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The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay stated Monday that foreign fighters and others currently active in East Ukraine would be brought to justice for any war crimes committed in East Ukraine. Pillay made the statement while issuing a new report by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, and calling for care in preventing civilian casualties in Ukraine.

“I would like to stress to all those involved in the conflict, including foreign fighters, that every effort will be made to ensure that anyone committing serious violations of international law, including war crimes, will be brought to justice, no matter who they are,” said Pillay. “I urge all sides to bring to an end the rule of the gun and restore respect for the rule of law and human rights.” Pillay also noted that the downing of Malaysian Air MH17 may qualify as a war crime.

Pillay called for a “prompt, thorough, effective, independent and impartial investigation” into the downing of MH17. The UN Security Council also called for the investigation, and demanded armed groups currently active in Eastern Ukraine allow investigators unfettered access.

By Day Blakely Donaldson

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According to surveys conducted in Siberia, 25-30 percent of Siberians want immediate, complete separation from Russia and 60-70 percent want equal autonomy, while only 10 percent are satisfied with the current status of Siberia within the Russian Federation.

The polls, taken regularly by social and political organizations such as Regionalist Alternative for Siberia (CCA), New Roads of Siberia, and the Siberian Movement, illustrate an increasing interest in separation or greater autonomy from Moscow.

Siberia contains around 11 percent of the population of the Russia Federation–around 20 million people–while it provides the Federation with a disproportionately large amount of revenue. Of the revenue made on exports from Siberia, around 80 percent is reported to proceed to Moscow.

Around 70 percent of Russia’s total exports came from Siberia in 2012. Besides oil and gas, Siberia is rich in metals, mineral, wood, and paper and pulp products. According to analysts, if Siberia ceased paying Russia from its export revenue, it would be the richest region or among the richest regions in the Federation, causing some Siberians to adopt the slogan “Stop feeding Moscow” and adopt a green and white Siberian flag from a brief period in Siberian history when the region was independent.

While Siberia is rich in natural resources, the working wage in Siberia is lower than in Moscow, while the price of food is almost identical. The living standard in Siberia has declined since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the mortality rate has increased by nearly 30 percent. migration from Siberia to other parts of the Russian Federation has increased.

Also since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Siberians are reportedly travelling more often to China and Japan, rather than Moscow or Europe. Siberia’s economic ties are also said to be increasingly better with Asia than with Moscow or St Petersburg.

By Day Blakely Donaldson

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The largest non-polar desert, the Sahara, which continues to expand south under the influence of global warming, will be halted by a 20-nation project to build the world’s largest horticultural feature, the Great Green Wall of Africa.

The project will be supported by the World Bank, the African Union, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the UK Royal Botanical Gardens, which have together pledged $3 billion in addition to technical expertise.

The Sahara covers 9,400,000 square kilometers in North Africa, and it continues to grow due to climate change, creeping into Senegal, Mauritania and Nigeria, according to the US Public Education website.

Twenty African nations, led by Senegal will erect a wall of trees across the southern edge of the Sahara desert from the Dakar on the Atlantic Coast to Djibouti on the Gulf of Aden. The 7,600 km long, 15 km wide Great Green Wall will be the largest horticultural feature ever.

In addition to the stopping the southward advance of the Sahara, the project will focus on sustainable farming, livestock cultivation and food security. For example, a 50,000 acre tree-planting initiative in Senegal focused on acacia trees, which produces gum arabic, a valuable commodity used as a food additive. Some of the trees planted are fruit bearing as well, which will help feed the rural interior of Senegal.

The Great Green Wall is expected to open up thousands of local jobs, as quality land and cultivation opportunities are created.

By Day Blakely Donaldson

CSF

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A French lawyer filed a complaint Friday against Israel for what the lawyer said were “war crimes committed by the Israeli army in June and July 2014 in Palestine,” referring primarily to Israel’s Protective Edge military campaign in the Gaza Strip, which began July 8.

Over 1000 people have already been killed and over 6,000 injured in the most recent stage of the conflict between Israel and Palestine, according to emergency services in Gaza.

