Peace & Justice

Photo (from left to right): Noboru Yamaguchi (Japan); Yang Xiyu (China), Chung-in Moon (South Korea), Kevin Clements (Coordinator: Toda Institute), Joseph Yun (USA), Georgy Toloraya (Russia). Credit: Yukie Asagiri.

Experts Discuss Prospects of Peace on The Korean Peninsula

By Katsuhiro Asagiri

TOKYO (IDN) – Nearly 66 years have passed since the Armistice Agreement formally brought about "a complete cessation of hostilities" of the Korean War. One year later, Chinese Premier and Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai proposed a peace treaty. But U.S. Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, refused – leaving a final peace settlement on the Korean Peninsula hanging in the air.

The signed Armistice established the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the de facto new border between the two nations, put into force a cease-fire, and finalized repatriation of prisoners of war. The DMZ runs close to the 38th parallel and has separated North and South Korea since the Armistice Agreement was signed in 1953.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 19 February 2019

Photo: Haitian National Police units have been having a tough task containing the outbreaks of violence and looting, restore order and freedom of movement. Credit: Guestonn Fermy / PNH 2019

Haiti Unrest Beginning to Take A Humanitarian Toll

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Demonstrators have been filling the streets of downtown Port-au- Prince in Haiti, as anger and frustration over government mismanagement and corruption boils over.

Protestors are now demanding the resignation of President Jovenel Moise. Hundreds gathered in downtown Port-au-Prince a few days ago to demonstrate against economic mismanagement and corruption and to ask for President Jovenel Moise to step down.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 18 February 2019

Photo: Bangladesh. Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar to safety in Cox's Bazar. Credit: UNHCR/Santiago Escobar-Jaramillo

Rohingya Refugees Remain in A Perilous Situation

Viewpoint by Vincent Auger*

United Nations aid agencies and partners launched an appeal on February 15 to raise $920 million to assist more than 900,000 refugees from Myanmar and the more than 330,000 vulnerable Bangladeshis hosting them.

MACOMB, Illinois, USA (IDN-INPS) – Eighteen months after being driven from their homes in Myanmar by what UN officials described as a campaign of genocidal violence by the military, the situation facing Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh remains perilous. Hundreds of thousands of people live in camps (the camp in Kutupalong alone houses more than 600,000 people), relying on aid from the World Food Program and help from the government of Bangladesh.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 16 February 2019

Photo: Numbers of refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean may have dropped in 2018, but at a heavy human cost. Source: MSF Sea.

Europe’s Invisible Wall Whets Human Trafficking

By Klara Smits

BRUSSELS (IDN) – After his visit to Austria, Libya’s foreign minister Mohammed Sayala told the Kuwaiti News Agency on January 31 that Libya’s southern borders have now become Europe’s borders. Illegal migration could not be stopped at the Mediterranean Sea, he argued. Therefore, he promised that on the February 20, Libya will present the EU with a policy to cooperate on ‘protecting’ those southern borders. The plan will also include border agreements with Chad, Niger and Sudan.

: Klara Smits; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 14 February 2019

Photo: Participants pose for a group photo during the opening of the 32nd African Union (AU) summit of heads of state and government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, February 10, 2019. Second from left in the front row is Egyptian President El-Sisi and third from right is Rwanda President Kagame. Credit: Xinhua/Micharl Tewelde

Egypt's El-Sisi Takes Over African Union Chairmanship from Rwanda's Kagame

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | ADDIS ABABA (IDN) – Rwandan President Paul Kagame has turned over the leadership of the 55-member African Union (AU) to Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of Egypt, at the 32nd ordinary session of the Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

El-Sisi has pledged to work for the welfare of African people during his one-year tenure. He said that over the next one year he would energetically work toward achieving the goals set by the AU during the summit.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 13 February 2019

Photo: Signatories oft he Montevideo Mechanism. Credit: CARICOM.

'Montevideo Mechanism' Seeks to Resolve Venezuela Crisis

By Rodrigo Pérez

MONTEVIDEO (IDN) – The United Nations is willing to bring Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido together for "serious negotiations" at their request, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said during a press conference at the 32nd African Union summit on February 10 at Addis Ababa. Ethiopia.

Earlier, the spokesman for Guterres, Stéphane Dujarric, said that the UN Chief "supports the efforts of the international community that will help find a political solution" to the situation in Venezuela.

: Rodrigo Pérez; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 11 February 2019

Photo: Weak checks and balances threaten anti-corruption efforts in Eastern Europe & Central Asia. Source: Transparency International.

Democracy Under Threat From Corruption

By Sean Buchanan

LONDON (IDN) – Amid a deterioration of trust in democracy, people around the world clearly disillusioned with formal political institutions are turning their anger into protest.

Besides being self-seeking, the political class is seen as riddled with corruption, leading to a situation where democratic progress has slowed to a near halt. Indeed, even some countries which had been demonstrating robust and open governance systems are now starting to backslide with democratic norms, while their institutions are under threat.

: Phil Harris; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 09 February 2019

Photo: El Salvador President Salvador Sánchez Cerén greets Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro at his inauguration on 10 January 2019. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

It's Not Just About Overthrowing Maduro In Venezuela

Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne

SINGAPORE (IDN) – The 'Washington Consensus' on democracy today is not about respecting peoples’ right to elect their leaders by popular vote, but how to buy these votes to promote U.S. business interests. Thus, the ongoing campaign to bring “regime change” in Venezuela is not about overthrowing Venezuelan President Nicolas Madura, but overthrowing the Bolivarian development model and an alternative trading system introduced by Hugo Chavez after he came to power in 1999.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 08 February 2019

Photo: Secretary-General António Guterres (right) briefs the UN Security Council meeting on threats to international peace and security. The focus of the meeting on February 4 was on mercenary activities as a source of insecurity and destabilization in Africa. UN Photo/Evan Schneider.

Mercenaries Undermine Rule Of Law, Perpetuate Impunity

Viewpoint by António Guterres

The following is the text of UN Secretary-General's remarks to a high-level debate of the Security Council on 'Mercenary activities as a source of insecurity and destabilization in Africa' with the Central African sub-region as a focus, under the presidency of Equatorial Guinea for the month of February. Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo chaired the meeting on February 4. – The Editor.

NEW YORK (IDN) – The use of mercenaries dates back through the ages. From antiquity to the medieval era to the present day, those who fight for financial reward or other material compensation have been a near constant on the battlefield. The shadowy nature of the practice makes data hard to come by. Reports suggest a surge in the use of mercenaries and other foreign fighters. While the numerical picture may be murky, the impacts of mercenaries today are all too clear.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 05 February 2019

Photo: Foreign Affairs Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey. Credit: Graphic Online.

U.S. Hits Ghana With Visa Sanctions In Spat Over Deportees

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and State Department say they will no longer issue visas for certain Ghanaians owing to a “lack of cooperation” by the West African nation – namely its refusal to accept 7,000 Ghanaian nationals that the U.S. wants to deport.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen said Ghana has “denied or unreasonably delayed accepting their nationals ordered removed from the United States.”

But Foreign Affairs Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey hotly disputed the charge, calling the allegations “unfounded.”