Our weekly round-up of must-read stories you might have missed: the report of the UN Secretary-General’s investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic; The Crisis in Abyei, four months after the assassination of Kuol Deng Kuol; Yemen: End child marriages by enacting and enforcing a minimum age of marriage law.
Secretary-General’s Mechanism for investigation of alleged use of chemical and biological weapons – September 13, 2013
The Secretary-General’s Mechanism to carry out prompt investigations in response to allegations brought to his attention concerning the possible use of chemical and bacteriological (biological) and toxin weapons was developed in the late 1980s. Triggered by a request from any Member State, the Secretary-General is authorized to launch an investigation including dispatching a fact-finding team to the site(s) of the alleged incident(s) and to report to all United Nation Member States. This is to ascertain in an objective and scientific manner facts of alleged violations of the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which bans the use of chemical and biological weapons, or other relevant rules of customary international law…
The Crisis in Abyei – September 17, 2013
On 3 September, a meeting between Presidents Omar al Bashir and Salva Kiir led to Khartoum suspending its threat to stop processing oil from South Sudan. The issue of Abyei, however, remained unresolved. In September 2012, the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) proposed holding a referendum on Abyei’s political future in October 2013. The Government of Sudan (GoS) continues to reject a proposal that would mean the majority of the Missiriya are excluded from participation in the referendum, and thus would almost certainly ensure that Abyei votes to join South Sudan. Meanwhile, the Government of the Republic of South Sudan (GRSS) is increasing diplomatic pressure on the international community to intervene in Abyei…
Yemen: End child marriages by enacting and enforcing a minimum age of marriage law – September 19, 2013
Equality Now continues to call on Yemen to end child marriages by enacting and enforcing a minimum age of marriage law. Recent coverage in the press has highlighted the issue of child marriage in Yemen and underscored the devastating impact the practice can have on girls. Equality Now has been informed of a number of cases of young Yemeni girls who have undergone or been at risk of child marriage which has left them subject to many harmful consequences. Despite the media attention received by some of the cases the government has not passed a law setting a minimum age of marriage. In a promising new development Yemeni Human Rights Minister Hooria Mashhour has requested the reintroduction of the 2009 parliamentary bill that would effectively ban child marriages in the country. Equality Now and Yemen Women’s Union (YWU) support the Minister in her efforts to ensure that the government of Yemen lives…
