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The U.N. humanitarian chief warned Thursday that the grave humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region is deteriorating, with no sign of Eritrean troops withdrawing and alarmingly widespread reports of systematic rape and other sexual violence mainly by men in uniform.
He replaces Debretsion Gebremichael, whose immunity from prosecution was removed Thursday.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said Thursday that scores of civilians were killed in a \"massacre\" in the Tigray region, that witnesses blamed on forces backing the local ruling party.
The \"massacre\" is the first reported incident of large-scale civilian fatalities in a week-old conflict between the regional ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize.
\"Amnesty International can today confirm... that scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death in Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) town in the southwest of Ethiopia's Tigray Region on the night of 9 November,\" the rights group said in a report.
Amnesty said it had \"digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers.\"
The dead \"had gaping wounds that appear to have been inflicted by sharp weapons such as knives and machetes,\" Amnesty said, citing witness accounts.
Witnesses said the attack was carried out by TPLF-aligned forces after a defeat at the hands of the Ethiopian military, though Amnesty said it \"has not been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings\".
It nonetheless called on TPLF commanders and officials to \"make clear to their forces and their supporters that deliberate attacks on civilians are absolutely prohibited and constitute war crimes\".
Abiy ordered military operations in Tigray on November 4, saying they were prompted by a TPLF attack on federal military camps -- a claim the party denies.
The region has been under a communications blackout ever since, making it difficult to verify competing claims on the ground.
Abiy said Thursday his army had made major gains in western Tigray.
Thousands of Ethiopians have fled across the border into neighboring Sudan, and the UN is sounding the alarm about a humanitarian crisis in Tigray.
By CARA ANNA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ethiopia's situation is 'spiraling out of control with appalling impact on civilians' and urgently needs outside monitoring, the United Nations human rights chief warned Wednesday, but Ethiopia is rejecting calls for independent investigations into the deadly fighting in its Tigray region, saying it 'doesn't need a baby-sitter.' The government's declaration came amid international calls for more transparency into the month-long fighting between Ethiopian forces and those of the fugitive Tigray regional government that is thought to have killed thousands, including civilians. At least one large-scale massacre has been documented by human […]
The post UN: Ethiopia's conflict has 'appalling impact on civilians' appeared first on Black News Channel.
Just one day after putting out a dire emergency warning, Ethiopia's federal government has agreed to allow the United Nations "unimpeded" humanitarian access to parts of the northern Tigray region, according to a UN spokesperson.
June 10: Police rearrests ‘brutalized’ activists, govt jabs destabilizers
\tZimbabwe police Wednesday arrested three opposition activists on accusations that they lied in saying that they had been abducted and tortured, their lawyers said.
The three opposition women alleged that they were tortured and sexually abused by their abductors, whom they said took them from a police station in May, after they had been arrested for organizing an anti-government protest.
On Wednesday, police re-arrested the women at Harare Central Police Station where they had gone to surrender their passports as part of their bail conditions in the case linked to the protest march, said Kumbirai Mafunda, spokesman for Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, which is providing lawyers for the trio.
The arrests came as a group of United Nations human rights experts said the Zimbabwe government should “immediately end” the practice of disappearances and torture “that appear aimed at suppressing protests and dissent.”
Zimbabwe’s Home Affairs Minister Kazembe Kazembe told reporters Wednesday that the alleged abductions had been fabricated and were part of a wider agenda to destabilize President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government.
By Associated Press Undefined ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's parliament on Tuesday granted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government permission to deploy peacekeepers to Azerbaijan to monitor a cease-fire deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia that aims to end the conflict in the region. In a show of hands, legislators voted in favor of a one-year mandate allowing the government to send troops to Azerbaijan, where they would observe possible violations of the truce from a joint Turkish-Russian monitoring center. The cease-fire ended six weeks of intense fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Erdogan's government would determine the number […]
The post Turkish parliament approves peacekeepers for Azerbaijan appeared first on Black News Channel.
US President Donald Trump accused the UN health body of failing to provide information.
As measles, coronavirus and Ebola hit the Democratic Republic of Congo, women face stigma and delayed sexual health treatment
As the world races to stem the coronavirus, Democratic Republic of Congo is racing to also stop the spread of measles and a new outbreak of Ebola, leaving women delaying reproductive health needs, aid groups warned.
Congo is also facing armed conflict, bringing with it sexual violence against women who, as caregivers, are often on the frontlines of caring for the sick and at higher risk of falling ill and also often blamed for spreading these viruses.
