Links to recent news and analysis on efforts to prevent and resolve violent conflicts, including the role of the UN and International Criminal Court, and weapons control.
The 'war on terror' and the consequences for the world
10/9/2021: Twenty years ago terrorists challenged the world's only remaining superpower. In response, the United States declared a "war on terror." The world continues to struggle with the consequences.
Source: DW
ICC: New chief prosecutor divides opinions in Africa
15/6/2021: Karim Khan, the new chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, is taking up his mandate at a critical moment. In the 18 years of the Court's existence, prosecutors have managed to secure just five significant convictions.
Source: DW
ICC hands 25-year jail term to LRA commander
6/5/2021: The International Criminal Court has sentenced Dominic Ongwen, a Ugandan child soldier who became a commander of the notorious Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), to 25 years' jail for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Source: The East African
Philippines: Withdrawal from the ICC must spur UN action
17/3/2019: The Philippines has officially withdrawn from the International Criminal Court. Amnesty says that the withdrawal won’t change the fact that those responsible for crimes committed during the Duterte administration’s bloody anti-drugs campaign will be held to account.
Source: Amnesty International
Trump withdraws from UN arms trade treaty
26/4/2019: Donald Trump has announced that the US will withdraw its support for a UN treaty regulating conventional weapons including small arms, battle tanks, combat aircraft and warships.
Source: The Guardian
Trump Administration abandons landmine ban
31/1/2020: The new policy repeals a 2014 policy directive issued by the Obama administration, which banned US production and acquisition of antipersonnel landmines. This reversal means that US Forces can use mines indefinitely. Anywhere.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Prospect of a nuclear war ‘higher than it has been in generations’
2/4/2019: In a world defined by “competition over cooperation, and the acquisition of arms, prioritized over the pursuit of diplomacy”, the threat of a nuclear weapon being used is “higher than it has been in generations,” the Security Council has been told.
Source: UN News