Yonatan Shapira is an ex-captain and pilot in the Israeli Air Force. In 2003, he helped coordinate the circulation of a letter that was signed by 27 Israeli Air Force pilots expressing their refusal to engage in Israeli military actions targeting Palestinians. Additionally, Shapira has endorsed the domestic Israeli movement supporting Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions [...]
Search Results for: child soldier
1,052 Myanmar civilian casualties in 2023 from landmines: UNICEF
UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) revealed Wednesday the use of indiscriminate landmines in Myanmar has caused an increase in civilian casualties, with over 20 percent of them being children. Civilians in Myanmar have suffered from a total of 1,052 casualties from landmine and explosive ordnances in 2023, alone. According to UNICEF, amidst the recent [...]
Yonatan Shapira is an ex-captain and pilot in the Israeli Air Force. In 2003, he helped coordinate the circulation of a letter that was signed by 27 Israeli Air Force pilots expressing their refusal to engage in Israeli military actions targeting Palestinians. Additionally, Shapira has endorsed the domestic Israeli movement supporting Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions [...]
Under President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s leadership, the Sri Lankan civil war reached a brutal conclusion on May 18, 2009, ending a 25-year-long conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist rebel group. Rooted in longstanding grievances, including discriminatory policies against Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority, the conflict saw the [...]
ICC judges allow trial against Uganda rebel Joseph Kony to move forward in his absence
Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (ICC) held on Monday that a hearing on charges against Joseph Kony, a fugitive Ugandan militant who founded the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), can take place in his absence in October 2024. The hearing allows prosecutors to present their case in court, where a defense lawyer will [...]
UN Security Council sanctions six individuals involved in DRC conflict
The United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on six individuals affiliated with various armed factions in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Tuesday. Sanctioned individuals were allegedly involved in obstructing disarmament and repatriation efforts, committing human rights violations such as murder and sexual violence, recruiting child soldiers, orchestrating or carrying [...]
Dutch court sentences Syrian milita leader for war crimes and crimes against humanity
On Monday, Hague District Court in the Netherlands sentenced former Syrian militia member, identified only as Mustafa A., to 12 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during his time as Liwa al-Quds leader between 2011 and 2017. The court identified Liwa al-Quds, as a “criminal organization that intended to commit… international [...]
Human Rights Day in Ukraine: Advocacy, Resilience, and Lessons for the World
Every December 10th, international lawyers, governments, and advocacy groups commemorate Human Rights Day. This marks the day in 1948 when, improbably, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in Paris by a nascent United Nations General Assembly under the leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt. This year, as the Declaration turned 75, I found myself in [...]
Former Russia military intelligence officer to testify before ICC on war crimes
Former Russian military intelligence officer Igor Salikov arrived in the Netherlands this week to testify as a witness at the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding Russian war crimes. Salikov is a former intelligence officer who took part in operations conducted by the Russian Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the [...]
Myanmar Coup Interview Series: ‘I will fight for this revolution for as long as it takes'
In the nearly three years that have passed since Myanmar’s coup d’état, the global media has shifted its attention to other crises, from the sudden withdrawal of Western forces from Afghanistan to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. But despite a lull in headlines, the turmoil that resulted from the coup remains life-altering for the generation [...]