A group of high-level British lawyers are compiling evidence that could hold as many as 10 countries responsible for the failure to prevent genocide against the Yazidis in northern Iraq. The lawyers, who announced the collaboration as the Yazidi Justice Committee (YJC) on Tuesday have been investigating over the past two and half years the genocide committed from early 2013 by the Islamic State. The YJC is expected to name three countries in a report next month when the work is complete. The report will be launched on the 6 July. Aarif Abraham, an international human rights barrister and co-...
More than 250 people mostly from the Amhara ethnic group, have been killed in an attack in the Oromia region of Ethiopia on Saturday. The attack reportedly began around 09:00 on Saturday and continued until about 13.00. Calls were made by residents to district authorities but help only came hours later. "[Regional] special forces and the army arrived late in the afternoon around five. No-one came to help us until then," one resident said speaking to the BBC. An advocacy group, the Amhara Association of America, puts the death toll at 378 and says it has identified 176 victims by name. Another...
The Caravan’s multimedia reporter, Shahid Tantray, has been summoned by Srinagar police following a relentless campaign of police intimidation and threats for his critical coverage of rights in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). In a statement, he detailed how the J&K police force routinely questioned him about his work. During these conversations, the police would threaten to arrest him on fabricated drug charges and would also call in his family. “I was scared that the police would pick me up and harass my family for the work I was doing,” Tantray wrote in his statement. The intimidation...
A former senior Rwandan official, Laurent Bucyibaruta will be the most senior officer to date to face trial in France for his involvement in the Rwandan genocide, as his trial opened in the country last week. Bucyibaruta’s trial will be the fourth to be taken to trial in France in relation to the massacres of 1994. The trial is anticipated to last 2 months, and it has been announced that more than 100 witnesses (including survivors of the atrocities) will be called upon either in person or via videoconference. Bucyibaruta, aged 78-years-old, has been in France since 1977. He is currently...
Thousands of Palestinians rallied on Sunday during Nakba Day – which Palestinians call the “the catastrophe”. In 1948 over 700,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes. The Nakba refers to the systematic ethnic cleansing of one-third of the Palestinian population at the time by Zionist paramilitaries between 1947-1949 and the near-total destruction of Palestinian society. The anniversary comes when many are angered by the killing of prominent Al Jazeera veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli forces and also marks one year since the bombing of Al-Jalaa building in...
The UK’s controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 received royal assent to become UK law despite widespread criticism.
Israel’s military has launched four missile strikes Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza Strip during the holy month of Ramadan. The move follows reports that Israel’s army intercepted a rocket launched from the Gaza strip amidst growing tensions over the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Thus far no Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for the rocket launch, which Israeli officials claim was struck down by their Iron Dome interceptor. Palestinians accuse Israeli forces of encroaching upon the holy site during Ramadan and have engaged in peaceful demonstrations against the occupation. Israeli security...
Israeli police have raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, with medics reporting at least 158 Palestinians injured. Israeli forces entered in force before dawn on Friday, as thousands of worshippers were gathered at the mosque for early morning prayers. The Palestinian Red Crescent added that Israeli forces had hindered the arrival of ambulances and paramedics to the mosque, as Palestinian media said dozens of injured worshippers remained trapped inside the compound. Israeli police said they arrested at least 300 Palestinians during the latest escalation. However, Palestinian...
Those entering the UK illegally, as well as those who have arrived illegally from 1 January, will now be relocated to Rwanda, the PM says. This will provide "safe and legal routes" for asylum whilst "disrupting the business models of the gangs", he adds https://t.co/a3jSwzI8yb pic.twitter.com/YfhwNtwZWi — Sky News (@SkyNews) April 14, 2022 Britain’s Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has announced an agreement that would see asylum seekers crossing the English Channel taken to Rwanda for their applications to be processed. "The UK asylum system is collapsing under a combination of real...
Human Rights Watch has documented numerous cases of Russian military forces committing war crimes in the occupied Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Kyiv regions of Ukraine. Between February 27 and March 14, 2022, Human Rights Watch learned of "unspeakable" acts of violence against Ukrainian civilians in Russian forces’ custody including repeated rape,