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Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: Atrocity Alert: Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Syria
Atrocity Alert, No. 47, 22 March 2017
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.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
At least eight mass graves have been discovered following violence between the Congolese army (FARDC) and the Kamuina Nsapu militia in Kasai-Central province during January and February. Earlier in March the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, urged the Human Rights Council to establish an inquiry in response to evidence of the FARDC using disproportionate deadly force and the discovery of mass graves.
On 18 March seven FARDC officers were charged with “war crime by murder, war crime by mutilation, war crimes by cruel inhuman and degrading treatment” in connection with a February video of soldiers shooting a group of suspected militia members. The UN mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) reported that between 14 and 17 March clashes in Kananga between the military and the Kamuina Nsapu militia resulted in “high numbers of deaths.” MONUSCO released a statement noting recent militia attacks on state institutions, but criticized the disproportionate use of force and targeting of civilians, including women and children, by the FARDC and other state forces.
Image taken from video showing security forces shooting alleged militia members.
South Sudan
Despite declaring a famine in parts of South Sudan during February, the government has been accused of continuing to spend approximately half its budget on weapons. The UN Panel of Experts for South Sudan has called upon the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan and to sanction individuals who actively obstruct the peace process.
As of 20 February at least 100,000 people were facing starvation. The UN and the government have classified at least another 1 million South Sudanese civilians as being “on the brink of famine.” The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, Eugene Owusu, and Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Hervé Ladsous, have said that the South Sudanese government is responsible for the dire “man made” famine.
The African Union and UN Security Council must hold those responsible for famine, endemic conflict and mass atrocities in South Sudan accountable, regardless of their affiliation or position. Despite promises by the government, the Regional Protection Force has still not been deployed and the Hybrid Court to prosecute perpetrators of past atrocities has not been established. An arms embargo should immediately be imposed upon South Sudan.
Syria
On 20 March at least 33 people were killed in an airstrike on a school where displaced civilians had been sheltering near the city of Raqqa, the self-proclaimed capital of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the attack was carried out by the United States-led coalition, which is currently conducting an air campaign against ISIL forces in both Syria and Iraq. The attack took place four days after the US military was accused of targeting a mosque in Al-Jineh, in northwestern Aleppo province, in an airstrike that killed more than 40 people, most of whom were civilians. A spokesperson for the US Central Command confirmed the airstrike on the village, but denied targeting the mosque.
Today in Washington D.C. representatives from 68 countries that form the broad international coalition against ISIL met for the first time since 2014 to discuss military efforts to defeat the extremist group in the remaining areas under its control in Iraq and Syria. Coalition members should emphasize the centrality of civilian protection to anti-ISIL military operations. All potential violations of international law, including possible war crimes, must be thoroughly investigated.
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Cameroon Forcing Refugees to Return to Nigeria
By Samantha Netzband
Impunity Watch, Africa Desk Reporter
YAOUNDE, Cameroon– Word is spreading that Cameroon is returning refugees to Nigeria despite the fact the country is still facing conflict with Boko Haram. UNHCR and other international organizations that work to protect refugees are deeply concerned by Cameroon’s actions. According to reports 2600 refugees have been forcefully returned to Nigeria from Cameroon.
Refugees at a camp in Cameroon. (Photo Courtesy of UNHCR)
UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch detailed a specific situation where Cameroon soliders forced refugees out of the country. “UNHCR teams have heard and documented accounts about Cameroonian troops returning refugees against their will – without allowing them time to collect their belongings. In one incident on March 4, some 26 men, and 27 women and children, were sent back from the Cameroonian border town of Amtide, in Kolofata district, where they had sought refuge, according to UNHCR monitoring teams in the border regions.” UNHCR has acknowledged Cameroon’s generosity in accepting 85,000 refugees but is calling upon Cameroon to be responsible for its obligations under international law.
Boko Haram has killed 15,000 and displaced 2 million in Nigeria. While a regional coalition has been able to push back Boko Haram they have been successful in being more active in the the Lake Chad area. Boko Haram is also not only an issue for Nigeria, but Cameroon. 200,000 Cameroonian’s have left their homes because they fear Boko Haram’s violence may spread.
For more information, please see:
BBC Africa – Boko Haram crisis: Cameroon ‘forcing Nigeria refugees home’ – 21 March 2017
news 24 – Cameroon expelled 2 600 Nigerians fleeing Boko Haram: UN – 21 March 2017
UNHCR – UNHCR concerned about return of Nigerian refugees from Cameroon – 21 March 2017
Colombia Faces an Increase in Assassinations of Indigenous Activists
By Cintia Garcia
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
BOGOTÁ, Colombia— Within the past year there has been an increase in murders of indigenous activists by right-wing paramilitaries. The most recent assassinations of prominent activists occurred in Corinto and Medellin.
