Putin to skip BRICS summit in fear of ICC arrest
19/7/2023: Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend a BRICS nations summit in South Africa next month, ending months of speculation he could be detained under an International Criminal Court arrest warrant. As an ICC member South Africa would be expected to implement the warrant.
Source: The East African
Africa’s fractured relationship with the ICC
17/7/2023: African leaders have complained about wrongful targeting by the International Criminal Court during the 25 years since its founding — but some African legal experts say those claims are unjustified.
Source: DW
ICC launches investigation into surging violence in Darfur
13/7/2023: The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is investigating fresh allegations of war crimes in the Darfur region, including the recent killings of 87 members of the ethnic Masalit community. The ICC Prosecutor also called on the warring factions in Sudan to uphold their fundamental obligations under international humanitarian law.
Source: UN News
US destroys remaining chemical weapons stockpile
7/7/2023: America's last remaining weapons containing the GB nerve agent and mustard gas were destroyed last month. The global chemical weapons watchdog said the US was the last "possessor state" and that all declared chemical weapons stockpiles globally have now been "irreversibly destroyed."
Source: DW
Mali’s MINUSMA peacekeeping mission: A foreseeable disaster
4/7/2023: Mali's relations with many of its most important partners has been deteriorating since the military coup of May 2021 and the UN Security Council has now decided to withdraw all its peacekeepers. The withdrawal will impact on the work of aid and development organizations that relied on the protection provided by the UN mission.
Source: DW
UN Security Council terminates Mali peacekeeping mission
30/6/2023: The UN Security Council has unanimously approved the complete withdrawal of UN peacekeeping forces in Mali, its 15,000 personnel due to leave by the end of this year. Several Council members cautioned that the withdrawal is occurring at a time of fragility in the Sahel region, aggravated by the reported presence of armed actors, including the Wagner Group.
Source: UN News
African blocs demand withdrawal of armed DRC groups
28/6/2023: A quadripartite summit of four African regional blocs has demanded an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in an effort to end the decades-long war. The instability in mineral-rich east DRC is a concern all over the globe.
Source: The East African
Deaths from global conflict at highest in 21st century
28/6/2023: Conflict deaths are higher than they have ever been this century, the new Global Peace Index has found, with over 238,000 people killed in conflicts last year. The average level of "global peacefulness" has sunk for the ninth year in a row.
Source: DW
Mali orders UN peacekeeping mission to leave
16/6/2023: Mali's foreign minister has accused the UN mission of failing to respond to security challenges. The peacekeeping mission was established in 2013 to stabilize the country amid a jihadi insurgency. UN experts have recently pointed to human rights violations exercised by the Malian military junta.
Source: DW
Nuclear diplomacy takes a hit amid Ukraine war
12/6/2023: The annual assessment of the state of arms and disarmament by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute finds that there are more usable nuclear warheads in military stockpiles in the world than last year. Communication and relations between the main nuclear powers is at its lowest point for decades.
Source: DW