigeria, which depends almost exclusively on oil. On October 4, European Union official Fillippo Amato advised Nigeria to devalue the Naira in an attempt to mitigate the effects of the economic recession. The purpose of such a move would be to attract foreign investors who have understandably been wary to put their capital into a country still plagued by outbreaks of violence. This policy combined with more aid from the European Union should help alleviate the presently bleak humanitarian situation in Nigeria.

South Sudan

In September, The UN Security Council went on a three-day trip to South Sudan. Despite recently celebrating its fifth birthday, there was little appetite for celebration as violence continues to endanger the country’s prosperity. The most recent conflict included intense fighting between President Salva Kiir’s army and former Vice President Riek Machar’s troops, a reignition of the civil war after several months of calm. The conflict left at least 300 dead in July.  

The civil war in South Sudan sparked from the political conflict between President Kiir and former Vice President Machar. Even though they signed a peace deal a year ago, conflict has continued and Machar fled the country in July. According to a report by the Paris-based Sudan Tribune, Foreign Minister of South Sudan Ibrahim Ghandour said his government would not allow the armed opposition to attack South Sudan from its territory.

The country has endured a devastating civil war for 3 years now. The concerns over female safety in South Sudan continue to rise. In collaboration with International Women’s Media Foundation, Al Jazeera published an article on girls education in South Sudan. The article’s interviews with several South Sudanese girls make clear that girls in the war-torn country are extremely vulnerable. Many have been forced into early marriage and remain at risk of sexual abuse. However, the article also noted that girls in South Sudan are taking a stand to seek an education while fighting for their futures in one of the world’s most unstable countries.

On September 27, the Wall Street Journal published a news article on South Sudan’s peacekeeping force, which indicated that South Sudan’s government has repeatedly blocked the UN peacekeeping mission. The Associated Press acquired the initial UN report, which showed an ultimatum dealt by the UN to South Sudan: it must accept the deployment of a 4,000-strong regional protection force from the UN, or face a possible arms embargo. The UN chief listed 22 incidents in which South Sudanese security forces denied access for the U.N peacekeepers to operate their mission and made threats to their safety. Also on September 27, rebel forces in South Sudan said government troops launched attacks in the north. The troops threatened immediate retaliation. The threat has raised fears of further escalation of the civil war.

Great Lakes Region of Africa

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

The electoral commission in the DRC declared on Saturday, October 1 that polls would be delayed until December 2018. President Kabila has claimed that as many as 10 million unregistered voters would be disenfranchised if the election were to take place in the coming months and intends to remain in power until elections can be held.

Opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi has warned that protests will be organized again on October 19, two months before the end of President Kabila’s mandate, which is December 19. Tshisekedi claimed that the protests on September 19, in which over fifty people died, were a warning to Kabila, and that the October protests will be a “yellow card” that will ultimately lead to a “red card” if Kabila does not step down in December. Le Rassemblement, a group of opposition parties, has declared that they would interpret Kabila staying in office longer than his two terms as high treason. They have also denounced attempted peace talks as a “pseudo dialogue” and an attempt by the president to legitimize his strategy.

The opposition protests have drawn the attention of the international community, leading the United States to declare sanctions against Major General Amisi Kumba and former Senior Police Official John Numbi. The US Treasury said in a report that the sanctions have been raised in response to “increasing indications that the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to suppress political opposition in the country, often through violent means.” France also raised the issue of European Union sanctions on Tuesday, October 4, claiming that Kabila has no right to stand for re-election, and should step down.

Meanwhile the government in the DRC has claimed they will not allow South Sudanese rebels to stay any longer. The 750 armed opposition soldiers were in “extremely bad shape” and were staying in the Eastern Congo. The government has asked the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission (MONUSCO) to remove the group as they are considered a security threat.

Burundi

The United Nations presented an independent investigation on Burundi on Tuesday, September 27 that accused the government of Burundi of human rights abuses. The report includes the verification of 564 summary executions since Nkurunziza’s announcement that he would pursue a third term in office. The report has also confirmed evidence of rapes, disappearances, and mass arrests. The UN investigation specifically states that “widespread and systemic […]  patterns of violations clearly suggest that they are deliberate and the result of conscious decisions, it is in the government’s power to stop them.”

Protests have been held in Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi, aiming to modify the UN investigative report. The government and protestors claim that the report is biased and based in rumors and gossip. However, in response to the report, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution to create a commission to identify perpetrators of killings and violence. The violence remains political in nature, though there are concerns that the violence could become ethnically motivated as the top levels of government are using “unpleasant ethnic rhetoric” in an attempt to sway core Hutu supporters. The resolution and the investigation have both made reference to the possibility of invoking Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, which allows the UN to intervene using military and nonmilitary measures in order to restore peace and security. The UN has also pledged to work more closely with the East African Community to promote peace in Burundi.

Journalist Jean Bigirimana remains missing after being reported to have been arrested by security forces outside of the capital in July. Amnesty International is engaging activists with an online action urging an investigation into his case, and structural changes to protect journalists in the country.

In addition, Burundi is now facing a potential cholera epidemic and lack of clean drinking water in Mugoboka, a neighborhood in the Burundian capital. Over 9,000 people use the same source for drinking water, and although the chief of the Ruhero zone where Mogoboka is located denies any deaths caused by the cholera, he does acknowledge that the water shortage is a problem. The government is responding by trying to build a new public tap.

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Justin Cole is STAND’s Central and West Africa Coordinator. He is a Junior at UNC Chapel Hill where he majors in Economics and Peace, War, and Defense.

Joanna Liang is STAND’s Sudan and South Sudan Coordinator. She is a Junior at the University of Delaware where she majors in History Education.

Elizabeth Westbrook is STAND’s Great Lakes Coordinator. She is a Junior at UNC Chapel Hill where she is a Political Science major.

Get ready for a school year full of genocide prevention activism by getting caught up on the past 6 months in each of STAND’s watch areas. Interested in contributing to STAND’s reporting on these areas during the school year? Check out our Education Task Force applications here, due August 15. Contact Education Coordinator Bethany Vance at bvance@standnow.org with any questions!

Burundi

After over a year of political unrest in Burundi, nearly 300,000 people have fled to other countries, and over 400 people have been killed. There are over 6,000 political prisoners, including over 500 youth recently arrested for doodling on photos of President Pierre Nkurunziza. According to the UN, there have been 345 recorded torture cases, including by electrical shock and use of acid. Testimonies show women forced to strip naked to see relatives in prison, and Human Rights Watch has reported gang-rape of women by youth militia members as part of attacks on perceived opponents. UN Human Rights Chief Zeid Ra-ad al-Hussein has expressed concern regarding the growing use of hate speech, stating in June, “There are also deeply disturbing allegations of ethnic-based hate speech against Tutsis during a large public rally organised two weeks ago in the south of the country by the Imbonerakure militia. These allegations of speech amounting to incitement to violence must be urgently addressed.”

