Special Features

Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: Advocate, Educate, Legislate: The Role of Parliamentarians in the Prevention of Mass Atrocities
4 May 2017
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Advocate, Educate, Legislate: The Role of Parliamentarians in the Prevention of Mass Atrocities

On 13-14 April 2017, Ms. Savita Pawnday, Deputy Executive Director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, participated in an event at The Hague Institute for Global Justice on “Global Parliamentarians: The role of the legislative branch in building national mechanisms for atrocity prevention.” The event was cohosted by The Stanley Foundation, The Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation, The Hague Institute for Global Justice, and The Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, together with the Global Centre.

The Global Centre presented on the role that parliamentarians around the world have played in upholding the Responsibility to Protect. The Policy Brief presented at the meeting, “Advocate, Educate, Legislate: The Role of Parliamentarians in the Prevention of Mass Atrocities,” examines past practice and provides recommendations for potential future parliamentary action.
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Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: 1.5 Years After the Peace Agreement, Famine and Atrocities Threaten South Sudan
3 May 2017
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1.5 Years After the Peace Agreement, Famine and Atrocities Threaten South Sudan

More than a year and a half after the signing of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan, it is time for the international community to recognize that the peace process has failed. Recent months have seen renewed military offensives by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), South Sudan’s official armed forces, resulting in thousands of civilians being displaced. In a conflict where both pro and anti-government militias are also proliferating, civilians continue to be targeted and killed by all sides because of their ethnic identity and perceived political loyalties.
The August 2015 Peace Agreement was supposed to end the civil war that started in December 2013. Mediated by the African Union (AU) and the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Agreement is now effectively defunct. None of the Agreement’s main components have been implemented: the Transitional Government of National Unity exists in name only; tilti is no permanent ceasefire; and the Hybrid Court has not been established to investigate and prosecute those responsible for mass atrocities committed during the civil war.
President Salva Kiir has announced the commencement of a national dialogue, but the SPLA and pro-government militias continue to wage war against a range of perceived political and ethnic enemies. Meanwhile rebel forces nominally loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar, who has been forced into exile in South Africa, continue to fragment, complicating the chances of a lasting ceasefire.
No one knows exactly how many civilians have died during fighting that has taken place since January in Eastern Equatoria, Central Equatoria, Western Bahr el-Ghazal, Upper Nile and Unity states. At least 1.9 million civilians are internally displaced and another 1.6 million have sought refuge in neighboring countries. About 220,000 civilians have fled to UN peacekeeping bases for protection. Since the end of April an additional 25,000 people have fled from Kodok after intense fighting between the SPLA and the Agwelek Forces, a rebel splinter group.
The intensification of armed violence has resulted in people being cut off from their livelihoods. The government of South Sudan has denied aid to civilians in rebel-held areas and over 40 per cent of the population is severely food insecure. During February the World Food Program and other UN agencies declared a famine in Leer and Mayendit counties. An estimated 100,000 people are already facing starvation and an additional 5.5 million people are at risk of famine unless urgent measures are taken.
Although South Sudan remains one of the poorest and under-developed countries in the world, the government continues to spend a large part of its national budget on arms. Senior SPLA military commanders are also implicated in possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by their troops and/or allied militias. Rebel forces, who lack the military capacity of the SPLA, routinely pillage and prey upon civilian populations. Both sides have also targeted humanitarian workers, with 82 having been killed since December 2013.
In order to avoid further atrocities and avert a catastrophic famine, the UN Security Council (UNSC), AU and IGAD need to recalibrate their approach to endemic conflict in South Sudan. In particular, we urge the following measures:

  • The AU and UNSC should set clear accountability benchmarks, including a strict timeline for the expeditious establishment of the Hybrid Court.
  • The UNSC should impose an arms embargo on South Sudan and extend targeted sanctions by including key military figures who are actively obstructing peace and/or have command and control over those responsible for targeting and killing civilians.
  • The AU, UNSC and IGAD must compel the government and armed rebels to allow unhindered humanitarian access to vulnerable populations and ensure their safety. Attacks on humanitarian workers constitute possible war crimes and should be thoroughly and impartially investigated. Perpetrators must be held accountable regardless of their position or affiliation.

