Peace & Justice

Photo: Chief Justice John Roberts administers the judicial oath to Judge Amy Coney Barrett on October 27, 2020. Judge Barrett's husband, Jesse M. Barrett, holds the Bible. Wikimedia Commons.

The Politicization of the United States Supreme Court

An affront to the Independence of the Judiciary and American Democracy

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN) – The United States Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, as a Justice of the Supreme Court. Despite the partisan rancor, Barrett’s confirmation was a forgone conclusion. The Court now has a conservative majority of 6-3 that could fundamentally reshape America. More on this later.

This year 2020 may go down in modern history as the worst year ever that faced an extraordinary set of challenges.

: Somar Wijayadasa; OPINION; 29 October 2020

Photo: The European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) inspectors conduct safeguards inspections at URENCO (an international supplier of enrichment services and fuel cycle products for the civil nuclear industry) in the Netherlands. Credit: IAEA/Dean Calma.

Soon Nuclear Weapons Will Be Prohibited

Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte

The writer is President of Pugwash. Former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.

NEW YORK (IDN) – The 50th instrument of ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was deposited on October 24 – coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Charter. In accordance with its Article 15, the Treaty will enter automatically into force 90 days after that date. When in force, the TPNW will become part of the corpus of positive international law as the first multilateral agreement that comprehensively prohibits nuclear weapons and also addresses the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapon use and testing, including assistance to victims. Besides, it is the first treaty that explicitly forbids its members from hosting nuclear weapons belonging to other states.

: Sergio Duarte; OPINION; 27 October 2020

Nigerian Writers Rip 'Terror Squad' As Protestors Cry 'Just Stop Killing Us!'

`By Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – For many, the images of rogue Nigerian soldiers firing live ammunition at hundreds of peaceful protesters in Lagos, killing at least 12 people, will be hard to forget.

Now, some of Nigeria’s prize-winning authors have turned acid-tipped pens against the government of Muhammadu Buhari for failing to rein in an elite police unit whose sullied record of unprovoked raids, arbitrary beatings, arrests and extortion, especially against young people, has sparked a movement that brought out thousands nationwide.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 27 October 2020

Photo: The nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 75 years ago on 6 and 9 August—where over 170,000 people died—highlighted the dangers for mankind coming from the very existence of nuclear weapons. Source: Pugwash

Nuclear Ban Treaty Is Based on Common Sense

The following is the text of a statement by Sergio Duarte, President, and Paolo Cotta Ramusino, Secretary-General of the 1995 Nobel Peace Laureate Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs on the Ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons by 50 States.

ROME (IDN) – Pugwash notes with deep appreciation the deposit of the fiftieth instrument of ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on October 24, 2020. The Treaty will enter into force ninety days from that date. This will be an important result of the efforts of the United Nations, Secretary-General Guterres and a large number of non-nuclear States, together with several non-governmental organizations, especially ICAN, to inscribe the rejection of nuclear weapons into positive international law.

: Ramesh Jaura; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 26 October 2020

Nuclear-armed States Panic as Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty Becomes International Law

Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf *

“Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat,

Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad,

Evil appears as good in the minds of those whom gods lead to destruction.”

VIENNA (IDN) -– On 22 January 2021, the Treaty on the Prohibition on Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) becomes international law in accordance with international legal principles underpinned by the United Nations Charter and the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Dreading this eventuality, the nuclear-armed States and the “captive nations” in alliances backed by nuclear weapons are panicking and resorting to unhinged arguments against this treaty adopted by 122 of 193 UN Member States on 7 July 2017 – it has been signed by 84 and ratified by 50 States.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 26 October 2020

The Promise of the Treaty on Prevention of Nuclear Weapons

Viewpoint by Dr Joseph Gerson*

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Treaty on the Prevention of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) has received its 50th ratification and will go into force in 90 days – January 22, 2021. Hiroshima and Nagasaki A-bomb survivors, activists from ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) and the diplomats are celebrating this contribution to the long struggle for a nuclear-weapons-free world.

The next and most critical step will be winning the signing and ratification by one or more of the nuclear weapons umbrella states, a European NATO member or one of the newly christened, “quad”, envisioned as an Asia-Pacific NATO: Japan, Australia and India. (The U.S. is the fourth member of the quad.)

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 25 October 2020

Breaking Media Stereotypes with Indigenous Storytelling

By UN Academic Impact

NEW YORK (IDN) – There are an estimated 476 million indigenous peoples in the world, living across 90 countries. They speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages and represent 5,000 different cultures.

COVID-19 has posed a grave threat to Indigenous peoples around the world, who already lack access to healthcare and other essential services. Yet, Indigenous peoples are seeking their own solutions in their own languages, using divergent knowledge, practices and preventative measures to fight the pandemic.

: UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 23 October 2020

Photo: Bloodied Nigerian flag from after the massacre. CC BY-SA 4.0

The 'Lekki Toll Gate' Massacre and What It Means for Nigeria

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview magazine based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) – It was hard to keep up with the torrent of posts as the power of social media was deployed in all its ferocity for good and evil. Through it all though, one thing was constant on my mind on October 20 night: the images of vulnerable, distressed youths fighting for their lives. You couldn’t make up the chaos if you tried.

[Nigerian Armed Forces shot at #End SARS protesters at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos, Amnesty International states that at least 12 protesters were killed.]

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 22 October 2020

Photo: A photo combo of president Museveni (L) and Kyaddondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine). Credit: Daily Monitor, Uganda.

Ugandan Opposition Leader Bobi Wine's Headquarters Raided and Robbed

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Security forces raided the offices of reggae star and prominent opposition leader Bobi Wine, reportedly seizing cash, posters, banners and boxes of red berets – Wine’s signature headgear and a “symbol of resistance” which the government says is illegal.

The raid took place in a suburb of Kampala, the capital, on October 14. It comes as tensions are rising ahead of upcoming presidential elections.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 19 October 2020

Photo: 82-year-old Alpha Condé, President of Guinea, with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2017.

A ‘Wind Of Change’ Could Block African Leaders Seeking ‘Presidency For Life’

By Lisa vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) As British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan once said it, there’s a “wind of change" blowing through the African continent. “Whether we like it or not,” he said, “this growth of national consciousness is a political fact.”

That was the ‘60s, as countries across the continent were lowering the British flag and raising their national one.