On March 22, an army colonel, Lieutenant Colonel Darius Ikurakure, was killed in Bujumbura. A Burundi rebel group claimed responsibility for the killing, which took place in the Defense Ministry compound. The Burundi government was in pursuit of the killer. Reuters reports the event as “the latest in a series of killings” that has occurred due to political instability in the country.

In January, the African Union failed to pass a resolution to bring peacekeepers into Burundi after Burundi’s government said they would consider such a force an invasion. On April 1st, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for the deployment of UN police to Burundi. Francois Delattre, French Ambassador to the UN, called the resolution “a first step towards a strengthened UN presence in Burundi to help ensure the respect for human rights and alert the international community on the reality of the situation on the ground.” Since then, the UN Security Council has waffled over the details—whether 3,000 police officers should be sent, or as few as 20 police advisors. Finally, on July 29, the UNSC voted to send a 228-member police force to Burundi. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power expressed her disappointment in the resolution, noting that the Security Council has not acted to prevent atrocities in Burundi.

The Burundian government has thus far resisted efforts by the UN to deploy police and military monitors. Before the UNSC vote, Burundian Foreign Minister Alain Nyamitwe affirmed, “The United Nations has to remember that there are AU observers who are on the ground so we just need a few to help stabilise the situation in the country.” Burundi was promised 100 AU military observers and 100 human rights observers, but so far, only 15 military observers and 32 human rights observers have actually been deployed.  

In April, The International Organisation of la Francophonie (OIF) suspended multilateral cooperation with Burundi. The OIF noted a ‘lack of progress’ and political will to resolve the conflict that has lasted over a year. The OIF articulated that several implemented programs that are “benefiting the civilian population in Burundi would continue.” Later in June, UNICEF voiced their concerns for Burundi school children after arrests, expulsions, and injuries continued to take place in schools. They have urged that children be left out of the political violence taking place in the country in order to peacefully continue their education.

For in-depth analysis on the Burundi crisis, see our blog post here. Take action for civilian protection in Burundi by signing our petition to the African Union here.

Burma

On March 15, Htin Kyaw, a writer and close friend of National League of Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi, was elected the new president of Burma. Suu Kyi was not expected to take a formal position in the new government, but rather to act as a senior advisor to the cabinet. The president-elect has already shown his commitment to the democratisation of the Myanmar government, notably by creating a new ethnic-affairs ministry that will support the peace process in ethnic minority areas. Shortly after the election, a statement from the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and Arakan Army announced, “Our armies are ready to find a real and better solution for ending the civil wars, seeing through a peace process and rebuilding Myanmar with the hope of national reconciliation by cooperating with the government of president U Htin Kyaw.” These changes, however, seem to have given the international community the go-ahead to downsize operations in Burma. This is premature, as fighting has displaced 10,000 people in recent months, and caused an increase in incidents of forced labour, torture, and sexual violence against women. Over 100 civil society organisations in Burma have written to the UN asking for it to continue its monitoring presence in the country as a reminder that there remain massive human rights challenges facing the country, despite its democratic transition.

Aung San Suu Kyi issued an amnesty order for the release of 113 prisoners of conscience as her first official act as Burma’s de facto leader. The new president Htin Kyaw announced that, in celebration of the Burmese New Year (04/17/2016), 63 political prisoners would be freed immediately to satisfy the majority of the people. However, while Burma was celebrating the release of student protesters and pro-democracy activists, two Muslim men were sentenced in Mandalay to two years in prison with hard labour for breaching internal migration laws by visiting the rebel-held Kachin state.

Plight of the Rohingya

On April 20, 21 Rohingya refugees were drowned when their boat, carrying 60 passengers, capsized during a routine trip from their refugee camp in Pauktaw Township to a local market in Sittwe. The UN denounced the treatment of Rohingya refugees at the camp and called for provisions for their transport to be improved immediately. On April 21, clashes between the Myanmar army and the Arakan Army (AA) forced more than 300 people in the Buthidaung township to flee their homes.

New disputes have risen along the Burma/Bangladesh border as the Myanmar government dismissed claims made by the Bangladeshi border control authorities that 340 displaced Rohingya refugees were unofficially deported across the border over those last 20 days in April. The 340 internationally displaced persons remained in detention in Bangladesh awaiting further decisions by the Myanmar authorities. Elsewhere, border security along the India-Burma border has been bolstered by both nations to guard against population movements.

The Myanmar government has not taken much decisive action to prove its commitment to freeing Burma’s political prisoners. On April 9, the Myanmar police force announced that it was in the process of dropping charges against all of the county’s remaining prisoners of conscience. However, this news was somewhat tarnished by the imprisonment of Nyi Nyi Lwin, better known as Gambira, a former anti-junta activist, on Tuesday for illegally entering Burma through Thailand. Gambira was sentenced to six months hard labour.

Commander in Chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, denounced the actions of the US Embassy, which on April 19 used the term ‘Rohingya’ in reference to the 20 people who drowned off the coast of Rakhine State last month. The army and much of the civilian population refuse to recognise the Rohingya and insist on referring to them as ‘Bengali’ temporary immigrants. In April, there was a sharp rise in anti-Rohingya activity in Burma, with several Buddhist nationalist groups mobilising to oppose the government’s and the international community’s recognition of the Muslim minority as a Burmese ethnic group. Tensions began to rise following a press conference on May 13 in which Min Aung Hlaing asserted that Burma has no Rohingyas and will not accept the term.

In response to this statement, several hundred Buddhist nationalists took to the streets in Mandalay demanding that President Htin Kyaw and foreign minister Aung San Suu Kyi declare the absence of Rohingya in the country within three days. Following the government’s refusal, a second protest took place on the 18th in the Ayeyarwady Region’s capital Pathein in which hundreds of protesters, including 90 monks and nuns, reasserted the demand for the Rohingya to be classified as ‘illegal immigrants.’ The government refused to bow to pressure, and, in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry last week, Suu Kyi asked for the United States to be patient in its support for the Rohingyas’ claim to citizenship and to give the Myanmar government “enough space” to tackle this divisive and complex issue.Near the end of June, the United States State Department named Burma one of the worst countries for human trafficking. The indictment further marred their international reputation and could potentially lead to economic sanctions. This came as a surprise to many, as Burma has experienced a period of sanction lifting by the United States and other countries in recent years. Many think this black mark on Burma is not only due to their poor human trafficking record, but also to their continuous poor treatment of the Rohingya.

