Peace & Justice

demonstrating for the release of Julian Assange. Source: Deutsche Welle.

CIA Whistleblower Reflects on the Persecution of Julian Assange

Viewpoint by Jeffrey Sterling*

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) — It is difficult to talk about happenings in the world other than the continued, appalling Russian invasion of Ukraine and the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, Uvalde, Chicagoland, and elsewhere. Then, there is the Supreme Court which continues down a judicial road of eroding personal rights and towing the conservative party line. I don’t want to take attention away from those outrages.

However, the shadow of one tragedy is not dispelled by the light of another.

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 30 July 2022

Photo: U.S. airmen from the 60th Aerial Port Squadron load cargo onto a Boeing 757 Jan. 22, 2022 at Travis Air Force Base, California. Since 2014, the United States has committed more than $5.4 billion in total assistance to Ukraine, including security and non-security assistance. (Nicholas Pilch/Air Force)

The US Provides a Hefty $8.2 billion to Ukraine Battling a Superpower

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The five largest recipients of US weapons have traditionally included Saudi Arabia, Australia, South Korea, Japan and Qatar.

Ukraine, which was ranked as the 50th largest importer of US arms, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), is now set to make a giant leap upwards.

During 2017-2021, Saudi Arabia accounted for 23% of US arms exports, Australia 9.4%, South Korea 6.8%, Japan 6.7% and Qatar 5.4%.

: Thalif Deen; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 29 July 2022

Photo: Charline (left), 11, fled her village because of recent armed clashes in North Kivu province, DR Congo. She has taken refuge with her family in a camp for displaced people called Kiwandja in Rutshuru territory. ©UNICEF/Jean-Claude Wenga

The Congo, its Minerals and its Tribalism

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — When the United Nations pulled its troops out of the Congo, a country the size of western Europe, in June 1964, Secretary General U Thant reported, "The UN cannot permanently protect the Congo from internal tensions and disturbances created by its own organic growth towards unity and nationhood".

: Jonathan Power; THE WORLD; Africa; 26 July 2022

Photo: Willie Kimani was representing a client who had been assaulted by a police officer. Source: BBC

Unsolved Cases of Police Brutality on The Rise in Kenya

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — For Kenyans who waited six years and one month for justice, a Nairobi court finally handed them a decision—finding three police officers guilty in the kidnapping and murder of a human rights lawyer, his client and their taxi driver—all of whom disappeared after being locked up at a police station.

The mutilated bodies of Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwendi and the driver Joseph Muiruri were found two weeks after their disappearance in June 2016. They had reportedly been taken to an open field at night, executed and dumped in a river.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 26 July 2022

Photo: Female lawmakers make up 34.57% of Zimbabwe’s Ninth Parliament. Credit: ZimFact

Why Do Zimbabwean Women Shun Politics?

By Farai Shawn Matiashe

MUTARE, Zimbabwe (IDN) — Cyberbullying and online sexual harassment are some dilemmas that young women trying to rise in Zimbabwe’s patriarchal and male-dominated political space face.

What started as a debate on the opposition party, Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), led by young and charismatic politician Nelson Chamisa not having structures, ended up with CCC spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere fighting cyberbullying from the ruling party, Zanu PF sympathisers in courts.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 24 July 2022

Image: F-16 Fighting Falcon takes off from Incirlik Air Base, Turkey

White House Confirms Plans to Send US-NATO Jets to Fight Russia

Viewpoint by Andre Damon

This article first appeared on the World Socialist Website

MICHIGAN, USA (IDN) — In what may be the most provocative escalation of the US-NATO war against Russia to date, the White House has confirmed that the US is planning to send NATO-made fighter jets to Ukraine.

John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, confirmed that the Pentagon is discussing “providing fighter aircraft to the Ukrainians”.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 23 July 2022

Photo: Sri Lanka police withdrew the stay-home order issued on July 8. Source: ndtv

The Elephant in the Room: Geopolitics and the 'Great Reset' in Sri Lanka

Viewpoint by Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake*

“But to watch cricket, there has to be a country left for us to watch it in, no?” A fan at the Galle Test Match that ended with an innings victory for Sri Lanka. July 11, 2022.

COLOMBO (IDN) — Spirits were high on July 11 when the Sri Lankan cricket team beat the visiting Aussies by an innings even though the country was in its worst economic crisis ever due to a lack of Dollars to buy fuel caused by an International Sovereign Bond (ISB), debt trap and Staged Default.

: Asia Editor; OPINION; 21 July 2022

Photo: Antan0, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sri Lanka Faces Uncertain Future Amid Unmitigated 'People Power'

Viewpoint by Alan Keenan

Alan Keenan is Senior Consultant, Sri Lanka, at the International Crisis Group.

LONDON (IDN) — In a stunning display of “people power”, massive crowds overcame large deployments of police and soldiers and other obstacles to storm the official residence and offices of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo on July 9, leading the former to flee the country and both to agree to resign.

: Asia Editor; OPINION; 20 July 2022

Photo: Sir Mo Farah, CBE, is a multiple Olympic, World and European Champion athlete. For many he is Britain’s greatest ever athlete having accumulated 10 global titles which includes the ‘double double’ of gold medals over 5,000m and 10,000m at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. Source: MoFarah.com

New Film Shows Eminent Somali Runner Forced into Slavery in the UK

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Somalia-born runner Mohamed Abdi Jama Farah, known as Mo Farah, won 10 gold medals (four Olympic and six World titles) for being the second man in history to win long-distance doubles at successive Olympics and World Championships.

But he won much more than that.

He won a platform to tell his story of forced servitude and how he was trafficked to Britain as a child and forced to look after other children.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 18 July 2022

Image source: Global Information Network

Rwandan 'Genocidaire' Finally Convicted in French Court

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — A former senior Rwandan official linked to the deaths of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus has been found guilty of complicity in that nation’s genocide, 20 years after the horrific crime occurred.

Laurent Bucyibaruta is the highest-ranking Rwandan to face trial in France over the 1994 massacres that took place in 100 days of mass killings.