Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: Atrocity Alert: South Sudan, Syria and Democratic Republic of the Congo

February 22, 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.

South Sudan

During January renewed fighting erupted in several regions of South Sudan. In particular, violence between the Sudan People’s’ Liberation Army (SPLA) and the SPLA in Opposition (SPLA-IO) has escalated in Central Equatoria and Eastern Nile states, while additional violence has resulted in mass civilian displacement from Yei and Kajo-Keji.

The current fighting has caused the indefinite suspension of humanitarian activities in several parts of the country. More than 52,600 people fled South Sudan to Uganda during January. The UN Refugee Agency announced on 10 February that more than 1.5 million people have fled conflict in South Sudan since December 2013 and an additional 2.1 million continue to be internally displaced.

Despite expressing his commitment to the national dialogue scheduled to start in March, President Salva Kiir has threatened war if the opposition refuses to participate. Meanwhile, significant parts of the August 2015 peace agreement remain unimplemented.

The government needs to take expeditious steps to assist in the deployment of the Regional Protection Force (RPF) and establish the Hybrid Court to investigate atrocities committed during the civil war and hold perpetrators accountable. The UN Security Council should immediately impose an arms embargo and expand targeted sanctions until all parties meet their obligations under the existing peace agreement and in relation to Resolution 2304.

UNHCR

Populations at Risk: South Sudan

Syria

Despite the formal ceasefire that has been in place across the country since 30 December 2016, parties to the conflict continue to perpetrate war crimes and crimes against humanity. On 8 February a Syrian Arab Red Crescent distribution center in Aleppo was targeted in airstrikes, killing two humanitarian workers. On 10 February the UN Children’s Fund reported that an increase in indiscriminate attacks across the country, particularly in Idlib governorate, had led to the deaths of at least 20 children. Additionally, Human Rights Watch released a report on 13 February detailing the use of chemical weapons by Syrian government forces during the offensive to retake Aleppo in November and December of 2016.

In response to ongoing atrocities, UN member states should provide immediate financial and technical support for the “International, Impartial, Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Persons Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes Under International Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011.” Due to the failure of the UN Security Council to hold perpetrators in Syria accountable for their crimes, the investigative mechanism was established by the UN General Assembly during December 2016. On 19 January the UN Secretary-General submitted a report to the General Assembly containing the terms of reference for the investigative mechanism, including steps to ensure its speedy establishment.

Populations at Risk: Syria

Democratic Republic of the Congo

From 9-13 February violent clashes between the Kamuina Nsapu militia and the army (FARDC) escalated in the area of Tshimbulu in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). FARDC soldiers reportedly killed at least 101 people, including 39 women, while indiscriminately firing at militia members. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has stated that reports indicate “excessive and disproportionate use of force by the soldiers.” Prior to this incident, the UN reported that clashes between the FARDC and Kamuina Nsapu had resulted in over 100 people being killed in the Kasai provinces between August 2016 and January 2017. The UN has accused Kamuina Nsapu of perpetrating atrocities against the population in Kasai Central, including recruitment of children. The UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC has deployed a monitoring team to the region to “prevent, investigate and document” human rights violations.

UN Photos

Populations at Risk: Democratic Republic of the Congo

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ICTJ: In Focus: Taking to the Airwaves to Empower Victims in Nepal

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Light in the Darkness: “The Story Kitchen” Turns Victims into Reporters in NepalJaya Luintel was a radio reporter in Nepal during the country’s civil war, covering the conflict’s impact on women. Now, she’s helping female victims produce and broadcast their own stories to a national audience. Discover how her organization, The Story Kitchen, empowers women in Nepal.

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Syria Deeply: U.S. Ponders Safe Zones Amid Block of Refugee Ban, Amnesty Says 13,000 Hanged in Saydnaya Prison, Battling ISIS in al-Bab

February 22, 2017

Assad Says Refugees May Be Terrorists, Should Return to Syria

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad said some refugees who have fled his country are “definitely” terrorists, Yahoo News reported.

Nearly 5 million people have fled Syria in the past six years, after largely peaceful demonstrations were met with state violence in 2011. Since then, the country has spiraled into a complex proxy war, with half the pre-war population internally displaced amid the violence. Most of the country’s refugees have settled in Syria’s neighboring countries.

“For me, the priority is to bring those citizens to their country, not to help them immigrate,” Assad told Yahoo News. He added that he would not take sides on President Donald Trump’s attempted ban on refugees and immigrants from Syria. “It’s an American issue,” he said.

Russian Warplanes Accidentally Kill Turkish Soldiers in Syria

Russian aircraft accidentally killed three Turkish soldiers in Syria on Thursday, Reuters reported. Both countries were involved in an operation against the so-called Islamic State in Syria, a Turkish military statement said.

“During an operation by a Russia Federation warplane against Islamic State targets in the region of the Euphrates Shield operation in Syria, a bomb accidentally hit a building used by Turkish army units,” the Turkish military said in a statement.

Eleven other people were wounded in the incident, for which Russian president Vladimir Putin blamed poor coordination between the two countries. Putin also called his Turkish counterpart, Tayyip Erdogan, to express his condolences.

