1. 2016 Terrorist Attacks

After the latest violent attack of the Islamic state of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in Paris that left more than one hundred people dead, on 22 March 2016 Europe accepted another hit by ISIL in Belgium. During the attacks at Brussels airport, Zaventem and the Maalbeek metro station, Brussels, 32 people lost their lives and 300 were injured. 

However, this is not the only terrorist attack since the beginning of 2016. Here are some of the most notable and violent terrorist attacks that occurred during these last 4 months (some of which went unnoticed): In January, Turkey, Indonesia and Burkina Faso were hit by violent terrorist groups. Particularly, on 12 of January in Istanbul a suicide bombing by a member of ISIS left 13 people dead while on 14 of January eight people died in Jakarta, Indonesia during a series of suicide bombings and shootings by ISIS.   Later, on 15 January the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Al-Mourabitoun terrorist groups attacked the Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso killing approximately 30 people. On 16 of January ISIS claimed responsibility over one more attack in Deir ez-Zor, Syria, where hundreds of people were killed and kidnapped. ISIS continued its brutal attacks over the next few months by killing hundreds during the Sayyidah Zaynab and Homs bombings in Syria. On 30 of January, Boko Haram attacked Dalori village in Nigeria killing approximately more than 80 people. In February, Turkey fell victim to two bombing attacks by the militant group Kurdistan Freedom Falcons while a suicide bomber in Kabul, Afghanistan killed 20 people. The Taliban claimed responsibility over the attack. On 8th of February, ISIS executed more 300 people in Mosul, Iraq, while Pakistan, which has been the victim of several fatal attacks during these past months, was severely hit again on 27 of March in Lahore with approximately 70 people dead and more than 300 injured. 

2. European Refugee & Migrant Crisis:

EU–Turkey Agreement While during these last months the European refugee and immigrant crisis is deteriorating, in March the EU decided to deal with the ongoing crisis by signing a deal with Turkey. According to this agreement “all new irregular migrants crossing from Turkey into Greek islands will be returned to Turkey; and for every Syrian returned to Turkey from Greek islands, another Syrian will be resettled from Turkey to the EU”. In return Turkey will receive aid and free-visa movement of Turkish citizens in Europe.  Even though Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission President notes that the agreement “respects all European Union and international norms. […] [and] the principle of non-refoulement will be respected”, human rights groups raise high concerns over the course of this deal and argue that it goes against the EU’s international and European human rights legal . obligations. “I am deeply concerned about any arrangement that would involve the blanket return of anyone from one country to another without spelling out the refugee protection safeguards under international law," said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi about the agreement.

3. Pakistan Passes Historic Women’s Rights Bill.

On 1 March 2016, Governor of Punjab, Rajwana signed the historic Protection of Women against Violence Bill 2015. According to the UN’s Gender Equality Index, Pakistan is ranked 147th in the list of 188 countries due to the low status of women in reproductive health, empowerment & labour market. The bill that has been unanimously passed by the parliament protects women from physical, psychological and sexual abuse and is a landmark step forward for the empowerment of women’s rights & their legal protection in the country.

4. Mississippi & North Carolina: Anti-LGBTI Law

In March 2016, North Carolina passed the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act commonly known as the House Bill 2 (HB 2) which has been signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory. According to HB 2, individuals should use the lavatories in accordance to their biological sex as it appears in their birth certificate. The Bill is a clear discrimination of LGBTI rights and forces transgender people to use only the restrooms that corresponds to their gender identity (as it appears in their birth certificate), violating the individual’s personal autonomy. Another controversial anti-LGBTI law that discriminates people based on their sexual orientation and preferences was signed this April by Governor Phil Bryant in Mississippi. The House Bill 1523, titled "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act" regulates that “marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage, and male (man) or female (woman) refer to an individual's immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy and genetics at time of birth.(Section 2, HB 1523)” Based on this law, individuals, businesses and religious organization are allowed to refuse to provide their services to people who offend the person’s “sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction for persons.”

5. Syria Marks its 5th War Anniversary

On 15th of March Syria marked its fifth war anniversary. The Syrian internal conflict that broke out in 2011 as an anti-government uprising has had devastating consequences on people’s lives. “Syria is the biggest humanitarian and refugee crisis of our time" said Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. According to the UN the war “has spawned 4.8 million refugees in neighbouring countries, hundreds of thousands in Europe, and 6.6 million people displaced inside Syria against a pre-war population of over 20 million”. Since Syria is not a member state of the Rome Statute, which establishes the International Criminal Court (ICC), it cannot be prosecuted to the ICC for crimes against humanity and war crimes. However, based on Article 13 (b) of the Rome Statute such crimes can be prosecuted to ICC via UN Security Council’s referral. Until now, the UN Security Council has failed to do so, as Russia and China both casted a veto on a draft UN resolution asking the Syrian crisis to be referred to the ICC in 2014. On this fifth war anniversary, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon called once more “the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court,” noting that “in Syria as elsewhere, peace without justice is not sustainable.”