Africa

Whilst Paris and Berlin voiced criticism about the military exercises, Donald Trump was dismissive, saying that China "has been doing naval exercises for 20 years in that area"

The government will present a law for parliament discussion in early 2026

L'arrestation de l'avocat Čedomir Stojković ne constitue pas un événement isolé, mais un signal systémique adressé à la société serbe tout entière.

- Notes et racines. Le blog de Valentin Smoliak / Serbie, Vucic, Blogs - Diaporama

Dans le commerce maritime mondial, le transbordement de cargaison en mer — appelé ship-to-ship transfer (STS) — n'a rien d'exceptionnel. Cette pratique, largement utilisée, permet d'optimiser les routes, de réduire les coûts portuaires ou d'adapter la taille des cargaisons aux capacités des ports de destination. Elle est légale dans de nombreux cas et intégrée aux chaînes logistiques internationales. Dans l'Atlantique ouest-africain, ces opérations font toutefois l'objet d'une attention accrue. La région concentre des routes énergétiques majeures, un trafic dense et des capacités de contrôle inégales. Dans cet environnement, le transbordement devient plus difficile à documenter en continu. Cette difficulté ne signifie pas qu'il soit systématiquement illégal. Elle indique surtout que l'établissement de la preuve est plus complexe.

Ce que les systèmes de suivi permettent de voir

Pour suivre les navires en mer, les autorités et les observateurs s'appuient principalement sur l'AIS (Automatic Identification System). Ce dispositif, comparable à un GPS maritime, transmet en continu la position d'un navire, sa vitesse, sa direction et son identité déclarée. Grâce à ces données, il est possible de savoir où se trouve un navire à un moment donné et d'observer certains comportements. Lorsqu'un bâtiment ralentit fortement, reste presque immobile pendant plusieurs heures ou se rapproche durablement d'un autre navire en pleine mer, ces signaux peuvent correspondre à une opération de transbordement. L'analyse des trajectoires permet aussi d'identifier des routes convergentes, suivies d'une séparation cohérente des navires. En revanche, l'AIS ne permet pas de savoir ce qui se passe réellement à bord. Il n'indique ni si une cargaison a été transférée, ni la nature du produit concerné. Il ne renseigne pas non plus sur l'identité économique réelle des opérateurs ou sur la conformité juridique et assurantielle de l'opération. L'AIS décrit des mouvements, pas des transactions. Un comportement observable ne constitue donc pas, à lui seul, une preuve.

Quand le signal s'interrompt

Les coupures de signal AIS sont souvent perçues comme suspectes. En réalité, les règles maritimes autorisent, dans certaines situations liées à la sécurité du navire ou de l'équipage, une désactivation temporaire du système. Dans les faits, chaque interruption crée toutefois une zone d'incertitude. Le suivi devient fragmenté, l'itinéraire plus difficile à reconstituer et l'attribution des responsabilités plus complexe en cas d'incident. Une coupure de signal réduit la transparence, sans constituer pour autant une preuve d'illégalité. Elle doit être comprise comme un élément de contexte, et non comme une accusation.

Le rôle des satellites : confirmation, pas certitude

Pour compléter les données AIS, les analystes recourent à l'imagerie satellite. Les satellites radar peuvent détecter la présence d'objets métalliques en mer, de jour comme de nuit, y compris par mauvais temps. Les satellites optiques, lorsque les conditions le permettent, offrent des images visuelles plus précises. Ces outils permettent de confirmer qu'un navire était bien présent dans une zone donnée ou que deux bâtiments se trouvaient à proximité sur une période précise. En revanche, ils ne permettent pas d'observer une opération en continu. Les images correspondent à des instants ponctuels, dépendant du passage du satellite. Elles ne garantissent ni l'identification juridique certaine des acteurs, ni la nature exacte de la cargaison transférée.

Comment les faits sont reconstitués

Pour comprendre ce qui se joue réellement en mer, les enquêtes reposent sur la mise en perspective de plusieurs indices. Trajectoires AIS, phases de ralentissement, interruptions de signal, images satellites et historique des navires sont analysés ensemble afin de dégager des scénarios plausibles.Cette approche progressive permet de réduire les zones d'ombre sans transformer un indice technique en certitude définitive. C'est cette méthode, fondée sur la prudence et la contextualisation, qui permet d'informer le public de manière rigoureuse sur des pratiques maritimes largement invisibles depuis la terre.

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A task force is trying to save seabirds from getting caught and killed in fishing boat nets.

A task force is trying to save seabirds from getting caught and killed in fishing boat nets.

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Einbrecher haben über die Weihnachtstage in Gelsenkirchen ein Sparkassengebäude ausgeraubt. Mit einem Bohrer wurde ein Loch in den Tresorraum gebohrt. Vor der Bank kam es am Montag zu tumultartigen Szenen. Nun kursiert eine Zahl zu den leergeräumten Schliessfächern.