Central African Republic (CAR)

On May 4, UNICEF, released a statement recognizing that one-third of the entire school-eligible population in the Central African Republic would not be attending school due to the shortage of school openings owed to violence, displacement, and a lack of schools and teachers. Many had been hopeful that with the election of the new president in March, schools would reopen. UNICEF is providing classroom materials, teaching lessons to students, and providing psychosocial support training to teachers due to the trauma faced by many students.

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) was reported to have renegade fighters in the northern part of the Central African Republic, especially in Obo, a small community near the border of South Sudan. However, the village has equipped itself with high-tech measures to fight off the group over the past few years, including high-frequency radios and satellite telephones provided by the organization Invisible Children. With these tools, the Obo radio station reports attacks and sends information immediately to the Ugandan Army, the African Union, and U.S. troops to address the threat. Recently, many homes have been burnt by the LRA in the region and three farmers were kidnapped and later returned.

Victims of sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers in CAR say that they have received little to no help or reparations. According to many of these victims, gang rapes carried out by peacekeepers have not been addressed sufficiently. Many survivors have not been treated, have moved from the area in which trauma occurred, and have seen their attackers leave the region unharmed. At a recent hearing in the US Senate, lawmakers threatened to withhold aid, both for the UN Department of Peacekeeping and for countries that fail to hold their soldiers accountable.

On June 21, former Vice President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jean-Pierre Bemba, was sentenced to 18 years in prison by the International Criminal Court for “leading a campaign of rape and murder in neighboring Central African Republic.” Bemba has already spent 8 years in International Criminal Court Detention, meaning he will only be forced to serve 10 more in order to complete his sentence. Since the trial ended, accusations have also surfaced that defense witnesses were bribed and coached into lying for Bemba’s defense in earlier trials. Aimé Kilolo Musamba, Bemba’s defense lawyer, claims to have no knowledge of the accused actions.

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

On March 30, the UN decided to extend the UN mission in the DRC through March 2017. The Head of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), Maman Sidikou, said the DRC was at a ‘critical juncture’ due to upcoming elections in November, which pose a threat of violence. The UN Security Council kept the authorized troop ceiling of 19,815 military personnel, 760 military observers and staff officers, 391 police personnel and 1,050 personnel of formed police units.

In northwest Congo, the Congolese military recently detained approximately 29 children suffering from dire conditions. More boys, ranging from 15-17 years old, have been held there since early 2015. They were allegedly members of the rebel armed group Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that none of the detainees were charged with any crimes. Ida Sawyer, a senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch has argued, “Congolese authorities should immediately release the children and adults held at Angenga prison who have committed no crime and fairly charge the rest.” Sawyer further stated, “Children who were rebel fighters should be rehabilitated, not thrown into prison and held there indefinitely.” HRW has also reported the poor conditions the detainees are forced to live in, “with inadequate food, clean water, and medical care.”

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which halted operations for four months in response to a December abduction of two MSF staff members, has decided to resume medical humanitarian assistance in Mweso, Masisi territory. After the attack, Annemarie Loof, MSF operational manager, explained, “this kind of attack against MSF is unacceptable, and we were left with no choice but to immediately suspend all activities and pull out the MSF teams.” MSF mandated proper security and the return of everything taken in the attack as a condition to resume work. Loof recently reassured that “MSF is now in a position to resume its lifesaving activities” for more than 390,000 people.

In June, many Congolese opposition leaders began calling for elections to take place on time in November and for a review of the electoral commission, in spite of its request to have more time to prepare. The opposition fears elections may be postponed to keep President Joseph Kabila in power beyond his mandate. Later in June, the president promised democratic elections and assured that they would take place in November. However, Kabila has still not made it clear whether he intends to run for president again. On July 1, opposition leader Moise Katumbi spoke out against Kabila publicly for the first time for refusing to promise that he will step down. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has not had a democratic transition of power in 56 years.

Sudan

In March, President Al-Bashir declared that military operations would continue in Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile State, and that he would not renew a ceasefire that was originally put into place to encourage groups to join the widely boycotted National Dialogue initiative. This dramatic and troubling change in policy came after a week of deliberation in Addis Ababa between the SPLM-N, JEM, NUP, SLM/AMM and the Sudanese government. The deliberations, facilitated by the African Union, produced an AU-proposed roadmap to ending conflicts in Darfur, Blue Nile State, and South Kordofan. The agreement called for a total and permanent ceasefire, a national dialogue, and the provision of humanitarian aid across Sudan. Although the AU and the Sudanese government agreed to uphold and implement the agreement, all opposition groups in attendance refused to sign it. The opposition claimed that the agreement favors the government and that the dialogue outlined by the agreement would be unproductive and exclusionary. In response, the UN and AU urged Sudanese rebel groups to sign the agreement, and gave non-signatories five days to sign. The March 28 deadline passed without any additional signatures.

Darfur

The AU and the UN issued a joint statement reiterating their concern over clashes and the displacement of over 90,000 civilians surrounding Jebel Marra, as fighting began again in mid-January. A lack of access to Central Darfur prompted a call from the US and other members of the international community for Khartoum to open Central Darfur up to aid agencies, much like it has done with North Darfur.

As it has been for years, the relationship between the UN and their peacekeeping mission in Sudan remains thorny. In a meeting between the UN, the AU, and Sudan, the Sudanese government renewed their call for UNAMID to speed up their exit strategy. In early June, Sudan expelled a top UN human rights official, Ivo Freijsen, claiming that he was publishing false reports about Khartoum’s conduct and displacement numbers. Burkina Faso, along with South Africa, recently withdrew forces from the UNAMID mission after the Sudanese government claimed they were no longer needed. On June 30, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to extend the UN-AU Mission in Darfur for one year—until June 2017. This decision to extend the mandate proceeded from the need to address the continued violence and weapons proliferation in Sudan as well as the needs of over 1.6 million Sudanese people still living in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps.

Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains

The SPLM-N claimed that they stopped a government offensive conducted in March 2016 in Blue Nile, as the Sudanese Armed Forces started sending reinforcements to Jebel Kolgo, stoking fears of a dramatic military escalation in the area. In late March, Blue Nile State saw some of the fiercest fighting in clashes between rebel groups and the Sudanese Army. Renewed shelling in Jebel Marra led to the displacement of thousands more civilians in the region, adding to a UN-approximated total of 129,000 displaced persons.