\"The additional pressure to tackle these outbreaks will add a burden to the already strained health systems and this will impact on the delivery of basic health services, especially for children and women,\" said Umutoni in emailed comments.
A study by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a humanitarian relief organisation, reported that women were afraid of being accused of having Ebola and therefore delayed or avoided treatment for reproductive health needs or bleeding.
Young women often go to older women with sexual and reproductive health needs, said Umutoni, which is why they need access to information so they can transfer it to others.
Despite supporting an embargo, Germany has exported €330 million in weapons to countries involved in the war in Libya.
Since hosting a Libya summit four months ago, the German government has approved arms exports worth €331 million ($358 million) to countries accused of supporting warring parties in the country, according a report from the German Economy Ministry seen by news agency DPA.
In January, Germany hosted a summit of world leaders whose countries have sent arms or soldiers to Libya.
In a closing declaration, 16 countries and international organisations agreed to a weapons embargo for Libya.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres later accused these four countries of breaching the embargo and continuing to provide arms for the conflict.
[ENA] Addis Ababa -- Ethiopian Airlines has received today two of the 10 new Airbus A350-900 it ordered in 2017, bringing the total number of its Airbus fleet to 16.
BY HARRIET CHIKANDIWA THE Institute for Community Development Zimbabwe (ICODZim) is set to host the first competition on disability rights on April 16. ICODZim said after realisation that women with disabilities (WWD) still face numerous challenges such as communication and distance barriers in accessing sexual reproductive health rights services, the organisation designed a project to promote the uptake and access of such services by women and girls with disabilities. ICODZim communications and advocacy officer Elinera Manyonga said seven months into the project, the organisation discovered that WWDs suffer from sexual violence and abuses, but most of their cases go unreported. In most cases, they do not receive justice because law officers stigmatise and stereotype them. “One other major challenge which barricade people with disabilities (PWDs) from enjoying their constitutionally-granted rights to health services and justice is poor inconsistent policies,” Manyonga said. “The main reason is to unravel and bring to attention the sad, uncouth and uncivilised reality that even after the Beijing Conference, 41 years of independence and an amended Constitution, WWDs are still not getting justice and their sexual reproductive rights are severely compromised.” “ICODZim remains committed in lobbying, advocating and championing the rights and fair opportunities for WWDs,” she said. “We will leave no stone unturned in achieving this and we will roll out more dynamic, progressive and inclusive programmes in our endeavour to achieve our vision and consolidate it. “Participating institutions are the University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University, Midlands State University and the Great Zimbabwe University.” She said the aim of the competition was to bridge the gap in access to reproductive sexual rights by WWDs, hence the law students from the mentioned universities will be participating. “The competition seeks to identifying gaps within Zimbabwean legal frameworks that hinder WWDs, survivors of sexual abuse and violence from accessing justice,” she said. Follow Harriet on Twitter @harrietchikand1
The post Competition for PWDs on the cards appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.
UNICEF said some 2.3 million minors are struggling to access treatment for malnourishment, critical vaccines, emergency medicines, water and sanitation.
A Black Columbia graduate student who was raped last year, shares her story on how seeing another Black person have their life stolen by a white man in power can trigger memories of trauma.
Armed with research to prove how much better off our world would be with the rights of women and girls realised, we in the global advocacy community declared that it is well past time to start living in a gender equal reality.
I had declared in 2018, after the death of another innocent girl victim of sexual and gender based violence, Ochanya, that we were standing on a gender precipice from where good actions could flow, if together, we determinedly took the right actions to protect women and girls.
At the United Kingdom-France consultations on the Prevention of Sexual Violence Initiative last year, we said with such hope that we would uphold the United Nations Security Council's Resolution 1325 on women peace and security.
At the Commonwealth of Nations last year, we made a promise of No More Violence, yet, here we are, from our leaders, and right down to our grassroots, failing women and girls.
The gruesome deaths of Uwa and Tina are a visceral notice of our failure in Nigeria, and that's why I am joining the WACOL Tamar SARC and Social Intervention Advocacy Foundation to call for radical reform of our police, to end the impunity of sexual violence against women and girls.
“The COVID 19 pandemic has aggravated the existing conditions for women, who are discriminated against in all sectors,” said Dr. Beatrice Duncan, Policy Advisor, Rule of Law, UN Women, at a May 22 briefing organized by Ethnic Media Services.
Dr. Nicole Mason, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research said women disproportionately account for the nearly 39 million people who have filed for unemployment in the last nine weeks because of their over-representation in service sector jobs which require employees to be on-site, rather than working remotely.
