North Koreans ‘betrayed’ by human rights omission in Trump-Kim agreement

After meeting Kim Jong-un in Singapore, US President Donald Trump said the many North Koreans currently being held in forced-labour camps were “one of the great winners today”. (Photo: ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP/Getty Images)
North Koreans were “betrayed” by the failure of US President Donald Trump to include human rights provisions in his agreement with the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, following their historic meeting in Singapore, according to Human Rights Watch’s Asia Director, Phil Robertson. “The North Korean people have suffered for so long,” . . . Read More

Fresh move to prosecute IS for genocide

Destroyed market in the town of Bartella, 15km east of Mosul, which was liberated from IS by Iraqi forces in October 2016. (Photo World Watch Monitor)
Campaigners have welcomed a bill designed to facilitate the prosecution of Islamic State jihadists for genocide against Christians, Yazidis and other minorities in Iraq and Syria. Complaining that efforts to encourage the British government to accuse IS of genocide had received “nothing but rebuttals and refusals”, Lord Alton, a Catholic, . . . Read More

‘Crimes against humanity’ in North Korea’s prison camps

An icy Tumen river forms the border between China and North Korea, 2009. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
North Korea’s president, Kim Jong-un, and top officials should be held accountable for committing “crimes against humanity” in prison camps in the country, three international jurists said earlier this week. They called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to establish a special tribunal to prosecute the country’s leaders. The jurists’ . . . Read More

Mali Islamist to pay millions in compensation for damaged mausoleums, but nothing for churches

The International Criminal Court has ordered an Islamist leader to pay 2.7m euros ($3.1m) for the destruction of mausoleums in Mali’s northern city of Timbuktu. Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi pleaded guilty to ordering the destruction of the historic shrines at the World Heritage Site during the occupation of northern Mali by . . . Read More

US lawmakers call for continued sanctions against Sudan as Bashir plans Russia visit

Sudan's President Omar Bashir attending the Arab League summit meetings in Jordan in March 2017. Photo: Getty Images
A bipartisan group including 53 US lawmakers has urged President Donald Trump to delay the permanent lifting of sanctions on Sudan, ahead of tomorrow’s (12 July) deadline for a decision to be made. Meanwhile, Sudan’s President, Omar Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes including . . . Read More

Is Sudan really ready for sanctions to be lifted?

One of Barack Obama’s last acts in office was to scale back a 20-year-old trade embargo on Sudan. The move has been criticised by human rights groups, which have called it “premature” and “despicable”, but has the country and its President, wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, . . . Read More

Failure to bring IS to justice shows UN genocide conventions ‘obsolete’

Failure to bring IS to justice shows UN genocide conventions ‘obsolete’
The UN has broken the pledges it made in the aftermath of World War II to prevent genocide from recurring, said Ewelina Ochab.World Watch Monitor   The UN must urgently put in place measures to hold to account jihadists who have committed atrocities against minorities in Iraq and Syria, because . . . Read More

Sudan’s trial of pastors for ‘spying’ continues

The trial of four defendants, including two local pastors and a foreign Christian worker, accused of “spying” continued in Khartoum yesterday (26 Sep.), with the prosecutor presenting more “evidence”. The hearing against Rev. Hassan Taour, Rev. Kuwa Shamal (both ethnic Nuba), Czech aid worker Petr Jasek and Darfuri graduate Abdulmonem . . . Read More

‘Refer Eritrea to ICC for crime against humanity of persecution’

‘Refer Eritrea to ICC for crime against humanity of persecution’
In 2015, Eritreans made up 25 per cent of the migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. gettyimages.com A new report from the United Nations says “systematic, gross and widespread crimes against humanity”, including abuses of religious freedom, have been committed in Eritrea and should be investigated by . . . Read More

The UN is about to take a very close look at Sudan’s treatment of Christians

The UN is about to take a very close look at Sudan’s treatment of Christians
What is happening? The UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights is scheduled to hold a 3 1/2-hour hearing in Geneva on Wednesday, 4 May, at which UN member nations will examine the state of human rights in Sudan. It promises to be an interesting meeting. Sudan’s president, . . . Read More