Javier Oteca, a member of the Nasa tribe and well known indigenous land rights activist was shot to death by right-wing paramilitaries impersonating farm workers, according to witnesses. It is believed that the men that shot Mr. Oteca were private military officers. Although members of the National Army were in the vicinity where Mr. Oteca was shot, they were unable to detain the suspects. But members from Mr. Oteca’s tribe detained six suspects believed to be related to the incident. The tribe has decided to carry out its own investigation of the murder. The Nasa tribe has experienced an increase in violence. In 2016, Colombia’s Constitutional Court declared the tribe “at risk of extermination.”
In addition to Mr. Oteca’s murder, earlier this month, Alicia Lopez Guisao, a leader of the Asokinchas tribe was murdered in Medellin. Ms. Guisao was shopping at a grocery store when two men stormed the store and shot her. Ms. Guisao worked for the left-wing organization, the People’s Congress, whose objective is to organize indigenous peasants. Ms. Guisao distributed food and land to indigenous groups and afro-descendants through the program, the Agrarian Summit Project. The People’s Congress believe that, “her murder is an example of the fact that the right-wing organizations that operate today in the city of Medellin are the same paramilitaries who have murdered others in recent years.”
The increase in murders of indigenous activists, according to a report released by the Defense of the People, stated that “since the retreat of the FARC from the zones where they previously exercised control has allowed for the entrance of new armed actors who fight for territorial and economic dominance.” It was well known that the FARC and left-wing guerilla groups had defended the indigenous campesino groups and since their retreat these communities are vulnerable to violence. In January and February alone, 3,549 people have been displaced, mostly indigenous and black, according to the United Nations.
For more information, please see:
Telesur—Colombian Paramilitaries Kill Another Indigenous Leader—24 March 2017.
El Colombiano—Desde el Dia D, han Sido Asesinados 27 Lideres—23 March 2017.
El Espectador—Denucian Aesinato de una Líder Social en Medellín—3 March 2017.
Telesur—Another Indigenous Human Rights Activist Killed in Colombia—3 March 2017.
Hundreds of Iraqi Civilians Killed in Airstrikes
by Yesim Usluca
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
BAGHDAD, Iraq — After a one-day break, Iraqi forces resumed their operations against the Islamic State (“ISIS”) on Sunday, March 26th. The Iraqi army’s efforts were briefly put on hold following suspicions of a U.S.-led coalition airstrike killing dozens of civilians in Mosul on March 17th.
Local residents and witnesses stated that the bodies of over 200 civilians had been recovered from the rubble of a collapsed building in the area hit by the airstrike. Photographers at the attack site reported seeing twelve bodies, including those of women and children, being placed in blue plastic body bags. Hundreds more civilians are still believed to be trapped. An AlJazeera reporter, Ms. Hoda Abdel-Hamid, stated that she interviewed a man who had been trapped under rubble for several days before being rescued, and had lost twenty-two relatives in an airstrike.
According to Ms. Abdel-Hamid, local residents indicate that the “main problem” is the agility with which ISIS fighters move around. She stated that the fighters “go[] in and out of houses, on top of rooftops . . . and then disappear.” By the time an airstrike is called in, “the ISI[S] fighters have disappeared.”
U.S. defense officials confirmed that a coalition airstrike struck a target in Mosul on March 17th. U.S. Central Command (“CENTCOM”) officials indicated that the aircraft had acted at the request of Iraq. This is a stark contrast to the statement issued by Iraqi Vice President Osama al-Nujaifi, who characterized the conditions as a “humanitarian catastrophe” by blaming U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and “excessive force” used by federal police forces. Mr. al-Nujaifi subsequently called for an emergency parliament session to initiate an investigation into the attack. The spokesman for the Joint Operations Command further indicated that the Iraqi Defense Ministry opened an investigation into the attack.
While CENTCOM officials stated that coalition airstrikes are carried out in compliance with the Laws of Armed Conflict, March could produce the highest number of civilian deaths attributed to U.S. airstrikes since the beginning of the war. Estimates for the amount of civilians killed by the end of the month is currently set at 1,000. The U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq indicated that the organization is “stunned by this terrible loss of life[.]”
A senior public information officer in Iraq with the U.N.’s refugee agency, Ms. Caroline Gluck, indicated that country conditions are “deteriorating daily.” Ms. Gluck noted that the fighting takes place closer to civilian homes in a “densely-packed area,” which results in families being “terrified by the mortars, the shelling and the airstrikes[.]” She stated that most families rely on one meal per day, which typically consists solely of water and flour. She further added that people are “desperate” due to the lack of fuel and heating. The U.N. estimates that over 600,000 people are still trapped in the city of Mosul.
For more information, please see:
Yahoo News—Iraqis remove bodies from rubble in west Mosul—26 March 2017
The Guardian—Shell-shocked Mosul survivors tell of intense airstrikes—26 March 2017
AlJazeera—In west Mosul, ‘nowhere is safe for civilians’—26 March 2017
New York Post—Iraqi military pulls 61 bodies from Mosul as airstrikes probed—26 March 2017
The Guardian—Iraq probes reports of civilian deaths in Mosul—26 March 2017