The French lawyer, Gille Devers, told reporters Friday that “Israel, the occupying power, is carrying out a military operation which in principle and form violates the basis of international law.

“Every day new crimes are committed and over 80 percent of the victims are civilians. Children, women, hospitals, UN schools… the Israeli soldiers respect nothing. This is a military attack against the Palestinian population.”

Palestine itself has not filed a complaint at the ICC. Devers said this was due to “political” quarrels over Palestinians’ status, and that his complaint was nonetheless valid.

The UN is currently investigating Protective Edge. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has said that Israel could be guilty of war crimes for their military actions.

By Day Blakely Donaldson

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The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, stated Saturday that pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine were obliged to abide by international law and protect civilians.

If separatists break international law, Pillay said, the international community can bring them to justice.

“These groups are obliged to respect international law, and they need to protect civilians. If they do not, the international community can hold them to account. We have the International Criminal Court, which is going against these groups.

The UN High Commissioner’s were reported by Deutsche Welle Saturday.

Pillay said that all governments that have any influence on the separatists should apply that influence.

She also likened the situation in Ukraine to situations in Africa, where the has also had a strong presence policing, providing care and mediating the conflict.

“The UN High Commissioner for human rights violations reacts very quickly,” said Pillay. “After the conflict broke out in the eastern Ukraine and the Central African Republic, our teams were to initiate investigations in a short time on the ground. 

“In Ukraine, we have documented extensive violations of human rights. People in conflict situations can contact us directly and put forward their cases. But many governments take human rights more seriously than before. So let all UN member states review their human rights by the UN. Experts of the UN Human Rights Council to control the situation and make recommendations.”

Pillay qualified her statement abut the responsiveness of the UN by noting that sometimes the UN is held back because it can often only act after the outbreak of conflict or violence.

By Day Blakely Donaldson

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Posing as hundreds of models, celebrities, and professionally-photographed schoolgirls, and displaying profile descriptions taken from journalists, choreographers and other professionals, China has been caught using Twitter for a mass propaganda campaign aimed at spreading the Chinese government’s messages about Tibet, while Tibetans are denied free speech rights by the Chinese government.

The propaganda campaign was uncovered by Tibet rights group Free Tibet, working with the New York Times.

The fake profiles were composed of photographs of attractive Westerners, taken from professional photographers’ websites, commercial stock image libraries, and other internet resources, combined with profile descriptions taken from Western professionals, and have genuine followers.

The Chinese government’s messages on Tibet were spread through these accounts by means of copying messages from English-language Chinese websites that agree with the Chinese government, attacking the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, and portraying Tibet as a “contented and idyllic Chinese province,” according to Free Tibet.

The accounts were also used for other types of political spam, such as adding the word “Tibet” into unrelated tweets to drown out legitimate Tibet-related content on the internet.

The fake accounts also spread messages about other Chinese government interests, such as the ethnic unrest in Xinjiang.

Around 100 fake accounts have been identified, but Free Tibet suspects there to be hundreds more.

Free Tibet compiled a detailed report on the fake accounts, and submitted it to Twitter, urging Twitter to prevent abusive propaganda.

“A company of Twitter’s size and highprofile must take responsibility for failing to prevent abuse on this scale for the political purposes of an authoritarian regime,” wrote Free Tibet director Eleanor Byrne-Rosengren. “These accounts are an act of cynical deception designed to manipulate public opinion regarding an occupied and brutally repressed country.

“Tibetans within Tibet are completely denied the right to speak to the world online. They face even greater restrictions on their online activity than China’s own citizens and can receive sentences of up to life imprisonment for online or email content criticising China’s regime. China has the power and resources to use Twitter for its own ends and Tibetans do not. In the words of concentration camp survivor Elie Wiesel, ‘neutrality helps the oppressor, never the oppressed’.”

China has been ranked 175 our of 180 countries rated for press freedom by Reporters Without Borders in 2014.

The Chinese authorities in Tibet regularly cut off media communications after sensitive political events, such as Tibetan protests and Chinese government celebrations.

