Benjamin Zephaniah, the iconic Black British poet, writer, campaigner and actor has died aged 65, his family announced today. Zephaniah was born in Birmingham in 1958, the son of Caribbean parents of the Windrush generation. He was a prominent anti-racist and anti-imperialist, notably turning down royal honours, instead penning a piece in response titled: "Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought." In his lifetime he published fourteen poetry collections, seven plays, five novels, five children's books as well as two further books and an autobiography. His second novel Refugee Boy, was...
The Biden administration said Wednesday it has determined that both sides in the ongoing conflict in Sudan have committed atrocities in the African nation’s western region of Darfur and elsewhere, saying the fighting “has caused grievous human suffering.” "Based on the State Department’s careful analysis of the law and available facts, I have determined that members of the e Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have committed war crimes in Sudan. I have also determined that members of the RSF and allied militias have committed crimes against humanity and ethnic...
The Justice Department has filed war crime charges against four members of the Russian military accused of abducting and torturing an American during the invasion of Ukraine. Suren Seiranovich Mkrtchyan, 45, Dmitry Budnik, Valerii LNU (last name unknown), and Nazar LNU were each charged in connection with their unlawful detainment of a U.S. national in the context of the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The defendants are alleged to have interrogated, severely beaten, and tortured the victim. They also allegedly threatened to kill the victim and conducted a mock execution. The...
The United States have sanctioned two russian military officials for their "involvement in gross violations of human rights" in Ukraine. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken imposed visa restrictions on Russian Armed Forces Col. Azatbek Omurbekov, also known as “The Butcher of Bucha,” and Guard Corporal Daniil Frolkin. They were sanctioned for involvement in the extrajudicial killings of civilians from Andriivka, Ukraine “As a result of today’s action, Omurbekov, Frolkin, and their immediate family members are ineligible for entry into the United States,” the top US diplomat said. Omurbekov was...
Nearly 20,000 men have fled Ukraine since the outbreak of war to avoid being drafted. The BBC reports that Another 21,113 men attempted to flee but were caught by the Ukrainian authorities. After Russia's invasion, most men aged 18-60 were banned from leaving. But data obtained by the BBC reveals dozens have made it out daily. The BBC has established - by requesting data of illegal border crossings from neighbouring Romania, Moldova, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia - that 19,740 men illegally crossed into these countries between February 2022 and 31 August 2023. The majority - 14,313 - were...
A group of lawyers representing Palestinian victims of Israeli attacks on Gaza have filed a complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC), arguing that Israel’s actions amount to the crime of genocide. Gilles Devers, a veteran French lawyer and the victims’ representative before the ICC, submitted the complaint to the prosecutor as part of a four-person delegation in the Dutch city of The Hague last Monday. The civil society initiative could result in arrest warrants being issued against top Israeli politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu . “It is clear for me that...
Grave violations committed by Israel against Palestinians in the aftermath of 7 October, particularly in Gaza, point to a genocide in the making, UN experts said last week. They illustrated evidence of increasing genocidal incitement, overt intent to “destroy the Palestinian people under occupation”, loud calls for a ‘second Nakba’ in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory, and the use of powerful weaponry with inherently indiscriminate impacts, resulting in a colossal death toll and destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure. “Many of us already raised the alarm about the...
South Africa has filed a referral to the International Criminal Court for an investigation into war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza. “As South Africa we have accordingly, together with many other countries across the world, referred this whole Israeli government action to the International Criminal Court,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Wednesday during a state visit to Qatar. “We have put through a referral because we believe that war crimes are being committed there. And of course we do not condone the actions that were taken by Hamas earlier, but similarly we condemn...
A French court has issued an international arrest warrant for the Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad for complicity in war crimes against humanity linked to a chemical weapons attack. Three others – including Assad’s brother Maher, head of an elite army unit – are also subject to warrants over the use of banned sarin gas in two attacks in August 2013 that killed more than 1,000 people, including hundreds of children. .The move was a major step to hold Mr. al-Assad and his circle accountable for some of the worst atrocities committed in the yearslong Syria conflict. In the absence of any...
The European Union has condemned an escalation of violence in the Darfur region, situated in Sudan, warning of "another genocide". The EU's chief diplomat Josep Borrell cited in a statement witness reports that more than 1,000 members of the Masalit community were killed in Ardamta, West Darfur, in just over two days earlier this week during attacks by the RSF and affiliated militias. "These latest atrocities are seemingly part of a wider ethnic cleansing campaign conducted by the RSF with the aim to eradicate the non-Arab Masalit community from West Darfur, and comes on top of the first wave...