The following media round up on international and foreign policy issues from around the world for the period of 27 May to 3 June 2024.
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.
Tunisia - 31 May 2024
Human rights organizations expressed concern at Tunisia’s intensified crackdown on judicial independence and freedom of expression, as the Tunisian government took measures against migrants, refugees, and human rights defenders working to protect their rights, as well as journalists. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/05/tunisia-authorities-must-end-erosion-of-judicial-independence/
Hong Kong – 31 May 2024
The Hong Kong government dismissed Western criticism regarding the conviction of 14 pro-democracy activists for subversion, labelling it as “untruthful, slandering, and smearing.”
The US expressed “deep concern” over the guilty verdicts in the national security law trial of 14 Hong Kong activists who faced “politically motivated prosecution and were jailed simply for peacefully participating in political activities”. See Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/31/hong-kong-quash-baseless-convictions-activists
International Criminal Court - 31 May 2024
The ICC announced it was taking increased security measures against foreign espionage in response to increased pressure from outside the Court. Dr Tomas Hamilton of Guernica 37 spoke to Deutsche Welle about the unprecedented range of foreign attempts to influence the ICC particularly regarding ongoing investigations. https://www.dw.com/en/international-criminal-court-faces-unprecedented-range-of-attempts-to-influence/a-69231812
Central African Republic – 30 May 2024
Human Rights Watched urged the Special Criminal Court (SCC) to investigate the attack on 28 May 2014 attack at the Notre-Dame church in Bangui located less than a kilometre from African Union peacekeeping forces. In April 2024, the SCC issued an arrest warrant for former president François Bozizé. He is charged with crimes against humanity allegedly committed between February 2009 and 23 March 2013, by the Presidential Guard and other security services. https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/30/central-african-republic-justice-needed-2014-massacre
Israel – 30 May 2024
Allegations surfaced that Mossad attempted to interfere with the ICC’s investigations in a decade-long intelligence operation. Toby Cadman, Joint Head of Guernica 37 Chambers, told the Guardian that reports were “deeply disturbing” and “constitute an attempt to pervert the course of justice through the use of threats” to the former ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and could amount to “offences against the administration of justice” under Article 70 of the Rome Statute and should be investigated by its chief prosecutor. https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/29/israel-icc-criminal-offences-espionage-legal-experts
Venezuela – 30 May 2024
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) called on Venezuela to take immediate measures to reverse the sharp deterioration of the public education system over the past decade: “This dereliction of State responsibility during the pandemic served to exacerbate what was already substandard performance in fulfilling the right to education. The current state of the education system is characterized by dilapidated school infrastructure, teacher shortages, high dropout rates, and generally poor-quality education.” https://www.icj.org/venezuela-the-collapse-of-public-education/
Uganda – 30 May 2024
The US government imposed travel sanctions on five former and current Ugandan government officials, including Peter Elwelu, the former deputy chief of the Ugandan Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF). Elwelu was sanctioned due to “extrajudicial killings that were committed by members of the UPDF” while he was commanding Ugandan military forces. https://www.state.gov/designation-of-ugandan-public-officials-2/
Myanmar – 29 May 2024
Guernica 37 members, Toby Cadman and Omar Soliman called on the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) at the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the forcible removal of Rohingya refugees from India to Bangladesh. In a submission filed to the OTP on 29 May 2024, Guernica 37 Chambers sets out how Rohingyas who fled mass atrocities in Myanmar in 2016/2017 are being coerced to leave India as part of the government’s anti-Muslim campaign. https://www.guernica37.com/post/guernica-37-chambers-press-release-3
Ukraine – 29 May 2024
After a reported Russian cluster munition strike on Odesa, Human Rights Watch called for all countries to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions 2008 (to which neither Russia or Ukraine is party). Last month, a cluster munition had been fired on Odesa Legal Academy, Ukrainian authorities reporting that a 4-year-old girl and other civilians were killed by the attack. https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/29/ukraine-russias-odesa-cluster-munition-attack-harms-civilians
Saudi Arabia – 29 May 2024
Amnesty International called for the release of Fahd Ramadhan, a Yemeni-Dutch national, who has been arbitrarily detained without charge or access to legal representation for over six months. On 20 November 2023, two days after arriving in Saudi Arabia, Ramadhan received a call from the Criminal Investigation Department in Jeddah, asking him to report to the police without further explanation. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/05/saudi-arabia-authorities-must-release-arbitrarily-detained-yemeni-dutch-national/
Panama – 29 May 2024
In Panama’s first ever climate-change related relocation of an indigenous people, the government sought to respect the human rights of the Guna indigenous group in completing a relocation from the tiny, overcrowded, and flood-prone island of Gardi Sugdub to a mainland site, called Isber Yala. Human Rights Watch urged every country with a coastline to plan for rising seas and other climate change impacts, including by developing policies and funds to support community-led, rights-respecting relocation as a measure of last resort. https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/29/panama-completes-first-climate-related-relocation
Palestine – 29 May 2024
Ireland, Norway, and Spain announced formal recognition of Palestine as a state, joining 143 other states that acknowledge Palestinian statehood. Israel withdrew its ambassadors and snubbed the envoys from the three countries. Al Jazeera reported that Palestinians across Gaza and the West Bank expressed optimism and pride, yet despite international pressure, the ultimate determination of Palestine's statehood lies with Israel as the occupying power. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/28/ireland-norway-and-spain-recognised-palestine-what-has-that-changed
United Kingdom – 29 May 2024
UK civil liberties organisations welcomed The High Court ruling that anti-protest measures introduced by the government were unlawful, in a case brought by Liberty. Controversially, the House of Lords had previously rejected the measures during the passage of the Public Order Act 2023. Rather than resubmitting measures for Parliament’s reconsideration, Home Secretary Suella Braverman forced the change through using controversial “Henry VIII powers”. https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/29/uk-court-rules-anti-protest-measures-unlawful
International Court of Justice – 28 May 2024
Mexico filed a declaration of intervention to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel). This followed the ICJ’s provisional measures of 24 May requiring Israel to “Immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part”. https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/29/uk-court-rules-anti-protest-measures-unlawful