The Blood Minerals
NEED TO KNOW
The Blood Minerals
RWANDA
Rwandan President Paul Kagame recently won reelection in a landslide, adding five more years to his 24-year rule. At the point that election officials had counted almost 80 percent of the ballots, he had garnered more than 99 percent of the vote. The news was testament to either how popular Kagame remains in his country, as supporters say, or how effectively he’s able to repress the opposition, as critics allege.
On the foreign front, however, things are far less certain. Rwanda has long interfered in its neighbors’ affairs, for example with Burundi. Now, tensions between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda are worsening, raising fears of more dirty wars, genocides and other tragedies occurring in the region after a few decades of relative stability.
Recently, American diplomats, for example, echoing Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, raised concerns about Rwanda supporting rebel groups in the eastern DRC. These fighters fund their military operations through illicitly trading minerals like gold and tantalum, reported the East African newspaper. The rebels, furthermore, traffic their so-called “blood minerals” via Rwanda and Uganda, creating financial networks for violent criminals throughout the region.
Specifically, the US says Rwandan leaders back M23, a rebel force mainly made up of Tutsis, which controls tantalum mines near the DRC town of Rubaya. These statements preceded a United Nations report that estimated that as many as 4,000 Rwandan troops are stationed in the DRC alongside M23 fighters. The violence between Congolese government troops and M23, meanwhile, has killed hundreds of people and displaced nearly 2 million.
Rwandan officials have denied responsibility for the atrocities that M23 fighters have allegedly committed, like attacking a camp for disabled people in May which killed at least nine people, Agence France-Presse noted. But, as the Associated Press explained, Rwandan leaders also have admitted to deploying these forces to defend their country against potentially aggressive Congolese forces and to prevent the DRC’s political instability from spilling across their border. Meanwhile, the Rwandan government has justified its involvement with rebel groups on the grounds that it is protecting Tutsi populations from further genocide, wrote Christopher P. Davey of Binghamton University in the Conversation.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Institute for Strategic Studies researcher Valtino Omolo said these actions could lead to Kagame and other high-level officials facing economic and diplomatic sanctions for meddling in the DRC.
The irony would be embarrassing. Rwanda recently marked the 30th anniversary of its genocide in 1994 when the majority Hutu population massacred 800,000 members of the Tutsi community and others. Now Rwanda stands accused of flouting international norms and human rights. The stakes are extremely high, too. Rwanda and Uganda invaded the DRC in 1996 and 1998, sparking two massive wars that continued the bloodshed in the region.
Still, it’s unlikely that Rwanda’s meddling – in spite of the danger of war breaking out in the region – will lead to sanctions, says World Politics Review.
“Western powers associate Kagame’s time in power with domestic stability, economic growth and an ‘effective’ security partnership in Mozambique,” it wrote, referring to a conflict in the southeast African country between the government and militant groups. “As a result, the West has been eager to overlook the Kagame regime’s domestic human rights abuses and regionally destabilizing behavior.”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
The Pressure From Below
ISRAEL/ WEST BANK & GAZA STRIP
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) released a legal opinion declaring Israeli policies and practices in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem as unlawful, a non-binding decision that could impact Israel’s international standing and add pressure on the country to agree to a Palestinian state, Axios reported.
The case began early last year when the world court was tasked by the United Nations General Assembly to determine whether Israeli occupation of the territories amounted to annexation.
Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers these areas as occupied territories and most Western nations deem the Israeli settlements built in these areas to be illegal, according to the Associated Press.
In Friday’s advisory opinion, the ICJ found that Israeli settlements and presence in the occupied West Bank are in violation of international law: It said that the policies to expand settlements and exploit natural resources in the territory amount to “annexation.”
It ordered Israel to end the construction of settlements and remove existing ones, as well as evacuate Jewish settlers from the territories.
The court’s opinion also said Israeli law and actions in the West Bank and East Jerusalem violated the Convention against Racial Discrimination. It added that Israel must provide reparations to Palestinians damaged by Israeli policies and practices, while calling on all countries to consider Israel’s presence in the West Bank as illegal.
