Preliminary official results from South Sudan’s independence referendum show that more than 99 percent of voters in the plebiscite want secession.

The Economist reports that, despite reports of discrepancies between voting numbers and registration lists in 60 counties (over half of the states in the South), the vote has been praised by observers: “there is little doubt that the process is indeed representative of the will of the Southern Sudanese people.”

“Exclusive reliance on quiet dialogue and cooperation [with abusive states] becomes a charade designed more to appease critics of complacency than to secure change. … A key offender has been the European Union.

“Defending human rights is rarely convenient. But if [Western] governments want to pursue other interests instead, they should have the courage to admit it, instead of hiding behind meaningless dialogues and fruitless quests for cooperation.”

“Over the years you see an increase in ‘important’ defendants, indicted for more serious crimes: the higher you climb up the power hierarchy, the more serious the crimes in the indictments are.”

- Dr. Frederiek de Vlaming, who has studied the careers of three international prosecutors of war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

“Southern Sudan is just the beginning. The world may soon have 300 independent, sovereign nations ... and that's just fine.”

“It is less likely that [states that are internally diffuse and often intentionally unevenly developed] will gather the competence, capacity, and will to become equitable modern states than that they will continue to inspire resistance to the legacies of centralized misrule.”

It has become routine in much analysis of international affairs to position China as an opponent of the West (i.e. not just a competitor), and as prioritizing state sovereignty and non-interference in a state’s internal affairs above other international principles.

“In every state, without exception, there are people in state power who … assert that all the citizens of that state constitute a nation, one that has already determined its destiny. In the twenty-first century, [this] is in retreat in most countries.”

Four top Khmer Rouge leaders have had their appeals against the cases against them thrown out, paving the way for another major genocide trial later this year.
 
The four face charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and related crimes under Cambodian laws in connection with the deaths of up to two million people between 1975 and 1979 from starvation, overwork and execution.
 

“The historic vote is an exercise in self-determination long in the making.

“The international community was united in its belief that this referendum had to take place and that the will of the people of southern Sudan had to be respected, regardless of the outcome.

The African National Congress (ANC), Africa's oldest liberation movement, celebrates the 99th anniversary of its founding today.