The Sentry

Evidence from the UN and human rights groups show that 23 Armenian detainees, including prominent leaders, are being held in prisons in Baku absent independent oversight.

“Aliyev Empire” digs into the kleptocratic regime behind the repression in Azerbaijan: atlas.thesentry.org/azerbaijan-a...

An Ever-Watchful Sentry From exposure toward impact: What happens after publication?

When we publish an investigative report, that's not the end of the story—in fact, it's just the beginning.

In our latest Sidebar blog, we reveal the often-overlooked work that takes place behind-the-scenes to ensure our investigations make a lasting impact: medium.com/the-sentry-s...

🇦🇿 🇦🇲 Leaders meet. Deals are made. Yet 23 Armenians are still detained, without fair trials, in Azerbaijani prisons with reports of torture.

Meanwhile, President Aliyev's daughters have amassed a fortune. “Aliyev Empire” exposes their financial empire: atlas.thesentry.org/azerbaijan-a...

Red Cross ‘Stripped Of Access To Armenian Prisoners In Azerbaijan’ Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will no longer be able to visit Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan, according to their relatives in Armenia.

Will justice for the 23 ethnic Armenian detainees be part of the equation? www.azatutyun.am/a/33490203.h...

🇦🇿🇦🇲 Tomorrow, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will sit down together at the White House. But justice is still missing.

“Aliyev Empire” reveals the massive kleptocratic theft that's a hallmark of the Aliyev regime. atlas.thesentry.org/azerbaijan-a...

Washington Should Prioritize Transparency and Sanctions in Congolese Critical Minerals Deal Peace between Rwanda and Congo is good news, but more pressure is needed to make it stick.

DR Congo: US & European pressure brought DRC & Rwanda to the table. It’s time to double down. Network sanctions and clear transparency in minerals deals can help solidify the peace process. The Sentry's Sasha Lezhnev & John Prendergast today in @foreignpolicy.com: foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/05/w...

Power and Plunder - The Sentry June 2025  Download the full report In November 2018, the United Nations lifted sanctions on Eritrea, including a two-way arms embargo banning both the import and export of arms, after a successful…

🇪🇷 “Power and Plunder” reveals industrial-scale pillage during and after the war in Tigray.

Explore our latest investigative report and its recommendations:

Grassley, Fetterman Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Crack Down on Art Market Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. John Fetterman...

We're happy to see a step towards cleaning up an opaque industry! Financial secrecy shouldn't be hanging in a gallery.

New bipartisan legislation, the Art Market Integrity Act, is taking aim at the shadowy corners of the US art world.

www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/rep/re...

🔴 NEW INVESTIGATION: A decade‑long ban for Guernsey adviser tied to the family of an Azerbaijani oligarch 🇦🇿
A collaboration with @thesentryorg.bsky.social
forbiddenstories.org/daphne-proje...
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Eritrea Rearming Risks Regional Destabilisation: US NGO Eritrea is rebuilding its army and still destabilising its neighbours, particularly Ethiopia, following a 2018 decision to lift an arms embargo, according to a report by an American rights monitor.

A lack of accountability for EDF human rights violations and industrial-scale looting in Tigray increases the risk of a renewed conflict.
Read the AFP piece in @Barrons.com spotlighting our newest investigative report "Power and Plunder".
www.barrons.com/news/eritrea...

Power and Plunder - The Sentry June 2025  Download the full report In November 2018, the United Nations lifted sanctions on Eritrea, including a two-way arms embargo banning both the import and export of arms, after a successful ca...

Power and Plunder: Our latest report uncovers new evidence that the Eritrean Defense Forces were responsible for systematic looting and cross-border illicit financial activities.

What does this mean for the threat of renewed violence in Tigray?

Learn more: thesentry.org/reports/powe...

🚨 The London Bullion Market Association announced that it will require all refiners (~70% of the global gold market) to disclose all high-risk suppliers in 2026.

Thanks LBMA, this is a welcome step.
www.lbma.org.uk/articles/lbm...

Justyna Gudzowska and John Prendergast were in The Hague this week with more than 100 @postcodeloterij.bsky.social partners as the Postcode Loterij announced $363 million raised for charities in the past year.

The Power of the Postcodes is incredible and we are grateful for their partnership.

Targeting Dynamic Illicit Financing Networks with Blocked Pending Investigation (BPI) Listings - The Sentry June 2025 Download the briefing The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) appears to have a renewed interest in a sanctions tool first used in 2001: blocking individu...

Did you know that public blocked pending investigation (BPI) listings can be a valuable tool to counter corrupt networks?

Our new report explains BPI listings and highlights opportunities to enhance the impact of the tool to disrupt illicit financial networks.

thesentry.org/reports/bpi-...

Is Sudan’s war the reason for South Sudan’s economic crisis? What’s really going on with oil revenue Oil’s importance to South Sudan’s economy is often exaggerated – the bigger challenge facing Juba is its inability to secure new loans.

"The war in Sudan has a significant yet multifaceted impact on South Sudan’s economic health. But Juba’s biggest challenges are internal."

theconversation.com/is-sudans-wa...

Threats Lurk Behind the Scenes in Azerbaijan’s Talk of Peace With Armenia Azerbaijan's push for peace with Armenia masks its expansionism and business dealings that should raise alarms for the global community.

Peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan is at risk. Baku’s recent moves may signal pressure—not progress.

Read the latest from John Prendergast in @JustSecurity.org:
www.justsecurity.org/114128/threa...

Threats Lurk Behind the Scenes in Azerbaijan’s Talk of Peace With Armenia Azerbaijan's push for peace with Armenia masks its expansionism and business dealings that should raise alarms for the global community.

Continued fighting might be more likely than peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev persists with territorial expansion and worrying business deals, writes @thesentryorg.bsky.social ’s John Prendergast:

www.justsecurity.org/114128/threa...

An Ever-Watchful Sentry From exposure toward impact: What happens after publication?

When we publish an investigative report, that's not the end of the story—in fact, it's just the beginning.

Read our latest Sidebar blog to find out how we work behind-the-scenes to ensure our investigations make a lasting impact: medium.com/the-sentry-s...

M23 has killed, tortured civilians at detention sites in Goma M23 has killed, tortured and forcibly disappeared detainees, held some as hostages, and subjected them to inhumane conditions at detention sites in eastern DRC

#DRC: Rwanda-backed M23 are killing, torturing, and holding civilians hostage at detention sites in Goma. Their actions may amount to war crimes, according to a new investigation @amnesty.org.

www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...

The Deadly Global Gold Rush How to stop the illicit mining and trade that fuel war and repression.

Every year, over $30 billion in illicit gold circulates worldwide, often originating from conflict zones and authoritarian states.

Sasha Lezhnev and John Prendergast delve into how this underground economy fuels wars and supports oppressive regimes: www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

Army barrel bombs spark exodus as South Sudan peace deal crumbles Civilians face brutal attacks and dire straits in displacement camps.

“Everyone is targeted”: South Sudanese civilians describe surviving barrel bomb attacks and incendiary weapons deployed by the national army and allied Ugandan forces.

Staying a step ahead How data sharing collaboration between civil society and the private sector can cut corrupt networks off from the international financial…

Did you know that data sharing collaborations between civil society and the private sector can cut corrupt networks off from the international financial system?

Find out how in our blog series, The Sentry Sidebar: medium.com/the-sentry-s...

We’re excited to announce that The Sentry has earned a Platinum Seal of Transparency for the second year in a row!

Fewer than 1% of the 1.7 million nonprofits registered with the IRS receive this recognition of organizational transparency. We’re honored to be one of them.

The Deadly Global Gold Rush How to stop the illicit mining and trade that fuel war and repression.

Over $30B in illicit gold fuels wars and crises—from Sudan to DR Congo to Ukraine.

The Sentry's John Prendergast & Sasha Lezhnev detail what the US & the gold industry can do to combat this deadly trade in @foreignaffairs.com >>

www.foreignaffairs.com/guest-pass/r...

South Sudan: Kiirdom - Atlas Project South Sudan Kiirdom The Sprawling Corporate Kingdom of South Sudan's First Family. Search By People Companies The Project As South Sudan’s only president since independence, Salva Kiir has long ruled ...

#Kiirdom: Salva Kiir has built an extensive business empire for himself and his family.

We’ve compiled all our investigative data on the Kiir family network into one interactive visual. You can now see all of the linkages in one place and download the data: atlas.thesentry.org/Kiirdom/

“2025 PULITZER PRIZE WINNER INTERNATIONAL REPORTING: Sudan on Fire. The Staff of The New York Times.”

Declan Walsh and the staff of The New York Times won the Pulitzer for international reporting for revealing the horrific consequences of Sudan’s civil war.

Revisit their Pulitzer-winning work: nyti.ms/3ETrlkW

Sudan to cut ties with United Arab Emirates over alleged RSF support UAE insists it does not provide arms to paramilitary group as Sudanese ambassador recalled Sudan’s security and defence council has declared that it will break diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates over its alleged backing of the paramilitary Sudanese Rapid Support Forces. During a televised speech on Tuesday, Sudan’s defence minister, Yassin Ibrahim, said Sudan was “severing diplomatic relations with the UAE” and recalling its ambassador, claiming the Gulf nation had breached Sudan’s sovereignty through its RSF “proxy”, which has been fighting the army in a bloody civil war since April 2023. Continue reading...

Sudan to cut ties with United Arab Emirates over alleged RSF support

OCCRP’s recent investigation revealed that Swiss private bank Reyl Intesa Sanpaolo clients include Olivier Mestelan, a Swiss asset manager with links to the ruling family in Azerbaijan.

Learn more about Mestelan and his network in our “Aliyev Empire” project: atlas.thesentry.org/person/olivi...

Exclusive: UN panel investigates Emirati links to seized weapons in Darfur A U.N. panel of experts charged with monitoring sanctions in Sudan is investigating how mortar rounds exported from Bulgaria to the United Arab Emirates ended up in a supply convoy for Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia fighters, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

Exclusive: UN panel investigates Emirati links to seized weapons in Darfur reut.rs/4jUnym7

Will you be at ACAMS The Assembly in Hollywood this week?

Our executive director, @justynapg.bsky.social, and Laura Ferris, our senior policy advisor, will be participating in an event on environmental crime this afternoon. Stop by and say hello!

Learn more >> www.acams.org/en/events/th...