The retrial, opening this week at the Algiers Court of Appeals, comes after the Supreme Court overturned an appeal ruling against the defendants in November 2024. The Supreme Court found legal flaws in the Court of Appeal ruling, including fair trial violations, claims by the defendants that their confessions were obtained under torture, a lack of prosecution evidence, and significant due process hurdles, such as defense lawyers being unable to cross-examine prosecution witnesses.

Deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, Diana Eltahawy, commented: “The flawed investigation and grossly unfair trial that led to these callous death sentences are a stain on Algeria’s justice system. The new trial represents an important opportunity for the Algerian authorities to end the travesty of justice, redress past violations and ensure accountability without recourse to the death penalty.”

In August 2021, Algerian artist Djamel Ben Ismail was wrongly accused of starting the devastating wildfires that ravaged 18 provinces in Algeria that year, leading to the deaths of around 90 people. Ismail was subsequently tortured and murdered by angry locals, with graphic footage of the incident spreading through various social media platforms. In November 2022, an Algerian court handed down death sentences to 49 people for their roles in the gruesome murder, with 38 death sentences being upheld in October 2023.

Amnesty has criticized the prosecution of these defendants as a violation of the rule of law, stating that the convictions against at least 10 of the accused appear to have been politically motivated, as they were affiliated with the opposition Movement for the Self-determination of Kabylie (MAK), designated as a terrorist organization by authorities. Additionally, some defendants were tried in absentia, a violation of the right to be present at one’s trial. This is a direct contravention of Article 14(3)(d) of the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights (ICCPR), which guarantees the right to a fair trial, and Article 7 of the African Charter on Human & Peoples’ Rights, both of which Algeria is a party to.

As Algeria has not carried out any executions since 1993, the trials will be closely watched by international opponents of the death penalty.

From JURIST, March 2. Used with permission. Internal links added.

Map: Kabyle.com

Briefing for the first time as deputy special envoy for Syria, Claudio Cordone highlighted the ceasefire and “integration” agreement reached between the Syrian transitional authorities and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in late January. Cordone said hostilities had ended and that implementation work was progressing, including reported deployments of Interior Ministry forces in al-Hasakeh and Qamishli, alongside discussions on local governance and political appointments.

The agreement includes provisions on the return of displaced people and the protection of Kurdish civil and educational rights, building on last month‘s Presidential Decree 13, guaranteeing Kurdish linguistic, cultural and citizenship rights.

The transition briefing raised concerns about detention and accountability for rights abuses. In remarks delivered to the Security Council, Cordone said the UN is monitoring transfers of detained suspected ISIS collaborators, both Syrian and non-Syrian, to Iraq. He stressed that any proceedings must respect fair trial standards, while urging states to repatriate their nationals among the detained.

UN officials warned that relative stabilization in the northeast has not prevented renewed volatility elsewhere. In Suwayda (Sweida), renewed clashes between government forces and local Druze armed groups have reportedly caused material damage and electricity outages. Protests calling for self-determination have also resurfaced, prompting UN calls for confidence-building measures within full respect of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In southern Syria, UN officials cited continued Israeli incursions and operations, including reports of aerial herbicide spraying that damaged crops. They called for respect for international law and withdrawal from areas the UN describes as occupied in violation of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement.

Humanitarian officials emphasized that insecurity is compounding acute civilian need. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that recent clashes have displaced tens of thousands, and that about 130,000 people remain displaced across al-Hasakeh, ar-Raqqa and Aleppo governorates, with a large majority women and girls. UN officials also reported flooding in Idleb and northern Latakia that killed two children and damaged or destroyed roughly 2,000 tents, affecting over 5,000 displaced people.

The next political milestone, Cordone said, is the formation of the People’s Assembly, with additional seats still to be filled and further presidential appointments pending. He stressed that meaningful representation, rights protection, missing-persons recovery, and transitional justice remain central to a credible transition.

From JURIST, Feb. 16. Used with permission. Internal links added.

See our last report on the transition process in Syria

Map: PCL

But before the region came under the shadow of the recent violence, public attention was focused on the abduction of a young Baloch student, a case that has reignited simmering anger over enforced disappearances. For more than 6,000 days, activists have maintained a protest camp outside the press club in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, demanding answers for hundreds of missing Baloch citizens who have been allegedly abducted, tortured, and killed by Pakistani security forces.

The history of these abductions, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial executions targeting political activists, journalists, lawyers, and students dates back to the 1970s, but the July disappearance of a 24-year-old university student in Islamabad brought the longstanding issue back to the fore.

On July 8, Saeed Baloch, a defense and strategic studies student at Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) was dragged off a bus in broad daylight. Saeed’s case moved to the center of the national conversation after a second wave of student-led demonstrations at QAU in late November. The protesters are demanding an end to the ethnic profiling of Baloch students, and to have the university conduct a transparent investigation into Saeed’s disappearance.

Since the accession of Balochistan in 1948—an event Baloch nationalists describe as annexation but Islamabad regards as legal integration—what became Pakistan’s largest and most sparsely populated province has experienced a decades-long insurgency, driven by grievances over political autonomy, resource exploitation, and human rights abuses.

