Politics

Uganda disowns ICJ judge who dissented in the Israel-Hamas ruling

Published

3 months ago

January 29, 2024

Uganda has stated that its position is not reflected in an opinion published by a judge from Uganda on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in dissent to the panel’s decision in South Africa’s genocide lawsuit against Israel.

In a decision compelling Israel to take action to avert acts of genocide while it battles Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, Uganda’s Julia Sebutinde was the lone judge on the 17-member International Court of Justice panel to vote against all six measures chosen by the court.

Fifteen judges ruled in favour of the emergency measures, which addressed the majority of South Africa’s request in the case, with Sebutinde being one of just two to provide dissenting opinions.

“The position taken by Judge Sebutinde is her own individual and independent opinion, and does not in any way reflect the position of the government of the Republic of Uganda,” the government said in a statement issued late on Saturday.

It further stated that the country backed the Non-Aligned Movement’s stance on the war, which was decided upon at its summit this month in the capital of Uganda.

The NAM position, which was expressed in a communiqué released following the conference, demanded an immediate ceasefire as well as unhindered humanitarian access and denounced Israel’s military campaign and slaughter of civilians.

Opposing both of the main military and political blocs of the Cold War era, the movement was formally founded in 1961 by some countries. From their colonial overlords, many of the nations had just gained their independence.

The African National Congress (ANC), the party in power in South Africa, has always supported Palestinian rights. When Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization aided the ANC in its struggle against repressive white-minority government, a partnership was formed.

Related Topics:Featured ICJ Israel South Africa

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Politics

Burkina Faso investigating reports of northern killings

Published

16 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A government spokesman has revealed that Burkina Faso is looking into reports that 223 people were killed by the Burkinabe army in two villages in the north in February.

The killing was first reported by the Human Rights Watch (HRW), causing a rift between the junta-led West African state and some foreign media that published the report. The HRW report released on Thursday said that the military had executed residents of Nodin and Soro, including at least 56 children, as part of a campaign against civilians suspected of working with jihadist terrorists. The report was based on interviews with witnesses, members of civil society, and other groups.

Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo, a spokesman for the government, said that HRW’s claims were “peremptory” and that the junta was not unwilling to look into the claimed crimes.

“An investigation has been launched into the killings in Nodin and Soro,” Ouedraogo said in a late-evening statement, quoting a statement from a regional prosecutor on March 1.

Since Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger’s militaries took over in a series of coups from 2020 to 2023, violence in the area has gotten worse. This is because of the ten-year fight with Islamist groups related to Al Qaeda and Islamic State.

Attacks on Burkina Faso got much worse in 2023, with more than 8,000 people killed, according to the U.S.-based crisis-monitoring group ACLED.

Politics

S’Africa lengthens troop deployment in Mozambique, Congo DR

Published

3 days ago

April 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a speech that South Africa’s military would keep sending troops to Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which are both in the middle of wars.

The extension will leave 1,198 members of the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) in eastern Congo for an unknown amount of time. They are there as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force helping Congo fight rebel groups.

The statement also said that 1,495 members of the SANDF would keep working in Mozambique, where they have been since 2021 helping the government fight dangerous extremism in the north.

After two SANDF troops were killed and three were hurt by a mortar bomb in Congo in February, South Africa’s military operations abroad have been looked at more closely at home this year.

Meanwhile, the major opposition party in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance, said that Ramaphosa sent troops into a war zone without being ready.
Under the supervision of the UN, the SANDF has taken on many dangerous and difficult peacekeeping tasks over the years to help war-torn African countries stay stable and peaceful.

In 2003, South Africa was one of the first countries to send troops to Burundi to help the peace process. During the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) peacekeeping mission in 2000, the SANDF led attempts to stabilize the country’s politics, rebuild and improve infrastructure, and train DRC troops.