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In Sudan, longstanding political unrest and economic instability have culminated in a dire humanitarian crisis. With healthcare systems collapsing, incessant violence, and severe shortages, the country is grappling with escalating internal displacement and hosting over a million refugees.
Israel is one of the world's developed countries that is attempting to deter asylum seekers from accessing the protection that international refugee law entitles them to. Yet Israel is a state with refugeehood in its roots. Israeli refugee advocates have encouraged a change of policy on the basis of Jewish exile in Egypt as recorded in the Torah.
The African Union has asked the United Nations Security Council to suspend the trials of sittings Kenyan heads of state. Meanwhile Amnesty International has claimed that any killing of civilians by United States' drones violates the laws of war. Both cases call into question whether the International Criminal Court can end impunity for the most serious international crimes.
Former Liberian president Charles Taylor's conviction by an international criminal court for crimes against humanity is the first conviction of a head of state since World War II. It does little to change the fact that it remains notoriously difficult to bring heads of state to trial for grave crimes.
There is ample reason to be concerned about what could follow the referendum result that led to the formation of New Sudan. To prevent the potentially devastating repercussions, the international community must prepare to intervene.
The Pope visited the Middle East in an attempt to address the controversy regarding 'Holocaust denier' Bishop Richard Williamson. In the same week, in Australia, 'revisionist' historian Frederick Toben was sentenced to three months in jail.
President Omar al-Bashir stands accused of two counts of war crimes and five of crimes against humanity. But prosecuting him will not deliver justice to the people of Darfur. What seems like the beginning of the end of the tragedy may be the end of the beginning.
The Victorian bushfires occurred during a time of financial uncertainty, but Australians gave their money generously. It was as if they were consciously and calculatingly investing their funds in the solidarity of the community.
Conventional wisdom tells us democracies are inherently stable, yet an extremist spirit has emerged in mainstream Indian politics. The silence among Australian Christians about the suffering of Indian Christians is as deafening as that of Australian Muslims towards Muslims in Darfur.
The great hope for the Beijing Olympics was that it would persuade China's government that human rights protection is good diplomacy and good business. The power of persuasion would be lost if conscience-bound competitors are prevented from commenting.
The international community reacts rather than anticipates. It was only when hundreds of thousands of people were displaced after the Bolshevik revolution, that protection mechanisms such as the 1951 Refugee Convention began to be developed.
Israel is yet to justify its deportation of 48 Sudanese asylum seekers in August. It appears this action could be part of a blanket closed door policy that precludes the proper assessment of asylum claims according to Israel's legal and ethical obligations.
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