Relations between the Baloch and the Pakistani state have been marked by cycles of conflict and accusations of disenfranchisement. Activists in Balochistan have repeatedly demanded a greater share of the province’s oil and gas revenues, which they say disproportionately benefit other regions. This has led to a series of conflicts, with each wave of armed resistance met by military suppression.

The current phase of the insurgency—starting in the 2000s and led largely by educated, middle-class youth rather than traditional tribal leaders—has been marked by widespread enforced disappearances.

According to activists, around 7,000 people have been forcibly disappeared in Balochistan in the past 12 years. Victims are first identified as being Baloch, then targeted as a result of a specific social or political stance within their community.

One of the earliest known cases involved Asad Mengal, son of former Balochistan Chief Minister Attaullah Mengal, who was abducted in Karachi. More than four decades later, his fate remains unknown. During the 2000s, the practice continued. Thousands were abductedunder the guise of counter-insurgency and national security. Bodies of the disappeared would later resurface in far-off locations, bearing signs of severe torture, a period Baloch activists describe as the “kill and dump” policy.

Prominent activists such as Ghulam Muhammad, Qambar Chakar, Ilyas Nizar, and Sangat Sana were killed. Others, including Zakir Majeed, Deen Muhammad, and Zahid Baloch, remain missing.

“The very existence of the Baloch is perceived as a threat to the state,” said Sabiha Baloch, head of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), a women-led organization fighting rights abuses in Balochistan. “The more educated, conscious, and politically aware the Baloch become, the more threatened the state feels.”

The BYC itself came under state scrutiny following a 2023 march led by former head Mahrang Baloch, which went from Turbat to Islamabad to protest what organizers described as genocide. Upon reaching the capital, protesters faced police batons, water cannon, arrests, and accusations of being foreign-funded “extremists.” Last March, Mahrang Baloch was arrested during a protest in Quetta and is now facing charges of terrorism, violence, and anti-state activities.

“Pakistan’s economy remains deeply tied to the exploitation of Balochistan,” Sabiha added. “As long as Baloch and Balochistan exist, this threat perception would translate into increasingly violent responses, which range from the abduction of men and women to the killing of Baloch people.”

— Amir Naeem for The New Humanitarian, Feb. 3, condensed. Read full article here.

Image: BYC

In the statement, the Law Society stressed that interpreting legislation is a constitutional function of courts. While the provincial executive may disagree with the courts’ statutory interpretation, the statement urged politicians to respect judicial powers and independence. The statement concluded by urging the government to reconsider the proposed amendment of the DRIPA. The Canadian Bar Association issued a similar appeal on Jan. 21.

The statement follows remarks by David Eby, premier of British Columbia, at the provincial Natural Resources Forum on Jan. 20. In his remarks, he accused the courts of creating “real confusion about what DRIPA is about and what reconciliation means in practice.” He added that reconciliation—a relationship between the Canadian, provincial and First Nations governments by which shared sovereignty is negotiated—is not for the courts to appropriate. He signaled the government’s intention to amend DRIPA to reflect “legislative intent” and protect private property rights by limiting the role of the courts in reconciliation efforts.

In 2025, the province witnessed two landmark rulings relating to Aboriginal rights and title. The BC Supreme Court held in August that the Cowichan Tribes have established Aboriginal title in the city of Richmond. It follows that the fee simple interests—a freehold interest in land—on the Cowichan Title Lands are unjustified infringements on Aboriginal title and therefore defective. While the court held that Aboriginal title and fee simple interests can coexist on the same piece of land, the government is required to negotiate an arrangement with the Cowichan Tribes over these lands. The court ordered that such arrangements be reached within 18 months.

In December, the BC Court of Appeal held that the provincial mineral tenure system—allowing registration of mineral rights online without notifying or consulting the Gitxaała and Ehattesaht nations—is impermissible under DRIPA, which commits the province to upholding principles of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Conservative BC lawmaker Scott McInnis issued a call to repeal DRIPA after the rulings.

Premier Eby rejected outright repeal, stating that DRIPA has allowed development projects to move forward without prolonged litigation. He added that repealing DRIPA would not accelerate such projects or attract investment. He reaffirmed that reconciliation with the First Nations and the recognition of Aboriginal title are the province’s constitutional obligations under Article 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, and the unanimous consensus of the provincial legislature in 2019.

First Nations, however, objected to the possible DRIPA amendment. Marilyn Slett, chief councillor of the Heiltsuk Tribal Council, told the CBC that DRIPA, co-developed by the provincial government and First Nations, provides for trust, stability and economic certainty. The BC Assembly of First Nations similarly warned that amending DRIPA and appealing the court rulings could harm the relationship between the First Nations and the government.

From JURIST, Feb. 3. Used with permission.

See our last reports on Aboriginal title cases in British Columbia.

Similar mining laws are also at issue in Saskatchewan and Ontario.

