¿Sabes qué pasó? Weekly Newsletter October 30 to November 5
Sosthène Munyemana genocide trial opens in Paris
The trial of Sosthène Munyemana will take place from November 13 to December 22 at the criminal court in Paris, France. Munyemana, who was born in 1955 in Rwanda and practiced as a gynecologist in Butar, is charged with genocide, complicity in genocide, crimes against humanity and participation in the preparation of those crimes.committed in Rwanda during the genocide against the Tutsis, which led to the death of more than 800,000 people between April and July 1994.
The trial begins 28 years after the first complaint, made in 1995 by several human rights organizations (Survie, FIDH, CRF). Meanwhile, Sosthène Munyemana was living free in France, where he practiced in a hospital as a doctor.
This is the sixth trial of those responsible for the genocide against the Tutsis to take place in France.
On June 28, the same court sentenced former Rwandan soldier Philippe Hategekimana/Manier, alias Biguma, to life imprisonment for genocide and crimes against humanity.
Puedes leer la noticia completa aquí.
Nearly 70% of the dead in Gaza are children and women
“Almost 3200 children have been killed in Gaza in three weeks, surpassing the number of children killed annually in all conflict zones worldwide since 2019,” UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Director Philippe Lazzarini told the Security Council on Monday, October 30.
“This cannot be collateral damage. […] Israel is carrying out ‘collective punishment.'””More than 420 children killed or injured in Gaza every dayThis is a figure that should shake us to our core,” said Catherine Russell, executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
For its part, the World Health Organization (WHO) in Gaza informed the Gaza Security Council of 34 attacks on health facilities, including 21 hospitals, at least 221 schools and more than 177,000 homes . All of these UN bodies called on the Security Council to immediately adopt a resolution reminding the parties of their obligations under international law, and to call for a cease-fire. One call also launched by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on October 31. “International humanitarian law establishes clear rules that cannot be ignored. It is not an à la carte menu and cannot be applied selectively..”
You can read the full story here and here.
International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists
The celebration of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on November 2 seeks to raise awareness among the public and the international community about the main challenges faced by journalists. According to the UNESCO Director-General’s Report 2022, more than 1,600 journalists have been murdered since 1993, with an impunity rate of 90%. And journalists are subject to other types of threats: kidnapping, torture, physical aggressions, but also harassment in the digital sphere or activation of judicial mechanisms against these professionals, known as SLAPPs lawsuits.
Despite the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, signed in 2013 by the General Assembly (A/RES/68/163), a high rate of impunity for such crimes against journalists persists. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) fears that this impunity will harm society as a whole by covering up serious human rights abuses, corruption and other crimes. The type of news that is “silenced” is exactly the type of information that the public needs to know.
You can read the full story here and here
