Rwanda's president said the international community "failed all of us", as he marked 30 years since the 1994 genocide that killed around 800,000 people. President Paul Kagame addressed dignitaries and world leaders who had gathered in Rwanda's capital, Kigali, to commemorate the bloodshed. "Rwanda was completely humbled by the magnitude of our loss," he said. "And the lessons we learned are engraved in blood." On this day in 1994, extremists from the Hutu ethnic group launched a 100-day killing spree, in which members of the Tutsi minority and Hutu moderates were slaughtered. In a speech...
A UN expert has expressed concerns over escalating gang violence in Haiti. American human rights lawyer and UN human rights expert on Haiti, William O’Neill has voiced alarm over the rapidly deteriorating situation in Port-au-Prince. "There’s a level of intensity and cruelty in the violence that is simply unprecedented in my experience in Haiti," said O'Neill. The UN expert has described the current state of affairs as "apocalyptic". In the first three months of 2024 over 1,500 people have been killed. Gang rebellion started on 29 February and forced Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, to announce...
Brazil has issued its first-ever apology for the torture and persecution of Indigenous people during the military dictatorship, including the incarceration of victims in an infamous detention centre known as an “Indigenous concentration camp”. The apology was made on Tuesday by an amnesty commission attached to the human rights ministry that is tasked with investigating the crimes of the 1964-85 regime. he president of that commission, the law professor Eneá de Stutz e Almeida, knelt before the Indigenous leader Djanira Krenak as she voiced regret for the violence inflicted on the Krenak...
On Tuesday, seven people working with a humanitarian organization delivering food aid in Gaza were killed after an Israeli airstrike hit their cars which were clearly marked with the charity's logo. The airstrike on the World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy killed a Palestinian, a Canada-US dual citizen, an Australian Citizen, a Polish citizen, and three UK citizens. “These are the heroes of WCK. These 7 beautiful souls were killed by the IDF in a strike as they were returning from a full day's mission. Their smiles, laughter, and voices are forever embedded in our memories.” - Erin Gore, CEO...
The UN warns of a deteriorating situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as M23 rebels continue to make gains, pushing hundreds of thousands of civilians from their homes. Heavy fighting between the DRC government forces and armed group M23 has intensified in the eastern part of the country since February, forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee their homes as the rebels make territorial gains. “One Congolese person out of four faces hunger and malnutrition,” Bintou Keita, the head of the UN’s DRC peacekeeping mission MONUSCO, told the UN Security Council this week,...
Israel told four European countries on Monday that their plan to take steps towards recognizing a Palestinian state constitutes a “prize for terrorism”. On Friday Spain joined Ireland, Malta, and Slovenia in agreeing to take the first steps toward recognizing statehood declared by Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. “Recognition of a Palestinian state following the 7 October massacre send a message to Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations that murderous terror attacks on Israelis will be reciprocated with political gestures to the Palestinians...
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the United States abstained from the vote. Resolution 2728 was proposed by 10 elected members of the council, 14 council members voted in favour. The resolution demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, which will end in two weeks. Additionally, it called on Hamas to enact the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. The Security Council just approved a long-awaited resolution on Gaza, demanding an immediate ceasefire, and the...
The Indian government has enacted a controversial citizenship law that has been described as discriminatory towards Muslims by critics. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), proposed by the Modi government, explicitly makes religion the basis for acquiring Indian citizenship. Under the CAA, Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Christians who entered India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan before December 2014 can fast track to Indian nationality. Muslims are excluded from the same rights. The law was originally passed in 2019, however, its implementation was delayed after...
Source: Flickr, July 29, 2016 While attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea, about 60 migrants have died after the engine of their small dinghy broke down. On Wednesday, the dinghy was spotted by a ship belonging to the humanitarian organization, SOS Mediterranee. The humanitarian group was able to rescue 25 survivors who were showing signs of dehydration. The survivors told their rescuers they departed from Zawiya on the Libyan coast several days earlier. They had been adrift for four days without food or water. According to the survivors, the victims are believed to have died from...
A UN fact-finding mission (FFM) has concluded that the Iranian regime’s human rights violations during its brutal suppression of protests in 2022 amount to crimes against humanity. In November 2022, the UN Human Rights Council established an FFM two months after the Woman, Life, Freedom protests that swept the country. The protests were in response to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while in police custody. The FFM report states that the regime carried out widespread and sustained human rights violations specifically targetting women and girls which amount to international...