The government and the armed opposition have manifestly failed to uphold their responsibility to protect the people of South Sudan. The time has come for the international community to hold perpetrators accountable for the misery they have inflicted upon their country and the deadly conflict they continue to wage without justification or remorse.
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Responsibility to Protect
Ralph Bunche Institute for
International Studies
The Graduate Center, CUNY
365 Fifth Avenue, Suite 5203
New York, NY 10016-4309, USA
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Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: Atrocity Alert: South Sudan, Myanmar and Healthcare in Conflict

Atrocity Alert, No. 53, 3 May 2017

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Atrocity Alert is a weekly publication by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect highlighting and updating situations where populations are at risk of, or are enduring, mass atrocity crimes.

South Sudan

Since 25 April an escalation of fighting between government forces and armed rebels in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state has threatened populations in several towns, particularly on the West Bank of the Nile River. More than 40,000 people have arrived in the town of Aburoc, including 25,000 who fled from violence in Kodok. On 29 and 30 April the UN Secretary-General and the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission expressed grave concern about the violence. Humanitarian organizations have no access to the area, leaving more than 38,000 vulnerable civilians without assistance.

More than a year and a half after formally signing the Peace Agreement, which was supposed to end South Sudan’s 2013-2015 civil war, fighting continues in many parts of the country, famine has been declared in Leer and Mayendit counties, and key aspects of the Agreement remain unimplemented. Since January there have been military offensives by government forces in Eastern Equatoria, Central Equatoria, Western Bahr el-Ghazal, Upper Nile and Unity states. At least 1.9 million civilians remain internally displaced and another 1.6 million have sought refuge in neighboring countries.

The UN, AU and Inter-governmental Authority on Development must send a strong and unified message to all parties in South Sudan regarding the future of the 2015 Peace Agreement. To prevent further re-escalation of armed conflict, the UNSC should immediately impose an arms embargo and extend targeted sanctions against those who have command and control over forces responsible for targeting and killing civilians.

Today the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect released a statement on the situation in South Sudan.

Photo Source: AP/Getty Images

Source: OCHA

Myanmar

Myanmar’s State Counsellor and former Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, told a press conference in Brussels yesterday that her government will not accept the fact-finding mission mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate possible crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing committed against the Rohingya Muslim minority. State Counsellor Suu Kyi said that she believes the UN inquiry would be potentially divisive.

At the same time the Rakhine State government has announced plans to establish “model villages,” where authorities intend to relocate ethnic Rohingya, including those who have been displaced by previous inter-communal violence and/or security “clearance operations.” The plan, which could amount to forced relocation for approximately 1,500 families, would further entrench the apartheid-like conditions imposed upon the Rohingya by the government of Myanmar.

Photo Credit: Olivier Hoslet/EPA

Photo Credit: Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters

Protection of Healthcare in Conflict

Today, 3 May, marks the anniversary of the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2286 on the protection of healthcare in conflict. The resolution condemned attacks and threats against medical personnel and facilities, and demanded accountability for those responsible for these crimes under international law. The resolution also reaffirmed the primary responsibility of states to protect their populations. Despite the unanimous adoption of Resolution 2286, attacks on health workers and medical facilities continue.

The Syrian American Medical Society verified 168 attacks on medical facilities and personnel across Syria between June and December of 2016, including with illegal cluster munitions and incendiary weapons. Physicians for Human Rights also reported that Syrian government forces prevented the delivery of more than 300,000 medical treatments to besieged and hard-to-reach areas during 2016. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), six hospitals in Syria were damaged or destroyed by airstrikes in April 2017 alone. In Yemen, airstrikes and the shelling of hospitals, as well as the looting of medical facilities, have exacerbated the dire humanitarian situation. OCHA has reported that less than half of all medical facilities in Yemen are still functioning.

