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2. A Way Forward for Justice and Accountability in Ethiopia
- Author:
- Stephen Rapp, Andrea Gittleman, and Danica Damplo
- Publication Date:
- 11-2023
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Abstract:
- This paper proposes a way forward for those who support justice and accountability for mass atrocities in Ethiopia. These options are posed in a rapidly changing policy environment: in the past year Ethiopia was invited to join the BRICS group of nations; countries are seeking to normalize relations with the Ethiopian government after the conflict in Tigray; and brutal conflicts in Sudan and elsewhere have focused international attention away from the situation in Ethiopia. The proposals below list available options which should be seriously considered by policymakers who want to properly address crimes of the past and develop strategies that mitigate ongoing mass atrocity risks to civilians in Ethiopia.
- Topic:
- Accountability, Justice, Atrocities, Crimes Against Humanity, and Armed Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Ethiopia
3. Belarus’s Weaponization of Migration Should Make Us Reevaluate the Extent of Crimes Against Humanity and Human Rights
- Author:
- Peter Pinto
- Publication Date:
- 12-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on International Policy (CIP)
- Abstract:
- Facing temperatures below freezing and bitter winter conditions, thousands of Middle Eastern and African migrants currently remain trapped between the tumultuous borders of Belarus and its EU neighbors. Many humanitarian groups have warned of imminent danger to the migrants if this humanitarian crisis, which has seen nearly 30,000 migrants attempt to illegally cross the Polish border since August, is not quickly resolved. Despite genuine reasons for their journey, the migrants have become unsuspecting pawns in an ever-growing political chess game between Belarus and its EU neighbors. More specifically, Belarus and its President Aleksander Lukashenko are being accused of facilitating and weaponizing such migration in an attempt to punish their geopolitical rivals in the EU. The accusations are relatively well-founded considering the litany of different immigration policies adopted by Belarusian authorities in recent months, including granting visas to migrants upon arrival and escorting migrants to the Polish border. Furthermore, many view this targeted influx of migrants as political retaliation for EU sanctions against Belarus for election fraud and repression of civil rights. Perhaps in hopes of destabilizing his enemies or deterring future sanctions, President Lukashenko is using migrants and their pursuit for safety as weapons in his geopolitical war against the West. Despite his already lackluster record in humanitarian governance, this blatant indifference for migrant safety represents an escalation in his disregard for human rights. If we are to deter other authoritarian leaders from employing such inhumane tactics in the future, then we must recognize the weaponization of migration streams as a crime against humanity and a violation of human rights.
- Topic:
- Military Strategy, Crimes Against Humanity, Humanitarian Crisis, and Migrants
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Belarus
4. Gone Without a Trace: Syria's Detained, Abducted, and Forcibly Disappeared
- Author:
- Hanny Megally and Elena Naughton
- Publication Date:
- 05-2020
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation (CIC)
- Abstract:
- Tens of thousands of people have been unlawfully detained by the Syrian government and other parties to the conflict in Syria. In most cases, their fate—and if they are alive, their whereabouts—remains unknown. Many families have been waiting for word of their spouses, children, and other relatives since mass protests first began in 2011. This situation is adversely affecting not only Syrians inside the country—including over 6.5 million who are internally displaced—but also many of the 5.6 million refugees who are likewise desperately seeking answers about family members from abroad. This joint report from the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and the Center on International Cooperation (CIC) recommends a set of urgent steps that should be taken to assist families in obtaining information about the whereabouts of their loved ones, gaining access to them, and achieving their prompt release. Authored by CIC's Hanny Megally and ICTJ's Elena Naughton, the report details the scope of the detention crisis and argues that answers and coordinated action are needed now. Time is of the essence, as the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be accelerating in Syria, putting those detained in overcrowded and unsanitary prisons at further risk. Any meaningful progress toward a political agreement in Syria will be dependent on more than a negotiated ceasefire or reduction in violence and urgent access to humanitarian assistance. There will be little or no possibility of lasting peace without addressing critical issues, like the question of the missing, detained, abducted, and forcibly disappeared.
- Topic:
- Prisons/Penal Systems, Syrian War, Crimes Against Humanity, Humanitarian Crisis, and State Abuse
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Syria
5. Domestic Prosecution of International Crimes
- Author:
- Cleo Meinicke
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Public International Law Policy Group
- Abstract:
- In October 2018, the Bosnian state court indicted a former soldier of crimes against humanity for his involvement in the murder and enforced disappearance of civilians in the Kljuc area. In September of that year, a German court convicted Ibrahim Al F. for war crimes committed in Syria and in the same month a military tribunal in the Democratic Republic of the Congo found two military commanders guilty of crimes against humanity committed in the villages of Kamananga and Lumenje (South Kivu). These are just three recent examples of domestic efforts in the prosecution of those responsible for international crimes. Based on the complementarity principle of the International Criminal Court (ICC), where states are “unwilling or unable” to prosecute international crimes, the ICC may step in to prosecute those most responsible for the commission of the crimes under its jurisdiction, namely genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. However, out of 28 cases before the Court since its inception in 2001 only three resulted in successful convictions. Several suspects were acquitted after lengthy proceedings, of which Gbagbo and Blé Goudé are the latest examples. Therefore, the ICC should be regarded as a last resort while domestic courts carry the main responsibility to prosecute those responsible for international crimes.
- Topic:
- Crime, International Law, Crimes Against Humanity, and International Criminal Court (ICC)
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Europe, Germany, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Bosnia and Hercegovina
6. To Be Genocide or Not to Be Genocide, That Is the Question
- Author:
- Phedra Neel
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Public International Law Policy Group
- Abstract:
- Between the 7th and 10th February 2019, Human Rights Watch organized, in cooperation with De Balie, the seventh edition of the Human Rights Weekend. This year’s topic was “Where do I stand” and invited the attendees to think about how they are (in)directly involved in human rights violations and how they can contribute in ending these violations. The program consisted of masterclasses, lectures, and documentaries. One of these documentaries showed the incredible story of Nadia Murad. Nadia is a Yazidi girl, who witnessed her community being murdered by ISIS. She was later captured herself and forced to become a sex slave. Today she is known as the most recent Nobel peace Prize winner for her global advocacy campaign to fight for the rights of the Yazidi. This campaign consists of addressing heads of states and governments, asking for help for the survivors and for the attack on her people to be considered as genocide. Whereas some states have indeed passed legislation that recognizes the events as genocide, others refuse to do so until the United Nations (UN) itself officially uses the word genocide to describe the atrocities.
- Topic:
- Genocide, Human Rights, Crimes Against Humanity, and International Criminal Court (ICC)
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
7. The Persecution of the Uighurs and Potential Crimes Against Humanity in China
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 04-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- The treatment of Uighurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region has increased concerns over the risk of widespread and systematic human rights abuses and violations in China. The government’s approach to combatting religious extremism has resulted in the arbitrary detention of up to one million Uighurs, severe restrictions on religious practice, and pervasive surveillance and control of the entire Muslim population of Xinjiang. A new joint policy brief by the Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect and the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect asserts that these policies may constitute crimes against humanity under international law. The policy brief provides an overview of China’s response to growing international pressure to halt the persecution of Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in the Xinjiang region and offers recommendations on how to comprehensively address these issues.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, International Law, Islam, Ethnicity, Freedom of Expression, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), Atrocities, and Crimes Against Humanity
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, and Xinjiang
8. The UN Security Council’s Implementation of the Responsibility to Protect: A Review of Past Interventions and Recommendations for Improvement
- Author:
- Jared Genser
- Publication Date:
- 09-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- When it was adopted by the United Nations (UN) system in 2005, the doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) was meant to provide an implementation mechanism for the international community to respond to governments that were perpetrating the mass atrocity crimes of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. As R2P is now in its second decade of existence, it is important to evaluate past implementation of R2P by the UN Security Council — the UN body charged with taking collective action when all other preventive efforts have failed and atrocity crimes are being committed or are imminent. This briefing paper is a summary of a more detailed law review article recently published in the University of Chicago Journal of International Law.
- Topic:
- Genocide, War Crimes, Ethnic Cleansing, International Community, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), UN Security Council, and Crimes Against Humanity
- Political Geography:
- United Nations and Global Focus
9. Defining the Four Mass Atrocity Crimes
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 08-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- During the 2005 United Nations World Summit, heads of state and government accepted the responsibility of every state to protect its population from four crimes: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. The first three crimes are legally defined in various international legal documents, such as the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their 1977 Additional Protocols, and the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Their status as international crimes is based on the belief that the acts associated with them affect the core dignity of human beings, both in times of peace and in times of war.
- Topic:
- Genocide, War Crimes, Ethnic Cleansing, and Crimes Against Humanity
- Political Geography:
- United Nations and Global Focus
10. R2P and Outcomes of the Human Rights Council’s 38th Session
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 07-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- The 38th regular session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) was held in Geneva between 18 June and 6 July 2018. As the primary international human rights body, the Human Rights Council has the capacity to prevent and respond to potential mass atrocity crimes. The summary below highlights major outcomes and relevant dialogues from the 38th session as they relate to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing. As part of the session, the Netherlands and Australia delivered two statements on behalf of the 51 members of the Group of Friends of R2P.
- Topic:
- Responsibility to Protect (R2P), Atrocities, UN Human Rights Council (HRC), and Crimes Against Humanity
- Political Geography:
- Democratic Republic of the Congo, United Nations, Syria, and Eritrea