The court stated that the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council should contemplate additional measures, based on its advisory opinion, to bring an end to the Israeli occupation.
While the opinion is non-binding and unlikely to lead to any policy change, it could impact Israel’s international reputation and domestic politics. It has also sparked fears that it will encourage some Western nations to impose sanctions against settlers, entities that operate in the settlements and the Israeli government. The US government has imposed sanctions on some settlers and is currently considering expanding those to right-wing ministers in the cabinet.
Israel’s governing coalition, made up of ultra-conservative and pro-settler parties, criticized the ICJ for being “detached from the reality of the Middle East.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned it for distorting historical truth and legality.
The legal opinion comes as Israel and Hamas continue fighting in the Gaza Strip, which has exacerbated the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave and prompted international condemnation against Netanyahu’s cabinet.
The conflict began on Oct. 7 when Hamas and its allies launched a surprise attack in southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking around 240 others hostages. Israel responded by launching strikes and a ground invasion in the enclave that has displaced hundreds of thousands and killed more than 38,000 people, according to health officials in Hamas-controlled Gaza.
Last week, Human Rights Watch described Hamas’s October attack as a planned “systematic” assault against civilians, the Washington Post wrote. The organization released a report Wednesday condemning deliberate attacks on civilians, the use of human shields, and cruel treatment as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Meanwhile, observers noted that the ICJ’s opinion could prompt calls for a Palestinian state and revive proposals for a two-state solution, which Israel has thus far ruled out, but is being pushed to do so by its allies, including the United States.
Before the court’s decision, the Israeli parliament voted 68-9 against establishing a Palestinian state, saying its creation will “pose an existential danger to the State of Israel,” NBC News noted.
The vote could strain relations with the US, especially ahead of Netanyahu’s visit to address Congress and meet President Joe Biden.
Even so, some analysts said the vote reflects declining support for a two-state solution over the years.
A Pew Research Center poll found that in March and early April, only 26 percent of Israelis believed peaceful coexistence with an independent Palestinian state was possible, down from 35 percent before the Oct. 7 assault.
The research center highlighted that this marked a significant decline from 2013 when around half of Israelis supported a two-state solution.
Dismantling Exclusivity
BANGLADESH
Bangladesh’s top court rolled back a series of quotas on government jobs Sunday, quotas that had sparked violent nationwide protests in which more than 100 people were killed and saw the shuttering of universities across the country, CNN reported.
Student-led demonstrations have gripped Bangladesh over the past weeks over a civil service quota system that would allocate 30 percent of the sought-after positions to relatives of veterans who fought in the country’s war of independence from Pakistan in 1971.
Students and critics complained that the system favored the political elite, including allies of the governing Awami League party that led the independence movement.
Protests took place in various cities across the country but turned deadly last Tuesday following clashes between demonstrators and groups linked to the ruling party. The violence resulted in the closure of universities and communications blackouts, including the turning off of the Internet and mobile services.
Police have also used tear gas and rubber bullets against demonstrators, with the government accusing the protest campaigners of being “anti-national.”
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina first scrapped the quota system in 2018 following protests against it. But the High Court reinstated the contentious system in June, with the verdict sparking the demonstrations.
On Sunday, the supreme court dubbed the lower court’s decision as “illegal” and ordered that the quota for veterans be cut to five percent. It added that 93 of the jobs will be allocated based on merit, while two percent will be reserved for members of ethnic minorities, third-gender people and the physically disabled.
Students welcomed the verdict, but vowed to continue their demonstrations until authorities release detained protesters and officials responsible for the crackdown step down, Al Jazeera noted.
Even so, the government imposed a national curfew ahead of the top court’s decision, saying the restrictions will continue for an “uncertain time” following a two-hour break for people to gather supplies.
Observers suggested that the quota system and the government’s harsh crackdown could prove problematic for Hasina, who was reelected for a fourth term earlier this year.
With protesters demanding the government’s resignation, some analysts told Al Jazeera that if unrest continues it could force Hasina and her cabinet to step down.
