paramilitaries

Persistent violence in Central African Republic

The UN Independent Expert on the human rights situation in the Central African Republic (CAR), Aristide Nononsi, expressed concern June 1 about the persistent violence in the country, and its impacts on rights and humanitarian needs.

Naga armed groups drawn into Manipur violence

Amnesty International on June 4 called for the immediate and unconditional release of civilians being held by armed groups in India's Manipur state as negotiations over the fate of remaining captives appear to have stalled amid continuing ethnic tensions.

Brazil: demand justice 20 years after 'Crimes of May'

UN human rights experts on May 29 called on Brazil to ensure full justice, accountability and reparations for victims and families affected by the 2006 "Crimes of May." They warned that continued impunity worsens the suffering of victims and perpetuates systemic racism and police violence. The experts said the killings and "enforced disappearances" should be recognized as serious crimes against human rights.

UAE recruits Colombian fighters for Sudan's RSF: report

A company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has hired and transported hundreds of Colombian private military contractors to Sudan to fight for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released May 25.

Sudan: RSF commander named in war crimes

Amnesty International on May 19 demanded the removal of a commander of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF), known by his nom de guerre "Abu Lulu," citing war crime allegations against him. Amnesty International’s regional director for East Africa, Tigere Chagutah, stated:

It is alarming to learn he has returned to combat without any investigation into the allegations. The RSF leadership must remove Abu Lulu from the battlefield and from their ranks immediately, and he must be investigated for the war crime of wilful killings.

The rights organization also called for the RSF to end attacks on civilians and allow them safe passage to flee the ongoing violence.

Colombia: growing toll from armed conflict

In its latest annual report released May 12, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) found that the armed conflict in Colombia saw the "worst humanitarian consequences" of the past decade in 2025. The number of people killed or injured by explosive devices rose by 34% to 965, overwhelmingly non-combatants. The number of individual disappearances doubled to 308. Violations of international humanitarian law documented by the ICRC reached 845 cases, while figures for displacement and "confinement" doubled. According to the Comprehensive Victim Support & Reparation Unit (UARIV), at least 235,619 people were displaced individually in 2025, while 87,069 were displaced in mass displacement events, and 176,730 remained "confined" in communities under siege by armed actors. (TNH, ReliefWeb)

Podcast: West Africa escalates toward genocide

The alarming reports that Nigeria has established "concentration camps" for the Fulani ethnic minority cast an ironic light on Nigeria's tension with the Sahel states of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso to the north. These three regimes have broken from the Western imperial camp (to embrace the nascent Russian imperial camp)—but are likewise subjecting their Fulani minorities to persecution and massacre. With the recent shock rebel offensive in Mali, the "terrorist" stigma that attaches to the Fulani and Tuareg peoples across the imperial camps makes their position more precarious than ever. Meanwhile, prominent voices on the both the right and the (supposed) "left" are spreading propaganda about the struggle in West Africa that is alarmingly wrong, because it exclusively views the crisis through a campist lens. In Episode 327 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg tries to provide some clarity on these fast-escalating and grossly under-reported conflicts.

Shock rebel offensive driven back in Mali

Russia's Africa Corps launched air-strikes and helicopter assaults to drive back a dramatic rebel advance on Mali's capital Bamako April 25. Former rival insurgent groups, the jihadist Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Tuareg separatist Front de Libération de l'Azawad (FLA), came together for the joint offensive against the ruling military government, with simultaneous attacks on Mopti, Gao and Kidal as well as the capital. Mali's defense minister, Lt. Gen. Sadio Camara, the key liaison between the army and Russian mercenary forces, was killed in an apparent suicide truck bombing on his residence outside Bamako. (BBC News, BBC NewsNYT, RFIWar on the Rocks)

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