Human Rights

By Juan Cole | – – In the wake of the election of Donald Trump, the regime of Bashar al-Assad and its Russian backer have thrown caution to the wind. No less than the Republican Congress, Damascus and Moscow know that Barack Obama is a lame duck. Understanding that Trump campaigned on giving Syria to […]

Displaced and Refugees

WikiLeaks Yemen Files Unmask Washington’s Bloody Role

contributors

TeleSur | – – More than 10,000 – mostly civilians – have been killed and more than 3 million have been displaced in the conflict. Whistleblowing organization Wikileaks on Friday dropped yet another batch of files, this time detailing evidence of the United States arming, training and financing Yemeni forces in the build up to […]

Displaced and Refugees

Raining Bombs: Mosul Fight hits Trapped Civilians

contributors

By a Special Correspondent | Mosul | (Niqash.org) | – – Inside their homes, a lack of food and water; outside, bombs, snipers and crossfire. Yet many Mosul locals are choosing to stay in the city, even though it’s a war zone. Despite the fact that extremists have been driven out of their Mosul neighbourhood, […]

Human Rights Watch

Iraq: Hundreds of Police bodies found in ISIS Mass Grave

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – Witnesses Describe Executions (Erbil) – A mass grave discovered near Mosul by Iraqi Security Forces on November 7, 2016, most likely contains the bodies of at least 300 former local police officers executed by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. Witnesses said that they believe that at the […]

Displaced and Refugees

Dear Mayor Giuliani: We can’t turn our backs on Syrian Refugees

contributors

Akil Awan | (Informed Comment) | – – I recently visited Jordan as part of my work on political violence and youth radicalisation for the United Nations on Security Council Resolution 2250. Jordan borders Syria to its north, and although Jordanians display a remarkable sense of normalcy in their everyday lives, visitors cannot really escape […]

censorship

European journalists brand Turkey ‘biggest prison in the world’

contributors

By Herbert Vytiska | EurActiv.de | Translated By Samuel Morgan | EurActiv | – – Curbs on press freedom have been dramatically increased since the failed coup attempt against President Erdoğan. The Association of European Journalists (AEJ) has called on the European institutions to exert more pressure on Turkey, in face of further restrictions on […]

Displaced and Refugees

Civilians in both Aleppos are Hurting

contributors

By Hadeel al-Shalchi | (Human Rights Watch) | – – The small child cries hysterically on the hospital bed, covered in dust and blood. The video, posted by the pro-Syrian government news agency al-Akhbariya, shows scene after scene of civilian men, women, and children injured from what they say were rockets launched by armed opposition […]

Displaced and Refugees

Another Saudi War Crime in Yemen as 43 Prisoners dead in Airstrike

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Saudi airstrikes targeting a judiciary building in al-Hudayda, a port on the western coast of Yemen under Houthi control, have killed some 43 people and wounded dozens of others, most of them prisoners. The strike on the judiciary building, which had a prison attached, could have […]

Displaced and Refugees

Humanitarian Crisis In Mosul as Half of Displaced are Children

Juan Cole

By Golnaz Esfandiari | ( RFE/RL ) | – – . . . “There’s no question that, in the worst case, Mosul will represent the single largest, most complex humanitarian crisis in the world in 2016,” United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq Lise Grande said on October 18, hours after an Iraqi-led coalition launched its […]