Day: March 15, 2022

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Former Central Africa militia head handed over to ICC

THE HAGUE— Chadian authorities on Monday handed over to the International Criminal Court a former Central African Republic militia leader accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the Hague-based court said.

Maxime Jeoffroy Eli Mokom Gawaka is suspected of crimes committed in 2013 and 2014 “in Bangui and other locations in the Central African Republic,” the ICC said in a statement.

One of the poorest countries in the world, the CAR spiralled into conflict in 2013 when president Francois Bozize was ousted by a rebel coalition called the Seleka, drawn largely from the Muslim minority.

The coup triggered a sectarian bloodbath between the Seleka and “anti-Balaka” forces, who were mainly Christian or animist.

Mokom was the leader of an “anti-Balaka” group.

In 2019, he became the country’s minister for disarmament and demobilisation.

The ICC has “found reasonable grounds” to suspect that Mokom, in his capacity as a “National Coordinator of Operations of the Anti-Balaka”, was responsible for crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, persecution and “enforced disappearance”, the court said in its statement.

On the war crimes front, he is suspected of, among other things, “intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population” and an attack against humanitarian assistance personnel as well as enlisting fighters as young as 15.

“Mr Maxime Jeoffroy Eli Mokom Gawaka was surrendered to the International Criminal Court by the authorities of the Republic of Chad on account of an ICC warrant of arrest issued under seal on 10 December 2018,” the court said.

Late Monday the court tweeted that Mokom had arrived at the ICC Detention Centre in The Hague.

“The initial appearance of Mr Mokom … will take place in due course,” it said in its statement.

The ICC, which sits in The Hague, was created in 2002 to try individuals prosecuted for war crimes, crimes against humanity or acts of genocide.

Two former anti-Balaka leaders, Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona and Alfred Yekatom, are already on trial at the ICC.

An alleged Seleka leader will go on trial at the ICC in September to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

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UN launches biodiversity talks on deal to protect nature

PARIS— UN biodiversity negotiations began in Geneva on Monday to hammer out a global deal to better protect nature that is due for approval later this year.

Almost 200 countries are due to adopt a global framework this year to safeguard nature by mid-century from the destruction wrought by humanity, with a key milestone of 30 per cent protected by 2030.

“The world is clearly eager for urgent action to protect nature,” said Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, in a press release.

“And we have no time to spare. Together we must ultimately deliver a truly historic agreement that puts us firmly on the path to living in harmony with nature.”

Talks, which run from March 14 to March 29, will set the stage for a crucial United Nations COP 15 biodiversity summit, initially due to be held in Kunming, China in 2020 and postponed several times because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Geneva meeting will announce new dates for COP 15, which is currently slated for April to May but is expected to be delayed again.

According to several sources, the new dates envisaged are from the end of August to the beginning of September.

The CBD said the Geneva talks will play a crucial role in finalising an “ambitious transformative post-2020 framework” to be approved at COP15.

A draft of the document outlines some 20 targets for 2030, including the high-profile ambition to protect at least 30 percent of the Earth’s land and water habitats.

It also includes objectives on reducing the amount of fertilisers and pesticides discharged into the environment and cutting at least $500 billion per year of harmful subsidies.

In 2019, a report by UN biodiversity experts said one million species could disappear in the coming decades, raising fears the world is entering a sixth era of mass extinction in the last half-billion years.

Countries have failed to meet almost all the biodiversity targets set in 2010.

And now climate change is a growing threat that could compound all of these problems.

Last month, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that nine per cent of all the world’s species will likely be “at high risk” of extinction even if warming is capped at the ambitious Paris target of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK