The annual Assembly of State Parties of the ICC (ASP) kicked off yesterday to discuss the management of the court and possible changes to the Rome Statute. While several issues are on this year’s agenda, including victim compensation and progress on ratifying amendments to define the crime of aggression, chief among the concerns of the state parties are the issues surrounding the current cases with Kenya and in particular the prosecution of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Vice President William Ruto.
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A Look at the Promises and Perils of Social Media in Conflict
Throughout the Social Good Summit, various panels and participants discussed social media and the impact it is having on the world today. Often social media is seen in positive light as a method of bringing individuals together to amplify action, educate people on new issues and build new networks at a cheaper transaction price. But for many, Syria represents a darker side of social media where its primary outcome is not bringing people together, but rather helps people bear witness to atrocities in the world’s most brutal conflict today.
Read MoreInvesting in Girl Power at the Social Good Summit
For most people, getting shot in the head would slow them down but that is not the case for Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who inadvertently became an international advocate for girl’s education and a target of the Taliban. Today, Yousafzai spoke at the Social Good Summit in New York as well as made her Twitter debut in order to raise awareness of the issue of equal education. She is also preparing for the official launch of her new project, The Malala Fund, which will open next month.
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Supporting Promise with Action in Africa’s Rise
It started with a simple drink, or more accurately, the inability of Senegalese-born Magatte Wade to find it when she returned to Senegal. In searching for a hibiscus drink she remembered fondly from her childhood, it was nowhere to be seen in Dakar. The reason, she discovered, was that as Senegal’s wealth increased so did their attitudes towards the traditional things that once marked their daily lives. Feeling that they should be more Western to match their growing status, simple things like her beloved hibiscus juice were disappearing. Fearing her culture would disappear too under the forces of globalization, she co-founded Adina World Beat Beverages, not only preserve, but spread traditional recipes from around the world. Rather than wait for the West to come to Africa, she decided to bring Africa to the West.
Read MoreThe Never-Ending Cycle of International Inaction on Syria
Most of the world woke up Wednesday to reports of a possible chemical weapons attack by Syrian forces in the eastern suburbs of Damascus. Graphic video and firsthand accounts soon emerged that appear to support these claims with numerous victims, including several children, dead from apparent asphyxiation and showing no other injuries. While the total death toll remains unclear, if these allegations are true it will be the worst chemical weapons attack since the notorious Halabja massacre committed by the Iraqi government in 1988. The attack also comes just days after a U.N. inspector team arrived to investigate three other allegations of chemical weapons use and a year, almost to the day, after Obama surprised the White House press corps with an impromptu briefing where he proposed his now infamous "red line" on Syria.
At this point it is clear that the red line was crossed long ago. Between February 2012 and June 2013, there were at least 18 incidents where chemical weapons were said to be used. Most of these allegations are against the Syrian regime, but there are also accusations against the rebels and the various Islamist militant groups that have joined the fray. These allegations give new dimension to a conflict that is already the world's worst humanitarian disaster in 20 years.
Use of chemical weapons is strictly prohibited in conflict under the Chemical Weapons Convention and customary international law. Although several governments have experimented with developing chemical weapons, their use has been limited since World War II. Very few acts in wartime garner the same condemnation as chemical and biological weapons, and making accusations of their use is highly controversial. When the Syrian conflict started in 2011, world leaders noted their concern over the possible use of chemical weapons and repeatedly stated that such use would be unacceptable. But the allegations have come and gone with very little change to show for it.
Continue reading at US News & World Report
Here's Exactly How Robert Mugabe Stole the Zimbabwe Election
On July 31 Zimbabweans went to the polls in the highly anticipated national elections that marked the end of the Government of National Unity established in 2009. In the end, President Robert Mugabe won with 61% of the vote over MDC-T’s Morgan Tsvangirai. Mugabe’s ZANU PF party also took two-thirds supermajority in parliament, the most they have held since the MDC first contested elections in 2000.
Now, in what is becoming a Zimbabwe electoral tradition, the aftermath of the election and its credibility is being fiercely debated between key stakeholders while members of the international community line up to take sides in the debate.
Continue reading at UN Dispatch
Zimbabwe's Un-Credible Elections
In less than a week, Zimbabwe will go to the polls in the first presidential and parliamentary elections since the violent 2008 election and formation of a Government of National Unity (GNU). Analysts generally agree that this election may be the most important in determining the country’s path since Zimbabwe’s first election in 1980. As such, the whole world is watching. Yet while the run up to the election has not been as violent as 2008, there are still plenty of concerns about the legitimacy of the election given a rushed and flawed process to get to the polls on time.
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The Humanitarian Toll of the Syrian Crisis
Syria long ago became a source of a steady trickle of bad news but recent reports coming from several UN agencies working in Syria highlight just how dire the humanitarian situation there has become.
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For Refugees, No Yellow Brick Road to Oz
Long a controversial issue, Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers is getting renewed attention after two boats sank in the Indian Ocean last week. Although the government had been tracking both boats for days, no attempts were made to lend assistance until after they disappeared from radar. Furthermore, the government opted not to recover the bodies discovered in the subsequent rescue operation, instead leaving the bodies to nature in the water. These incidents have renewed the debate over how the country treats asylum seekers trying to reach Australia through irregular maritime arrivals. And while such renewed attention is needed, recent events suggest that Australia is continuing to head in the wrong direction on refugee rights.
Read MoreDropping the Ball on the Climate-Conflict Nexus
Last week the United States Institute of Peace hosted an event featuring the Administrator of the UN Development Program, Helen Clark, and a panel of experts to discuss building resilience and preventative capabilities in the face of growing social, economic and political pressures brought about by climate change. Underlying the event was the release of a report late last year by the National Research Council on climate change and social stress. Recent research shows that climate change serves as a conflict multiplier, encouraging new conflicts while reinforcing existing ones. As a result, recognizing the threat climate change poses and building resilience in fragile societies to these pressures is a critical issue, not just to limit the devastating effects of natural disasters but also for conflict prevention.
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