13 Mar 2017 - NPWJ News Digest on Middle East and North Africa Democracy

Articles

Syrian children 'pushed to the brink' after worst atrocities since war began
by The Guardian, 13 Mar 2017

The number of children maimed, killed or recruited to fight in the Syria conflict has increased dramatically over the past year, with children as young as seven forced to act as frontline fighters, prison guards, suicide bombers and executioners. Grave violations against Syrian children are at the highest level since the war began in 2011, according to a Unicef report, with at least 652 children killed in 2016 – a 20% increase on the year before – and 850 children recruited to fight in the conflict, nearly three times the 331 enlisted in 2015. Since Unicef has only included verified reports of injury, death and recruitment, the actual figures are likely to be far higher. “The situation for Syrian children has hit rock bottom,” said Juliette Touma, Unicef’s regional spokesperson. “The past year has been the worst since the crisis began, with children pushed right to the brink – being recruited at an ever younger age, being used to man checkpoints, being trained to use weapons, serving as prison guards. We also have reports of sexual abuse of girls by underage children, so it’s very grim.” Coping mechanisms for Syrian children and their families are also deteriorating rapidly, warned the report, whether they are in Syria or beyond its borders. Families are increasingly taking extreme measures just to survive, often pushing children into early marriage and child labour in order to attain financial security. Children in more than two-thirds of households are working to support their families, some in extremely harsh conditions unfit even for adults, said Unicef.

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The Human Rights Council must take a stand against Israeli apartheid; it’s the least it can do
by Middle East Monitor, 13 Mar 2017

Multilateral institutions can either be tiresome talking shops or dynamic vehicles of change. The United Nations is a prime example. Although its purpose is undeniably laudable, its record of achievements is dreadful, especially on the issue of human rights. Ten years ago, just after becoming Secretary-General of the UN, the now retired Ban Ki-moon opened the 4th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) with the following words: “All victims of human rights abuses should be able to look to the Human Rights Council as a forum and a springboard for action.” Action? Today, the institution remains incapable of either protecting the worst victims of human rights abuses or holding their abusers to account. The list of the former around the world is long, and it continues to grow at an alarming rate. The case of the Palestinians, who have been subjected to the brutal excesses of Israeli military occupation for at least 50 and as many as 69 years is, perhaps, the most disturbing. What makes their case so gut-wrenching is the fact that Israel and its western backers have left no stone unturned to obstruct, undermine and discredit the work of the HRC. As soon as US President Donald Trump assumed office, for example, he unleashed a barrage of threats aimed at the UN. In late January, a leaked draft executive order revealed that the Trump administration was contemplating a 40 per cent cut in funding to UN agencies, particularly those that grant full membership to the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Palestinian Authority. It is reasonable to expect the self-styled “leader of the free world” and “the world’s policeman” to do exactly the opposite and seek to uphold the rule of law and respect for human rights. This, however, is unlikely to happen any time soon for the simple reason that the US is distrustful of international institutions, like the HRC, which have the ability to establish tribunals to investigate war crimes and human rights abuses, and so pose a threat to America and Israel.

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'We have lost hope': Bahrain's dark night descends
by Middle East Eye, 08 Mar 2017

An old Bahraini friend came through London the other day. We had coffee together and we talked about the current situation in his country. “Bill,” he kept repeating, “it is bad, very bad. Everyone has lost hope. No one sees any way out. I have lost hope.” This from a person who has always striven to remain an optimist, even as the country continued to slip into an ever tightening grip of repression. It was hard not to share the pessimism. The Bahraini parliament had, near unanimously, just passed a motion that will allow civilians to be tried before military tribunals. Two days after I saw my friend, the Shura Council (the upper house) appointed by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa waved through the bill. Now it only requires royal assent to become law. My friend had mentioned too that at any moment the regime would move against Waad, a secular liberal political society whose leader Ibrahim Sharif had already served more than four years in jail. Sure enough, on 6 March, the government announced it was taking legal action to shut Waad down. By that point, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had already declined to present the annual State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, upending decades of protocol that had seen secretaries of state both Republican and Democrat be present at the release of the highly respected report.

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Escalation in Ship Attacks Pushes Yemen Towards Starvation
by The New York Times, 06 Mar 2017

Cruise missiles, floating mines and a remote-controlled boat have been deployed to attack ships in Yemen in recent months, changing the dynamic of the two-year-old war and pushing the country closer to famine, shipping and aid officials say. The weapons have targeted military vessels from a Saudi-led coalition which is fighting Iranian-allied Houthi rebels in the impoverished state on the tip of the Arabian peninsula, part of the same regional power struggle that is fuelling Syria's war. The conflict in Yemen, which al Qaeda has exploited to thrive amid turbulent conditions, has left four-fifths of the population in need of aid. Relief officials say food reserves will run out in two to four months. Increasingly innovative maritime raids near the narrow Bab al-Mandab maritime passage, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, add to already severe difficulties getting aid and commercial supplies to a country that imports 90 percent of its food and fuel by sea. Saudi-led air strikes close to vital ports in the Houthi-controlled north are also curbing imports, shipping sources say. Both sides deny hampering aid. "The potential for merchant ships to be caught up in this as collateral damage is high," said Phillip Belcher, marine director with INTERTANKO, an association which represents the majority of the world's tanker fleet. "Several of the attacks on military operated vessels have taken place in close proximity to merchant ships," he said. With nearly 4 million barrels of oil shipped daily to Europe, the United states and Asia plus commercial goods via the waterway, the stakes are high for ships sailing through the strait and for those making stops at ports in Yemen.

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