#africa news international

[sayruq]

Brazil has also given its support

[tomi4i]

[mirkobloom77]

‼️🇵🇸🌍 A compilation of positive reactions to the ICC move: Countries and Human Rights groups

[Plain text: A compilation of positive reactions to the ICC move: Countries and Human Rights groups]

🔹 Small summary:

🇳🇴 Norway is the first European Country to say that, if an arrest warrant is issued, Netanyahu will be arrested.

🇿🇦 The South African president says “the law must be applied equally to all in order to uphold the international rule of law, ensure accountability for those that commit heinous crimes and protect the rights of victims”

🇨🇳 China’s foreign ministry calls for an end to the "collective punishment of the Palestinian people", hoping ICC “will uphold its objective and impartial position and exercise its powers in accordance with the law”

🇫🇷 France’s foreign ministry says country “supports the International Criminal Court, its independence, and the fight against impunity in all situations”

🇧🇪 Belgium’s foreign ministry says “Crimes committed in Gaza must be prosecuted at the highest level, regardless of the perpetrators”

🇸🇮 Slovenia’s foreign ministry says “"Accountability is crucial to prevent atrocities and to guarantee peace”

🇨🇭 Switzerland’s permanent representative of Switzerland to the UN says Switzerland “fully supports the court and stresses the importance of respecting its independence”

🇵🇸 Palestinian Rights Groups welcome “landmark” ICC decision, call for an additional charge of Genocide to be added

🇮🇱 B’Tselem, an Israeli humans rights groups, says “Era of impunity for Israel’s leaders is over”

🔸 Source: Al Jazeera

[fresh-snow]

Following the footsteps of South Africa; Qatar, Oman, Malaysia have submitted statements in ICJ too.

Thank you South Africa for taking the first step.

[politijohn]

Source

[violottie]

‼️🇵🇸BREAKING NEWS🇵🇸‼️

"Nawaf Salam, the head of the ICJ, rendered a decision on South Africa's request to halt Israel's offence in Rafah:

"Israel must immediately cease its military offensive or any other action in the Rafah governorate that may endanger the Palestinian population in Gaza, potentially leading to their physical destruction, wholly or partially." from Rosy Pirani, 24/May/2024:

[allthegeopolitics]

South Africa on Monday filed a detailed submission to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) outlining evidence of Israel’s alleged violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention in its ongoing war on Gaza. According to the South African presidency, the submission, also called a memorial, includes 750 pages of evidence of acts of genocide and genocidal intent.

Continue Reading.

[totallynotcensorship]

[mysharona1987]

What are the odds when Israel presents its defence tomorrow, they’ll all suddenly remember this case exists after all?

[sayruq]

[destielmemenews]

source 1

source 2

source 3

Wikipedia page for Genocide Convention

[reasonsforhope]

Note: I super don't like the framing of this headline. "Here's why it matters" idk it's almost like there's an entire country's worth of people who get to keep their democracy! Clearly! But there are few good articles on this in English, so we're going with this one anyway.

--

2024 is the biggest global election year in history and the future of democracy is on every ballot. But amid an international backsliding in democratic norms, including in countries with a longer history of democracy like India, Senegal’s election last week was a major win for democracy. It’s also an indication that a new political class is coming of age in Africa, exemplified by Senegal’s new 44-year-old president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye.

The West African nation managed to pull off a free and fair election on March 24 despite significant obstacles, including efforts by former President Macky Sall to delay the elections and imprison or disqualify opposition candidates. Add those challenges to the fact that many neighboring countries in West Africa — most prominently Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, but other nations across the region too — have been repeatedly undermined by military coups since 2020.

Sall had been in power since 2012, serving two terms. He declined to seek a third term following years of speculation that he would do so despite a constitutional two-term limit. But he attempted to extend his term, announcing in February that elections (originally to be held that month) would be pushed off until the end of the year in defiance of the electoral schedule.

Sall’s allies in the National Assembly approved the measure, but only after security forces removed opposition politicians, who vociferously protested the delay. Senegalese society came out in droves to protest Sall’s attempted self-coup, and the Constitutional Council ruled in late February that Sall’s attempt to stay in power could not stand.

