The Changing Nature of Conflicts is putting a new strain on Human Rights
Posted: 31 January, 2025 Filed under: Michael Aboneka | Tags: abduction, adequate nutrition, Boko Haram, conflict, Convention on the Rights of the Children, DRC, education, Ethiopia, forced displacement, gross human rights violations, Israel-Hezbollah, livelihood, property, right to food, sexual violence, Somalia, Starvation, starvation tactic, Sudan, violence against children 2 Comments
Author: Michael Aboneka
Advocate of the Courts of Judicature of Uganda
There is a new shift from the conventional war of state-to-state confrontations to new forms of conflict with no clear boundaries between military and civilian spheres.[1] According to the Alert 2024 Report, 2023 recorded 36 armed conflicts the highest ever since 2014 with new cases in Ethiopia, Somalia, DRC, Sudan and Israel-Hezbollah.[2] This article explores how these new forms of conflicts have increased starvation, forced displacement and violence against children, in the face of increasing rise of non-state actors involved in conflict.
20 years later, will Joseph Kony’s victims get justice?
Posted: 25 September, 2024 Filed under: Michael Aboneka | Tags: 70 girls, abduction, Amnesty Amendment Act, crimes against humanity, hunt for Kony, internally displaced persons camps, Joseph Kony, Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), LRA, Lwala Girls School, murder, rape, Rome Statute, Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, sexual enslavement, Uganda, Ugandan leader, war crimes, witness protection law Leave a commentAuthor: Michael Aboneka
LLM Candidate, Centre for Human Rights
Joseph Kony is a Ugandan leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA started its operations from Northern Uganda extending to some parts of Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic. He claims to be fighting to liberate the Acholi and Ugandans from oppression and captivity.
He has both individual and command responsibility under articles 25 and 28 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Rome Statute). Kony founded the LRA as its supreme leader and commander with effective control over it. He ordered his commanders to attack Lwala Girls School and abducted 70 girls in 2003, and attacked Pajule, Abok, Lukodi internally displaced persons camps among others. He was indicted with 21 counts of war crimes including murder, inducing rapes among others and 12 counts of crimes against humanity including acts of inflicting serious bodily injury and suffering, rape, sexual enslavement, abduction and enlisting over 30,000 children.
Inclusive national dialogue and accountability for rights violations can heal Ethiopia from a culture of impunity
Posted: 16 May, 2022 Filed under: Dunia Mekonnen Tegegn | Tags: (CEDAW), abduction, accountability, anxiety, conflict, Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, crimes against humanity, Criminal Code, depression, Ethiopia, Ethiopia’s National Defense Force, gang rape, gender-based violence, impunity, International Criminal law, mental health problems, sexual violence, sexually transmitted diseases, Tigray People Liberation Front, transitional periods, unwanted pregnancy 2 Comments
Author: Dunia Mekonnen Tegegn
Human Rights Lawyer and Gender equality advocate
On 3 November 2020, conflict broke out between the Tigray People Liberation Front and Ethiopia’s National Defense Forces when the Tigray People Liberation Front assaulted the Northern command. Due to the conflict in Ethiopia, women and girls continue to bear the brunt of the cruel and inhuman acts committed by all parties involved in the conflict for the last 17 months. Many have lost their lives, suffered sexual violence, been displaced, and starved. Young girls, women living with disability, older women, and refugee women have been the target of brutal sexual violence. These crimes are horrific in nature as they represent the level of vengeance and humiliation pursued by actors to the conflict. Reports have highlighted the extent of these violations and implicated all sides to the conflict in war crimes and crimes against humanity. Read the rest of this entry »
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