Bi-weekly News and Opinion Roundup - May 6, 2022 |
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In a case that could have serious implications for nonprofit organizations (NPOs) that work to relieve suffering and reduce violence in conflict zones where terrorist groups operate, a group of about 200 U.S. nationals that are victims of attacks by Hamas has asked the Supreme Court to review dismissal of their civil suit against a UK bank that provided financial services to a UK charity that the U.S. listed as a terrorist supporter in 2003 but that has been investigated and cleared by the Charity Commission of England and Wales. The legal issue is what level of knowledge a defendant must have regarding terrorist attacks and associations in order to be held liable for civil damages under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), as amended in 2016 by the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA). Read C&SN’s case summary here. (May 3).
On April 22, the president of the American Bar Association (ABA) wrote a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett requesting that the Israeli government share any evidence it has with the six Palestinian civil society organizations it designated as terrorist groups last fall. “Procedural rights guaranteed under international law would suggest that authorities should disclose to those organizations or their counsel the evidence on which the allegations are based to permit them to prepare a proper legal defense,” he wrote. Read C&SN’s summary here and the full letter here. (April 25).
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The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) published a revised supplementary appeal for Ukraine responding to dramatically increased needs brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The report includes updated numbers of refugees and financial needs for an effective response. Read the report here. (April 27).
This Financial Action Task Force (FATF) report offers “a comprehensive overview of the state of global efforts to tackle money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing.” Read the report here. (April 2022).
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The JAMS Foundation has presented the Alliance for Peacebuilding with the 14th annual Warren Knight Distinguished Service Award for “its work to address the root causes of violence and conflict by bringing together public policy and cross-sectoral partnerships to accelerate collective action to forge real-world and innovative solutions to build sustainable peace.” Congratulations AfP! Read more about the award here. (April 22).
UN experts are calling on governments to resume funding for six leading Palestinian NGOs that were designated by Israel as terrorist organizations last fall. Noting that the designations have “not been accompanied by any public concrete and credible evidence,” they call on the international community to “Publicly conclude that Israel has not substantiated its allegations against the six organisations; Resume, continue and even increase its financial and political support for the work of these six organisations; and Demand that Israel retract the designations and cease its harassment of all Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights and civil society organisations which promote human rights and accountability in Israel and Palestine.” The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reports. (April 25).
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Amani Alwarafi, a humanitarian aid worker at Islamic Relief in Taiz, Yemen, reports on the humanitarian situation in Yemen and the ramifications of a ceasefire between the warring parties. “Truly implementing the ceasefire, in all parts of Yemen, is a matter of life and death for people here, and it really will determine the future of an entire generation,” he writes. Read his story in the New Humanitarian. (April 28).
Three years of drought in the Horn of Africa have created dire humanitarian conditions that could get even worse if drought conditions continue. Nearly 20 million people in the region are already in urgent need of food assistance. EU Commissioners for Crisis Management and International Partnerships call for increased funding, for states to lift impediments to humanitarian action, and for longer term strategies to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Read their analysis in the New Humanitarian. (April 27).
At the UN Security Council, UN Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen urged the international community to remain focused on Syria even as it falls from the headlines in the midst of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “The current strategic stalemate on the ground and Syria’s absence from the headlines should not mislead anyone into thinking that the conflict needs less attention or fewer resources, or that a political solution is not urgent,” he said. UN News reports. (April 27).
The health system in Ethiopia’s Tigray region has largely collapsed, according to doctors and healthcare workers. Shortages in medicine and medical supplies are widespread, doctors haven’t been paid in months, health clinics have been looted, and blackouts have taken life support machines and other equipment offline. The New Humanitarian reports. (April 26).
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A new ordinance from the Israeli government set to go into effect on May 22 will create new restrictions on foreign nationals traveling to the West Bank, “which some legal experts say is an attempt to restrict and track the travel of foreign nationals to the occupied Palestinian territories, control Palestinian population growth and keep data on the land claims of Palestinians holding foreign nationalities.” Al Jazeera reports. (April 27).
Dana Moss, a sociology professor at the University of Notre Dame, analyzes efforts by authoritarian governments to silence dissent from abroad, arguing that “emigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and civil society advocates-in-exile reside at the intersection of transnational repression from home-country regimes and the xenophobic policies of democratic states.” She contends that “the result is the violation of international human rights norms, damage to the rule of law, and an ever-shrinking ground where activists, civil society members, and ordinary people are safe.” Read her analysis in Inkstick. (April 27).
A Russian proposal for a UN cybercrime treaty has sparked concerns among human rights advocates who fear that governments could use the treaty to expand surveillance powers and crack down on dissent. CyberScoop reports. (April 26).
In a statement, 46 UK-based civil society organizations are calling on the UK government to halt legislation that would limit the right to boycott. “Palestinian rights may be the immediate target – but there can be no doubt that climate justice, human rights and freedom of expression could easily be targeted, as we have seen happen already in the US,” said the director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, one of the organizational signers. Middle East Eye reports. (April 26).
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Kate Alexander, the policy and campaigns officer of MADRE, makes the case for unfreezing Afghanistan’s foreign reserves and returning them to the Central Bank of Afghanistan so they can be used to address the liquidity crisis. Highlighting the gendered impacts of the freeze and perspectives of Afghan women, she argues “There is no clear path forward for US policy in Afghanistan without incorporating the concerns, policy expertise, and recommendations of Afghan women leaders…” Read her take in Inkstick. (April 29).
Highlighting the indiscriminate impacts of broad-based sanctions, Murtaza Hussain reports on a letter signed by C&SN and dozens of other groups calling on the president to “overhaul U.S. sanctions, and ensure that sanctions are targeted, proportional, connected to discrete policy goals and reversible.” The letter adds that “This would necessarily result in an end to unjust collective punishment of civilian populations around the globe who have little control over governmental decision making.” The Intercept reports. (April 28).
Assal Rad, the Research Director at the National Iranian American Council, problematizes the use of broad-based sanctions, contending that “If broad-based sanctions are indeed to be understood as a tool of accountability in international relations, then they should not themselves violate international law by carrying out collective punishment against a civilian population.” Read her take in the National Interest. (April 28).
Fourteen independent human rights experts at the UN are calling on the U.S. “to take into serious consideration the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and to re-assess its decision to block the Da Afghanistan Bank’s foreign assets.” They argue that “While gender-based violence has been a long-standing and severe threat to women and girls, it has been exacerbated by the measures imposed by the US.” Reuters reports. (April 25).
International Humanitarian Law
On May 24, 2022, IRRC, IPI and UNU-CPR will host a webinar on "United Nations Security Council Sanctions, International Humanitarian Law, and Humanitarian Action: Contrast and Convergence." Register here. (May 24)
ICRC’s Ionna Voudouri, Ezat Gul, and Yar Mohammad Yari “write from Kabul” on how Afghanistan’s “complex ethnographic, cultural and religious landscape lays a fertile ground for discrimination in how assistance is distributed.” They explain “how international and Islamic law address these risks, with the aim of eliminating obstacles for humanitarian assistance so it can reach the people who need it.” ICRC Reports. (April 28).
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