SUSTAINABILITY

Photo: Nuon Chea (left) and Khieu Samphan in the Trial Chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). (file) © ECCC/Sok Heng Nhet.

Lessons of the Cambodian-UN War Crimes Trials

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Finally, finally, the over-long, fifteen-year-long trials of the leaders of the murderous Khmer Rouge leadership of Cambodia are concluded. It has been water on stone, but the conclusion is the stone has cracked.

The New York Times reported on September 22: “The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia—a United Nations-backed tribunal charged with prosecuting the crimes of the Khmer Rouge regime—held its final hearing. It rejected an appeal by the ninety-one years old Khieu Samphan, the fanatical communist movement’s last surviving leader, upholding his conviction and life sentence for genocide.”

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 04 October 2022

Photo: Felicien Kabuga, 87, accused of aiding and abetting hit squads who slaughtered ethnic Tutsis. Credit: www.brut.media.

Genocide Suspect Rebuffs International Court Trying Hate Speech Crimes

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — A Rwandan businessman and alleged genocidaire failed to appear in court, where he is being tried on charges of masterminding and financing the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Felicien Kabuga, 87, is accused of aiding and abetting hit squads who slaughtered ethnic Tutsis and with using a radio station known as Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines to incite hatred, according to the charges filed before a UN tribunal at The Hague.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 03 October 2022

Photo: 51st regular session of the Human Rights Council (12 September – 7 October 2022). Credit: UN Human Rights Council.

Russia & China Face Draft Resolutions at the UN Rights Council

By A.L.A Azeez

GENEVA (IDN) — At the current session ≈ of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, in addition to Sri Lanka, both Russia and China are facing a draft resolution and a draft decision, respectively. This must be the first time in HRC (or its predecessor—the Commission on Human Rights) that both countries figure at a 'pronouncement' stage, at the same time, beyond the general raising of concerns, statements, thematic discussions etc.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 03 October 2022

Photo: A glimpse of the Women Leadership Forum. Credit: Katharina Schiffl.

Women Leadership Forum Discusses the Significance of Gender Equality

By Aurora Weiss

VIENNA (IDN) — The gender pay gap, inequality in access to education and the labour market: These issues remain pertinent in the 21st century. Achieving full gender equality, one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), could take close to 300 years if the current rate of progress continues, noted a report published by UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) in early September.

: Europe Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 03 October 2022

Photo: Sri Lanka's new Foreign Minister Mohamed-Ali-Sabry. Source: Asian Affairs.

Sri Lanka: Nation Struggles as Noose Tightens

This article was issued by Asian Affairs (London).

Viewpoint by Neville de Silva*

LONDON (IDN) — Time is running out. Even as this is written, Sri Lanka is desperately canvassing support from within the 47-member UN Human Rights Council (HRC) now meeting in Geneva, to stave off a tougher and hard-hitting resolution that castigates the island-nation for its democratic regression, rising militarisation and official corruption.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 02 October 2022

Image credit: International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination & Liberation (IPMSDL)

Indigenous Women Fighting Back for A Future Free of Violence

By Romeo Jara*

MANILA (IDN) — Fifteen years and almost nothing much has changed. This is the result of an Amnesty International (AI) report titled “The Never-Ending Maze” about sexual violence towards Indigenous women in the United States as shared by AI USA’s Tarah Demant.

On September 14, the International IPMSDL hosted the online discussion “In Search of a Safer Future” which highlighted government failures in keeping Indigenous women safe.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 01 October 2022

Photo (from left to right): Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. and Jainendra Karn.

Irish Unification, Britain and the Gandhian Path

Viewpoint by Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. and Jainendra Karn

Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. is an ex-diplomat & ALCAP’s Special Adviser for Asia & Africa, and Jainendra Karn is a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of IDN-InDepth News.

NEW DELHI (IDN) — Time changes the boundaries and spheres of influence of a nation. In the case of the United Kingdom, many countries now want out and have their own head of state while the bell tolls for the Commonwealth.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 30 September 2022

Image: KEPA brings scholarship to energy, climate ...and trees. UN Photo/Nektarios Markogiannis

Nature Contributes to Economic Prosperity and Well-Being

By Ramu Damodaran

The author is Senior Fellow at the New Delhi-based Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP).

NEW YORK (IDN) — I was in Athens three years ago this week, on what was to be my last trip outside New York, where I am based, before the pandemic; I have not travelled after that. My journey was to attend the International Conference on Energy and Climate Change, which the Energy and Policy Centre (KEPA) at the National and Kapodistrian University had organized.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 29 September 2022

Photo: The "Good Defeats Evil" sculpture, located at UN Headquarters in New York, depicts an allegorical St. George slaying a double-headed dragon. The dragon is created from fragments of Soviet SS-20 and United States Pershing nuclear missiles. Photo: UN Photo/Milton Grant

The Era of Nuclear Blackmail Must End

By Thalif Deen*

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — When the United Nations commemorated the annual International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on September 26, the President of the General Assembly (GA) Csaba Kőrösi reminded delegates of the statue of Saint Agnes—"found in the ruins of Nagasaki, charred and mottled from the atomic blast"—and which now stands at the centre of UN’s permanent collection of memorable anti-nuclear artefacts in the Secretariat building.

: Thalif Deen; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 29 September 2022

Image: Eternal Flame in Belgrade, memorial to the military and civilian victims of the NATO bombing. (Taken on 9 November 2015) CC BY 3.0

The Great Game in Ukraine is Spinning out of Control

Viewpoint by Jeffrey D. Sachs

This article was published in Other News and is being republished with the author's permission.

NEW YORK (IDN) — Former US National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski famously described Ukraine as a “geopolitical pivot” of Eurasia, central to both US and Russian power. Since Russia views its vital security interests to be at stake in the current conflict, the war in Ukraine is rapidly escalating to a nuclear showdown. It’s urgent for both the US and Russia to exercise restraint before disaster hits.