24 March 2021 - NPWJ News Digest on International Criminal Justice

Articles

Human Rights Council strengthens rights office probe into Sri Lanka’s long civil war
UN News, 23 Mar 2021

The United Nations Human Rights Council has been given a mandate to collect and preserve information and evidence of crimes related to Sri Lanka's 37-year long civil war that ended in 2009. The 47-member council on Tuesday adopted a resolution on Tuesday, brought by Britain on behalf of a group of countries, boosting UN rights chief, Michelle Bachelet’s staff and powers, with a view to future prosecutions.

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The Office of the Prosecutor publishes Draft Policy on Cultural Heritage for consultation
ICC News, 23 Mar 2021

On 23 March 2021, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court published a draft Policy on Cultural Heritage for consultation and comments by States Parties to the Rome Statute, civil society, and the wider community of stakeholders.

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Top Saudi official issued death threat against UN's Khashoggi investigator
The Guardian, 23 Mar 2021

A senior Saudi official issued what was perceived to be a death threat against the independent United Nations investigator, Agnès Callamard, after her investigation into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

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Syria conflict: MEPs to take stock of the situation in the war-torn country
European Parliament News, 23 Mar 2021

Over the years, the Brussels Conference on Supporting the future of Syria and the region has become one of the main global gatherings on Syria and an opportunity for the international community to reassert its continued support for the UN’s efforts to achieve a negotiated political solution to the conflict and to mobilise necessary financial support for the country.

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Fear and Hostility Simmer as Ethiopia’s Military Keeps Hold on Tigray
The New York Times, 19 Mar 2021

Four months after Ethiopia’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, began a sweeping military operation, the restive region of Tigray is being wracked by a bitter civil conflict. Accounts of egregious rights violations – massacres, sexual violence, ethnic cleansing and fears that starvation is being used as a war tactic – have set off alarms across the world.

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UN envoy continues efforts to access Myanmar, amidst increasingly brutal crackdown
UN News, 18 Mar 2021

The UN Special Envoy for Myanmar continues her work towards engaging with officials in the country nearly two months after the military coup, the global Organization said on Thursday. Christine Schraner Burgener is seeking to visit Myanmar as part of her efforts to calm the situation and set the stage for dialogue and a return to democracy, said UN Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric, briefing journalists in New York.

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Liberia Misleads on Justice at UN Rights Review
Human Rights Watch, 17 Mar 2021

Liberia’s justice minister, Frank Musa, gave a misleading statement at the United Nations Human Rights Council on March 17 regarding the government’s purported efforts to ensure much-needed justice for widespread atrocity crimes committed during the country’s back-to-back civil wars between 1989 and 2003.

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