The Nuba Mountains became a flashpoint of violence in South Kordofan as the Sudanese Army launched new offensives in March in six areas of the region in response to SPLM-N rejection of the roadmap ceasefire agreement. Allegations also surfaced that both sides have targeted civilians on the basis of religious or ethnic identity. The international community condemned Sudanese bombing of civilians in South Kordofan, but the condemnation was rejected by Khartoum, claiming it was biased.

South Sudan

As political instability grows, violence and unrest continue to wreak havoc in South Sudan, as the Ceasefire and Transitional Monitoring Mechanism has claimed that they have observed at least five violations of the ceasefire stipulated in last August’s peace accords. The SPLA-IO has accused the government of planning to launch an offensive on their positions in Mundri. As fighting rages on, human rights violations and egregious war crimes such as mass rape and indiscriminate targeting of civilians continue to play a role in the conflict in South Sudan. The United Nations recently accused the SPLA of committing atrocities across the country, including killing 50 civilians by stuffing them into shipping containers. South Sudan’s Presidential spokesperson dismissed these allegations, calling them “unethical” and blaming the opposition for committing these acts.

In early March, there was renewed optimism surrounding the imminent creation of a new transitional government, despite numerous obstacles to long-term peace in the country. The arrival of a number of SPLM-IO forces to Juba, South Sudan’s capital, raised hopes that the August peace accords would begin to come into full effect, especially as Vice President and opposition leader Riek Machar reiterated his intention to return to the capital city as soon as a minimum of 1,370 SPLM-IO forces were in place. Despite months of delay and logistical issues, on March 25, 22 opposition police officers entered the city as part of a joint police force—the first time armed members of the SPLM-IO have been in Juba in two years. More troops followed in the next several weeks.

On April 27, Riek Machar returned to Juba and was sworn in as Vice President of South Sudan. His return, which had been hampered and constantly delayed over security concerns and logistical difficulties, was seen as the next step to the formation of a transitional government and creation of a new constitution to govern South Sudan, after 3 years of civil war. Machar’s presence in the capital was lauded by the US and other members of the international community as a positive move. After additional pressure from the UN to quickly form an interim government, as well consultations with political organizations in the country, a unity government was formed.

Although fighting between the SPLA-IO and SPLA have died down markedly from the apex of the South Sudanese Civil War, inter-communal fighting and tensions continue to rise as major social issues remain unaddressed in the country. At a Dinka church, Machar made controversial remarks calling for the people of South Sudan to forget past atrocities and fighting between ethnic groups. Displaced Nuer people have also called for South Sudanese leaders to emphasize reconciliation and forgiveness. Following these remarks, violent Dinka protests forced the pastor, who invited Machar to the church, to resign. The UN has called for a transitional mechanism to try those who committed war crimes during the course of the conflict.

United Nations announced on June 23 that it was removing its peacekeepers in the South Sudanese city of Malakal for failing to respond to a violent attack on a UN camp that took place in February. During the attack, armed men stormed the camp and opened fire on civilians before setting many parts of the camp on fire, leaving 40 dead and 123 wounded. “There was a lack of responsiveness by some, a lack of understanding of the rules of engagement by some,” said UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, who refused to single out any individuals. 48,000 people were being housed at the camp before the blaze cost 20,000 their homes. The attackers were said to have burnt the homes of civilians who belonged to particular tribes.

On July 7, troops loyal to South Sudan President Salva Kiir and soldiers loyal to Vice President Machar clashed in Juba. This confrontation sparked the worst violence the country has seen in months. At least five soldiers died on July 7 alone, and over the 5 days of violence, over 300 people, including many civilians, were killed. The killings stopped on Saturday, South Sudan’s fifth anniversary of independence from Sudan, but continued on Sunday and Monday. Several foreign countries withdrew their citizens from the country, and several elite officials, including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, called for an end to the violence. Monday evening, the clashes ceased after leadership from both sides called for an end to the fighting. While tenuous, the ceasefire ended virtually all violence in the region and has held to this day. Vice President Machar left Juba in response to the fighting. On July 23, an armed opposition group claimed to have replaced Machar with Taban Deng, who acted as the rebel’s chief negotiator during peace talks with the South Sudanese government. Machar refuted the claim and stated that he fired Taban earlier that week for holding negotiations with Kiir without Machar’s permission.

The United Nations Security Council voted on Friday, July 29 to extend the UNMISS mandate to August 12. Many are hoping that, following this extension, an arms embargo on South Sudan or a security force in Juba would help lessen the violence. Some groups are pushing for the UNSC to include an arms embargo in their next resolution on South Sudan.

Syria

The Geneva peace talks, which had been delayed repeatedly, finally resumed on March 14. Representatives from the HNC (the opposition’s High Negotiations Committee, formed in Riyadh last December) did not meet with Assad regime representatives, but rather negotiations occurred by proxy through United Nations Envoy Staffan de Mistura. De Mistura held substantive talks with the HNC to discuss the HNC’s proposal for political transition in Syria. The talks focused on conceptualizing the mechanics of political transition in Syria with Assad’s potential role remaining a point of contention.

Peace talks in Geneva continued through the end of March. After the first week, de Mistura praised the depth of the opposition’s proposals, but remained frustrated with the Assad regime’s reluctance to discuss specific issues, as opposed to vague principles of transition. In the second week, the UN increased pressure on the Syrian government to explicitly express their vision for political transition in Syria, specifically in regards to the expected role of the Assad regime. As negotiations paused, with an aim to reconvene on April 9, De Mistura hoped that the next round would focus more on the detailed mechanics of the political process. Diplomats on all sides expressed cautious optimism following the first round of talks, and expressed that they felt the early stages of negotiations set the foundation for tangible change. However, in an interview published on March 30, Assad expressed his plans to reject the opposition-proposed idea of a “transitional body,” asserting the need for Syria to move directly from one constitution to another.

