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U.S. Adopts Israeli Tactic in New ISIS Bombings

by Briana Tracy
written by Briana Tracy

Photo by David B. Gleason via Flickr

On Tuesday, April 26th the United States adopted a unique Israeli tactic in its fight against ISIS: exploding a missile above a building to warn civilians inside that it’s about to be bombed in an effort to get civilians out before they are hit.

By using an aircraft and other intelligence assets to keep watch, the United States began to formulate a plan to get women, children and other civilians out of the building. Air Force Maj. Gen. Peter E. Gersten, Deputy Commander for Operations and Intelligence for the anti-ISIS Operation Inherent Resolve, used this method in the Gaza attacks in recent years to warn civilians to leave before they are hit.

Gersten emphasizes that ISIS is currently having problems among its fighters due to the shortage of cash after more than a dozen airstrikes against their money centers. He also notes that the number of foreign fighters coming into Syria and Iraq has now dropped to about 200 a month in comparison to more than 1,500 a month last year, however, several reasons may include lack of morale and stronger border controls.

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Remembering 100 Days of Slaughter: The Rwandan Genocide

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Monday marked the 20th anniversary of one of the worst atrocities in human history—the Rwandan Genocide. On April 7, 1994, a massacre commenced; 100 days later, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were slain.

A commemoration, which was attended by numerous world leaders and thousands of Rwandans, took place in the nation’s capital city of Kigali. President Paul Kagame began the event by igniting the National Flame of Mourning, which will burn for nearly three months as an ethereal emblem of the tragedy.  “As we pay tribute to the victims, both the living and those who have passed, we also salute the unbreakable Rwandan spirit in which we owe the survival and renewal of our country,” stated Kagame.

 To understand why the infamous slaughter occurred, it is crucial to understand the demographics of the African state at the time. There existed two major ethnic groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi, who comprised 85 percent and 14 percent of the population, respectively. For decades the clans were locked in a constant power struggle, a battle that was only exacerbated by Europeans.

The conflict took a turn for the worst on the eve of April 6, 1994 when the plane of then Hutu President Juvénal Habyarimana was shot down; the Hutu Power Movement of the time accused the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a Tutsi-led political party, of orchestrating the assassination.

Violence ensued almost immediately as Hutu radicals executed a heinous plan to eradicate the Tutsi along with select moderate Hutu. According to the United Human Rights Council, “[they] blamed the Tutsi… for the country’s increasing social, economic, and political pressure… [and] remembered past years of oppressive Tutsi rule, and many of them not only resented, but also feared the minority.”

The killing was carried out brutally and systematically—no one was spared. Tragically, it commenced without interference from any world power.

As the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan put it, “In their greatest hour of need, the world failed the people of Rwanda… if the international community had acted promptly and with determination, it could have stopped most of the killing.”

After nearly three months of bloodshed, the genocide finally concluded when the Rwandan Patriotic Front overthrew the Hutu regime and took control of the country.  Paul Kagame, the leader of the organization, eventually became head of state.

Under his rule, Rwanda has significantly progressed despite the grisly events of 1994. It has been dubbed the safest place to live in Africa; moreover, Rwanda has experienced rapid economic growth, the life expectancy has doubled, and it is self-sufficient in terms of food supply.   

“We must work hard because if we wait for others to develop our country, we will not make progress,” Kagame declared. “Any external help must only come as an addition to our own efforts to better ourselves.”

Rwanda serves as a prime example of resilience in the face of adversity. While it continues to honor the memory of the lives lost twenty years ago, it is also taking steps toward a successful future.

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Central African Republic Receives First Female President

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(ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images) | ERIC FEFERBERG via Getty Images

(ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images) | ERIC FEFERBERG via Getty Images

Amidst the absence of a formal government, on Monday, January 20, a transitional parliament appointed Catherine Samba-Panza, 58, as interim president of the war-torn Central African Republic (CAR). She will serve as the CAR’s very first female president.

Samba-Panza, a businesswoman and mayor of the nation’s capital of Bangui, will be entrusted with the task of restoring order and stability to the former French colony. A history of civil and political unrest continues to plague the Central African Republic following independence from France in 1960. As authoritarian regimes wrestled for political control in the subsequent years, many hoped that the emergence of a multi-party democratic election in 1993 would finally signal an end to the string of dictatorial governments.

