By Dr. Joseph Yav Katshung







Introduction



In September 2005, world leaders at the United Nations endorsed a historic declaration that the international community has a “responsibility… to help protect populations from genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity” and expressed a willingness to take timely and decisive action when states “manifestly fail” to protect their own populations from these threats.



Despite the… Continue

By Yav Katshung Joseph



Abstract: Yav Katshung Joseph argues that as truth commissions multiply around the world it is important to look at their relationship to prosecutions and justice in an immediate and historical sense. Are TRC's designed to generate more truth, more justice, reparations, and genuine institutional reform? Or are they designed to undermine the State’s and society’s legal, ethical and political obligations to their… Continue

Introduction



Last year, on 2 March 2007, the issue of 'comfort women' was raised again by the former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who denied that the military had forced women into sexual slavery during World War II. He stated, 'the fact is, there is no evidence to prove there was coercion'.



Before he spoke, a group of Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers also sought to revise Yohei Kono's 1993 apology to former comfort women. 2008 marks the 31th anniversary of… Continue

By. Dr. Yav Katshung Joseph





Introduction



In light of the enormous challenge facing the global community to eradicate poverty the international development community in 2000 adopted specific targets for poverty reduction, now known as the MDGs. The eight MDGs seek to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, to achieve universal primary education, to promote gender equality, to reduce child mortality, to improve maternal health, to fight HIV/Aids, malaria and other… Continue

By Dr. Joseph Yav Katshung



Introduction



One month before the 14th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide we should not only remember the horrors that took place, but focus our attention on the failure to halt the developing genocide in Darfur. April marks the 14th anniversary of the start of the genocide in Rwanda during which approximately 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in 100 days.



When preparing for the anniversary of this horrific tragedy… Continue

By. Dr. Joseph Yav Katshung



Introduction





Very often, when a country wishes to move from war to peace, various options may be tried, including trials in an international or national court of law as well as other non-punitive approaches with various names. In recent years, there has been a growing demand around the world for transitional justice mechanisms, such as truth commissions. Tina Rosenberg suggests that “…a country’s decisions about how to deal with… Continue

By Dr. Joseph Yav Katshung



“I hope they don’t discover oil. Then we will be in real trouble”. [Blood Diamond]





Introduction



To adapt an old metaphor, one could say, when the Great Lakes Region of Africa sneezes, the entire world including Africa catch a cold. Several interconnected elements shaped conflicts in the Great Lakes region, including the interests of neighbouring countries, competition over natural and economic resources concerns… Continue

As the elected leaders of a post-conflict state, the DRC government's top priorities must be to heal the wounds that have been inflicted on many Congolese by colonialism and civil wars in that country. "Victims of serious human rights violations in the DRC are begging for justice and reparations. The elected government should place this issue on its agenda in order to grant them reparations. It is true that reparation takes time. However, a step must be… Continue

Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir rejected in February 2007 a UN peace force for Darfur and said he would not grant visas to UN rights monitors who want to visit the strife-torn region. He also said that the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, led by Nobel peace laureate and anti-landmines campaigner Jody Williams, would not be allowed to travel to Darfur because its members were biased (1).



Comments:



While the international community is looking for ways to… Continue

Several interconnected elements have shaped the conflict in the Great Lakes region, including the interests of neighbouring countries, competition over natural and economic resources concerns over instability and lack of security, and ethnic chauvinism, to name but a few. This generally applies to all countries in the region, namely Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Uganda. In addition, these countries are afflicted by poor governance and political opportunism, which… Continue