Dr. Estela Rivero, a Research Associate with Notre Dame’s Pulte Institute for Global Development, stated that the COVID 19 pandemic has exacerbated the already limited opportunities for women to gain financial independence.
In the U.S., her studies show that amid the pandemic women ages 30-40 spend an average of 60 hours per week in paid and unpaid labor.
Women isolated at home with an abusive partner cannot call a hotline for help because of fears that the violent domestic partner or adolescent child might overhear, resulting in increased violence.
That would allow organizations to focus solely on helping families rather than worrying about funding during the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to a domestic violence crisis.
“As domestic violence incidents increase due to the financial and emotional stress of the pandemic, we must ensure these vital organizations are able to leverage federal funding to help them provide prevention, resources and support to those who are in crisis,” Casey added.
Many domestic violence shelters were already at mass capacity before the pandemic hit, said Catherine Beane, vice president of public policy and advocacy at YWCA USA, one of the organizations that supported the POWER Act.
“This bill is so critical right now because the individuals who are experiencing domestic and sexual violence and other forms of family violence, they don’t have time to wait for a better time financially for YWCA or any other organization to have room in their shelter,” Beane told HuffPost.
Last month, a bipartisan group of senators wrote two letters urging leadership to include more funding relief in the next COVID-19 bailout bill and asked for more resources specifically for native and indigenous survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
[allAfrica] Shocking levels of violence inflicted by men upon women are reported in a United Nations study published today. The analysis shows that in Sub-Saharan Africa, one in every three women in marriages or other partnerships with men suffer abuse.
[DW] The UN humanitarian chief has said that sexual violence and starvation were being used as weapons of war in Ethiopia's Tigray. He urged Eritrea to make good on its pledge and recall its troops.
[Monitor] The East African Community (EAC) yesterday flagged off a 74-man election observer mission team to monitor Uganda's presidential and parliamentary elections due tomorrow.
The European Union has postponed nearly €90m ($110m; £81m) in budget support payments to Ethiopia due to concerns over the crisis in the Tigray region. European Commission spokeswoman Ana Pisonero-Hernandez told the BBC there were five conditions for the aid to be resumed: Granting full humanitarian access for aid workers to reach people in need in all affected areas Allowing civilians to seek refuge in neighbouring countries Ethnically targeted measures and hate speech must stop Mechanisms to monitor, and investigate allegations of, human rights violations Communication lines and media access to Tigray should be fully re-established. She said the decision 'does not affect EU humanitarian programmes on the ground or other development actions'. Government forces have been battling Tigray fighters since 4 November. Hundreds, even thousands, of people are thought to have been killed in the conflict, while about 50,000 have fled to neighbouring Sudan.- BBC
Burundi's longtime President Pierre Nkurunziza has congratulated the governing party's hand-picked successor on a \"large victory\" in the country's presidential election, though the main opposition has pledged to contest the result in court.
The election commission on Monday declared Evariste Ndayishimiye, a former army general chosen by the CNDD-FDD party as heir to Nkurunziza, the winner of the May 20 poll with 68.72 percent vote.
\"I warmly congratulate the President-elect General Major Evariste Ndayishimiye for his large victory which confirms that the great majority of Burundians adhere to the projects and the values he embodies,\" Nkurunziza, who chose not to run after 15 years in power, posted on Twitter.
On May 8, 12 days to the polls and before the scheduled arrival of an East African Community mission to the country, the government said the regional bloc's observers would have to be in quarantine for 14 days, effectively ruling them out of the election process.
Nkurunziza was this year elevated by Burundi's parliament to the rank of \"supreme guide for patriotism\" and he will continue to be chairman of the governing party's powerful council of elders.
ADDIS ABABA/NAIROBI (Reuters) - Ethiopia and the United Nations reached an agreement on Wednesday to channel desperately needed humanitarian aid to a northern region where a month of war has killed, wounded and uprooted large numbers of people. The pact, announced by U.N. officials, will allow aid workers access to government-controlled areas of Tigray, where federal troops have been battling the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and captured the regional capital. The war is believed to have killed thousands, sent 45,000 refugees into Sudan, displaced many more within Tigray, and worsened suffering in a region where 600,000 people were already dependent on food aid even before the flare-up from Nov. 4. Aid agencies had sounded the alarm about a growing humanitarian crisis and been pressing for access, after hundreds of foreign workers were forced to evacuate. Food is thought to be running out for 96,000 Eritrean refugees in Tigray, while the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said at the weekend that medics in the local capital Mekelle were short of painkillers, gloves and bodybags. “The U.N. and the Federal Government of Ethiopia have signed an agreement to ensure that humanitarians will have unimpeded, sustained and secure access for humanitarian personnel and services to areas under the control of the Federal Government in the Tigray Region,” the U.N. humanitarian coordination agency OCHA said in a statement to Reuters. There was no immediate confirmation from the government.