Chinese authorities have also taken more direct actions against Tibetans use of communications media, such as visiting internet cafes and monasteries and arresting Tibetans who had engaged in overseas calls. Tibetans have also been arrested for sharing photos or other information of protests. More familiarly, carrying photographs of Tibetans high spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who is considered a dangerous separatist by the Chinese government, is illegal, as is carrying recorded Tibetan songs.

Free Tibet has begun a campaign asking netizens to email Twitter about propaganda abuse.

By Day Blakely Donaldson

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Two reports of the downing of a plane suspected to be Malaysian Air MH17 have been published by Russian news network LifeNews. The two television reports were aired before and after the identity of the Malaysian passenger plane was known, and reported conflicting testimonies by pro-Russian separatists active in Donetsk about responsibility for a plane crash near Torez, Donetsk that took place July 17.

“Insurgents have reported a downed another Ukrainian military cargo aircraft,” the newscaster reported in the earlier broadcast. “The plane was flying over the city of Torez in the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic at approximately 5 pm Moscow time . The AN-26 was flying over the city and was hit by a missile, there was an explosion, and the plane fell, with black smoke visible.”

The reporter added that the location of Torez was near Snezhnoe and Saur-Mogila Hill–territories controlled by the rebels.

This report accompanied social media posts by pro-Russian separatists, such as a post purportedly by militant leader Strelkov stated, “Near Torez we just downed an AN-26 plane. It’s lying near Progress Mine. We warned them–don’t fly in our sky.” The post accompanied the same picture presented in the LifeNews broadcast.

After the identity of the Malaysian passenger plane was reported, the post was removed and claimed to have been a fake.

The rebels later published statements that they did not have the equipment to down the plane, although the rebels have already downed several Ukrainian military planes with surface-to-air missiles, and had made statements that they would protect the sky over Donetsk with highly sophisticated surface-to-air Buk missile systems.

The rebels asserted that the Malaysian jet was downed by the Ukrainian air force. The LifeNews reporter also noted that “according to some data, the plane was followed by a UA air force plane,” and that, according to Russian intelligence, the Ukrainian military had transported Buk systems to the area.

Russian News Channel Airs Conflicting Before and After Reports of Suspected Downing of Malaysian Air MH17

By Day Blakely Donaldson

According to a document made public by the UN recently, China was issued a “joint urgent appeal” earlier this year. China has responded to the appeal, confirming that at least six of the 10 Tibetan musicians were jailed on charges of separatism for singing songs supporting Tibetan culture and about the plight of Tibet under Chinese rule. No information was provided by China on the other four musicians.

The joint appeal was sent to China on behalf of UN offices covering freedom of expression, cultural rights, arbitrary detention, minority rights, and other UN interests.

For several years, Tibetans have been arrested and jailed on various charges, including the charge of separatism, for such offenses as carrying pictures of their chief spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and Tibetan songs on their phones, refusing to fly Chinese flags from their homes, and self immolation or being related a person who had self immolated. Jail terms for these offenses usually range from around six to nine years.

Listed along with many other nations in a UN Human Rights Commission document, the People’s Republic of China was alleged to have arrested and detained ten Tibetan singers and musicians. The charge laid by China in the arrests was alleged to have been that of creating or performing songs supporting Tibetan culture and reflecting the current situation in Chinese-ruled Tibet.

The UN report stated, “Serious concerns are expressed that the alleged arbitrary arrest and detention or enforced disappearance of the aforementioned 10 Tibetan singers and musicians may be linked to their legitimate human rights activities.”

The human rights mentioned here included those related to arbitrary detention, cultural rights, disappearances, freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, freedom of religion, and minority issues.

The ten artists were listed as Gongpo Tsezin, Trinley Tsekar, Kelsang Yarphel, Lolo, Pema Trinley, Chakdor, Khenrap, Nyagdompo, Shawo Tashi, and Achok Phulshung.

The musicians were reported to have been detained or of unknown whereabouts.

In the same UN document, China was also alleged to have arrested Liu Xia, the wife of Chinese Nobel Peace Prize winner Mr. Liu Xiaobo, in violation of international human rights law.

The joint appeal seeking an account of the fates of the Tibetan musicians came after the rights group Free Tibet sent a letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights.