A statement from the Kremlin on Thursday said Ankara and Moscow have agreed to increase military cooperation in Syria.

More Than 100 Women, Children, Released in Prisoner Swap

The Syrian government and rebel factions exchanged more than 100 prisoners and hostages on Tuesday, some of them children, Reuters reported.

Some 112 people, including 24 children, were swapped between rebel and government representatives in Hama, according to the United Kingdom-based monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

Half of them were female prisoners released from government-held areas and then taken to opposition-held areas. In exchange, rebels freed female hostages and three unidentified men who were then taken to government-held areas in the coastal region.

Prisoner swaps in Syria are rare, but have been increasing recently, the SOHR said.

North Korea Exploiting Child Labor

February 22, 2017

By: Nicole Hoerold
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korea has been drawing renewed criticism for its child labor practices. On February 13, 2016, Human Rights Watch called on the North Korean government to immediately stop exploiting children for labor. The organization made a submission to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child calling attention to the forced labor of school-aged children. The organization collected its information from recently escaped citizens of North Korea and from North Koreans who maintain ties to individuals remaining in the state.

Kim Jong Un poses with North Korean students at the opening of a new primary school. Photo courtesy of: Getty Images

The submission indicates that children are forced to work in areas of farming, rock breaking, collecting scrap metals, and other strenuous types of work. Though North Korea claims it abolished child labor over 70 years ago, sources who spoke to Human Rights Watch clarified that the government continues to recruit individuals into forced labor.

Sources told Human Rights Watch that the North Korean government uses coercive means to recruit child laborers, depicting the work as employment opportunities in “patriotic labor” to show “socialist loyalty”. Individuals who refuse to participate are often discriminated against and receive physical punishments, according to the organization’s sources.

Human rights activists encourage intervention, noting that North Korean children have no other protections and rely on the UN and foreign governments to speak out on the matter. Left unchecked, UN Security Council members warn that millions of North Korean children will be discriminated against, threatening their educational opportunities and overall well-being.

Though the UN Security Council has discussed North Korean human rights violations for the third year in a row, there is not much the organization can do to facilitate real change in the rogue state.

For more information, please see:

New York Post – N. Korea’s child slavery problem is even worse than imagined – 9 February, 2017

International Business Times – North Korea’s Kim Jong Un Exploits Poor People: Children Forced To Work At Expensive Ski Resort For Elite – 27 January, 2017

Human Rights Watch – North Korea: End Rampant Forced Child Labor – 13 February, 2017

Human Rights Watch – Human Rights Watch Submission on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the Committee on the Rights of the Child – 13 February, 2017

Human Rights Watch – UN: North Korea Exploiting Children – 8 February, 2017

U.N. Considering Removing Peacekeepers from Haiti

February 21, 2017

By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, North America

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — After 13 years, the United Nations is considering removing the military component of stabilization mission in Haiti. The mission, known as MINUSTAH, will soon undergo a “reconfiguration” according to Herve Ladsous, U.N. deputy secretary-general, due to progress made on the island over the past few years. MINUSTAH costs an estimated $346 million per year.

UN peacekeepers from Sri Lanka patrol Port-au-Prince in Haiti (Photo Courtesy of Miami Herald)

Ladsous cites the recent success of political elections, the inauguration of the new president, and the development of the police force as signs of progress. The country has made such significant improvements that the “security throughout the country cannot be compared with that of 10 years ago.”

Newly-sworn in Haitian President Joyenel Moise met with Ladsous last week, and will be the first Haitian president since 2004 to govern without the U.N.’s prominent military presence. Ladsous believes that the work left to be done in Haiti is to be done primarily by the Haitians, however the U.N. will be “perfectly ready to mobilize” if needed. During Ladsous’ visit to Haiti, no one objected to the proposed removal of the peacekeepers.

While praising the progress Haiti has made in stabilizing itself, Ladsous issues a warning to those who are tempted to “take advantage of this temporary period to return to illegality, commit crimes, violations of human rights.” He assures that Haiti “will not accept that.” Ladsous also notes that there is still a significant amount of work left to do improving the police force, the law, human rights, and the status of women. Specifically, the Haitian National Police is expected to reach its full strength of 15,000 members

Brian Concannon, head of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, criticizes MINUSTAH for their “slow, expensive and limited progress in its primary mission.” In support of his criticisms, Concannon cites the introduction of cholera and sexual misconduct by peacekeepers in Haiti as areas of concern.

MINUSTAH was last renewed in October 2016 for a six month period, as opposed to its usual year renewal. The UN Secretary-General is expected to make recommendations to the UN Security Council regarding the removal of military component on March 15.

For more information, please see:

Jamaica Observer — UN Peacekeeping Chief Says Solid Progress Made in Haiti — 15 February 2017

Atlanta Black Star — UN May Change Peacekeeping Protocols in Light of Haiti’s Improving Security Situation — 14 February 2017

Miami Herald — A Haiti Without U.N. Peacekeepers? After Almost 13 Years, it May Happen — 14 February 2017

VOA — UN Considers Removing Military Peacekeepers from Haiti — 9 February 2017