South Africa’s government has launched an investigation into how 17 of its citizens were recruited to fight as mercenaries in the Russia-Ukraine war. President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered the probe after the men, aged between 20 and 39, sent distress calls requesting help to escape from Ukraine’s Donbas region. The men were reportedly lured into joining…
Category: Research Centre
Wes O’Donnel: Inside Putin’s Dysfunctional Army: Has the Russian Military Improved at All?
When Russia performed its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, I was shocked. Not shocked that they invaded, but shocked at the sorry state of the Russian military. How did we in the US military and intelligence community get it so wrong? Did we have no intelligence assets embedded in the Russian MoD? Early in the Ukraine…
Iryna Chevtayeva: Why Does the Russian Army’s Brutal Culture Go Unchecked?
“They killed my child,” Tatjana Bykova laments in a video message. She uses the term “annulled” to describe how her son, Andrej, was killed by Russian military commanders. She names them and says she hates them. First, they blackmailed Andrej, demanding half of the compensation he received for an injury. When he refused to give…
Private Military Companies and Arms Control Challenges: The Wagner Group in Mali
Private military companies (PMCs) and mercenary groups have become increasingly prominent in conflicts worldwide, raising urgent concerns about human rights and international security. In Mali, weapons and military equipment intended for the country’s armed forces were systematically diverted to the Wagner Group between 2021 and 2025—a practice that undermines global arms control regimes and has…
Austria Charges Two Former Syrian Officials Over Civil War Torture and Abuse
On November 12, 2025, Austrian prosecutors formally announced that two former high-ranking Syrian government officials have been charged with crimes committed against detained civilians during the initial years of Syria’s civil war. This action represents one of the most significant European legal proceedings targeting the repression under the regime of Bashar al-Assad. The Vienna Prosecutor’s…
EU to Sanction 10 Russians for Torturing Journalist Victoria Roshchyna and Other Ukrainians
The European Union is moving forward with sanctions against ten Russian nationals connected to the torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war, mistreatment of detainees, and politically motivated persecution of journalists and human rights defenders. The sanctions list includes officials from the Taganrog pretrial detention center where Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna died while in Russian custody….
Tanzania’s Post-Election Crisis: Allegations of Mass Killings and Secret Disposal of Bodies
A week after Tanzania’s disputed general election, the country is grappling with allegations of mass killings and a chilling cover-up. The opposition party Chadema claims that security forces have killed thousands of protesters and secretly disposed of bodies to conceal the scale of the violence. The government has dismissed these allegations as “hugely exaggerated,” but…
Thirty Years Ago, Ukraine Took a Historic Step by Joining the Council of Europe
Thirty years ago, Ukraine took a historic step by joining the Council of Europe – an Organisation that unites European nations around democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. Membership in the Council of Europe meant not only new opportunities, but also clear commitments: to harmonise national legislation with European standards, to ensure effective…
The European Convention on Human Rights, a Conscience of Europe: Message from Mattias Guyomar, President of the European Court of Human Rights
During the drafting of the European Convention on Human Rights, Mr Roberts of the United Kingdom declared: “This Convention means that the European community as a whole guarantees the maintenance in all its member States of a living democracy, and that the liberty of each individual … is the concern of all.” 75 years on,…
Wartime Crisis Mode: The Impact of Russia’s Aggression on the System of Social Control in Ukraine. Presentation of the Monograph
On 28 November 2025, there will be a presentation of the monograph “Wartime Crisis Mode: The Impact of Russia’s Aggression on the System of Social Control in Ukraine (Crime, Institutes, and Trust in Criminal Justice)” We cordially invite all experts in the fields of criminal law, criminology, sociology, political science, and other areas and disciplines…