More Foreigners Kidnapped in Southern Philippines

Published on Oct 10, 2015 by Luke Hunt

As Philippine president Benigno Aquino III begins to pack his bags for retirement and considers his legacy, one outstanding issue remains unresolved: a lasting solution to the civil conflict and the law and order mess it has created in the country’s troubled south.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..

The Asia-Pacific's Rising Terrorist Threat

Published on May 17, 2015 by Luke Hunt

This year was promising to be a particularly brutal one. Islamic militants have increasingly taken their terror campaigns to the streets of major Western cities – Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Charlie Hebdo in Paris, and the Lindt cafe siege in Sydney – with chilling effect.Then, as the traditional “killing season” approaches in Afghanistan and Iraq, further attacks aimed at the Anzac Day parade in Melbourne were foiled, another 17 people were arrested in Malaysia for planning a series of high-profile kidnappings and terror-styled strikes, and two gunmen were shot dead in Texas after opening fire on a cartoon contest featuring right wing politicians and pictures of the Muslim prophet, Mohammad.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..

Philippines Peace Deal Again Under Threat

Published on Mar 28, 2015 by Luke Hunt

The long-promised peace deal struck between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the Southern Philippines is struggling to hold after fighting again erupted, this time on two fronts with more than 80,000 people forced to evacuate their homes.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..

A War Crimes Stage Ready for the Next Act

Published on Mar 28, 2015 by Luke Hunt

Marathon efforts to prosecute Pol Pot’s surviving henchmen have never been short on controversy. “Too late,” “too long,” and “too expensive” are among the chief criticisms faced by officials at the Khmer Rouge tribunal. Written by Luke Hunt, this story first appeared in Warscapes.Hopes for justice recently took another hit with accusations that the defense teams for Brother No. 2 Nuon Chea and former head of state Khieu Samphan were deliberately stalling proceedings in their genocide trial at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), a purpose-built court on the dusty outskirts of Phnom Penh.The court, as one long-time observer put it, had been ground down in legalese. That was until arguments about whether it should continue exploded....

Must Go On; Can't Go On

Published on Mar 28, 2015 by Luke Hunt

THE Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts for Cambodia (ECCC), an unusual and ambitious international legal body with a name to match, has occupied a compound on the dusty outskirts of the country’s capital since 2006. Officially its goal is justice for the victims of the Khmer Rouge, whose bloody misrule ended in 1979.In recent years the ECCC’s lawyers and judges have bickered and toiled, usually in obscurity but sometimes under a spotlight, often testing the tolerance of Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Sen. Last week they may have breached it.Read more from The Economist..