The March ceasefire had some success in reducing violence and creating the necessary conditions for the delivery of humanitarian aid. However, the ceasefire was not wholly successful, as accusations of violations continued to come from all sides of the conflict. In response, the US State Department created a 24-hour hotline to monitor ceasefire violations. The 17-Nation International Syria Support Group created a task force to monitor violations, but complications have arisen due the role of Russia (which has also been accused of violations) in leading the group. Representatives from the opposition’s High Negotiations Committee have been the most vocal critics of the temporary ceasefire, which, they argue, has allowed Russia and the Syrian government to make significant military gains, while refusing demands for the release of detainees.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he would begin withdrawing forces from Syria on Tuesday, March 15. While this announcement came as a shock to many, analysts claimed that the Russian withdrawal was not entirely unexpected, given that Putin has largely accomplished his goals in Syria by bolstering the Assad regime, preventing Western- or American-led regime change, and reasserting Russia’s role as a major world power. De Mistura and Syrian opposition negotiators expressed hope that the Russian withdrawal would have a positive impact on negotiations, pushing the Syrian government to be more participatory. However, Putin made it clear that Russia could resume its military presence within Syria in a matter of hours, whenever necessary. Finally, a leading Kurdish group declared the creation of an autonomous federation in Northern Syria. Practically, this declaration is unlikely to change much, as the area is already under autonomous Kurdish control, but the declaration raised serious political concerns for the HNC, the Syrian government, and the Turkish government, and may complicate the Geneva talks.

Despite diplomatic progress, new reports indicate that progress on on-the-ground humanitarian initiatives have stalled. An April press release from Amnesty International reported that Turkish officials have forcefully repatriated hundreds of Syrian refugees through Turkey’s southern borders. These estimates indicate that Turkish authorities have deported groups of 100 men, women, and children back to Syria on almost a daily basis since mid-January. These individuals have included children without their parents, a protected group that is illegal to deport under Turkish, EU, and international law. Another report from UN humanitarian chief Stephan O’Brien indicates that only 30% of Syrians living in besieged areas and less than 10% in hard-to-reach areas have received aid this year due to security concerns. The chief added that over 80,000 medical items had been removed by the Syrian government from convoys containing aid and medical supplies.

On May 12, Amnesty International released a press release describing reports of indiscriminate attacks carried out by armed opposition groups, possibly including the use of chemical weapons, surrounding the predominantly Kurdish Sheikh Maqsoud district of Aleppo. Two of the opposition groups said to have been carrying out these attacks, Ahrar al Sham and Army of Islam, had sent representatives to Syrian peace talks in Geneva in the past, leading many to question if they should be allowed to return. Doctors in the area reported treating 6 civilians who exhibited symptoms similar to those of chlorine gas victims, and most of these victims reported seeing yellow gas upon impact of the missiles. The Sheikh Maqsoud district was heavily under attack between February and April 2016. 83 civilians have been reported dead, while over 700 have been injured. Since the attacks, the United Nations has promised to investigate the use of chemical weapons in Syria, but has yet to pinpoint all of the exact groups carrying out chemical weapons attacks.

Approximately 224 people were reportedly killed within the first week of the holy month of Ramadan, an Islamic holiday observed in the ninth month of the Muslim year, which began on June 5. Most of these deaths were attributed to barrel bombs dropped by the Syrian government and Russian airstrikes. These bombings led to the deaths of 50 children and 15 women between June 6 and June 12. The deadliest attack took place in the city of Idlib when a single Russian airstrike killed 41 civilians, including many women and children.

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This News Update was compiled by the 2015-2016 Education Task Force:

• Ellen Bresnick, Great Lakes of Africa Education Coordinator, Middleton High School ‘17
• Ruhi Bhaidani, Central and West Africa Education Coordinator, University of Chicago ‘19
• Sophie Back, Southeast Asia Education Coordinator, University College London, ‘16
• Jason Qu, Sudan and South Sudan Education Coordinator, Bronx High School of Science, ‘17
• Maddie King, Middle East and North Africa Education Coordinator, Johns Hopkins University, ‘17

We are also entirely indebted to STAND summer intern and incoming Education Coordinator Bethany Vance, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ’18 for editing and updating this news brief.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) has confirmed it will contest the upcoming elections despite their leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, remaining banned from becoming President.  Suu Kyi said they have a plan to deal with the problem, and the NLD has said it will select an NLD member to run for President.  Majority leader of the US Senate Mitch McConnell has criticized Burma’s government for keeping the Constitutional provision barring Suu Kyi from becoming President, and has said that Burma should not receive trade benefits until after the election.

Religious freedom in Burma may take a blow if the President signs a bill on interfaith marriage into law.  Parliament passed a bill that would require Buddhist women to get approval from local authorities to marry a man of another faith.  The bill is strongly back by the Buddhist nationalist organization Ma Ba Tha.  In Rakhine State, few Rohingya have taken the new green cards on offer by the Burmese government, as they must identify themselves as Bengali in order to get the card.  Only 1,600 Rohingya have applied for green cards, which replace the 400,000 white cards that the government revoked earlier this year.

Rebels from the Democratic Karen Benevolence Army (DKBA) continues to fight the Burmese military in a battle over the Asia Highway in Karen State.  At least four DKBA soldiers and seven Burmese army soldiers have been killed in the clashes.  There was also shelling in Shan State, where fighting between the Kachin Independence Army and the Burmese Army killed one person and hundreds of civilians were forced to flee.

Central African Republic (CAR)

The Central African transition government has controversially decided to exclude refugees from the upcoming election.  More than 460,000 people who fled to neighboring countries will be unable to vote.  As refugees are disproportionately Muslim, Muslims will have less influence in the election.  Various UN agencies have expressed their concern about the decision.

French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius visited CAR this week.  His visit was designed to show support for transitional President Catherine Samba-Panza and an eight million euro budgetary aid agreement, much of which will go to support the upcoming elections.  However, it also drew a great deal of attention to the alleged child sexual abuse committed by French peacekeepers in CAR.

MINUSCA, the UN peacekeeping force in the Central African Republic, will receive 750 new troops after the Republic of the Congo sent the soldiers to replace soldiers that had served for over a year.  However, in an unrelated situation, 20 peacekeepers will be sent home for excessive use of force in an incident that killed two people.

In Bangui, unidentified gunmen attacked Central African police, wounding two officers.  The attack came several days after unidentified gunmen attacked the state radio station.

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

The DRC is stepping up the process of decoupage, which will separate the country’s 11 provinces into 26 provinces.  Nine new provinces were implemented in the last week.  The DRC’s government has announced that gubernatorial elections for the new provinces will take place between July 27th and 31st.

Six people were abducted in Orientale Province in an attack believed to be committed by the LRA.  Also, in Walikale territory in North Kivu, the APCLS kidnapped ten people.  In response to this type of attack, citizens in Walikale have organized self-defense militias, citing lack of protection from police and military.  In Ituri, the Ituri Patriotic Resistance Force attacked a camp for displaced people.  One rebel leader seems unlikely to lead further attacks.  Jamil Mukulu of the Ugandan Islamist group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) was extradited to Uganda from Tanzania to face trial.