On 25 May the UN Security Council will hold a second debate on the protection of civilians and healthcare in conflict. Deliberate attacks on medical facilities and personnel, and the obstruction of medical aid, are war crimes. States must ensure that their forces consistently comply with their obligations under international law and uphold their responsibility to protect. All attacks on healthcare facilities and health workers must be impartially investigated and the perpetrators held accountable. The UN Secretary-General should also publicly list those states, and non-state armed groups, that target healthcare during armed conflict.

Photo Source: Ammar Abdullah/Reuters

Photo Source: Ghaith Omran/AFP

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Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: Statement on the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Global Network of R2P Focal Points

 

 
28 April 2017 Web Version

 

Statement on the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Global Network of R2P Focal Points
The Government of the State of Qatar, in association with the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, co-hosted the seventh annual meeting of the Global Network of R2P Focal Points in Doha, Qatar, from 24 to 25 April. This was the first meeting of the Global Network to take place in the Middle East region.
The meeting brought together senior government officials from more than 40 countries as well as representatives from the European Union and United Nations, including the UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect, Mr. Ivan Simonovic. During the meeting the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Coordination, Mr. Fabrizio Hochschild, also addressed the R2P Focal Points via video.
During the two-day meeting participants discussed challenges and opportunities for accountability for mass atrocity crimes, the global rise in hate speech and xenophobia, and the refugee crisis, as well as their collective impact upon efforts to prevent and halt genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The interactive meeting gave R2P Focal Points an opportunity to exchange lessons learned from their own experiences regarding their government’s approach to mass atrocity prevention.
More than a quarter of the UN membership has joined the Global Network, with 58 states and the European Union having appointed a senior government official to serve as a R2P Focal Point. Dr. Simon Adams, Executive Director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, noted that, “in these times of global crisis, with tens of millions of people displaced by conflict, persecution and atrocities, we need to close the gap between words and deeds and defend international human rights and humanitarian law.” Dr. Adams emphasized the significance of holding the meeting of the Global Network in the Middle East, stating that “we want to expand the conversation around how all states can help prevent atrocities and uphold their responsibilities at home and abroad.”
The meeting concluded with the R2P Focal Point from Finland announcing that her country will be hosting the eighth annual meeting of the Global Network in Helsinki during 2018.
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International Center for Transitional Justice: In Focus World Report

ICTJ World Report
April 2017

 

 

 

In Focus

Laundering the Corrupt Is a National Priority? Tunisian Civil Society Again Opposes the National Reconciliation Law

This is the third time that the Tunisian government, supported by several Members of Parliament, has put debate of the National Reconciliation Law on the political agenda. Rearranged in form but with the same substantial faults, this law has mobilized the opposition — for the third time — of approximately 20 civil society organizations that met yesterday and plan to soon hold a press conference.

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World Report

Africa

A court in Cote d’Ivoire cleared former First Lady Simone Gbagbo of war crimes and crimes against humanity charges after a trial on her alleged role in post-election abuses that led to the deaths of thousands. However, she must still serve 20 years in prison after being found guilty in 2015 of offenses against the state. The United Nations found 17 mass graves in the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as gathered reports of rapes and killings by soldiers. The International Criminal Court said the violence may amount to war crimes. According to the International Criminal Court, Uganda will not withdraw from the Rome Statute. In Kenya police watchdog groups are investigating a video that appears to show police officers executing an alleged gang member in Nairobi. The Gambia held its first parliamentary elections since long-time leader Yahya Jammeh left power. The country is expected to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in upcoming months. The bodies of victims of Rwanda‘s 1994 genocide are still being discovered today, some with the aid of information from prisoners convicted for their involvement. Rwanda’s high court also convicted a man accused of leading and coordinating attacks on minority Tutsis during the genocide and sentenced him to life in prison. Protests in South Africa continued to call for honest and transparent governance. Former rebels in Mali agreed to attend a peace conference after previously saying they would boycott the talks.

