Week in Review
31 August 2018
Northern Rakhine State, where the Rohingya Genocide largely occurred.
UNITED NATIONS ANNOUNCES ATTACK ON ROHINGYA A GENOCIDE. Investigators from the United Nations’ top human rights body called on the Myanmar military leaders to be prosecuted for committing genocide against Rohingya Muslims. The crimes include gang rape, the killing, and enslavement of adults and children as well as torching of hundreds of villages. While saying that an estimated 10 000 were killed, the aid group Reporters Without Borders called this a “conservative” estimate due to the denial of access from the Myanmar government. The investigators stated the report should be referred to the International Criminal Court or a special tribunal. The United Nation does not use the term genocide lightly and its criteria is difficult to meet. The largest threat to the prosecution of the officials could China, whom is has veto power being on the Security Council.
INDIA’S AUTHORITARIANISM DENOUNCED. Indian Prime Minister Modi has been now by the international community to be a nationalist leader who often acts as an authoritarian. On Tuesday, many Indians agreed. Following reports of a crackdown on rights activists throughout the country that involved the seizing of property and arrests, there was sharp criticism from both the media and intellectuals. A lawyer called the arrests “outrageous attempts to stifle voices of dissent and curb peaceful struggles against this government’s anti-people ideology”. Anger over the governments authoritarian tendencies is growing.
NORTH KOREA TALKS FALLING APART. President Donald Trump called off recent meetings between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean leaders citing lack of progress on denuclearization. Trump’s tendency to make decision in opposition to his advisors has had made negotiations more difficult. North Korea has rejected all proposal for denuclearization. If relations continue to deteriorate, North Korea could begin nuclear testing again.
NEO-NAZI RIOT IN GERMANY. After a document was leaked stating an immigrant was being held on suspicion of a stabbing a German-Cuban man to death in the city of Chemnitz, neo-Nazi protesters took to the streets. Over 6000 went through the streets of Chemnitz chanting “A dead foreigner for every dead German”. The parents of the victim called for tolerance and said he would have been appalled of the violent protests.This was the largest neo-Nazi riot in Germany in several years.
IRANIAN PARLIAMENT REBUKES PRESIDENT. After answering questions to parliament about the economic downtown, President Rouhani saw his explanations rejected by the lawmakers. This marked a rare challenge, likely motivated by hardliners who are increasingly challenging President Rouhani, a moderate, since President Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran Deal.