It’s happening again. In Darfur, scene of a genocide that killed 300,000 people and displaced millions 20 years ago, armed militias are on the rampage once more. Now, as then, they are targeting ethnic African tribes, murdering, raping and stealing with impunity. “They” are nomadic, ethnic Arab raiders, the much-feared “devils on horseback” – except now they ride in trucks. They’re called the Janjaweed. And they’re back. How is it possible such horrors can be repeated? The world condemned the 2003 slaughter. The UN and the International Criminal Court (ICC)…
Tag: War crimes
How Xi Jinping plans to use his meeting with war crimes suspect Vladimir Putin | Observer editorial
The welcome and overdue indictment of Vladimir Putin for war crimes allegedly committed in Ukraine confirms his position as a global outlaw. The decision by the international criminal court (ICC) is unlikely to lead to his arrest and trial in the foreseeable future. But it does ensure that, from now on, Russia’s president will be a criminal suspect and wanted man, liable to arrest in the ICC’s 123 member states and a huge embarrassment to his country. Putin’s command responsibility for thousands of heinous war crimes committed in Ukraine has…
Chinese peace plan for Ukraine greeted cautiously by the west
Western leaders have reacted nervously to a Chinese peace plan for Ukraine due to be revealed this week, but cautiously welcomed the move as a first sign that China recognises the war cannot be regarded solely as a European affair. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, China’s senior diplomat Wang Yi, one of the few external politicians able to influence Russia, announced that China would launch its peace initiative on the anniversary of the war, and has already been consulting Germany, Italy and France on its proposals. He said the…