China responded in late April, stating that, “The Chinese government has carried out careful investigations on the matter as stated in the letter and provides replies…” and confirming the fate of six of the 10 listed musicians.

The musicians were in prison for terms of six to nine years on charges of “seditiously splitting the state” and related crimes, although one had been released for health-related reasons. Regarding two other musicians, the Chinese response read, “On Kelsang Yarphel and Achok (both names are transliterations), there is lack of reliable information on them. We, therefore, cannot verify their authentic identities and personal data.”

The response made no mention of Khenrap and Nyagdompo. Free Tibet also noted that the UN did not make mention of another musician, Choksal, in its request to China.

Free Tibet has set up a petition to demand the release of the jailed Tibetan musicians, addressed to China’s justice minister.

By Day Blakely Donaldson

The UN will move toward a legal treaty that penalizes transnational corporations which violate human rights, after a vote at the 26th UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session last week.

Key language included in the resolution includes a decision to “establish an open-ended intergovernmental working group on a legally binding instrument on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights, the mandate of which shall be to elaborate an international legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises.”

The vote was split. Twenty states voted in favor, including Ecuador and South Africa, who proposed the resolution. Additionally, more than 80 nations and 600 organizations supported the resolution.

Fourteen states voted against, including the US, who said that “this legally binding instrument will not be binding for those who vote against it,” and EU states. Some nations who voted against did so expressly because of political pressure. “We vote with the EU. If we do not, it can become very unpleasant for us”, one representative was quoted as saying to Friends of the Earth International.

The opposing states also lobbied other countries to side with them, threatening the loss of developmental aid and foreign investment.

Thirteen nations abstained.

There is already a voluntary framework in place at the UNHRC to support human rights. The resolution to move from the voluntary framework to a more strict one was led by Ecuador in 2013, and was supported from the outset by 80 nations.

Cheryl Bretton

UN

The speed, the scale and the scope of what has unfolded in South Sudan during the last six months could not have been predicted, said Hilde Johnson, the UN head in the world’s youngest nation, who spoke at a press conference in New York Monday about her upcoming withdrawal from the leadership of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

At the press conference, Johnson referred to the situation in South Sudan as “bleak” and stressed the need to put the welfare of South Sudanese above all other concerns, as well as to bring to justice those responsible for crimes committed during the conflict.

“Although I knew it would be rocky and difficult and challenging and we would be under significant pressure,” said Johnson, “I did not expect what happened in the last six months – the speed, the scale and the scope of what has unfolded before our eyes.

“Yet, the events took a life of their own, and the took an ethnic turn, and I think that is one of the reasons why we saw [what] we saw,” said Johnson, referring to the ethnic Nuer-Dinka killings that have been reported to characterize a large part of the fighting.

Johnson led an UNMISS that was focussed on building the nation. Since the fighting broke out last December, the UN mission has changed. It is now focussed more on peacekeeping and protecting South Sudanese lives. Johnson said this was “a very different from the mandate I took office on.”

The change was “not something we chose to do,” said Johnson. The UN was obliged to do so in order to save lives, which, Johnson said, had been saved.

The 12,000 UN peacekeepers and other workers who would compose the UN force decided on by UNMISS in January has not yet been realized, but Johnson made another statement that the force would now be possible after the May 27 Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) meeting.

The country of South Sudan came into being in 2011 by seceeding from Sudan through a near-unanimous UN-backed referendum.

The conflict that has now lasted six months in South Sudan and caused thousands of deaths and over one million displaced began as a political scuffle between the supporters of South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir and supporters of former Vice President Riek Machar, who was removed by Kiir last summer as part of what Kiir has said was a paring down of government.

Currently, humanitarian action in South Sudan is focussed on assisting people through the rainy season, in which the country’s scant roads are often impassable and human resources are scarce.

Humanitarian agencies face the task of assisting 3.8 million South Sudanese–and another 3 million are at risk–according to UNOCHA estimates.

Johnson served as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of UNMISS since 2011, when UNMISS was first established. Johnson announced that she was stepping down earlier this year.

By Day Blakely Donaldson

UN