Tag Archives: Human rights organizations

Lifestyle

U.S. sanctions on ICC prosecutor cripple tribunal’s work

Maravi Post Reporter

The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor has lost access to his email, and his bank accounts have been frozen.

The Hague-based court’s American staffers have been told that if they travel to the U.S. they risk arrest.

Some nongovernmental organizations have stopped working with the ICC and the leaders of one won’t even reply to emails from court officials.

Those are just some of the hurdles facing court staff since U.S. President Donald Trump in February slapped sanctions on its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, according to interviews with current and former ICC officials, international lawyers and human rights advocates.

The sanctions will “prevent victims from getting access to justice,” said Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.

Trump sanctioned the court after a panel of ICC judges in November issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.

Judges found there was reason to believe that the pair may have committed war crimes by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeting civilians in Israel’s war on Gaza.

Staffers and allies of the ICC said the sanctions have made it increasingly difficult for the tribunal to conduct basic tasks, let alone seek justice for victims of war crimes or genocide.

A spokesperson for the ICC and for Khan declined to comment. In February, ICC President Judge Tomoko Akane said that the sanctions “constitute serious attacks against the Court’s States Parties, the rule of law based international order and millions of victims.”

Order targets chief prosecutor

The February order bans Khan and other non-Americans among the ICC’s 900 staff members from entering the U.S., which is not a member of the court. It also threatens any person, institution or company with fines and prison time if they provide Khan with “financial, material, or technological support.”

The sanctions are hampering work on a broad array of investigations, not just the one into Israel’s leaders.

The ICC had been investigating atrocities in Sudan and had issued arrest warrants for former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges that include genocide. That probe has ground to a halt even as reports mount of new atrocities in Sudan, according to an attorney representing ICC prosecutor Eric Iverson, who is fighting the sanctions in U.S. courts. Iverson filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration seeking protection from the sanctions.

Iverson “cannot do, what I would describe as, basic lawyer functions,” said Allison Miller, who is representing Iverson in the suit.

American staffers at the organization, like Iverson, have been warned by its attorneys that they risk arrest if they return home to visit family, according to ICC officials. Six senior officials have left the court over concerns about sanctions.

One reason the the court has been hamstrung is that it relies heavily on contractors and non-governmental organizations. Those businesses and groups have curtailed work on behalf of the court because they were concerned about being targeted by U.S. authorities, according to current and former ICC staffers.

Microsoft, for example, cancelled Khan’s email address, forcing the prosecutor to move to Proton Mail, a Swiss email provider, ICC staffers said. His bank accounts in his home country of the U.K. have been blocked.

Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment.

Staffers at an NGO that plays an integral role in the court’s efforts to gather evidence and find witnesses said the group has transferred money out of U.S. bank accounts because they fear it might be seized by the Trump administration.

Senior leadership at two other U.S.-based human rights organizations told the AP that their groups have stopped working with the ICC. A senior staffer at one told the AP that employees have stopped replying to emails from court officials out of fear of triggering a response from the Trump administration.

The cumulative effect of such actions has led ICC staffers to openly wonder whether the organization can survive the Trump administration, according to ICC officials who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.

One questioned whether the court would make it through the next four years.

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/14/96/22/07/ED_PYR_1496227_20250515090103.mp4
Lifestyle

UN warns U.S. deportations of Venezuelans to El Salvador

Maravi Post Reporter

The UN human rights office warned Tuesday that the deportation of hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants from the U.S. to El Salvador is “raising huge human rights concerns”.

“Lawyers don’t know where they are,” Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the OHCHR, said at a news conference in Geneva. “In fact no one knows where they are for certain, and we don’t know the legal basis.”

In March, the U.S. government deported more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants alleged to have ties to the Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador, paying the Salvadoran government to imprison them.

Since then, they have had no access to lawyers or ability to communicate with their families. Neither the U.S. nor Salvadoran governments have said how the men could eventually regain their freedom.

“Reports indicate that many of the detainees were not informed of the US Government’s intention to deport them to be held in a third country, that many did not have access to a lawyer and that they were effectively unable to challenge the lawfulness of their removal before being flown out of the US,” Throssell said.

Flights carrying immigrants were already in the air when a federal judge issued an order temporarily barring the deportations under an 18th century wartime declaration targeting Venezuelan gang members.

The immigrants were taken to the notorious CECOT facility, the centerpiece of El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s push to pacify his once violence-wracked country through tough police measures and limits on basic rights.

Bukele has agreed to house about 300 immigrants for a year at a cost of $6 million in his country’s prisons.

“The UN Human Rights Office has information from family members and lawyers regarding more than 100 Venezuelans believed to be held in CECOT,” Throssell said.

International human rights organizations on Friday filed a lawsuit with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights asking that the commission order El Salvador’s government to release the Venezuelans.

The immigrants were removed after Trump’s declaration of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which has been used only three times in U.S. history.

The law, invoked during the War of 1812 and World Wars I and II, requires a president to declare the United States is at war, giving him extraordinary powers to detain or remove foreigners who otherwise would have protections under immigration or criminal laws.

It was last used to justify the detention of Japanese-American civilians during World War II.

The Trump administration said that the men deported were members of the Tren de Aragua gang.

Tren de Aragua originated in an infamously lawless prison in the central state of Aragua and accompanied an exodus of millions of Venezuelans, the overwhelming majority of whom were seeking better living conditions after their nation’s economy came undone during the past decade.

