Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 31, 2022

Posted under

International Law

Comments

Leave a comment

Environmental Justice on civilian fronts in Serbia

Tamara Blagojevic

Similar to other reactions around the globe, environmental protests in Serbia started booming around 2019. but really intensified from 2020. Some earlier examples were the protests regarding the protection of the river South Morava. However, forms of civil action in the protection of the environment were initiated long ago, by widespread floods in 2014, but, even many years after, had no appropriate government response or proper and timely damage remediation, although they affected many cities, took numerous victims and deprived families of their homes and basic existential means. However, some of the newer examples have much less to do with environmental disasters, and much more to do with the improper governing, corruption and lack of sufficient or proper funding, and the subsequent poor law implementation, which lead to numerous environmental concerns, and served as a widespread wake up call.

Continue reading →
Standard

Posted by

Posted on

November 23, 2022

Posted under

International Law

Comments

Leave a comment

Hoping for Change in Iran: From Aban 2019 to the Amini 2022 protests

Marilena Stegbauer

On 16 September 2022, Niloofar Hamedi, a journalist at reformist daily newspaper Shargh in Tehran, posted a picture to her Twitter account of a couple hugging while crying in front of their daughter’s hospital room, Mahsa Jina Amini. The 22-year-old died later that day.

The death of Amini sparked the on-going protests in Iran, which are currently in their eighth week. They are the longest and most widespread protests the country had seen since the Islamic revolution in 1979 when Shah Pahlavi was ousted by the first Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), Ayatollah Khomeini.

Continue reading →
Standard

Posted by

Posted on

October 21, 2022

Posted under

Crimes Against Humanity, Environment, Genocide, Human Rights, International Law, Victims Rights

Comments

Leave a comment

Sudden Leap into Darkness: The case of Maasai Exclusion and marginalisation in Ngorongoro, Northern Tanzania

Joseph Moses Oleshangay[1]

Ngorongoro, a World Heritage Site, Man and Biosphere Reserve, Global Geopark by UNESCO, and home for over 80,000 Maasai is under siege. The Maasai, a Nilotic ethnic group, have moved around the Ngorongoro and Serengeti areas while conserving the land and wildlife for approximately 500 years. Over the centuries the Maasai have developed a finely honed symbiotic relationship with the local environment, which has allowed the domestication of livestock and people to coexist in a dryland and therefore a resource-scarce environment. In addition, their local knowledge has allowed the large mammal population as well as ecological diversity to grow under their stewardship. However currently they are being accused by the government, international conservation lobbyists, and wildlife hunting firms, of threatening what they have kept safely over centuries. As history demonstrates, nothing could be further from the truth. As this article will demonstrate, the ongoing pressure against the Maasai is largely influenced by the potential financial gain resting with the land, wildlife, and ecological biodiversity, rather than their own role in threatening nature and wildlife.

Continue reading →
Standard

Posted by

Posted on

April 7, 2022

Posted under

International Criminal Justice, People's Tribunals, Universal Jurisdiction, Victims Rights

The Aban Tribunal: Targeting Impunity and Supporting Victim-Survivors

Marilena Stegbauer

When the Aban atrocity took place, nobody ever thought that a Tribunal would be held after two years to bring to justice those responsible. You are putting [them] on trial. While they are not accountable, and we have to cover our faces to testify here, I’m sure that one day, they will have to cover their faces, and our positions will change.

Witness before the Aban Tribunal

From the 10th to the 14th of November 2021, the Iran Atrocities Tribunal, also known as “Aban Tribunal,” in reference to the month in which the nationwide protests erupted, convened in London. “Aban” is the month in the Persian calendar, in which the nationwide protests erupted and partially corresponds to November and is the term widely used by victim-survivors to refer to the bloody protests that left thousands of Iranians dead, severely injured, arrested and detained, with a significant number facing torture, inhumane and/ or degrading treatment in prison. The Tribunal is the latest offspring amongst a continuous trend of International People’s Tribunals emerging over the last few years alone. Other notable People’s Tribunals focusing on gross human rights abuses include The Iran Tribunal (2012), The Uyghur Tribunal (2020-2022), The China Tribunal (2018-2020) and the ongoing People’s Tribunal on the Murder of Journalists (2021-2022).

Continue reading →
Standard

Posted by

Posted on

April 4, 2022

Posted under

Environment, Human Rights

The Aftermath of The Ecuadorian Earthquake

Andy Taylor

Six years after the 7.8 Earthquake on the 16th of April 2016, the human rights of those who survived remain conspicuously ignored. According to World Vision the Earthquake killed nearly 700 people and severely injured more than 6,000. Out of the 7 million people in the worst-affected provinces, 700,000 needed immediate assistance.

Continue reading →