Here at Enough, we often swap emails with interesting articles and feature stories that we come across in our favorite publications and on our favorite websites. We wanted to share some of these stories with you as part of our effort to keep you up to date on what you need to know in the world of anti-genocide and crimes against humanity work.
IRIN published an in-depth piece on the mounting threats to free speech in South Sudan. A series of incidents involving journalists and civil society groups reveal what may be the government’s still limited authority ("We just don't have control over these people," according to some government officials) or, more cynically, a deliberate effort to tamp down on any criticism of the new country.
Refugees International highlights the acute challenges of life in “spontaneous settlements” in eastern Congo—camps set up as people have fled insecurity through much of last year that do not receive regular assistance from aid distributors. The photo report underscores RI’s view that “The humanitarian community, starting with the UN Refugee Agency, must take responsibility for their role in supporting these individuals and ensure that the no camp is forgotten.”
The Belgian news site Mondiaal Nieuws published an expose on “Getting Rich in Poverty-stricken Congo.” Drawing from a confidential source who offered a glimpse at his well-worn blueprint for taking advantage of the system (or lack thereof), Congolese-Australian journalist Eric Mwamba provides a devastatingly candid description of how the gaping divide is perpetuated between Congo’s haves and have-nots.
Reporter Bernard Momanyi examines the prevalence of small arms in Kenya and considers how rounds of disarmament campaigns have not done enough to prepare the country for elections on March 4. After the violence in the wake of the country’s last general election, which left 1,100 people dead and four influential politicians indicted by the International Criminal Court, the ease with which communities continue to obtain weapons is a disturbing sign leading into the highly anticipated vote. The Institute for War and Peace Reporting published the piece.
Amid recent reports about record-breaking poaching trends and the connection between smuggling and conflict, PRI’s The World host Marco Werman speaks to Rob Breare of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya about the use of a drone to monitor its endangered residents, rhinoceros, including four of the last seven Northern white rhino in the world.