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.

The Congolese military and United Nations intervention brigade defeated the M23 armed forces this month.  On November 5, the M23 leadership announced their armed insurgency would end after losing its final two strongholds, Tshanzu and Runyoni, near the border with Uganda and Rwanda.  The defeat was likely brought about by pressure on Rwanda to cease its support of the insurgency, internal divisions, enhanced FARDC performance, and, perhaps uniquely, an aggressive mandate given to the intervention brigade.  The M23 plagued civilians in eastern DRC for the past twenty months.  Human Rights Watch, among others, reported the group executed civilians, raped women and girls, and abducted men and boys to fill its ranks.

Undoubtedly, the M23’s defeat is a step forward for DRC.  However, much work remains, including finalizing a permanent ceasefire.  Martin Kobler, commander of MONUSCO forces, said attention will now turn to the Rwandan-backed FDLR, a group that existed long before the M23.  In addition, there are several other long-term challenges in eastern DRC such as a litany of other armed groups, widespread poverty, weak loyalty to the FARDC, and limited access to justice services, particularly for victims of crimes other than sexual violence.

Perhaps the most important element of the M23’s defeat is the role of the UN intervention brigade.  The inaction of UN “peacekeeping” forces is a perennial criticism the organization receives from advocacy organizations, contributing states, and civilians they are mandated to protect.  The DRC intervention brigade is the first offensive combat force and it could be used as a model for other UN missions.  The benefits are clear.  Scenes of “peacekeepers” watching Hutus slaughter Tutsis would be less likely to be seen again.  However, it could have tremendous drawbacks such as abandoning the UN’s foundational neutrality principle which, in turn, could affect its ability to negotiate peace deals.  Moreover, conflicts involving UN missions are often not morally or tactically one sided.  For instance, the FARDC is notorious for its propensity to commit war crimes and Kabila is a chronically corrupt and ineffective leader, yet MONUSCO operations support both the military and the executive.

The future of peace in eastern DRC and UN missions remains unclear, but the end of the M23 will have major implications for both issues.  The extent to which the FARDC and intervention brigade can capitalize on their current momentum will likely determine the fate of other armed groups.  Meanwhile, the willingness of UN leadership and contributing states to approve offensive missions will have dramatic implications for how the mass atrocity community approaches high-level international advocacy.

Photo courtesy: ai Kurokawa / European Pressphoto Agency

On Sunday November 17, the Sudanese Air Forcebombed the town of Buram, south of the capital of South Kordofan. The reported Sudanese AF plane dropped two large bombs, which resulted in the deaths of two local children ages ten and seven and injuring many other civilians, damaging homes, and farms. Bombings against civilians have been continuous throughout South Kordofan for the better part of 2013 as the Regime in Khartoum continues their attempts to suppress opposition groups within the region and vie for greater influence from a civilian population that identifies with the South. Yasir Arman, Secretary General of the SPLM-N gave the following statement regarding this most recent bombing:

“To all those who continue to appease the Khartoum regime and ignore the solid facts on the ground, the Khartoum regime is targeting civilian populations in Sudan, committing war crimes, and killing the very children who need to be vaccinated. For the families of these children, the air and ground attacks by the Khartoum regime are more visible threats than polio. Many in Africa and in the international community circles are deliberately ignoring this fact. Admitting it would require them to provide civilian protection as per international humanitarian law.”

DRC

Two weeks ago, the M23 rebel group announced that, after a nearly two-year rebellion and weeks of unsuccessful talks with the Congolese government, it was prepared to demobilize its forces and turn its full attention towards political negotiations with Kinshasa.

The DRC was expected to sign a peace deal last week with representatives of the rebel group, which would detail the process of demobilization, including addressing the situation of reintegration of rebel troops into the Congolese army. At the last minute, however, the Congolese government refused to sign it, following an argument between the two sides over whether the document would be called a “peace agreement” or merely a “declaration.” The United Nations, the African Union, and the United States all expressed regret that the deal had not been signed.

M23’s decision to lay down its arms has inspired other rebel groups to do the same. Following M23’s declaration of disarmament, several other Congolese militia groups have expressed potential willingness to demobilize their forces.

