In mid-February, Burmese forces stationed in the northern region of Kachin, near the border between Burma and China, were told to prepare for combat. A seventeen-year ceasefire between the Burmese government and Kachin Independence Army (KIA) as well as other ethnic rebel groups, is ending soon, and the groups face a deadline to decide whether to disarm completely or merge with the Burmese army.
As a 2010 Carl Wilkens Fellow, I am excited for opportunity to introduce a new project to the anti-genocide community. I am thrilled to announce that yesterday on March 14, 2010, the One Million Bones project officially launched in Albuquerque, New Mexico
The Burmese government has issued strict laws for its upcoming elections, the first open elections in 20 years. Among other things, the laws ban anyone convicted by the courts from participating in the elections. Further, the laws require political parties to expel all imprisoned members in order to stay legal and participate in the elections.
The Alliance for Youth Movements (AYM) held their annual international summit in London this week from March 9th to March 11th. The summit, which boasted 59 speakers from over 18 different countries, offered young, emerging activists the opportunity to discuss the best practices for ending global violence through communication technology and social media. Some of the world’s brightest activists gathered at the summit this week to learn how to best counter violence in a non-violent way during this age of rapidly de
In a decision that was long overdue, Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) lifted his hold on the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act on Monday, March 9th, allowing the bill to successfully pass through the Senate yesterday. Senator Coburn had been blocking the bill for weeks over concerns about the $40 million in new spending authorizations, despite agreeing with the basic tenets of the legislation. This disagreem
In goodwill gestures inspired by the renewed relations between France and Rwanda, France arrested two Rwandan expatriates residing in Paris. It is as of yet unknown whether France will try the suspects, or whether they will be extradited to Rwanda. In either scenario, it will be the first instance of France aiding Rwanda in the prosecution of Hutu individuals implicated in the 1994 genocide.
Yesterday a resolution that would officially recognize the forced deportation of millions of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks during and immediately after World War I as a genocide cleared an important hurdle when the House Foreign Affairs committee passed it by a narrow 23-22 margin.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is a United Nations court of law dealing with war crimes that occurred during the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s. The Tribunal was established in 1993 and has since contributed significantly to the fields of international humanitarian law, setting precedents when it proved that individual leaders of mass crimes such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity will be held accountable and will face justice.
Whether civilian casualties in Afghanistan undermine counterinsurgency efforts remains a central point in how the United States and its allies approach the way that their operations impact Afghanistan's citizenry.
