The situation in South Sudan is rapidly deteriorating. While mass atrocities in the form of war crimes, crimes against humanity and possibly even genocide have been committed since the civil war first broke out in December 2013, the recent uptick in violence and ethnically charged rhetoric is particularly worrisome. Since July 2016, widespread violence and…
Since 2011, when the Syrian people peacefully rose up to protest decades of dictatorial leadership by the Assad family, Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, responded in the most brutal fashion. The result of that response has been: an international war, the rise of various extremist groups, the deaths of over 400,000 individuals, and the displacement of…
Refugee Summit Must Address the Cause: Conflict. 65 million people, that’s the population of the United Kingdom. Imagine if the entire population of the UK was forced to flee their homes. What would the world’s response be? How would we help? Now think about this very real-life scenario: today over 65 million people around the…
When did the world forget that Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir is a wanted génocidaire and war criminal? Between the European Union’s multi-million dollar deal that would effectively pay Sudan to prevent refugees from fleeing into Europe, and Israel’s attempts to influence western nations to normalize relations with Sudan, it seems as if the world has…
On World Humanitarian Day, I find myself extremely frustrated with number of seemingly endless atrocities happening around the world. Conflicts are killing individuals, destroying communities, and displacing millions. On a day that marks those who seek to make people’s lives better, I wonder why there are so many individuals who seek to make others’ lives…
Jewish World Watch is deeply concerned by the latest attempt of President Joseph Kabila to silence any objective research and reporting by human rights defenders. Today, Human Rights Watch (HRW) announced that Ida Sawyer, a Senior Researcher for HRW based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had her work permit revoked and is being forced…
When discussing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the issue of ‘conflict minerals’ is almost always a part of the conversation. Conflict minerals refers to the tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold (3TG) that are mined in the DRC’s eastern region, and have a history of being used as a source of funding…
It’s that time of year again. The August Congressional recess is rapidly approaching, which means your Representatives will be home in their district offices. This is a perfect time for you to schedule a meeting with your Representative and Senators to discuss atrocities prevention, and update them on the situations in Sudan, South Sudan, and…
Last weekend, heavy fighting broke out between government and opposition soldiers in Juba, South Sudan, killing approximately 300 and displacing thousands. It has been nearly a year since a peace agreement was signed in August 2015 to end the “meaningless war,” as President Salva Kiir has characterized it, but little progress has been made to…
After more than two years of unnecessary war that accomplished nothing—except the destruction of the country—South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar wrote in the New York Times yesterday that what their country needs to move forward is not justice, but truth telling. The brutal civil war which saw horrific mass…