Administrator's blog

"The gacacas were originally formed to resolve minor disputes among villagers but were reinvented to hand out justice to the perpetrators of the genocide and help fast-track reconciliation efforts in the broken nation.

The nation's justice system and the International Criminal Tribunal set up to try genocide suspects were overwhelmed, and handling all the cases in those courts would have taken hundreds of years, according to the president."

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"In a unanimous decision in March, the three presiding judges said evidence proved that as head of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) and its armed wing, Lubanga bore responsibility for the recruitment of child soldiers under the age of 15 who had participated actively on the frontline."

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"The state ministry for education announced that their plan for 2013 will upgrade rural education but cautioned that insecurity in rural areas could be a problem. Over 100,000 people were displaced at the beginning of the year by raids and counter raids between rival groups, disrupting the education for many children."

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On June 8, Genocide Watch released a statement about the on-going violence in Syria:

"Speaking to AFP via Skype from the Old City neighbourhood of Homs, opposition activist Abu Bilal said the regime assault on several parts of the central city was suffocating. "They are shelling us all the time. There's very little food and water, and we're running out of medication."

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"The United Nations and South Sudanese authorities said on Friday they were investigating reports police had abducted and raped women during a disarmament program in the east of the troubled African nation...The announcement came after a group of aid and rights groups, including U.S.-based PACT, issued a report accusing the army and state police of beatings, harassment, killings, torture and sexual assault of civilians during the disarmament campaign."

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"The arbitrary seizure of independent newspapers comes amid concerns about worsening press freedom under the government of President Omar al-Bashir, which has coincided with escalating tensions between Khartoum and Juba."

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"The fourth update [from Eric Reeves since his original reportt on May 6, 2011]... collectively, the reports and data attempt to render as completely as possible all confirmed aerial attacks on civilians and humanitarians working in what is now Sudan and South Sudan.  The attacks recorded here are all the responsibility of the National Islamic Front/National Congress Party regime in Khartoum, which this month marks its 23rd year in power following the June 30, 1989 military coup."

Nuba Reports uploaded a video obtained from SPLA [South Sudan military -- formerly Sudan People's Liberation Movement] forces that shows what is believed to be SAF  [Sudan Armed Forces] soldiers burning a village in South Kordofan.  

"In recent field investigations in Syria, Amnesty International has found disturbing new evidence of grave abuses – many of which amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes – committed by the Syrian army in towns and villages around Idlib, and Aleppo, as well as in the Jebel al-Zawiyah and Jebel al-Oustani areas (north-west of Hama) between late February and late May 2012. Towns and villages are being kept under virtual siege by troops who fire indiscriminately into these areas and target those moving in and out of them."

"Fighting has worsened once again over the last few months in North and South Kivu provinces, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. As a result, people are being killed or injured, and thousands of families are on the move seeking safety."

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"Experts are concerned that these latest attacks suggest the Raia Mutomboki has moved from targeting the families of FDLR [Hutu militia operating in DRC] fighters to directing attacks against any Rwandaphone communities in eastern DRC." 

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"The recruits include civilians forcibly recruited in Musanze and Rubavu districts in Rwanda, some of whom were children under 18. Witnesses said that some recruits were summarily executed on the orders of Ntaganda’s forces when they tried to escape."

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"On traveling to one market, I met a woman who told me that they had seen a three-fold increase in prices for their staple food, dura (sorghum). People are eating less food, less often."

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"In a video clip posted on the internet, a Syrian woman named Lathat calmly described how the hamlet had been attacked by "regime forces and Shabiha" (government militia) who killed children, including two of her daughters, with knives and axes."

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