The European Union has pressured the Congolese government to release two civil society activists who have been held since their arrest in March.  Government spokesman Lambert Mende rejected the EU’s recommendation as meddling in the internal affairs of a sovereign country.

South Sudan

The South Sudanese government has made clear its displeasure with the UN’s recent actions.  In response to the UN’s report that found the South Sudanese army guilty of human rights abuses, South Sudan has expelled one UN official and may expel another.  President Kiir also criticized the imposition of sanctions on three South Sudanese commanders.  UN secretary-General has continued his efforts, however, and called on South Sudanese leaders to find a political solution and stop the violence.  The executive director of the South Sudan Human Right Society for Advocacy has also called on President Kiir to stop the violence.

Local violence has continued at a large scale in Lakes state.  Nine people were killed in clashes between the Panyon and Dhiei clans.  Then, 27 people were killed in a raid on Pappul cattle camp, including a number of civilians.

The rising price of water is putting more people at risk of cholera as people will have less access to clean water.  Since June, there have been 790 cases of cholera and 33 people have died in the cholera outbreak that originated in a displaced person’s camp in Juba.

Sudan

Hassan al-Turabi, leader of the Popular Congress Party (PCP), said that he was confident that Sudan’s Islamists would reunite within the next year.  It seems unlikely Sudan’s Islamists all agree, but Turabi did meet with President Omar al-Bashir this week.  The two had considered the other an enemy since Turabi split from the National Congress Party in 1999 to form the PCP, but relations between the two have thawed in the last year.

Opposition parties in the national dialogue have held talks with opposition parties that have not yet joined the dialogue in an attempt to convince them to join.  However, talks between the Sudanese government and the SPLM-N are not going well, and the Sudanese government has accused the SPLM-N of having unrealistic demands and being at fault for the failure of peace talks.

President Omar al-Bashir visited Saudi Arabia to discuss building closer ties between the countries with the Saudi King.  This marks a shift in Sudan’s alliances after Sudan distanced itself from Iran earlier this year.  President al-Bashir also completed the umrah while on the trip.

Twelve Sudanese women in Khartoum faced 40 lashes after they were arrested for wearing trousers.  The women were Christian and originally from the Nuba Mountains, and while three were not sentenced to flogging, the possibility remains for the nine other women.

Syria

ISIS and the Syrian military engaged in heavy fighting around the city of Palmyra.  Syrian forces closed in on the city and killed over 30 ISIS fighters, but ISIS then captured over 100 Syrian soldiers in an ambush.  The Assad regime did have a victory in Zabadani, where Hezbollah and Syrian army forces took the main entrance to the city, which is close to the border to Lebanon.

The US has continued launching heavy airstrikes against ISIS, with 16 in Syria this past weekend.  Two senior leaders of ISIS were killed in the attacks.

The conflict continues to have huge costs on Syrian civilians.  In Aleppo, a drought is causing a water shortage for civilians, who also struggle to access water due to restricted movement caused by fighting and attacks on water sources.  Meanwhile, in response to the shortage of funds for Syrian refugees, Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has called world leaders “quite stingy.”

Emerging Conflicts: Burundi

Burundi remains on the brink as controversy over President Pierre Nkurunziza’s run for a third term continues.  Nkurunziza decided to run despite strong opposition and doubts over the constitutionality of his decision.  In light of the ongoing unrest, presidential elections have been pushed back from their originally scheduled date of July 15th to July 21st.  Parliamentary elections recently took place and were won by Nkurunziza’s CNDD-FDD party, but the elections were marred by an opposition boycott and strong doubts over their legitimacy.  Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has been called in to mediate between the CNDD-FDD and the opposition.

There also seems to have been an upsurge in violence.  Burundi’s military announced that it had killed 31 opposition rebels and captured 170 in the country’s north.  The exact allegiances and identity of the rebels remains unconfirmed.  There have also been a number of grenade attacks in the capital city, Bujumbura.  However, there may be hope in the disarmament of the CNDD-FDD’s youth wing, the Imbonerakure.  The group has long been considered a dangerous potential source of violence, but Ugandan President Museveni said that they had been disarmed.  This would be welcome news, but it does confirm that the Imbonerakure were armed and doubts remain about the extent of their disarmament.

The election has been set for November 8th.  It is Burma’s first open general election in 25 years.  The incumbent Union Solidarity and Democracy Party, led by President Thein Sein, will be contested by the National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi.  Parliament recently voted against removing a Constitutional clause that bars her from becoming President, but despite this Aung San Suu Kyi has continued campaigning.

Negotiations between the Burmese government and ethnic rebels in Thailand made some progress, with chief peace negotiator Aung Min saying it was possible a deal could be struck.  The parties will meet again in a few weeks.  The Burmese government also may have quite a few more years of Thein Sein as President, as he has said he will consider a second term.

The military has engaged in multiple clashes.  In Karen State, government troops fought members of the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, while in Shan State unknown rebels attacked an army outpost.  In Rangoon, military MPs have argued strongly against a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow state parliaments to choose chief ministers.  Efforts to reduce military power also took a hit as five student leaders who led protests against the military influence in Parliament were arrested.  In Rakhine State, the military continues to use Rohingya in forced labor.  While a UN Human Rights Council resolution sought to bring attention to this and other human rights abuses of Rohingya, the Burmese government has rejected the proposal.

Central African Republic (CAR)

Unidentified gunmen unsuccessfully attempted to take over CAR’s main radio station.  In the middle of the night, a dozen men surrounded the station, scaled the fence, and broke into the radio station.  However, they were repelled by security forces.  It is believed they wanted to take over the radio station to make a political statement over radio, but it is unknown what political beliefs they held.

French investigators have left for the Central African Republic, where they will meet with children accusing French peacekeepers of sexual abuse.  Over a dozen French peacekeepers are being investigated for allegations of sexually abusing children in exchange for food in early 2014.  French authorities were informed of the abuse in July 2014, but the investigation is still in progress.

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

The United States has appointed Tom Perriello as its new Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region of Africa.  He succeeds Russ Feingold, who left the position in February.  Perriello does not have experience in the region, but he has worked on transitional justice projects in Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Darfur.  He was a Democratic representative in the House from 2008 to 2010.

In Ituri, the Ituri Patriotic Resistance Force (FPRI) killed a woman and a 13-year-old girl and raped three others.  This follows another attack from the militia last Tuesday.  In Goma, two people were killed and multiple others wounded in a series of attempted robberies by bandits, who have since been captured.

