CounterVortex

Palestine

Amnesty International: block vessel carrying arms to Israel

Amnesty International urged all states to prevent the Portuguese-flagged Holger G vessel, carrying munition components bound for Israel, from docking at their ports. Having departed from India in November, the cargo is destined for Israel’s biggest arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems, and its subsidiary IMI Systems. Erika Guevara Rosas, senior director for research and campaigns at Amnesty, said: “The hundreds of tonnes of deadly cargo on board the Holger G must not reach Israel. There is a clear risk that this colossal transportation would contribute to the commission of genocide and other crimes under international law against Palestinians.” (Photo: VesselFinder)

Palestine

US imposes sanctions on two more ICC judges

The US government announced sanctions on two judges from the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court due to their “illegitimate targeting of Israel.” The sanctions barthe named individuals from entry into the US, and extends to their family members. The measures also block any assets the individuals hold in the US. The move came after the ICC rejected Israel’s legal challenge to the case that has been opened over possible war crimes in the Gaza Strip. Both of the targeted judges, Gocha Lordkipanidze of Georgia and Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia, voted in favor of rejection of the appeal. (Photo: OSeveno/WikiMedia)

Southern Cone

Chile’s turn to the hard right

The rising wave of far-right populism has arrived in Chile with the victory in the presidential race of José Antonio Kast, an ultra-conservative who campaigned on fighting crime and carrying out mass deportations. Emulating Donald Trump, Kast exploited a backlash against migrants—especially Venezuelans—and pledged to build a separation wall on the border with Peru. His victory marks the country’s sharpest shift to the right since the restoration of democracy after the brutal dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet 30 years ago—an era and figure that Kast has openly admired. (Image: Nicolas Raymond via Flickr)

New York City

NYC: did socialism really beat fascism?

Zohran Mamdani‘s Oval Office lovefest with Donald Trump was a dangerous legitimization of fascism, and has won New York no respite—as the city was targeted for ICE raids mere days later. These were happily met with a strong street response by progressive New Yorkers, and Zohran has reiterated his stance of non-cooperation with the federal police state. Meanwhile, the massacre of Jews one week ago in Sydney increases the pressure on Mamdani to walk the fine line between remaining true to his anti-Zionist principles on one hand, and acquiescing in anti-Semitism on the other. And his support for bulldozing the Elizabeth Street Garden (even after a deal to save it has been accepted by the incumbent administration), while failing to protest displacement of tenants from public housing projects slated for privatization, points to an accommodation with the pro-“development” consensus of the city’s permanent government. On the final countdown to Mamdani’s inauguration, the contradictions he faces are sharpening. In Episode 309 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg breaks it down. (Photo: DSA)

Africa

Sudan: UN reports atrocities at Darfur IDP camp

The UN Human Rights Office published a report detailing its findings of atrocities committed during a three-day assault by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the Zamzam camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sudan’s Darfur region. The wave of attackstook place in April of this year, when the camp fell to the RSF, and were found to constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law. The report’s key findings include the killing of at least 1,013 civilians. The report documented widespread summary executions, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, abductions, and enforced disappearances. During the assault, the RSF pillaged food and livestock, looted shops and homes, and burned down houses. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called for an “impartial, thorough, and effective” investigation to hold those responsible for the atrocities accountable. (Photo via UN News)

Africa

DRC: ethnic massacre near Kinshasa

At least 22 ethnic Teke civilians were killed when militia fighters attacked a village in the western Democratic Republic of Congo. The massacre in Nkana village—located just some 75 kilometers northeast of the capital Kinshasa—was reportedly carried out by fighters from the Mobondo militia, which is aligned with the Yaka ethnic group. Human Rights Watch said fighters armed with firearms and machetes killed “mostly ethnic Teke villagers in their homes as they attempted to flee.” The conflict is rooted in penetration of traditional Teke territory by Yaka agricultural settlers, setting off competition for land. It points to the potential for simmering conflicts to escalate throughout the DRC while the world is focused on the internal war in the country’s east. (Map: PCL)