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Credit: Isabel Infantes/Reuters via Gallo Images

By Andrew Firmin
LONDON, Dec 30 2025 (IPS)

Satellite images show corpses piled high in El Fasher, North Darfur, awaiting mass burial or cremation as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia tries to cover up the scale of its crimes. Up to 150,000 El Fasher residents remain missing from the city, seized by the RSF in November. The lowest estimate is that 60,000 are dead. The Arab militia has ethnically cleansed the city of its non-Arab residents. The slaughter is the latest horrific episode in the war between the RSF and the Sudan Armed Forces, sparked by a power battle between military leaders in April 2023.

Both sides have committed atrocities, including executions, extrajudicial killings and sexual violence. It’s hard to gather accurate figures, but at least 150,000 people are estimated to have been killed. Around nine million people have been internally displaced, and close to four million more have fled across the border. Some 25 million now face famine.

Civil society and humanitarian workers are responding as best they can, but they’re in the firing line. They face death, violence, abduction and detention. Emergency orders impose bureaucratic restrictions on civil society organisations and limit aid operations and freedoms of assembly, expression and movement, while troops also block aid delivery.

Reporting on the conflict is difficult and dangerous. Almost all media infrastructure has been destroyed, many newspapers have stopped publishing and both sides are targeting journalists, with many forced into exile. Extensive disinformation campaigns obscure what’s happening on the ground. Mohamed Khamis Douda, spokesperson for the Zamzam displacement camp, exemplified the dangers for those who tell the truth. He stayed on in El Fasher to provide vital updates to international media. When the RSF invaded, they sought him out and killed him.

The world looks away

Sudan is sometimes called a forgotten war, but it’s more accurate to say the world is choosing to ignore it – and this suits several powerful states. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the RSF’s biggest backer. It continues to deny this, even though weapons manufactured by the UAE or supplied to it by its allies have been found at sites recovered from RSF control. Without its support, the RSF would likely have lost the war by now.

In recent years, the UAE has worked to cultivate influence among several African states. It has developed a series of ports around Africa, with one planned on Sudan’s stretch of the Red Sea. It has big agricultural investments in Sudan and receives most of the gold mined there. The UAE has evidently concluded that RSF control is the best way of securing its influence and protecting its interests, regardless of the cost in human lives. In response, Sudan’s government has moved to improve links with Russia. It’s been reported it may allow Russia to develop a permanent Red Sea naval base.

The UAE faces little international pressure because western states that are strongly aligned with it, including the UK and USA, downplay its role. The UK government continues to supply the UAE with arms in the knowledge these are being transferred to the RSF, while a whistleblower has accused it of removing warnings about possible genocide in Sudan from a risk assessment analysis to protect the UAE. The European Union and UK reacted to the El Fasher atrocities by placing sanctions on four RSF leaders and the USA is said to be considering further sanctions, but these measures never reach as far as figures in the UAE government.

The UN Security Council, where the UK is the permanent member that leads on Sudan, has also been predictably ineffective. Russia has said it will veto any resolution the UK brings. Yet in June, the UK refused an offer from African states, serving on the Council on a rotating basis, to take over responsibility, something that could have created more space for negotiation.

Among other countries with regional influence, Egypt strongly favours the Sudan government, and Saudi Arabia is somewhat supportive too. They come together with the UAE and USA in a forum called the quad. Despite competing interests, in September there appeared grounds for hope when the quad brokered what was supposed to be a three-month humanitarian truce, followed by a nine-month transition to civilian rule. Both sides accepted the plan, only for the RSF to keep fighting, causing the Sudanese government to reject the proposal.

Pressure and accountability

Whether fighting halts may depend on the USA’s diplomatic whims. Trump has recently appeared to take more interest in the conflict, likely prompted by Saudi Arabia’s ruler Mohammed bin Salman, who visited the White House in November.

Trump may want to claim to have ended another conflict in his evident quest for the Nobel Peace Prize, but it’s hard to see progress unless the US government proves willing to pressure the UAE, including through tariffs, a blunt instrument Trump has used to force deals on other states. The fact the Trump administration currently applies tariffs at its lowest rate, 10 per cent, shows its continuing warmth towards the UAE.

Campaigners are trying to focus more attention on the UAE’s central role in the conflict. One highly visible focus is basketball: the NBA has an extensive and growing sponsorship agreement with the UAE, part of the regime’s efforts to sportswash its international reputation. Civil society campaigners are calling on the NBA to end its partnership, and their advocacy may help move Sudan up the US agenda.

The international community has the power to stop the killing, but first it must acknowledge the role of the UAE and its western allies in enabling it. All involved in the conflict, within and beyond Sudan, must put aside their calculations of narrow self-interest. The UAE, their allies and the other quad states should face greater pressure to broker a genuine ceasefire as a first step towards peace, and use their leverage with the warring parties to ensure they stick to it.

Andrew Firmin is CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

For interviews or more information, please contact research@civicus.org

 

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Overfishing and illegal fishing are contributing to the loss of sharks, including great whites.

Overfishing and illegal fishing are contributing to the loss of sharks, including great whites.

Overfishing and illegal fishing are contributing to the loss of sharks, including great whites.