Trump seized on the gang during his campaign to paint misleading pictures of communities that he contended were “taken over” by what were actually a handful of lawbreakers.

The Trump administration has not identified the immigrants deported, provided any evidence they are in fact members of Tren de Aragua or that they committed any crimes in the United States.

It also sent two top members of the Salvadoran MS-13 gang to El Salvador who had been arrested in the United States.

“Families we have spoken to have expressed a sense of complete powerlessness in the face of what has happened and their pain at seeing their relatives labelled and handled as violent criminals, even terrorists, without any court judgment as to validity of what is claimed against them,” Throssel said.

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/14/80/84/00/ED_PYR_1480840_20250513142438.mp4
Lifestyle

Sudanese midwives deliver hope amid war and ruin

Maravi Post Reporter

In war-ravaged Khartoum, midwives like Hawaa Ismael are risking their lives to deliver babies and care for mothers despite Sudan’s crumbling health care system.

With fewer than 25% of medical facilities still functioning due to the ongoing conflict, pregnant women are forced to walk for hours, or even days, to find care. Some never make it in time. “The hardest case I faced was delivering a woman in a car,” says Ismael, a midwife at the UNFPA-supported Karari Health Centre. “We were stuck. She had complications. I’ve cried many times especially when women camn’t reach us.”

Since fighting erupted, over 750,000 people have received reproductive health services in Sudan, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Yet recent funding cuts threaten to leave nearly half a million women in Sudan and neighboring countries without maternal or gender-based violence support services.

Despite the danger, Ismael continues to deliver up to four babies a day. She visits homes, crossing frontlines in what she calls a mission of necessity: “We examine pregnant women, guide them, and do monthly follow-ups.”

The war has displaced over 13 million people and claimed at least 24,000 lives. Human rights organizations say the conflict, marked by famine, mass rape, and ethnic violence, has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.

For women in Sudan, midwives are often their only lifeline.

Source: Africanews

Opinion

MEC, PAC, Human rights organizations—What are you doing? Are You prepared for the most vicious riots in the 2025 Malawi elections?

Maravi Post Reporter

By Allan Ngumuya

I am deeply concerned about the state of affairs in Malawi as we approach the September 16, 2025 elections.

Among the many troubling developments, one of the most alarming is the conduct of the President, Dr. Lazarus Chakwera.

He is reportedly ferrying people from various districts across the Central Region, carrying their voter registration certificates.

According to the Malawi Electoral Commission Act, elections should be conducted fairly and transparently to ensure public confidence.

This practice is not only suspicious but shameful, reflecting the President’s desperate grip on power.

It raises serious questions about the credibility of the upcoming elections.

This is clear evidence that we may not be heading toward a free and fair electoral process.

I now understand what the former Minister of Home Affairs meant when he said, “Tabwerako ku Zimbabwe komwe takaphunzira mayendetsedwe abwino a zisankho.”

Seriously?

Has Zimbabwe ever had free and fair elections?

It’s no surprise that we’re now hearing reports of 400 guns entering Malawi—allegedly to be distributed to MCP youth operatives.

At the same time, we are witnessing the rise of violent gangs—zikwanje—getting ready to terrorize Malawians before, during, and after the elections.

The goal is clear: to intimidate voters, shed blood, and use fear to retain power.

This is not about leadership—it’s about self-preservation.

They know they have committed crimes while in office, and they are willing to do anything to avoid prosecution and protect their families and ill-gotten wealth.

A serious warning to all Malawians

Why are MEC, PAC, and human rights organizations silent?

Why is nothing being done or even said about these developments?

Had the DPP government engaged in such conduct, can you imagine the level of public outcry from MCP and civil society?

The Constitution of Malawi guarantees the right to free and fair elections, but this is not being upheld.

It is clear to me that MEC, PAC, and many human rights bodies know exactly what’s going on.

But they’ve turned a blind eye to what is happening at State House.

This silence is dangerous.

I foresee a dark time ahead—a time of violence, with panga knives in the streets and innocent people losing their lives.

If MCP is not stopped, Malawi could be headed toward destruction.

Just look at the current cost of living.

And now imagine MCP winning again.

Do you really believe things will improve?

No—they will get worse.

The biggest concern is the exploitation of rural voters.

Many of them are swayed by small handouts—K2,000, a piece of cloth, a plate of rice, or K50,000 from the State House.

For some, this is the first time they’ve held that kind of money.

They are being manipulated with basic necessities.

To the opposition: Unite!

Opposition parties must join hands.

The ruling MCP must go—by fire, by force.

They must understand that accountability is coming.

One day, every person will stand alone for what they did while in power.

Political parties will not protect them from justice.

Conclusion

Fellow Malawians, God has given you the gift of choice.

He will not force you—but He has given you eyes to see, ears to hear, and a brain to think.

Just like Adam and Eve were given free will in the Garden of Eden, you too must make the right decision.

Tell your neighbor, your friend, and your family: Do not vote for MCP.

You already feel the pain.

You see the prices.

You know the truth.

It would be shocking to see Malawians return MCP—or even DPP—to power.

These political elites care nothing for the youth.

They think only of themselves.

Their strategy is to keep you in poverty so you remain dependent until your last breath.

Young people, take a stand.

Send them packing with your vote.

Only then will they start to behave.

Reminder: vote for Dr. Dalitso Kabambe

He represents peace, wealth, and economic stability.

Let’s restore Malawi.