By April Kent

Photo Credit: "Clashes in Burundi" by REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic 

is licensed under CC Commercial 2.0. 

On February 15, European Union foreign ministers released a statement that they were prepared to strengthen economic sanctions on Burundi following the failure of peace talks with opposition leaders: “The EU... stands ready to impose restrictive measures against those whose actions might have led or might lead to acts of violence and repression (and) serious human rights violations.”

The United Nations has repeatedly warned that the situation in Burundi has serious genocidal overtones, “catapulting the country back to the past” more than a decade after the civil war between Hutus and Tutsis in which tens of thousands were killed. As a result of the current political crisis, at least 400 people have already been killed and 220,000 have fled to neighboring countries.

The conflict erupted on April 25, 2015, when the ruling political party in Burundi announced that the incumbent President of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza, would run for a third term in the upcoming election. The announcement sparked protests by those opposed to Nkurunziza seeking an unconstitutional third term in office, setting off widespread demonstrations in the capital. In January 2016, Amnesty International published satellite images it believed to portray mass graves where killings took place. That same month, the African Union announced a plan to send 5,000 peacekeepers to Burundi, but the plan was shelved after President Nkurunziza declared a military intervention “too early.”

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April 19, 2016

By April Kent

The U.N. Security Council is considering imposing sanctions on two South Sudanese for ceasefire violations that froze implementation of a peace agreement signed last month. Clashes between government and opposition forces are ongoing, with each accusing the other of breaking the peace. The situation has given rise to concerns over whether sanctions will be effective in ending the conflict. The South Sudanese government has focused on the need to prioritize diplomacy over penalties. Foreign affairs minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin remarked “Our friends have unfortunately turned their backs against us and are now the one spearheading negative campaigns for sanctions. We have pleaded with them to help us address these differences through peaceful dialogue but they seem to have made up their minds.” International human rights organizations, however, have advocated taking actions that target the elites perpetuating the war. Sanctions could be an important first step toward ultimately replacing a corrupt political system.

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September 19, 2015

By Sam Obenhaus

NATO-Ukraine Commission session in Brussels |
U.S. Department of State on Flickr 

Money flows quickly.  It has no morals and tends to have a very short memory.  In the case of great powers, it’s tentacles also bind economies together in ways that are hard to define and even harder to untangle.

This last trait has, of course, been a tremendous benefit of expanding trade and interdependence since the latter half of the 20^th century.  Global trade, some like to say, is now “too big to fail.”  The interconnectedness it created pacified Europe, the most violent continent for the majority of recent history, and this is not about to change.  World War III, or even another Cold War, is not around the corner.

But has the deterrence of large-scale conflict come at the expense of reducing the expected costs associated with moderate acts of aggression?  This is the hypothesis Russian President Vladimir Put is testing in Crimea and maybe soon in Eastern Ukraine.

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April 04, 2014

By Julie Inglese

Mondoweiss has reported an increase in the denial of visa requests from Israeli youth, military, and intelligence officials when attempting to enter the United States.

The State Department has begun implementing recommendations contained in a 2011 Inspector General’s report dealing with the Leahy Amendment. The “US legislation requires the mission to vet Israeli military personnel who train with US counterparts to make sure they have not committed human rights abuse.” The recent enforcement of the legislation may be why Israeli’s are being denied visas.

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April 01, 2014

By Katie Bacharach

The UN News Centre reported on the second official visit to the Central African Republic (CAR) made by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura, on March 17 to 19. She met with State officials, civil society representatives, and humanitarian workers to discuss practical arrangements for the prevention of and response to conflict-related sexual violence. 

Displaced persons in CAR face a constant threat of atrocities committed by perpetrators of inter-communal and inter-religious violence, including rape and gang rape, forced marriage, sexual mutilation, abduction, and sexual slavery. Ms. Bangura agreed to the U.N.-backed deployment of a rapid response unit of the national gendarmerie to respond to incidents of sexual violence in conflict in an effort to combat the climate of impunity.

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March 25, 2014

By Katie Bacharach

The Libyan Cabinet has issued a decree that would put women raped during Libya’s 2011 uprising on the same level as wounded veterans by recognizing them as war victims.  

Pro-Gaddafi forces are alleged to have used rape of women as a weapon against rebel forces during the uprising. The decree, which still would need congressional approval to go into effect, contains 12 measures, including financial assistance and physical and psychological health care. Recognizing rape victims is unprecedented in the conservative North African country, and the hope is that this will help with reconciliation efforts.

See the BBC for more details.

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February 26, 2014

By Julie Inglese

Human Rights Watch urges government leaders to begin an international discussion on “fully autonomous robot weapons.”  Although these weapons are yet to come into existence, technology is getting close and many countries have already publicly addressed their existence. 

The robots will have the capacity to select targets and kill them without further intervention by humans.  A debate is already taking place on whether the robots are a danger to human rights.  Some people believe that talks should begin now on how or if these robots should be used, while others propose an outright ban on their use before they even go into the field.

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November 21, 2013