The shootings in Atlanta come as anti-Asian hate crimes have seen a stunning uptick in the US throughout the past year of the pandemic. Six of the eight victims were Asian. The massage parlors advertised their largely Asian staff. According to one study, though overall hate crimes decreased by 7% in 16 major US cities … Continued
The post Black women denounce violence, stand in solidarity with Asian American communities appeared first on Chicago Defender.
The U.N. humanitarian chief warned Thursday that the grave humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia's embattled Tigray region is deteriorating, with no sign of Eritrean troops withdrawing and alarmingly widespread reports of systematic rape and other sexual violence mainly by men in uniform.
The post UN: Tigray's Humanitarian Crisis Worsens, No Eritrean Exit appeared first on Los Angeles Sentinel.
Geneva — Expressing “grave alarm”, UN human rights experts have called on Zimbabwe to immediately end a reported pattern of disappearances and torture that appear aimed at suppressing protests and dissent.
“Targeting peaceful dissidents, including youth leaders, in direct retaliation for the exercise of their freedom of association, peaceful assembly and freedom of expression is a serious violation of human rights law.”
“Under the absolute and non-derogable prohibition of torture and ill-treatment, which includes enforced disappearance and violence against women, Zimbabwe must take all measures in its power to prevent such abuse, to investigate suspected violations, and to bring any perpetrators to justice,” the experts said.
The experts were: Nils Melzer, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances: Luciano Hazan (Chair-Rapporteur), Tae-Ung Baik (Vice Chair), Bernard Duhaime, Ms. Houria Es-Slami, and Henrikas Mickevičius; David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; Clement Nyaletsossi Voule, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; Ms. Dubravka Šimonovic, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences.
The Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council.
The 70-page draft review - circulated last month to aid officials working in Congo and obtained by The New Humanitarian - looks at everything from corruption within the Ebola response to how women and girls are subjected to sexual exploitation.
The operational review was commissioned by an anti-fraud taskforce created by UN agencies and aid groups in Congo after the NGO Mercy Corps discovered a fraud scheme in late 2018 - first made public this week by TNH - that raised the alarm about widespread corruption and problems with the systems designed to root it out.
The review was shared with TNH by a senior aid official working in Congo who expressed dissatisfaction with how the humanitarian sector is managing fraud and corruption risks.
DFID, a major donor to humanitarian aid in Congo, said it had provided funding for the review because it is committed to tackling fraud and corruption, but refused to comment on the findings and recommendations until a final version is published later this month.
Fraud, mistrust, and lost aid
Ongoing corruption has caused a mutual lack of trust between the aid sector and local communities, who \"perceive humanitarian aid as corrupt and driven by external agendas\", according to the draft review.
Conversion therapy takes place in at least 100 countries, according to the U.N.
A top U.N. expert urged global governments on Monday to ban the \"degrading\" practise known as conversion therapy, which aims to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.
\"The practises of conversion therapy are cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment ... (in some cases) they constitute torture,\" said Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the U.N. independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity.
A survey of more than 8,000 people from 100 countries conducted as part of the U.N. study found 98% of those who had undergone conversion therapy reported suffering some damage.
The U.N. report, which also calls on countries to raise awareness around the risks of conversion therapy, will be presented at the U.N. Human Rights Council session later this month.
950,000 people \"facing severe hunger\" in Mozambique - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Who, they ask, will protect women against domestic abuse and sexual violence, if not the police?
One of the goals of the women’s movement in the 1960s and ’70s was to change that, and over the next few decades, states passed a flood of laws mandating arrests in domestic violence incidents and increasing punishments for such crimes.
At the time, some women of color warned that making police the central response for domestic violence conflicts would backfire.
BYP100, a youth-centered group, has launched a national campaign to increase interventions for Black women and girls facing domestic violence that do not rely on contact with the police.
Instead, violence against women has long been exploited by policymakers as justification for expanding the criminal justice system and shutting down reform, as sujatha baliga, a leader in the restorative justice space who advises on domestic violence cases across the U.S., has observed.