Despite the failed efforts to democratize political processes, the CAR has yet to achieve true stability. In March 2013, a militant rebel coalition called Séléka ousted former president Francois Bozize. As a violent militia of Muslim rebels, Séléka soldiers continue to contribute to the unprecedented violence that terrorizes Central Africans and halts any hopes of achieving political stability. In retaliation, Christian vigilantes known as ‘anti-balaka’ have responded with similar force, heightening the violent religious and ethnic conflict that divides Central Africans.

Innocent civilians are left to fend for themselves, as the absence of a formal CAR state is unable to address endless strings of violence and mayhem. Central Africans lack protection; there is no police and no military. Almost one million have fled their homes in search of safety and refuge.

As the bloodshed intensifies Adama Dieng, the United Nation’s chief special adviser on genocide prevention, has cautioned that the Central African Republic is on the brink of genocide. Dieng reported to the Security Council that the CAR was at “high risk of crimes against humanity and genocide.”

Samba-Panza is encumbered with the task of resolving conflict between Muslims and Christians, finally ushering in a new age of peace and stability. The new president has stated that it is her main concern to “Stop people’s suffering, to restore security and the authority of the state across the country.” With backing from the French government, Samba-Panza is charged with organizing democratic general elections by the year 2015.

The current state of the Central African Republic has catapulted the issue to an international concern. Amidst heated debate among European foreign leaders, the European Union (EU) has agreed to aid in the effort to stabilize conflict between Muslims and Christians. The EU is prepared to deploy 500 troops to assist alongside the 1,600 French soldiers and 5,000 African Union peacekeepers that are currently stationed in the Central African Republic.

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Dominican Court to Revoke the Citizenship of Thousands

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DOMINICAN-HAITI-CITIZENSHIP-DEMO

Dominican-Haitians protesting court’s decision to revoke the citizenship of thousands. Photo Credit: Huffington Post

Due to a recent Dominican Republic (DR) court ruling, over 200,000 Dominican citizens are in danger of becoming stateless. According to the court, all individuals of ‘migrant background’ born in the DR since 1929 will have their citizenship questioned and possibly revoked.

The controversial verdict stands to severely affect the descendants of Haitian immigrants residing in the country. “We really don’t know what’s going to happen to those people… these people are not Dominican citizens and will have to leave and effectively go to Haiti, where they are also not citizens. It creates an extremely complicated situation,” states Wade McMullen, an attorney at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights. It is a tragic case of a people without a home—individuals that are treated as outsiders despite being born and raised in the Dominican Republic.

This is not the first time Haitians have been unwanted in the country. One of the most infamous historical examples of the mistreatment of Haitians under Dominican rule occurred in 1937, when Dominican President Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, ordered the execution of over 20,000 Haitians residing in the country. The overwhelming majority of the slain Haitians were Dominican citizens.

The Parsley Massacre, known as El Corte (the cutting) to Dominicans and Kouto-a (the knife) to Haitians, was carried out by Trujillo in an attempt to “whiten” the Dominican race. He promoted the concept of la Hispanidad (Hispanic Culture) in his homeland in order to separate Dominicans from their Afrikan roots; furthermore, he circulated anti-Haitian propaganda in order to distinguish his countrymen from the “Black” people on the other side of the island.

His propaganda has had a lasting effect on the culture and mindset of the Dominican Republic.  Nearly eighty years later, Haitians living in the country have fewer opportunities and face widespread discrimination.  Many believe that the fervent racial tension between Haitians and Dominicans led to the court’s decision; furthermore, some fear that the verdict will lead to further prejudice against Dominicans of Haitian descent.

According to the Associate Director of the International Human Rights Clinic at Berkeley School of Law Roxanna Altholz, “The Dominican Republic has very deep roots of violent racism against Dominican-Haitians and Haitians. Are they going to do summary expulsions? Is the Dominican Republic going to conduct raids? I don’t know how they’re going to implement this decision,” she said.

Fortunately, the implementation may not have the chance to occur. People around the world are showing their support for the Dominican-Haitian citizens. International human rights advocates plan to take the case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an autonomous body that seeks to protect the rights of individuals residing in the Americas. Widespread demonstrations have taken place in New York City, with Dominican and Haitian immigrants united against the decision.

One Latina American took to the web in order to protest the injustice occurring in the Caribbean country; her bid, which urges Dominican President Danilo Medina to revoke the court’s controversial verdict, has already garnered nearly 1,000 signatures. To support the petition, click here.

 

Author: Sharila Stewart

Nommo Staff

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