10 March 2021 - NPWJ News Digest on International Criminal Justice

France to declassify secret colonial-era documents on Algeria War
Africa News, 09 Mar 2021

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced a decision to speed up the declassification of secret documents related to Algeria’s 1954-62 war of independence from France. The measures come as part of efforts to speed up access for researchers to the documents and as France aims to reconcile with its colonial past.

Myanmar’s unrepentant, brutal military.
The New York Times, 09 Mar 2021

Since a coup last month, the Tatmadaw, as the military in Myanmar is known, is now fully back in charge, and its brutal practices are being watched with horror by the rest of the world. It recently turned its guns on the masses in response to a nationwide civil disobedience movement. It is the latest in the Tatmadaw’s long legacy of atrocities since it first came to power in a 1962 coup. Over the past few years, the Tatmadaw has waged war against ethnic rebel armies in three states — Rakhine, Shan and Kachin — and displaced 700,000 Rohingya Muslims. Survivors and witnesses described a brutal campaign, including killings, systematic rapes and abuse. The soldiers often used men and boys as human shields.

‘It’s not safe’: Report finds children want life away from Syria
Al Jazeera, 09 Mar 2021

Hundreds of Syrian children say they cannot imagine leading a life in their war-torn country, with many citing discrimination and poverty as main factors, a new report says. The 40-page study, released on Tuesday by Save the Children, comes as Syria marks 10 years since the beginning of its bloody war, now widely seen as a proxy conflict.

What’s behind the Morocco-Germany diplomatic dispute?
Al Jazeera, 08 Mar 2021

Some analysts believe the measures are an attempt by the North African state to make a stand over its claim to the sovereignty of disputed Western Sahara. Also last week, the European Court of Justice – as previously scheduled – heard submissions over the Morocco-European Union trade agreement which are disputed by the Polisario Front, which fights for the independence of Western Sahara. In Rabat, anger is brewing over Germany’s criticism of former US President Donald Trump’s decision in January this year to recognise Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. Trump broke with decades of US diplomatic tradition to recognise the Moroccan claim to the disputed territory in return for Rabat normalising relations with Israel.