Syria

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) approved a plan last Friday to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons by the end June 30, 2014. All chemical substances and precursors except isopropanol are supposed to be removed from Syria by February 5. Isopropanol is also widely used as a solvent in addition to making the chemical weapon sarin. Thus far, the OPCW has inspected 21 out of 23 sites and 39 out of 41 facilities at those sites. The remaining two sites were deemed too dangerous to enter, and the chemical weapons equipment there was supposedly moved to other sites which were inspected. The OPCW stated that 60% of Syria’s declared unfilled munitions have been destroyed and plans to destroy all unfilled warheads and bombs by January 31. Finding a country to destroy the chemicals themselves has proved illusive. Albania and Norway have both declined to destroy the chemicals. The United States is now considering a plan to destroy the precursor chemicalsat sea.

Infighting and human rights abuses have been increasing in factions of Syria’s armed opposition groups. In the north of Syria, attempts by the Islamic jihadist group Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham (ISIS) to establish hegemony have been met by hostility by Free Syrian Army (FSA) units and other groups, including the Islamist jihadist group Jabhat al Nusra and Ahrar al Sham. These two Islamist groups are reportedly also taking territory from weaker FSA units as well. A move last week by Kurdish groups to declare an autonomous region of “western Kurdistan” has also been met by hostility from various rebel groups in Syria. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch released a statement Tuesday detailing human rights abuses conducted by extreme rebel factions in late October during an offensive on a Christian village 100 kilometers north of Aleppo, and urged the UN Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.

Burma

Last Friday, November 11, the Myanmar government announced they would be releasing 69 political prisoners as part of President Thein Sein’s promise to have all political prisoners released by the end of the year. There are still believed to be more than 60 political prisoners in jail following the recent amnesty. The release nonetheless illustrates the progress, however limited, the country has made considering that only three years ago there were more than 1000 political prisoners behind bars.

Fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Myanmar military continued over the weekend and displaced more than 2000 people according to sources cited by The Irrawaddy. These recent clashes come as Kachin and Myanmar government representatives recently agreed to hold talks to discuss a possible ceasefire.

Central African Republic

As a result of increased political violence in the Central African Republic, France will be sending a hundred more troops in an attempt to instill security in the state. The French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius warned that the crisis in CAR is “on the verge of genocide.” MISMA, the current peacekeeping force in CAR is said to be severely under-trained and unequipped to bring about stability in the nation. An estimate of 400,000 persons are now internally displaced. In the coming week, the United Nations Security Council is scheduled to vote on a resolution that would permit the intervention of the African Union and France in the Central African Republic.

Mozambique violence increases: 

DRC army wins a series of battles against M23:

Some people in the disputed Sudanese border region of Abyei participated in a referendum to decide if they should become part of the north or south, but neither country officially sanctioned the vote:

]]> https://standnow.org/2013/11/01/5554/feed/ 0 https://standnow.org/2013/09/19/education-update-the-week-in-pictures/ https://standnow.org/2013/09/19/education-update-the-week-in-pictures/#comments Thu, 19 Sep 2013 14:42:18 +0000 http://standnow.org/?p=5519 Read more…]]> STAND has decided to highlight the most important events of the past week by using pictures of important moments, meetings, and life throughout our conflict zones. We have pictures going over events in Syria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burma, Sudan, Egypt, and the Central African Republic.

The United States and Russia reached an agreement on Saturday calling for the destruction or removal of Syria’s chemical weapons by mid 2014. Under the agreement, Syria must provide an inventory of its chemical arsenal to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) by the end of the week. On Monday, President Obama signed an order allowing the US to freely send protective equipment and training against chemical weapons attacks to the OPCW as well as approved rebel groups and nongovernmental organizations working within Syria.

While the agreement explicitly refers to a plan for a United Nations Security Council resolution under chapter 7 of the UN charter, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov called reports that the deal included a threat of military force “distorted”. US officials have stated that a unilateral American attack remains a possibility should diplomacy fail. The deal also included an agreement for the US and Russia to renew efforts to convene a peace conference between the Assad regime and rebel forces that has thus far proved elusive.

Inspectors reported to the United Nations Security Council on Monday that they found “clear and convincing evidence” that a large chemical attack was carried out in Syria last month. Although the report itself does not state who is responsible for the attack, the United States and its Western allies cited parts of the report as evidence of the Assad regime’s guilt.

Following the Russian-American deal on removing or destroying the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons, United Nations Security Council negotiations began on Tuesday. Anonymous diplomats have said that disagreements arose over the draft put forward by the United States, Britain, and France over the threat of military force to enforce the agreement, whether or not to condemn the Assad regime for the chemical weapons attack, and whether or not to refer the suspected perpetrators of the attack to the International Criminal Court.

