Scroll to top

Five Stories You May Have Missed This Week

No comments

Five Stories You May Have Missed This Week

Posted by Enough Team on July 12, 2013

Five Stories You May Have Missed This Week

Here at Enough, we often swap emails with interesting articles and feature stories that we come across in our favorite publications and on our favorite websites. We wanted to share some of these stories with you as part of our effort to keep you up to date on what you need to know in the world of anti-genocide and crimes against humanity work.

On July 9, South Sudan celebrated the second anniversary of its independence. In a piece for the Huffington Post, Hilde Johnson rejoiced in the significance of the occasion, while also examining the challenges that lie ahead for the young nation. She writes, 

“The sky-high expectations that greeted the birth of South Sudan have been tempered by two sobering years of painful austerity and frictions with Sudan and also internal tensions…[but] let us celebrate the Republic of South Sudan's second birthday, and renew our pledge to help its people achieve the enduring peace and prosperity they so richly deserve.”

Alexis Okeowo chronicles the story of Eunice and Bosco, a couple forced together in captivity by the Lord’s Resistance Army in a July 5th expose for the Financial Times. She describes their journey in the forests of South Sudan, painting a picture of both the LRA’s devastating effects and the emotional resilience of those affected. 
    
AllAfrica’s Caroline Hellyer reported that violence is escalating in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The hostility surrounds claims that an active militant group in the region is linked to the Somalia-based branch of al-Qaeda, the al-Shabaab. 

With just a few weeks until Zimbabwe’s July 31 election, the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights has published a report detailing how the democratic process is threatened by human rights violations. The report argues that:

“Rather than promoting an environment in which civic participation and political tolerance are encouraged, the government of Zimbabwe has engaged in a systematic crackdown on civil society and the human rights community, including arbitrary detention of activists and opposition supporters, and widespread violations against freedom of expression and access to information.”

Human Rights Watch reported that the Sudanese government is illegally detaining upwards of seven Darfuri and Nuba civilians accused of supporting insurgent rebel groups. Daniel Bekele, Africa director at HRW, commented that “these arrests fit a pattern of retaliation against civilians from areas where rebels are fighting government forces.” Indeed, not more than three months ago, Sudanese security agents arrested more than 26 people after an attack on the towns of Um Rawaba and Abu Kershola. Bekele further contends that, moving forward, “authorities need to say why and where they are holding these civilians, and either charge or free them.”

Sam Reiss contributed to this post.