We hope you enjoy this update on our activities between April and June 2016 and want to thank you for your continued interest and support of IRRI. We continue to expand our sphere of influence with our twitter following increasing by almost 15% in the last three months alone and if you are not following…
On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict the undersigned 24 individuals and civil society organisations call on the Sudanese government to end the widespread sexual violence committed by its security forces and to reverse the atmosphere of impunity that fosters it. In Darfur, as the report of…
To: Hon. Chairperson, Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) of the Agreement for Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan. Cc: The Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) 17 June 2016 Your Excellency, We, the undersigned non-governmental organisations working in and outside of South Sudan, urge you to be un-deterred by…
Mr. Aristide Nononsi UN Independent Expert on the situation of Human Rights in Sudan Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights United Nations Office in Geneva 8-14 Avenue de la Paix CH-1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland By email: iesudan@ohchr.org 26 April 2016 Dear Mr Nononsi, We, Sudanese and international human rights organisations concerned with issues…
With the UNAMID mandate renewal under discussion at the UN Security Council, a new report released today by the International Refugee Rights Initiative provides an analysis of the joint United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) as seen by some of the civilians the force is mandated to protect. The report, “’No one on the…
To: Hon. Chairperson, Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) of the Agreement for Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan. Cc: The Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) 17 June 2016 Your Excellency, We, the undersigned non-governmental organisations working in and outside of South Sudan, urge you to be undeterred by an…
The International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) today launched a briefing paper entitled, “Burundi: A country on the edge.” Drawing on a mission to the country in February, in-depth interviews with refugees who have fled to Uganda, and IRRI’s previous experience in the country, the briefing offers insights on some crucial aspects of the current…
(31 March 2016) The efforts of the Government of Sudan to obstruct the engagement of civil society activists in a United Nations (UN)-led human rights review of the country is unacceptable and shows blatant contempt not just for human rights defenders in Sudan, but to human rights standards and the UN Human Rights Council, 36 Sudanese and international…
We hope you enjoy this update on our activities from January to March. Thank you for your continued interest and support of IRRI. We are extremely grateful and if you would like to make a donation to help us to continue our vital work, please click here. In this newsletter you will find updates on…
The African Union and UN appear to have found a new sense of urgency, but Burundi’s current crisis will only be resolved if it is seen as part of a longer legacy. Olivier* was studying at the University of Burundi in April 2015 when unrest began to escalate in the country following President Pierre Nkurunziza’s…
This submission provides an overview of the progress made by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya and Uganda in implementing the ICGLR’s Protocol on the Prevention and Suppression of Sexual Violence against Women and Children (ICGLR Protocol on SV) and the Declaration of the Heads of States and Government of the Member States of the International Conference…
We, the undersigned, ICGLR National Civil Society Committee, Uganda Chapter, Women’s rights groups and the wider civil society under the auspices of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, decry the deteriorating situation in Burundi where a number of lives have been lost while over 200,000 refugees have fled the country. Bearing in mind of the violent past…
Failing to Prosecute Hissène Habré for Sexual Crimes Would be Missing a Historic Opportunity Mr. President of the Extraordinary African Chambers, Mr. Chief Prosecutor, We welcome the creation of the Extraordinary African Chambers, a special tribunal created by the African Union and Senegal to prosecute international crimes committed in Chad during the rule of Hissène…
Five years after the death of Congolese human rights activist, Floribert Chebeya and the disappearance of his colleague Fidèle Bazana shook the Congolese human rights community, the fight for justice continues. Although eight people have been found in connection with the case in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), activists argue that the truth is…
The following blog was originally posted on the International Justice Monitor website. (24 August, 2015) On August 21, 2015, the International Criminal Court (ICC) heard arguments about whether or not to release Thomas Lubanga, the first person to be convicted by the court. As required under Article 110 of the Rome Statute, the ICC will…
Dear Special Envoy Ambassador Booth, In the run up to your visit to Sudan at the end of July, we, the undersigned Sudanese, African and international non-governmental organisations, are writing to brief you on some of our key concerns in regards to the human rights and humanitarian situation in Sudan. While we welcome your visit…
This blog first appeared on the African Arguments website. The relationship between the International Criminal Court (ICC) and African civil society is certainly an interesting one. On the one hand, the proliferation of conflict on the continent has led to an ever increasing deficit in justice, and the ICC is seen by some as a…
When the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC or “the Court”) was adopted in 1998, it was greeted with great fanfare by human rights activists around the world as an important milestone in the progress of the human rights movement. As the Court began to investigate its first cases in 2003-04, many civil…