Africa

Sudan: evidence of mass killings in El-Fasher

Satellite imagery analysis reveals widespread evidence of systematic mass killings and body disposal by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in El Fasher, Sudan, following the paramilitary group’s capture of the North Darfur state capital in late October, according to a report released by Yale University researchers. The Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) identified at least 150 “clusters of objects consistent with human remains” in and around El-Fasher between Oct. 26, when the RSF claimed to have taken full control of El-Fasher, and Nov. 28. They identified the clusters as likely human remains, based on their size, the timing of their appearance, and proximity to reddish ground discoloration that later turned brown, consistent with blood oxidation. In some cases, the RSF’s own social media posts corroborated the presence of human remains at the locations. By late November, 38% of the identified body clusters were no longer visible in satellite imagery, suggesting systematic disposal operations, the researchers said. (Photo: Google/Airbus via JURIST)

Greater Middle East

Yemen: UAE-backed southern separatist forces advance

Yemen’s separatist Southern Transitional Council, which is said to be backed by the United Arab Emirates, has been rapidly advancing through large parts of the country’s south and east, in Hadramawt, al-Mahra and Shabwa provinces. They are taking over control from groups backed by Saudi Arabia, including the Hadramawt Tribal Alliance. While all forces involved are supposed to be on the same side in a broader anti-Houthi alliance, the move is yet another reminder that Yemen’s war is not over, and that it involves a variety of actors and local grievances. (Map of Yemen before 1990 unification via Wikipedia)

Africa

ECOWAS declares regional state of emergency

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced a state of emergency following a wave of coups and attempted coups that have struck several member states of the regional bloc. The declaration was made during the 55th session of the ECOWAS Security Council in Abuja, Nigeria, by the president of the bloc, Gambian diplomat Omar Touray. Since 2020, several military coups d’etat have taken place in West Africa, including Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. A coup attempt was launched days before the ECOWAS declaration in Benin, but was thwarted by Nigerian military intervention. A regional crisis is driven by armed insurgencies, economic hardship, and weak institutions, creating viable ground for military rule. (Map: World Sites Atlas)

Planet Watch

Deadly strikes on hospitals: the new norm?

On World Humanitarian Day in August, World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus released a statement calling attention to intensifying attacks on healthcare workers and facilities, which constitute war crimes under international humanitarian law. “We must stop this becoming the norm,” he wrote. The events of the past weeks suggest such attacks are now already the norm. In Sudan, the WHO reported that over 100 people, including 63 children, were killed when drone strikes attributed to the Rapid Support Forces hit a kindergarten and nearby hospital in South Kordofan. In Burma’s Rakhine state, a military airstrike destroyed the Mrauk-U general hospital, killing at least 31 people and wounding dozens more. It was the 67th attack on a healthcare facility in Burma this year, according to the WHO. Attacks on healthcare facilities killed a record 3,600 people in 2024, mainly in Gaza, Ukraine, Lebanon, Burma and Sudan. This year is on course to surpass that toll. In Gaza alone, at least 917 people were killed by Israeli attacks on healthcare facilities between Oct. 7. 2023 and June of this year. (Photo: Myanmar Now)

The Andes

Venezuela: UN documents post-electoral repression

UN-appointed investigators reported that Venezuela’s Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) has over the past decade carried out a pattern of killings, arbitrary detentions, torture, and sexual violence against protesters and political opponents of President Nicolás Maduro. Most recently, a wave of repression followed the July 2024 presidential election. Protesters took to the streets that month to challenge the confirmation of Maduro’s victory. Security forces, led by the GNB, responded with mass detentions, violent crowd-control operations, and expanded surveillance measures. Human rights organizations documented at least 24 deaths during the early-August crackdown, and more than 2,000 detentions in the weeks that followed. (Photo: Confidencial via Wikimedia Commons)

The Amazon

Ecuador: crackdown on indigenous, environmental groups

Ecuador’s financial crimes agency froze the bank accounts of several indigenous and environmental groups in an apparent effort to silence protests, Human Rights Watch said. The government’s Unidad de Análisis Financiero y Económico (UAFE) cited secret intelligence reports to justify the freezing of the funds. Among the groups affected is the indigenous organization Alianza Ceibo, representing the Waorani, Siekopai, A’i Cofán and Siona peoples, which has defended the economic, social, cultural and collective rights of these peoples for 10 years. Also targeted are groups protesting the decision to approve a mining project in the southern province of Azuay which threatens the fragile ecosystem in the region. (Photo: Alianza Ceibo)