Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto leader of the kingdom [Cliff Owen/AP] Saudi Arabia's military intervention in Yemen has created what the U.N. calls "the worst humanitarian crisis in the world." South and North Yemen united in 1990 after centuries of separation. The current war in Yemen began in 2014 when Houthis from northern Yemen, a largely Shi'a movement supported by Iran, took control of Sana'a, the capital of Yemen. The internationally recognized government retreated to Aden in southern Yemen. In March 2015, at the request of Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other Sunni-majority Arab League states formed a coalition to support Hadi's military campaign to retake control of northern Yemen. Saudi intervention in Yemen has included massive airstrikes. Over a third have targeted civilian areas, including hospitals, homes, markets, schools, and mosques, directly killing over 12,000 civilians. Only half of hospitals continue to operate. Saudi naval blockades have cut off food supplies. Thousands of children have died of starvation. A cholera epidemic afflicted 800,000 civilians and killed thousands. Eighty percent of the population depends on humanitarian relief. The Yemeni Archive and Oxfam report that the Saudi-led coalition has systematically destroyed 130 bridges essential for delivery of humanitarian aid. Houthis have also prevented food aid from reaching populations in areas they control. At least 233,000 civilians have died in Yemen's civil war. Bombing of civilians and blockades of food aid are war crimes. The United States and United Kingdom are complicit in these war crimes. The U.S. and U.K. sell Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates the advanced aircraft and laser-guided Raytheon bombs used to kill civilians, despite a U.S. Congressional prohibition on such sales. Secretary of State Pompeo, President Trump, and other American policy makers authorized sales of these weapons with knowledge that they would be used to kill civilians. These American officials could be tried for war crimes. Within Saudi Arabia, Shi'a Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, and other non-Muslims have no freedom to practice their religions. Saudi Arabia prohibits public worship of religions other than Islam. Although the right to worship in private is recognized by law, it is not always respected in practice. Shia Muslims are significantly limited in their ability to build mosques. Saudi women's and human rights activists are arrested, subjected to pre-determined trials and given lengthy prison sentences. Shi'a Muslims face employment discrimination. School curricula and books still contain anti-Shi'a and anti-Jewish rhetoric, even after reforms implemented in 2018-2019. Saudi Arabia is a police state. Mohammed Bin Salman has his critics murdered. The assassination of Jamal Khashoggi is the most notorious example. Security forces kill protestors, e.g., in protests against the demolition of a historic neighborhood in Awamiya. Torture is standard practice in Saudi jails and prisons. Genocide Watch considers Saudi Arabia to be at Stage 8: Persecution for its treatment of Shi'a Muslims domestically and Stage 9: Extermination for its war crimes and blockade of food aid in Yemen. Genocide Watch recommends: The United States government should not accept Saudi Arabia’s request to designate the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, which would cripple delivery of humanitarian aid. Saudi Arabia should end its bombing and blockades in Yemen. The Saudi Arabian government should commit to protection of human rights for all Saudi residents. Mohammed bin Salman and other Saudi leaders should be charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity in Yemen in courts with universal jurisdiction, and with murder for killing Jamal Khashoggi. The U.S. and U.K. should end all arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

In spite of government efforts, the security situation in Nigeria is deteriorating. Indeed, the lingering conflict between herders and farmers in north-central Nigeria has been rated six times deadlier than the Boko Haram insurgency. The recent abductions of schoolboys in Kankara community, Katsina State and in Niger State are more examples of the deplorable state of security in the country. Notably, the unprecedented increase in violent attacks is defying the sustained narrative among analysts that the northwest is relatively peaceful compared to the northeast—even though the northwest is poorer; worse governed in some areas; and has lower levels of human development. THE BANDITRY-TERRORISM NEXUS IN NORTHWEST NIGERIA The rising insecurity in the northwest—vicious attacks on local communities and kidnapping of people by criminal groups in the region—is being described by state officials as banditry. However, further evidence suggests that the government is simplifying the dynamics. In actuality, northwestern Nigeria has become the safe haven of increasingly active terrorist groups, including the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS); Jama’at Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM); Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb; a