That itself was a win for democracy. Still, opposition candidates, including Faye, though legally able to run, remained imprisoned until just days before the election — while others were barred from running at all. The future of Senegal’s democracy seemed uncertain at best.

Cut to Tuesday [April 2, 2024], when Sall stepped down and handed power to Faye, a former tax examiner who won on a campaign of combating corruption, as well as greater sovereignty and economic opportunity for the Senegalese. And it was young voters who carried Faye to victory...

“This election showed the resilience of the democracy in Senegal that resisted the shock of an unexpected postponement,” Adele Ravidà, Senegal country director at the lnternational Foundation for Electoral Systems, told Vox via email. “... after a couple of years of unprecedented episodes of violence [the Senegalese people] turned the page smoothly, allowing a peaceful transfer of power.”

And though Faye’s aims won’t be easy to achieve, his win can tell us not only about how Senegal managed to establish its young democracy, but also about the positive trend of democratic entrenchment and international cooperation in African nations, and the power of young Africans...

Senegal and Democracy in Africa

Since it gained independence from France in 1960, Senegal has never had a coup — military or civilian. Increasingly strong and competitive democracy has been the norm for Senegal, and the country’s civil society went out in great force over the past three years of Sall’s term to enforce those norms.

“I think that it is really the victory of the democratic institutions — the government, but also civil society organization,” Sany said. “They were mobilized, from the unions, teacher unions, workers, NGOs. The civil society in Senegal is one of the most experienced, well-organized democratic institutions on the continent.” Senegalese civil society also pushed back against former President Abdoulaye Wade’s attempt to cling to power back in 2012, and the Senegalese people voted him out...

Faye will still have his work cut out for him accomplishing the goals he campaigned on, including economic prosperity, transparency, food security, increased sovereignty, and the strengthening of democratic institutions. This will be important, especially for Senegal’s young people, who are at the forefront of another major trend.

Young Africans will play an increasingly key role in the coming decades, both on the continent and on the global stage; Africa’s youth population (people aged 15 to 24) will make up approximately 35 percent of the world’s youth population by 2050, and Africa’s population is expected to grow from 1.5 billion to 2.5 billion during that time. In Senegal, people aged 10 to 24 make up 32 percent of the population, according to the UN.

“These young people have connected to the rest of the world,” Sany said. “They see what’s happening. They are interested. They are smart. They are more educated.” And they have high expectations not only for their economic future but also for their civil rights and autonomy.

The reality of government is always different from the promise of campaigning, but Faye’s election is part of a promising trend of democratic entrenchment in Africa, exemplified by successful transitions of power in Nigeria, Liberia, and Sierra Leone over the past year. To be sure, those elections were not without challenges, but on the whole, they provide an important counterweight to democratic backsliding.

Senegalese people, especially the younger generation, have high expectations for what democracy can and should deliver for them. It’s up to Faye and his government to follow."

-via Vox, April 4, 2024

[vyorei]

Live coverage of the 6th of March 2024 is now closed.

Here is a recap of today's major events.

It is 12am in Ireland now so I have to go to bed.

I'll be back to resume live updates on Friday, as I've started back at work again after last month's injury.

For continuous updates while I'm gone, click the link below:

[politijohn]

Source

Free Palestine

[bogbutteronmycroissant]

Link for the live transmission of the world court verdict:

Link for the ICJ ruling on SA'S case against Israel:

Link for live updates:

Spread the voice. We need justice for Palestine

[totallynotcensorship]

on this week's installment of "ziobots are a joke"

here we have a bot copy pasting the same comments on multiple posts 25 times in the span of 10 minutes. some of the posts aren't even about palestine

edit: by the time i finished writing this. it made 26 more replies... gotta respect the dedication)

DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME OR ENERGY ON BOTS

this(and a lot of other copypasted zionist replies) are paid (probably porn)bots in some server farm somewhere paid for as propaganda. interacting with them is basically shouting at a wall. at most report and move on

this is 100% a bot but has selfies of the same person from years ago. so am censoring their face in case this is a hacked abandoned account and the person in the picks might not be related to it's actions

DON'T STOP TALKING ABOUT PALESTINE