Government spokesperson Lambert Mende has suggested that the government of the DRC would be open to MONUSCO and FARDC working together in operations against the FDLR.  Efforts broke down earlier this year after MONUSCO objected to the inclusion of several generals with records of human rights abuses in FARDC forces.  The UN has called for a greater police presence in the DRC.  At the moment, there is only one police officer for every 700 people, and they are located disproportionately in urban areas.

South Sudan

Government forces and rebels each had multiple ups and downs this week.  The South Sudanese army reclaimed Malakal, the strategically important capital of Upper Nile state, a week after losing it to rebels.  Upper Nile state is rich in oil, but in Unity state, rebels allied with Riek Machar regained control of Tharjath oil field.  In Northern Bahr el Ghazal, rebels took over an administrative headquarters, only to leave shortly afterwards.  In Lakes state, there was communal violence unrelated to the conflict between Kiir and Machar, killing 15 people.

One thing the South Sudanese government and rebels can agree on this week is their unhappiness with the actions of the UN.  A UN report accused the SPLA of, among other human rights abuses, raping and burning girls in Unity state.  However, the South Sudanese embassy in Kenya accused the UN of bias, while Justice Minister Paulino Wanawila also rejected the allegations.  Rebel General James Koang has objected to the sanctions placed upon him by the UN Security Council, calling instead for justice and saying the sanctions will not affect him or the war.

Newly released figures show that 730,000 South Sudanese have fled to other countries since the civil war began, with Ethiopia the most frequent destination.  Over 150,000 people are sheltering in UN bases.  However, the war shows few signs of ending.  Riek Machar has said the war will last as long as Kiir is President and called on him to resign immediately.  There may be some promise in the G10, as the group of former political detainees has said that military action will not resolve the conflict and that they are trying to bridge differences between the two parties.

Sudan

US Special Envoy to Sudan Donald Booth will visit the country by the end of July.  He will discuss normalizing relations between the countries and ending sanctions on Sudan.  Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour has said he hopes the talks are based on a new approach as compared to past talks.  Ghandour also met with the African Union Special Envoy to Sudan to discuss the peace talks.

The ruling National Congress Party has said that it met with unnamed opposition parties in an attempt to convince them to participate in the national dialogue.  However, rebels in the SPLM

-N have reiterated their desire for a new peace process, saying the current one only suits the interests of the Sudanese government.

The Sudanese government will deploy a joint police and army force to East Darfur.  They said that recent tribal violence prompted the force, which will attempt to restore security to the area.

Syria

Syrian rebels led by al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra battled government forces in Aleppo, which is held by the Assad regime.  Rebels initially made advances and took important positions, but since have been fought back.  ISIS took back Ain Issa after several weeks of Kurdish control, only to lose it back several days later.  The town is 30 miles from ISIS’s capital, Raqqa.

The US-led coalition launched heavy strikes on Raqqa over the weekend, killing ten ISIS fighters.  However, there are also reports that eight civilians were killed in the strikes.  This week President Obama said that the US would step up its campaign against ISIS and its support to moderate rebels.  It was revealed later this week that the US’s “train and equip” program, at a cost of $500 million, has only trained 60 rebels.  The process has been slowed by attempts to vet rebels before permitting them to join the program, but defense officials maintain the program will be expanded to meet their targets.

The Syrian government has taken a $1 billion loan from ally Iran.  Iran has already loaned significant funds from Iran, as the Syrian government’s budget and economy has been hard hit by the conflict.  They aren’t the only ones suffering from the conflict, and new figures show that 4 million Syrians are refugees, making it the largest refugee crisis in 25 years.

Emerging Conflicts: El Salvador

El Salvador has been wracked by extensive violence as gangs fight among themselves and with police or other government forces.  The government lacks control of much of the country, with many areas dominated by gangs, particularly the Barrio 18 and MS-13 gangs.  The government had been in a truce with gangs for a year, with imprisoned gang members transferred to lower-security prisons and less violence between the parties.  However, the Salvadoran government broke the truce and launched a crackdown on gangs.  The crackdown has in many ways backfired, as there have been few victories against the gangs and the gangs have responded by stepping up violence.  The government has announced plans to further escalate the fight against the gangs, but there also might be hope through the promise of civilian self-protection strategies.

677 murders took place in June, 641 in May, and there have been over 3,000 in 2015.  This is a 55% increase in murders from the same period last year and is El Salvador’s worst violence since the civil war.  More civilians were killed in May in El Salvador than in ISIS-controlled Iraq.  Salvadoran civilians face constant risks.  They can be murdered for going into territory of a different gang than the one that controls their home neighborhood, having witnessed a crime, or just being suspected of assisting a rival gang or the police.  As many as 280,000 people have been internally displaced by the violence, and in lack of safe options, many have also attempted to escape to the US.

The flow of Rohingya refugees has slowed since its peak a few weeks ago, but the problems still remain.  Large numbers of Rohingya refugees, often transported in boats by traffickers demanding large sums, attempted to leave repression in Burma and refugee camps in Bangladesh.  Their primary destinations were Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, but these countries mostly turned away refugees who were then left stranded.  At this point, many smugglers left the refugees at sea, and there are even mass graves where smugglers are believed to have left refugees.  The Burmese government has responded to the crisis by increasing efforts to prevent the flow of refugees.  However, they maintain that the Rohingya are Bengali, not Burmese, and refuse to improve their conditions.  Many Burmese share this view, and 500 people marched in Sittwe to protest the return of Rohingya refugees to Rakhine State.  Pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who recently visited China, has maintained her silence on the situation of the Rohingya, likely because of a fear of losing popularity as she runs for President.  Bangladesh’s response to the crisis has been to propose moving its 32,000 registered Rohingya refugees to a frequently flooded island.

500 Rohingya were recently granted Burmese citizenship, reportedly after officially accepting the government’s label as Bengali.  However, the government has restricted their movement, arguing that this is necessary for protecting their safety.

In Shan State, the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) unilaterally declared a ceasefire with the Burmese government.  The Khokane rebels cited a desire for elections to go forward peacefully, and the decision also closely followed a summit of ethnic armed organizations that they attended.

Central African Republic (CAR)

The Central African Republic is preparing for parliamentary elections next month.  The UN Peacebuliding commission has called on all stakeholders to support a successful atmosphere for the upcoming elections.  However, they have acknowledged that the budget for the elections is $21 million short, and they called for additional support from international partners.

A new study by Save the Children has found that over 60% of school-aged children in the Central African Republic suffer from PTSD.  They found 91% of children have experience fear of death or serious injury, and large portions of children have witnessed serious acts of violence.  The Enough Project also released a new report which found that armed groups in the country have extensive profit-generating operations.