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Americas

In Colombia, a truth commission has been officially launched to investigate what happened during the 52-year conflict that led to the victimization of 8 million people. Meanwhile, the demobilization and disarmament of FARC rebels continues with the building of “peace villages” to help facilitate their reintegration into society, which includes female combatants taking on the role of battling gender inequality. Former Guatemalan dictator Efrian Rios Montt will face a second trial on genocide charges for the deaths of around 200 people in the 1982 Dos Erres Massacre. Victims of Peru‘s forced sterilization program between 1996 and 2000 are seeking justice with the help of the Quipu Project, which hopes to change attitudes about the often taboo subject and help people speak out about their experiences. The number of “disappeared” in Mexico rose to 30,000 as of the end of 2016, according to the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH). The organization has also counted 1,143 mass graves containing 3,230 bodies in 30 Mexican states, all secretly buried within the last decade.

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Asia

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi denied that ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya population was occurring, while a top official called a potential UN probe into alleged human rights abuses in Rakhine state an unwanted obstacle. Too many tourists visiting Cambodia’s “killing fields” has raised concerns that commercialism might compromise efforts to preserve memorials for the 2 million or so lives lost under Pol Pot. Meanwhile, the Khmer Rouge Tribunal is seeking funding for its reparation efforts. A retired police officer who testified to killing hundreds of people while working for a “death squad” under Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has fled the country for fear of his life. The people of Tamil Nadu in Sri Lanka continued their demand for justice for war crimes committed during the country’s civil war. In Thailand, a brass plaque commemorating the historic proclamation ending 700 years of absolute monarchy in Thailand was mysteriously removed and replaced by a new plaque honoring the monarchy. The Chinese National Party (KMT) proposed a transitional justice bill that urged the inclusion of compensation for those affected by wartime missions after 1949.

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Europe

Files archived by the United Nations with early evidence of Holocaust death camps were opened for the first time to the public and online. The UN urged Kosovo to investigate the threat of “ethnic cleansing” by a senior official. The Council of Europe also said the country must end impunity for the crimes committed during the conflict by ensuring that the perpetrators are brought to justice. Bosnia tried nine former Bosnian Serb soldiers and policemen on charges related to the capture, abuse, and murder of Bosniak civilians in 1992.

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Mena

In Tunisia, parliament today is debating a “reconciliation law” that would grant amnesty to businessmen accused of corruption during the rule of autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali – a bill already delayed two years by popular opposition. Meanwhile, the country’s Truth and Dignity Commission has made efforts to confront past horrors and bring some perpetrators to justice. US Senators introduced a bipartisan bill in a bid to investigate war crimes in Syria, including the creation of a “hybrid tribunal.” Witness testimony and documentation from Syria’s secret torture wards housed in military hospitals offered some of the most concrete evidence of crimes against humanity to date. In Lebanon, families of the missing urged the government to approve a project to collect DNA samples to try to trace victims’ whereabouts on the 42nd anniversary of the start of the nation’s civil war. A court in Egypt sentenced former interior minister Habib el-Adly, who served under ousted president Hosni Mubarak, to seven years in jail for corruption. Israel marked annual Holocaust Remembrance Day with the ritual wailing of sirens across the country.

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Publications

Assessing the Prospects for Transitional Justice in Georgia

Since Georgia’s independence in 1991, successive governments have struggled to deal with endemic corruption, organized crime, and various disputes along its borders, which sometimes sparked into armed conflict. Efforts to combat corruption and organized crime through its “zero-tolerance” policy on crime degenerated into extensive human rights violations.

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Media and Transitional Justice: A Dream of Symbiosis in a Troubled Relationship

In transitional contexts, reporting does not simply present the facts, but instead shapes the parameters for interpreting divisive political issues. Coverage in such polarized contexts can mitigate or obscure the substance of transitional justice efforts to establish what happened, who the victims were, and who was responsible for the violations.

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Upcoming Events

May 09, 2017

‘Adjudicating Rights’ – Manuel Cepeda in conversation with Octavio Ferraz and Sandra Fredman Location: University of Oxford View Details
June 08 – 09, 2017

Transnational and Global Dimensions of Justice and Memory Processes in Europe and Latin America Location: Paris View Details
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