Photo: Wikipedia

A last-minute “permanent ceasefire” may mean that northeast Syria is back from the brink of Arab-Kurdish ethnic war. But ceasefires have repeatedly broken down since fighting resumed earlier this year, with Damascus demanding disbandment of the Rojava autonomous zone, and the integration of its institutions—including its military wing, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)—into the central government. While the new pact sets a more “gradual” pace for this integration, the Kurdish aspiration to regional autonomy and the central government’s insistence on centralization may prove a long-term obstacle to peace. In Episode 315 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg weighs the odds for avoiding a conflict that holds the potential for escalation to genocide, with the connivance of the Great Powers that so recently backed the SDF to fight ISIS.

Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.

Production by Chris Rywalt

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This development came to light this week as Syrian interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa was on his second trip to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin. As during his last one in October, the chief issue on the table was Russia maintaining its two major military bases in Syria, on the Mediterranean coast at Khmeimim and Tartous.

Speaking at a press conference before their meeting on Jan. 28, al-Sharaa thanked Putin for the “historic” role Russia has played in the “stability of the region”… a strange euphemism for the years of savage bombardment of Syria to keep al-Sharaa’s own rebel forces from taking power! Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, for his part, said before the meeting that “the presence of our soldiers in Syria” would be discussed. (PRI, Al Jazeera, NYT)

Abdulkarim Omar, a senior Syrian Kurdish official, told The Telegraph in Qamilshi as the Russians withdrew that Moscow had sacrificed its outpost in Rojava in order to a secure a continued presence on the government-controlled coast. “Russia wants to retain its base on the Mediterranean,” he said.

In some tentative good news, Damascus and the SDF agreed Jan. 30 to a “permanent ceasefire” that would see Kurdish-led forces and institutions gradually integrated into the structures of the interim government. The speed and completeness of this integration has been the critical factor at issue between the two sides, and has led to ceasefires repeatedly breaking down over the past weeks. In welcoming this latest deal, SDF commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi said: “There was a threat of genocide against our people.” (Rudaw, Rudaw)

Photo: SOHR

The Syrian interim government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reached an agreement Jan. 18 to immediately halt fighting and integrate SDF-held areas into state institutions. The deal follows days of renewed clashes, in which government forces routed SDF strongholds in the city of Aleppo and then pushed east, taking several towns that had been under the control of the Kurdish-led autonomous administration. Just hours before the agreement was reached, autonomous authorities in the Kurdish region, known as Rojava, had announced a “general mobilization” in support of the SDF, citing an “existential war” launched by Damascus against their territory.

Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said the agreement was signed remotely with SDF commander Mazloum Abdi, who was unable to come to Damascus due to bad weather. Earlier in the day, Sharaa met at the presidential palace with the US special envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, who seems to have had a hand in brokering the agreement.

Key provisions of the agreement include the integration of SDF personnel “individually” into the Syrian Army rather than as a unified force, the full handover of SDF-held areas of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa provinces, and the integration of all institutions and employees of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North & East Syria (DAANES) into national ministries. The deal also establishes the central state’s control over all border crossings and energy resources, including oil and gas fields.

Implementation of a March 2025 integration agreement between Sharaa and the SDF/DAANES had stalled after the SDF pushed to be incorporated into the Army as a unified bloc, a demand rejected by Damascus.

Barrack said the US “looks forward to the seamless integration” of the SDF and the Syrian Army in the fight against ISIS.

The new agreement references and pledges to uphold a decree issued by al-Sharaa two days earlier guaranteeing cultural, linguistic and citizenship rights to Syria’s Kurdish population.

Significantly, it also calls for the removal of the heavy military presence from the contested town of Kobani (Ain al-Arab), and the formation of a local security force drawn from the city’s residents, under joint administration by municipal authorities and the Ministry of Interior.

The agreement also calls for transfer of massive detention camps for suspected ISIS collaborators from SDF control to that the Syrian government. (Rudaw)

Photo: Rudaw

Greenland is also home to around 31.4 billion barrels of oil, which the territory gave up trying to extract in 2021, citing the global climate crisis. Potentially even more significant are large volumes of untapped critical minerals—necessary to power the technology needed for the transition away from fossil fuels. China currently controls most of the global market, and a White House document released this week explicitly framed critical minerals as vital to US national security.

From The New Humanitarian, Jan. 16. Slightly editied. Internal links added.

Photo: Pixabay

But the fighting appears to spreading into the Kurdish heartland. The town of Deir Hafer, east of Aleppo, is also coming under shelling from government forces. The town is held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), main military wing of the Kurdish-led autonomous administration that controls much of the country’s east.

With several casualties in both Aleppo and Deir Hafer, the clashes mark the deadliest outbreak of fighting since an agreement last March to merge the SDF and autonomous administration into Syria’s new government. The deal has still not been implemented, with both sides at odds over the terms. (Rudaw, Rudaw, France24)

In a grim irony, this comes exactly a decade after the peak of the massive bombardment of Aleppo by the Assad regime.

Map: Google

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Photo: Horn Diplomat via Wikipedia