[mili]war crimes and impunity/accountability

We have just visited the Gaza Strip where we met many courageous people trying to live relatively normal lives despite the crippling effects of the illegal Israeli blockade. The blockade was imposed to punish the Hamas-led government, but it is women and children who are paying the highest price. In our conversations with a range of women, we learned that despite the apparent "easing" of restrictions by Israel and Egypt, important socio-economic indicators such as poverty, malnutrition, unemployment and family violence are getting worse. Women in this conservative society find their domestic responsibilities made all the more difficult and time-consuming by the blockade -- and they bear the brunt of society's frustration and anger in such trying times.

The Yemeni authorities, facing growing internal and external pressures, are abandoning human rights in the name of security says a new Amnesty International report, Yemen: Cracking down under pressure. The role of armed Islamist militants in Yemen rose to prominence during the civil war in 1994, when they fought alongside the army of the former YAR (North Yemen) to defeat the armed forces of the former PDRY (South Yemen). The PDRY was a secular state, widely perceived to be communist and backed by the USSR. The Islamist militants siding with the YAR comprised Yemenis and other nationals, mainly from Arab countries. Many had settled in Yemen, with the encouragement of the government in the north, after taking part in the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan during the 1980s.

ادت اعمال العنف المستمرة التي يشهدها العراق، والحروب التي خاضها الى زيادة كبيرة في عدد الارامل بحيث تجاوز المليون ارملة، حسبما توضح الارقام الرسمية. تحدثت البي بي سي العربية الى عدد من الارامل في العراق، وطلبت منهن ان يروين تجاربهن في الحياة، والمشكلات التي يعانين منها، وما يتطلعن اليه لمواجهة هذه المشكلات.

Adoptée par le Parlement européen ce jeudi 17 juin à une très large majorité (470 votes pour, 56 votes contre et 56 abstentions)