The February 28 attack in the southern coastal city of Minab reportedly killed 168 people. According to Iran’s Minister of Education Alireza Kazemi, the overwhelming majority of the slain were schoolgirls aged seven to 12. The strike came on the first day of coordinated US and Israeli airstrikes officially targeting Iranian infrastructure and military facilities.

Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office, described the attack as “absolutely horrific,” adding that UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk was “deeply shocked” and has called for a “prompt, impartial and thorough investigation.”

Shamdasani stressed that the “onus is on the forces that carried out the attack to investigate it,” and “make public the findings and to ensure accountability and redress for the victims.” If attacks were found to be directed against civilians or civilian objects or to be indiscriminate, they would constitute “serious violations of international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes.”

Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Ali Bahreini, accused the US and Israel of deliberately attacking the school. He further stated that similar strikes on civilian targets occurred on the same day in other locations, including eastern Tehran and Abyek in Qazvin province.

Neither the US nor Israel has confirmed responsibility for the school attack. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated Monday that US forces “would not deliberately target a school.” Israeli officials said they were reviewing reports of the incident.

The widening conflict began when the US and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iranian targets Feb. 28, cutting short ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s nuclear program. Iran responded with missile and drone attacks against Israel and US allies across the region. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in the first day of airstrikes .

According to UN officials, at least 12 countries have been affected, while Iran’s Red Crescent Society has counted 787 deaths since the initial strikes.

The conflict has also spread to Lebanon as Hezbollah fired missiles and drones into Israel, triggering Israeli strikes and the displacement of civilians. The UN Refugee Agency estimatesthat about 30,000 people have sought protection in shelters in Lebanon, while disruptions in key shipping routes and the temporary closure of Gaza crossings are complicating humanitarian aid deliveries.

When the airstrikes began, Türk deplored both the strikes on Iran and subsequent retaliation, urging all parties to respect international humanitarian law. “The protection of civilians is paramount,” he said, calling for immediate de-escalation and a return to the “negotiating table” to prevent “further senseless civilian deaths and destruction on a potentially unimaginable scale.”

Malala Yousafzai, UN Messenger of Peace and Nobel Peace Laureate, also condemned the school attack, likewise calling for all parties to “uphold their obligations under international law to protect civilians and safeguard schools.”

From JURIST, March 4. Used with permission.

Photo: Mehr via Wikimedia Commons

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Nakhchivan also shares a small strip of border with Azerbaijan’s historical ally Turkey, making the route militarily strategic. The corridor would follow the Iranian border to Turkish territory. Under the deal, the Minsk Group, created by the OSCE in 1992 to mediate the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, is to be dissolved. (The Guardian, The Cradle, Armenian Weekly, AzerNews, News.az, Middle East Uncovered)

Under the terms of the agreement, Armenia is required to officially recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity within Soviet-era borders, and renounce any current or future territorial claims. This effectively bars Armenia from seeking redress over questions concerning Nagorno-Karabakh, the formerly Armenian-governed breakaway enclave within Azerbaijan’s borders, which was taken by Azerbaijani forces in September 2023, amid accusations of ethnic cleansing of Armenian inhabitants.

Murad Papazyan of the opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation harshly criticized the agreement, stating that it “benefits Azerbaijan and Turkey” at the expense of Armenia. He called the “Trump Route,” which had previously been proposed under the name of the Zangezur Corridor, “a serious encroachment on the sovereignty and security of Armenia,” and potentially “an existential threat” to the survival of the country. (Armenian Weekly)

Map: Peter Hermes Furian/Shutterstock via The Conversation

In a post on X (Twitter), Kaja Kallas, vice president of the European Commission and the EU foreign policy chief, condemned the arrests as “brutal” and “unacceptable,” emphasizing that “Georgia falls short of any expectation from a candidate country.”

The official public rights defender of Georgia, Levan Ioseliani, said that there have been instances of excessive use of force and mistreatment of protesters and journalists by the police. Last week, Amnesty International confirmed allegations of such violence following the extension of pre-trial detention for a protester who was denied legal counsel for hours while being questioned. The medical examinations of Saba Skhvitaridze, accused of attacking police officers during the protests, found that he had injuries consistent with his claimed torture by the police.

Georgia has faced ongoing anti-government demonstrations since the immediate aftermath of October’s controversial parliamentary elections, and the subsequent decision of newly-elected Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze to suspend membership negotiations with the EU until 2028.

The pro-EU president of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, has consistently refused demands that she step down and turn power over to a new president chosen by a special body appointed by the ruling bloc in parliament, which she rejects as illegitimate. Tensions escalated at the end of December, with the inauguration of the right-wing populist Mikheil Kavelashvili, leaving the country with two rival presidencies.

From JURIST, Feb. 3. Used with permission.

Photo: Jelger Groeneveld via Wikimedia Commons

The Electoral College has now confirmed Trump’s victory, but the electoral votes still await certification by Congress on Jan. 6. There is still time for what is urgently mandated for the survival of American democracy—nullification of the election.

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Photo of protest in Tbilisi, Georgia: DerFuchs via Wikimedia Commons

Azerbaijan, now facing accusations of genocide against Armenians, suddenly rallies to the defense of the Kanak indigenous people in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia, and accuses France of a legacy of “crimes against humanity” in its colonial holdings. This appears to be blatant retaliation for French support of Armenia in the conflict between the two Caucasus nations. The repression of the Kanak uprising in their colonized homeland and the cleansing of the Armenians from their usurped ancestral lands both demand our protest—but the propaganda game makes everything more complicated. Yet another example of how a global divide-and-rule racket is the essence of the state system. Bill Weinberg discusses in Episode 227 of the CounterVortex podcast.

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Flag image via Wikipedia

Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry strongly rejected the accusations and denied any ties with protest leaders. The statement further accused France of a long history of “crimes against humanity” and the “brutal murder of millions of innocent people” in its colonial holdings.

The Baku Initiative Group, a political enterprise started by Azerbaijan that aims to support anti-colonialist movements, issued a statement May 16 condemning France’s new amendment to the electoral structure in New Caledonia, which sparked the current unrest. The amendment would give the right to vote to residents who have been living for at least 10 years in the country, including French nationals, in the provincial ballots.

The protests started on May 13, after approval of the constitutional amendment by the French National Assembly. France has imposed a curfew and a ban on public gatherings in New Caledonia, and declared a state of emergency May 16.

From Jurist, May 18. Used with permission.

Photo: New Caledonia protesters fly flag of Azerbaijan alongside that of the independence movement. Credit: @BabakTaghvaee1

The CFTJ report claims that acts by the Azerbaijani armed forces meet both the actus reus and mens rea elements for genocide, prohibited under Article II(c) of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Under this provision, “genocide” is defined as “deliberately inflicting upon the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its destruction in whole or in part.” (Jurist, CivilNet, AP)

The Armenian government meanwhile continues to make territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. Yerevan announced April 19 that it will return four villages to Azerbaijan as a result of the 8th meeting of the joint Commission on the Delimitation of the State Border. Baku celebrated the return of the villages it said had been “under occupation” by Armenia since the war of the early 1990s. (Jurist, Al Jazeera)

Nonetheless, Armenia’s government decried what it called modern-day “ethnic cleansing” as it commemorated Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day on April 24. “In 2020-2023, we faced new manifestations and consequences of the policy of ethnic cleansing,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. “More than 150,000 Armenians were…forced to leave their historical homeland because of war, xenophobia, crimes based on identity.” (TNA)

Map: Wikipedia

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled April 9 that Russia’s occupation of two breakaway regions in Georgia systematically violated human rights. The ECHR found that Russia violated multiple sections of the European Convention on Human Rights, including the right to life under Article Two, the prohibition of torture under Article Three, the right to liberty under Article Five, and the right to respect for private and family life under Article Eight.

Georgia initially brought its case against Russia in August 2018, exactly 10 years after Russia invaded and began occupying the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russia also established military bases in those enclaves and a border patrol to secure an “administrative boundary line” (ABL) around the regions.

The Georgian government claimed that the practice of harassing, unlawfully detaining, and torturing Georgians trying to cross the lines constituted a “systematic pattern” of human rights violations. The ECHR agreed, finding sufficient evidence to show the incidents were not isolated but constituted systemic and repeated abuses. The court, upon reviewing victim lists, testimonies, and media reports, found that the incidents were “sufficiently numerous and interconnected” to amount to an “administrative practice,” or a pattern of acts that violated the convention and were officially sanctioned by Moscow.

The process of “borderization” blocked free travel across the ABL, enacting a heavy toll on those living along the boundary lines. A report by Amnesty International documented the impact of borderization on local villagers, highlighting the displacement of ethnic Georgians from their homes. The human rights organization called the borderization process “one of the most painful legacies” of the 2008 conflict, noting that villagers have lost access to farmland, water sources, and means of income. In some cases, families were separated by the ABL.

The decision comes nearly one year after the ECHR ordered Russia to pay $134 million to Georgia in compensation for the 2008 conflict, finding Russia subjected ethnic Georgians to “inhuman and degrading treatment,” and specifically targeted them as an ethnic group. The court last year also held Russia responsible for Abkhazian authorities’ human rights violations against two Georgian men who were arbitrarily detained and mistreated.

Georgian Minister of Justice Rati Bregadze celebrated the court’s decision, stating that the ruling “underscored Georgia’s territorial integrity and the unlawfulness of the borderization process.” Bregadze also said the judgment is an important step toward the ultimate goal of achieving the “complete de-occupation” of Georgia.

From Jurist, April 10. Used with permission.

Map: PLC

The Coordination Center for Muslims of the Northern Caucasus, a regional body of clerics, issued a statement condemning the incidents. Russian President Vladimir Putin said, without evidence, that the incidents had been fomented by “agents of Western special services” acting on behalf of Ukraine. (The Moscow Times, Caucasian Knot, Caucasian Knot, RT, Kyiv Independent, Politika, AP)

Map: Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection