UKRAINE – Ukraine’s parliament has voted to join the International Criminal Court ICC with politicians billing the move as a means of enabling the country to “punish suspected Russian war criminals. Parliament voted on Wednesday to ratify the Rome Statute, which paves the way for full membership of the ICC, with 281 in favour of the measure, according to lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak, posting on Telegram. The ICC prosecutes grave offences like genocide and crimes against humanity, and has the power to issue arrest warrants that its 124 members are obliged to execute.

Last year, the court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children’s ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova over the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia and Russian-controlled territory. The Hague-based court issued warrants in June for former Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and General Valery Gerasimov, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Ukraine has already worked effectively with the ICC to ensure comprehensive accountability for all Russian atrocities committed in the course of Russian aggression,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on X. Full membership of the ICC also advances Ukraine’s aspiration to eventually join the European Union. All EU member states are signatories and the bloc has been one of the court’s strongest supporters. Ukraine signed the Rome Statute that founded the court in 2000, but had not ratified it, as some political and military figures expressed fears that Ukrainian soldiers could face prosecution.

In June, senior presidential adviser Iryna Mudra described attempts to hold up the ratification process as a “disinformation campaign” falsely suggesting Ukrainian troops would be more vulnerable to prosecution. In an interview, she described Kyiv’s bid for ICC membership as “a long journey full of challenges, myths and fears. None of them have been true Zhelezniak said deputies had been presented with letters of support from Ukraine’s General Staff and the head of Kyiv’s military intelligence before voting.

The ratification controversially included a reference to Article 124 of the Rome Statute, which would exempt Ukrainian citizens from being prosecuted for war crimes for seven years, ruling party politician Yevheniia Kravchuk said on The ratification of the Rome Statute will simultaneously facilitate greater opportunities for punishing Russians and increase the isolation of Russia,” she said.  (Al Jazeera)…[+]

PARAMARIBO – 31-year-old Sewnarain Wikaash and 31-year-old Wongsokarijo Aryan managed to escape out of the jailhouse located at the Henar Police Department, but wereb­caught the next day around 9 p.m. Both escapees who were caught in the vicinity of Adron claimed that they were on their way to South Drain. The other detainees reportedly notified the police officers who were on duty of the jailbreak. The police officers found a saw blade that had been used to cut the iron bars of one of the win­dows. Both detainees who will face additional charges namely destruction of pub­lic party and escaping from police custody will be questioned thoroughly because the police officers want to know how the saw blade ended up in the jail house. …[+]

PARAMARIBO – “Since may 2023 a total of 10 flights were carried out and 879 Haïtians arrived in Suriname. 309 Haïtians seized this opportunity to come to Suriname this year,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Business and International Collaboration (Bibis) in a press release. Suriname’s Foreign Affairs Ministry made it clear that from the very first flight the Haïtian consulate in Suriname provided its assistance to ensure that all of the documents of the Haïtian immigrants are au­thentic.

“Many Haïtians preferred to file their requests via the Haïtian consulate,” said the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Sources told Suriname that this is were things went wrong. Employees at the Haïtian consulate started charging between one hun­dred to four hundred American dollars for falsified documents. The fake documents were used to get children from Haïti to Suriname. The fake documents claimed that the parents of these children resided in Suriname but as it turns out they had no­body in Suriname. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained in its press release that these flights were given green light because of humanitarian reasons. The objective of these flights was to reunite families. Next week Foreign Affairs Minister Albert Ramdin will discuss this issue with his Haïtian counterpart Dominique Dupay. …[+]

 PARAMARIBO – Pupils who passed to the 9th grade and the 10th grade can’t find any room, due to the fact that most of the ninth and tenth graders who are enrolled at the nation’s Mulo, LBO and Technical schools did not pass to the next grade. “The ninth and tenth graders who did not pass to the next grade have to redo the grade,” several school principals told Times of Suriname.

These principals explained that the classrooms for the 9th and the 10th grade are overcrowded and that only a lim­ited number of spots are available. “I can only enroll 50 students in the 9th grade because many students did not pass to the 10th grade,” a principal told Times of Suriname. The principals also explained that many students did not pass because the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture has officially put an end to its free flow policy. But many students assumed that they would automatically pass or flow to the next grade and that they there did not need to score high scores for their tests and assignments. The principals had repeatedly reminded parents that the free flow policy is a thing of the past but evidently not everyone believed it. Many parents did not find a spot for their child and we’re put on a waiting list. Vanity Esajas deems it regrettable that she the Mulo schools that are located near her house are already full. “I really hope that the ministry does not place my son at a remote location but that it finds a spot for my son at a school that is located in our neighborhood,” said Esajas. …[+]