Pope Francis has announced that he is planning a visit to the Central African Republic in November, and he hopes the trip comes before the presidential transition.

DR Congo (DRC)

The DRC military (FARDC) has launched operations with UN forces against the Ituri Patriotic Resistance Front (FRPI).  The operation marks a return to military cooperation between the UN and FARDC, who have not worked together since the UN rejected cooperation with FARDC in an operation against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) after the Congolese government appointed generals with records of human rights abuses for the operation.  The operation against the FRPI, a local militia of several hundred fighters, has led to the death of 34 FRPI fighters and four members of FARDC, while the civil death toll is unclear.  In Walikale, clashes between factions of the Raia Mutomboki have led to civilian insecurity.

The Executive Secretary of the International Conference on the Great Lakes region says the repatriation of M23 fighters should finish in August.  Meanwhile, the founder of M23, Bosco Ntaganda, is set to undergo trial at the International Criminal Court in the Hague.  Due to concerns about the safety and emotional wellbeing of victims, the ICC somewhat controversially decided not to hold the hearing in the northeastern DRC city of Bunia.  Ntaganda is charged with 18 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.  He is the first suspect to voluntarily surrender themselves to the ICC.

In other news, 220 Congolese NGOs and 14 international NGOs have demanded the release of two activists arrested in a raid on a pro-democracy meeting in Kinshasa in March.  They are charged with plotting against President Joseph Kabila.  Verisk Maplecroft also published their corruption index this week, and the DRC topped the list.

South Sudan

South Sudanese rebels in Northern Bahr el Ghazal have claimed that as many as 200 government troops defected to join their ranks.  The rebels are under the command of Riek Machar, who recently met with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete to discuss the Arusha SPLM Intraparty dialogue.  The UN also told the African Union that it would support its efforts to resolve the conflict.  The peace process is not going entirely smoothly, however, and President Salva Kiir has rejected the most recent IGAD peace proposal.  As the conflict continues, civilian casualties grow and UNICEF documented the deaths of 129 children in May in Unity State.  There could also be another layer to the conflict, as the South Sudanese government accused the Sudanese government of carrying out an air attack in Upper Nile state.

The conflict has led to a humanitarian crisis, and 4.6 million people are in need of food assistance, according to the UN office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.  The US has announced it will contribute another $133 million to assist displaced South Sudanese civilians.  Aid agencies took a hit in Jonglei state, however, where bandits broke into the office of the Jonglei Food Security Program and stole $147,000.

In an effort to stop the conflict, Humanity United, Human Rights Watch, the Enough Project, United to End Genocide, the American Jewish World Service, and the National Association of Evangelicals called on the US to impose targeted sanctions against individuals in South Sudan who have committed serious human rights violations.  The South Sudanese government did not agree, calling the NGOs’ actions a “disincentive” for peace.  The NGOs are not the only ones examining targeted sanctions.  The African Union proposed sanctions on parties that do not comply with the peace process, and the UN also has a team of investigators in the country to determine if some individuals and parties should be the targets of sanctions.

Sudan

The biggest story in Sudan this week was the escape of President Omar al-Bashir from South Africa.  Al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, travelled to Rome Statute signatory South Africa for an African Union Summit.  He has travelled to other countries obliged to arrest him before, and South Africa’s government was prepared to allow him to visit without arresting him.  However, after al-Bashir arrived, a court issued an order barring him from leaving the country in the next day, as the determined whether South Africa had an obligation to arrest al-Bashir and send him to stand trial at the Hague.  While they were making their decision, al-Bashir managed to leave the country.

Sudanese forces were attacked by rebels in West Darfur this week.  Negotiations took place between the Sudanese government, the African Union, and the United Nations to create an exit strategy for the peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID).  However, the UN has refused to sign an agreement.  Meanwhile, Darfur’s National Liberation and Justice Party has suspended their partnership with the ruling National Congress Party and withdrawn from the Sudanese government.

Syria

The Assad regime has suffered a number of losses to extremists and the moderate opposition and is in its weakest position for quite some time.  The Southern Front, an affiliate of the Free Syrian Army, seized a military base in Deraa.  In Palmyra, ISIS forced Syrian government forces to flee, and they are now close to gas plants that supply 50% of Syria’s electricity.  Rebel forces led by Jabhat al-Nusra let the last area held by the regime in Idlib province.  In the US, the House Foreign Affairs Committee heard testimony on the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons and barrel bombs.  In a separate statement, Secretary of State John Kerry said he is “absolutely certain” the Assad regime used chlorine gas.  President Assad has recently agreed with UN Peace Envoy Staffan de Mistura to continue talks towards a political solution to the conflict.

Kurdish militia group YPG, with some support from Free Syrian Army forces, advanced on ISIS stronghold Tal Abyad and engaged in heavy fighting.  Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is not impressed with Kurdish rebels, however, and has accused the West of backing terrorist Kurdish rebels.

In Idlib province, Jabhat al-Nusra forces massacred 20 Druze villagers.  Although al-Nusra considers Druze heretics, they had pledged not to attack religious minorities that did not oppose them.  However, after one Druze man was suspected of supporting the Syrian regime, a clash broke out and al-Nusra forces began massacring Druze villagers.

Emerging Conflicts: Yemen

Yemen’s conflict rages on and shows few signs of abating.  The Islamic State has stepped up their involvement in the conflict, detonating four car bombs in Sanaa.  The bombs targeted four Houthi buildings: two mosques, a house, and an office.  Dozens of people were killed.  In Southern Yemen, 31 people were killed when a Saudi airstrike hit a convoy of civilians fleeing violence.  A US airstrike struck and killed Nasir al-Wuhayshi, al-Qaeda’s second in command and the leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.  The US was originally unaware of al-Wuhayshi’s whereabouts, and the airstrike was not aimed at him.

Peace talks in Geneva between Houthis and the exiled government have led to little progress.  The Houthis seem to favor a truce but are unwilling to accept the conditions proposed by the other party.  The parties refuse to sit in the same room and rely on UN intermediaries to convey messages, and there was even a fistfight between members of the different parties.

The conflict has created a humanitarian crisis in the country.  The UN has said 6 million people are in urgent need of food assistance, with 10 of Yemen’s 22 governorates facing an “emergency level” of food insecurity.  Saudi Arabia promised $274 million in emergency aid to assist Yemeni civilians, but two months later it still has not arrived.  Matters have been made even worse as an outbreak of Dengue fever has infected thousands in Southern Yemen.