The following media round up on international and foreign policy issues from around the world for the period of 13 January to 19 January 2025. Guernica 37 will provide weekly media updates from the International Criminal Court, European Court of Human Rights, United Nations, European Union and other sources. Should you wish to contribute or submit a media summary, opinion piece or blog, please send to Ned Vucijak at nenadv@guernica37.com for consideration.
18 January 2025
ICC Prosecutor holds talks in Damascus on supporting Syria on war crimes prosecution
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan made an unannounced visit to Damascus to confer with the leader of Syria’s de facto government on how to ensure accountability for alleged crimes committed in the country. Khan’s office said he visited at the invitation of Syria’s transitional government. Prosecutor Khan met with Ahmad al-Sharaa, the leader of Syria’s new administration who was formerly known as Mohammad al-Golani, and the foreign minister to discuss options for justice in The Hague for victims of the country’s civil war, which has left more than half a million dead and more than six million people displaced.
Syria is not a member of the ICC, which has left the court without the ability to investigate the war. According to Prosecutor Khan, Syria could accept the ICC's jurisdiction as a first step. Such a step would mirror the action Ukraine took in search of accountability for alleged Russian war crimes.
18 January 2025
UN announces new plan to counter surge in antisemitism
Developed by UN Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC), the new plan, titled the UN Action Plan to Enhance Monitoring and Response to Antisemitism, is mainly focused on strengthening and coordinating work throughout the United Nations, but it also includes recommendations for governments and organisations.
According to UN Secretary General António Guterres, the Action Plan provides a consolidated document that amalgamates existing United Nations policies, frameworks and actions that address antisemitism including through education on the Holocaust and Jewish life; presents a set of recommendations to enhance the existing United Nations responses to combating antisemitism in line with international human rights standards and norms; and puts forward action points that UNAOC would undertake within its mandate to mainstream the fight against antisemitism across its policy areas.
17 January 2025
First Taiwan execution since 2020 sparks international condemnation
Amnesty International denounced Taiwan’s execution of Huang Linkai, calling the event a “shameful setback” as it marked the first execution in Taiwan since 2020. Huang Linkai, a former conscript in the Republic of China Armed Forces, was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend and the murder of her mother after breaking into their home in 2013. His execution warrant was signed by Justice Minister Zheng Mingqian, and Huang was shot at the Taipei Detention Center.
Amnesty International raised concerns over whether Huang received all of his procedural protections. The group cited a judgment by the Constitutional Court of Taiwan from September 2024, which held that the death penalty can only be imposed following unanimous judgments and that such information must be disclosed by the prosecution to the defendants. The court made the ruling based on unwritten principles of the Constitution of the Republic of China on the basis that it is a precursor to enumerated constitutional rights. Director of Amnesty International Taiwan E-Ling Chiu stated: “The execution of Huang Linkai was carried out in violation of constitutional and international safeguards on the use of the death penalty, and while an appeal filed by his lawyer to stop the execution was still pending before the courts. This renders his execution unlawful and arbitrary, in violation of the right to life.”
16 January 2025
UN Special Rapporteur dismayed by Türkiye’s continued misuse of counter-terrorism laws to keep human rights defenders in long-term detention
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, expressed deep concern at the continued long-term detention in Türkiye of nine prominent human rights defenders and lawyers, all of whom were arbitrarily arrested in connection with their peaceful work and convicted in unfair trials on spurious terrorism-related charges. The Special Rapporteur is in contact with the Turkish authorities on this issue.
Eight of the Turkish human rights defenders are members of the Progressive Lawyers’ Association, representing victims of police violence and torture and citizens prosecuted for their opinions. They were arrested between 2018 and 2019, and charged with “membership of a terrorist organisation”; two of them were also charged with “propaganda for a terrorist organisation”. They were sentenced to up to 13 years in prison in a trial that failed to meet international fair trial and due process standards. A lawyer with the Malatya Bar Association was also tried under terrorism-related articles of the Turkish Penal Code. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for supposed links with the Gülen Movement, which Türkiye accuses of being behind an attempted coup in 2016. All nine human rights defenders are held in high-security, closed prisons.
15 January 2025
World Monuments Fund puts moon on list of at-risk sites
Concerned that the new space race could exacerbate space debris and expand tourism in orbit and beyond, the group named the moon as one of the 25 endangered sites on its 2025 World Monuments Watch. The other sites on the list, endangered by challenges including climate change, tourism, conflict and natural disasters, include Gaza, a damaged historical building in Kyiv, and eroding coastlines in Kenya and the United States.
With a growing number of wealthy people going to space and more governments pursuing human spaceflight, the group warns that more than 90 important sites on the moon could be harmed. In particular, some researchers are worried about Tranquillity Base, the Apollo 11 landing site where the astronaut Neil Armstrong first stepped onto the moon’s surface. A division of the International Committee on Monuments and Sites devoted to aerospace heritage nominated the moon for the nonprofit watch list.
Since 2020, the United States and 51 other countries have signed the Artemis Accords, a nonbinding agreement that outlined the norms expected in outer space. The rules included a call to preserve space heritage including “robotic landing sites, artifacts, spacecraft and other evidence of activity on celestial bodies.” A separate binding United Nations agreement provided for the protection of lunar sites, but there has been little progress in getting key countries to sign it.
14 January 2025
Women’s rights activist returns to Germany after over four years in Iranian custody
German-Iranian women’s rights activist Nahid Taghavi returned to Germany after being held in arbitrary detention in Iran for more than four years.
In recent years, Iran has faced widespread criticism for its practice of detaining dual nationals and Western nationals as political bargaining chips. Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have condemned this tactic as a blatant violation of international law and human rights standards.
Tehran police authorities detained Italian journalist Cecilia Sala on December 19 for “violating the laws of the Islamic Republic,” although specific details regarding the nature of these violations were not disclosed. Sala was released this month following extensive diplomatic efforts.
14 January 2025
ICC prosecutor sees 'no real effort' by Israel to probe alleged Gaza war crimes
Speaking in an interview with the Reuters news agency, ICC Prosecutor, Karim Khan said “We’re here as a court of last resort and ...as we speak right now, we haven't seen any real effort by the State of Israel to take action that would meet the established jurisprudence, which is investigations regarding the same suspects for the same conduct,” adding that he hoped the situation would change. He stood by his decision over the arrest warrant despite a vote last week by the U.S. House of Representatives to sanction the ICC in protest, a move he described as “unwanted and unwelcome”.
ICC judges issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli defence chief Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri last November for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza conflict. Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes. The United States, Israel’s main ally, is also not a member of the ICC and Washington has criticised the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.