Last week a US judge ruled that French bank, BNP Paribas, must face a lawsuit accusing the bank of helping the Sudanese government commit genocide between 1997 and 2011 by providing banking services that violated American sanctions. U.S. District Judge in Manhattan, Alvin Hellerstein, found substantial evidence that showed a relationship between BNP Paribas' financing and human rights abuses perpetrated by the government. The class action lawsuit was brought by U.S. residents who had fled non-Arab indigenous black African communities in South Sudan, Darfur, and the Nuba Mountains in central...
Hundreds of bodies have been uncovered so far at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, central Gaza, and at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in the north, responding to the harrowing discovery the international community is calling for independent investigations to guarantee accountability for any violations of international law.
Germany said on Wednesday that it plans to resume funding for the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) after an independent review found no credible evidence of Israel's allegations that 12 UNRWA staff participated in the October 7 attack on Israel. The allegations led 16 donor countries including two of UNRWA's largest donors, the United States and Germany, to halt funding for the agency. In response to the investigation's findings, the German foreign and development ministries urged UNRWA in a statement to implement the report's recommendations. The statement also said: "In support of...
The UK’s House of Lords currently considering a landmark piece of legislation which would see UK courts empowered to make a determination on if a genocide is occurring and compel the government to act. The Bill has been described the first of its kind and has been accompanied by an open letter addressed to the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and Foreign Minister, Lord David Cameron, urging them to support the Bill. The letter notes the passage of the 75 th anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention of Genocide and notes that Bill would fill a “gap in the international justice system...
The United States has once again used its veto power in support of Israel after it vetoed a widely supported draft resolution that would have granted the state of Palestine full UN membership. Speaking to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) ahead of the vote, Ziad Abu Amr, UN special representative of the observer State of Palestine, emphasized that making Palestine a full member would be an "important pillar in achieving peace in the region.” Palestinians currently hold non-member observer status, granted by the UN General Assembly in 2012. An application to become a full member with...
Nicaragua has asked the UN's highest court to halt German weapons sales to Israel at the start of a landmark case. A lawsuit in the German domestic courts will also ask judges to urgently direct the government to revoke all arms licences to Israel issued since October 7th, Germany is accused of breaching the UN genocide convention by sending military hardware to Israel and ceasing funding of the UN's aid agency. In 2023 some 30% of Israel's military equipment purchases came from Germany, totalling €300m ($326m; £257m). The allegations build on a separate case taken by South Africa in January...
Ex-general Benedicto Lucas García, 91, has been indicted for genocide, crimes against humanity - including widespread rape - and forced disappearances. The former general was accused of ordering the murder of more than 1,200 indigenous Ixil Maya people during Guatemala's civil war. The alleged crimes occurred between 1978 and 1982, when Lucas García's brother Fernando Romeo Lucas García was president of Guatemala. For seven months between 1981 and 1982, Lucas Garcia helmed Guatemala’s forces, as part of the administration of President Romeo Lucas Garcia, his brother. He now stands accused of...
A draft UN resolution that declares July 11 "The International Day of Reflection and Remembrance of the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide" will be submitted to the UN Assembly for scrutiny on April 17 and is to be voted by the 193 member states of UN General Assembly on May 2. Although the full details of the proposed document are not available yet, it has provoked fierce Serbian reactions, both from the Bosnian Serbs of the Republika Srpska and the authorities in Belgrade. At least 8,372 unarmed men and boys were slaughtered by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica over 10 days in July 1995. The...
Over 10 million children in Sudan have been in an active war zone for the past year. A recent analysis by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) on behalf of Save the Children has revealed that 50 percent of children in Sudan are currently or have been within five kilometers of the frontlines of conflict within the last year. This staggering number represents a 60 percent increase since the first month of conflict which erupted in April 2023. The analysis shows that children in Sudan have been exposed to battles, bombings, Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks, mortar...
The UN has confirmed that thirty-eight migrants, including children, have died after the boat they were traveling in capsized off the coast of Djibouti. The boat carrying 66 migrants, primarily from Ethiopia, left Yemen for Djibouti around 2 am. At approximately 4 am on 8 April, about 200 meters from the northeastern coast of Djibouti the boat sank. 5 migrants are missing and presumed dead. According to the 23 survivors, the vessel was overloaded before water began flooding causing it to overturn. Chief of Mission for IOM Djibouti, Tanja Pacifico said: This is among the deadliest shipwrecks...