This month

China
Mozambique
Myanmar
Niger
Sahel
Tigray region (Ethiopia)

China

The US Department of State has published its 2020 Human Rights report on China. It states that Chinese authorities commit genocide against Uyghurs, who are predominantly Muslim, and crimes against humanity including imprisonment, torture, enforced sterilization, and persecution against Uyghurs and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups. More than 1 million people are believed to be detained;
On 8 March, the Newsline Institute for strategy and policy published the report “The Uyghur Genocide: The examination of China’s breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention”. It’s the first independent expert application of the 1948 Genocide Convention to the ongoing treatment of the Uyghurs in China. It was drafted in response to emerging accounts of serious and systematic atrocities in Xinjiang province, particularly directed against the Uyghurs. Dozens of experts in international law, genocide studies, Chinese ethnic policies, and the region were invited to examine pro bono all available evidence that could be collected and verified from public Chinese State communications, leaked Chinese State communications, eyewitness testimony, and open-source research methods such as public satellite-image analysis, analysis of information circulating on the Chinese internet, and any other available source. The resulting report is a presentation of the facts that could be established together with careful analysis of whether China bears State responsibility for breaches of the Genocide Convention. The report does not provide any recommendations for action.

Mozambique

As from 2017, armed extremists from “Al-Shabaab” put civilians in danger of core international crimes. The group -indirectly associated with IS- is engaged in violent incidents in the northern province of Cabo Delgado. The acts amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, and leave more than 500.000 displaced. In 2020, fighting has increased near port towns. There is believed to be a connection with off shore gas projects.

In March, the Mozambique Defence Armed Forces, Mozambican security forces and private military contractors have been fighting Al-Shabaab after it invaded the city Palma, killing dozens of people.

Myanmar

On the 1st of February the military staged a coup, overthrowing the civilian government. The de facto leader, Nobel Price winner Aung San Suu Kyi, was arrested. The coup followed the success of the National League for Democracy in the November 2020 elections, whereby the military backed candidates were defeated.

In response to public anti-coup protests, the security forces have used widespread and excessive force -amongst others through te use of lethal weapons- leaving many civilians dead. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar has stated that the abuses may amount to crimes against humanity.

Sahel

Concerns remain for several countries in the Sahel: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Nigeria. Governments struggle to cope with local conflicts sparked by either ethnical divsions, grazing rights, or -as a result of the climate change- by the control over land and water. In many if these countries Jihadist groups exploit the tensions and fuel the rivaleries and tensions. Due to weak institutions and poor government responses, the protection of civilians remains to be under intensive presssure.

Tigray (Ethiopia)

In aftermath of the 4 November 2020 military offensive against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in Tigray, thousands have been killed and more than 2 million have been displaced. Although it has been hard to receive confirmations, there is growing evidence of many atrocities, clearly amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity in the area. Crimes include ethnic-based killings, forced recruitment, forced displacement, sexual violence and destruction of cultural heritage. Some mayor massacres took place in the towns of Mai-Kadra, Hemera, Aksum, Delegat and nearby locations. Some of these massacres have led to hundreds of deaths. The crimes have seem to be committed by all sides, including the Ethiopian and Eritrean armed forces. On 5 February the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide released a statement calling for accountability for reported abuses in Tigray.