A car bomb on the Syrian-Turkish border was reported to have killed 7 and wounded at least 20 people. The bombing took place at a roadblock held by Islamist brigades at the entrance of a rebel-held crossing on Tuesday. The day before the explosion, Turkey shot down a Syrian helicopter in Turkish airspace.

Opposition activists reported Tuesday that rebel groups have intensified their blockade of many government-held areas of northern Aleppo to include a highway previously left open to civilians. This has caused a rapid increase in food scarcity and prices in government-held areas, and many activists have condemned the tactic.

The humanitarian crisis in Syria continues to intensify. A group of 55 doctors and medical professionals wrote in an open letter to one of the world’s most respected medical journals, the Lancet, warning that the Syrian healthcare system is “at breaking point”. The letter, set to be published Friday, states that the impending medical crisis is due to hospital staff being attacked, forced to flee, or imprisoned, as well as attacks on hospitals, and humanitarian organizations being denied access to patients.

Talks between the Congolese government and M23 rebels, which stalled earlier this year, resumed last week under the mediation of Ugandan Defense Minister Crispus Kiyonga. This round of talks is set to last two weeks, and Kiyonga announced after the first day that the groups had reached a draft of a peace agreement. Late last week, the Ugandan government announced that it was encouraged by the progress in the talks and by the commitment shown by both sides.

The Congolese government has announced that it is willing to grant amnesty to most, though not all, M23 rebels. Regional heads of state have called for M23, as well as other rebel groups such as the Rwandan FDLR, to disband.

Representatives from the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) and the Myanmar government met earlier this week to discuss the possibility of a ceasefire in October as well as other issues relating to internally displaced persons. The KIO is the last remaining major rebel group to have yet sign a ceasefire agreement with the Myanmar government, which hopes to have nationwide peace with all ethnic nationalities for the month of October. The Kachin Independence Army, the armed wing of the KIO, consists of about 10,000 fighters and has been fighting the Myanmar government since June 2011. It is thought that fighting has displaced more than 100,000 people.

Aung San Suu Kyi and the Dalai Lama met in Prague, Czech Republic to attend the 17th Forum 2000 Conference on Societies in Transition. Suu Kyi, a Burmese democracy icon and MP, has expressed her intention to run for president in 2015.

The U.S. Presidential Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan Donald Booth met with Al-Khair al-Fahim, the head of the Sudanese envoy to the Abyei Joint Oversight Committee (AJOC) to discuss the ongoing dispute between the north and the south regarding the oil rich region. The two countries continue to squabble for influence and oil rights as the North continually threatens to cut off southern oil exports to ports in the north. Booth later flew to Juba to further encourage progress on the issue.

A Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) soldier maintains his post in Jonglei State. Over the past year reports have continued to surface showing evidence of SPLA soldiers attacking civilian communities in the region as they battle against rebel factions primarily led by David Yau Yau. SPLA spokespersons uphold that they are simply combating rebel groups while several NGOs and other news outlets claims civilian targeting especially against the Murle community continue to take place.

On Monday in the Sinai Peninsula, a bomb exploded on the road near the Gaza Strip. The bomb was allegedly targeting a bus of police recruits, and nine were wounded as a result.  The bombings follow a recent large-scale military offensive to combat growing violence in the region. Just in the past few weeks, Sinai has seen 20,000 new  military combatants enter the region. As allegations continue of Islamist involvement in bombings like this one, demonstrators of the Muslim Brotherhood continue to protest against the interim government.

Shown above is a “Rabaa” sign, recently utilized by pro-Morsi supporters. The sign, refers to the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, the site of a violent confrontation between Morsi’s followers and the Egyptian army in which hundreds or perhaps thousands of people were killed. This shift, according to several Egypt experts, signals a shift from the Brotherhood seeking international legitimacy to seeking internal legitimacy.

A week ago in the Central African Republic, Muslim residents of Bouca were attacked. The attack occurred at 5 am, at the time of morning prayers, leaving at least 40 people dead. Survivors from the attack indicated that the aggressors were also residents of Bouca

According to Michel Djotodia, the president of CAR, the Seleka rebel group no longer exists. Last Friday, President Michel Djotodia announced that the Seleka rebel group, who helped him gain presidency, has been dissolved.