Bargaining Chips
RUSSIA
A Russian court this week sentenced Wall Street Journal (WSJ) correspondent Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in prison on charges of espionage, a verdict that has prompted Western condemnation and accusations that Moscow is using the US journalist as a bargaining chip, NPR reported.
The case against Gershkovich began in March 2023 when Russian authorities detained the journalist in the eastern city of Yekaterinburg on charges of collecting “secret information” for a regional tank factory on the order of the US Central Intelligence Agency.
Gershkovich and WSJ denied the allegations, saying the correspondent was operating in Russia with official accreditation from Russia’s Foreign Ministry.
He was kept in detention for more than a year before a Yekaterinburg court on Friday sentenced him to 16 years in a Russian penal colony. Friday’s closed-door trial was denounced as a sham by the outlet and the US government, calling the charges against him “fiction.”
Gershkovich’s conviction marks the first time since the end of the Cold War more than 30 years ago that a US journalist has been convicted of espionage in Russia, according to the BBC.
European Union officials accused Moscow of punishing journalism with its “politicized legal system,” while British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the sentence as “despicable.”
US officials noted Russia’s arrest and detention of Gershkovich underscores another effort by Moscow to use American citizens “to achieve its political objectives.” These include swapping the US journalist with Russian citizens in foreign jails.
Analysts explained that Friday’s espionage trial ended faster than expected because such proceedings usually require months or years to conclude. The expedited verdict has fueled speculation that the US and Russia are closing in on a prisoner swap.
According to Russian judicial practices, such exchanges take place after a verdict has been issued.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced last week that back-channel talks between Washington and Moscow were “ongoing.”
Observers suggested that Gershkovich could be traded for Vadim Krasikov, a Russian Federal Security Service hitman serving a life sentence in Germany for shooting dead a former Chechen rebel commander in Berlin.
Meanwhile, the US government is also negotiating the release of other US citizens held in Russian prisons, such as Paul Whelan.
Whelan was detained in 2018 and is serving a lengthy prison sentence on espionage charges.
DISCOVERIES
Here Was Spartacus
The story of Spartacus, the slave-turned-gladiator who fought against the Roman Republic, is immortalized in the Kirk Douglas movie of the same name.
Now, history buffs can visit one of the sites where the rebel commander and his men clashed with Roman forces more than 2,000 years ago.
Archeologists recently discovered an ancient stone wall in a forest in Italy’s southern Calabria region. They used advanced ground-penetrating radar, laser scanning and soil core sampling to study the site and understand its purpose.
Covered in moss and stretching around 1.7 miles in length, the researchers determined that the wall was a fossa and agger – or ditch and mound – defensive system, which was a typical fortification method used by the Roman army.
They suggested that the wall was built by Roman general Marcus Licinius Crassus in 71 BCE to entrap Spartacus and his forces. The fortification’s construction was also referenced in historical sources, such as “The Life of Crassus” by Greek philosopher and historian Plutarch.
Other evidence hints that the area was the site of a fierce battle between Spartacus’ fighters and Crassus’ soldiers: The archeological team uncovered a number of broken weapons, such as sword handles, javelin points and spearheads.
“This barrier can be identified as the enclosure/ fortification wall erected by (Roman general) Marcus Crassus in 71 (BCE) to contain and trap Spartacus and his forces,” Andrea Maria Gennaro, the archeology superintendent who worked on the excavation, told Live Science. “After trying to go to Sicily, Spartacus was not able to move along the coastal roads because of the presence of Romans, so the only way to go (to) the peninsula and escape was crossing Aspromonte (mountain).”
Spartacus is known for leading the Third Servile War between 73 BCE and 71 BCE, a major slave rebellion in the Roman Republic, according to National Geographic.
Not much is known about the earlier life of Spartacus, but historians say he was born in Thrace – a region located in modern-day Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey – and might have served in the Roman Army.
He was later sold into slavery and was sent to a gladiatorial training school in Capua in 73 BCE. The Thracian escaped with about 70 other gladiators and took refuge on Mount Vesuvius.
Their numbers grew to an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 escaped slaves, who used guerrilla tactics to fend off Roman forces.
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