splinter of Boko Haram popularly referred to as the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP); and the Fulani herdsmen of West Africa once rated the fourth-deadliest terror group in the world. The recent Kankara abduction bears the operational footprints of the Boko Haram group that has perfected the act through previous abductions of schoolgirls in Chibok and Dapchi in northeastern Nigeria. This incident gives credence to the jihadists’ perpetual attempt to forge an alliance with splinter terror groups in the northwest. While Boko Haram maintains a coordinating center in the Lake Chad Basin, ISWAP operates from southwestern Niger. These two centers of jihadism are separated by northwest Nigeria, increasing the likelihood of interaction and collaboration among these actors there. WHY NORTHWESTERN NIGERIA IS VULNERABLE TO INCESSANT VIOLENT ATTACKS In addition to its location between these groups, the northwest region is highly susceptible to violent attacks by the various terror groups due to a combination of mutually reinforcing factors. Primary factors include: Porous Nigeria-Niger borders and difficult terrain. Nigeria’s border with Niger spans 1,497 km and is poorly policed by the Nigeria Custom and Immigration Services. The porous nature of these borders heightens the potential spread of terrorist activities into northwest Nigeria from Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. The vulnerability of the border to the infiltration of terror groups is compounded by the forest reserves in the region. The vast, rugged terrain, sparse population, and dense vegetation make surveillance difficult—making the forests ideal hiding places and operational bases for the terror groups. Furthermore, the forested landscape constitutes ungoverned spaces, where the presence of the authorities is either nonexistent or, at best, sporadic. Arms and weapons trafficking. The groups terrorizing northwest Nigeria are known to deploy sophisticated weapons in their operations; again, often due to the porous Nigeria-Niger border and subsequent arms trafficking. The illicit proliferation of weapons exerts a considerable impact on peace and security and increases the incidence of terrorists’ activities in the region. Poor governance, poverty, and climate change-fragility nexus. In many instances, the rising incidents of violent attacks are symptoms of weak, exclusionary, or exploitative governance systems in northwest Nigeria. Compounding factors include weak institutional capacity within the police; extreme inequality, poverty, unemployment; and citizens’ alienation from the government. Indeed, five of the country’s 10 poorest states—Sokoto, Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi, and Jigawa—are in the northwest region. Evidence suggests that population explosion, poor governance, and high incidence of poverty could render many unemployed youths more vulnerable to recruitment by terror groups in the region. Closely connected to this is the intensive desertification of the Sahara. Climate change is wreaking havoc on people’s livelihoods and facilitating the recruitment of poor farmers and vulnerable youths into terrorist groups in the region. Overburdened security apparatus and diminishing presence of the federal government. The state security response to the rising insecurity in the region is compromised by the decadelong war with Boko Haram in the northeast, deteriorating security in the Niger Delta, farmer-herder conflicts in north-central and southern Nigeria, and other forms of criminality across the country. In fact, the Nigerian military services are on active deployment in no fewer than 30 states of the federation, tackling internal security threats that ordinarily should have been left to the police to contain. With security forces stretched, terror groups have been able to operate with little resistance in the northwest. Furthermore, terrorists and criminals appear to be emboldened given the federal government’s weakening engagement. Controversial peace agreements between some state governments and criminal groups. In an attempt to stop these attacks, and due to larger failures on the part of the federal government, the state governments of Katsina, Sokoto, and Zamfara initiated direct negotiations with these criminal groups. As part of these negotiations, the governors offered the criminal groups amnesties and other incentives to end violent attacks. Some have even agreed to release all arrested persons from such groups in exchange for hostages. So far, these agreements have failed for a number of reasons: First, these criminal groups lack central command and a common goal, so it has been difficult to bring them all to a common negotiation. Moreover, agreements made with one group are not binding on others. Second, the dialogues excluded the local communities that bear the brunt of violence and expect the state to deliver forms of compensation, justice, and protection as a condition for durable peace. Collapsed negotiations have led to renewed attacks by the criminal groups, while the farmers and vigilantes acting on their behalf have also remained completely unaccountable. Beyond these negotiations is the problem that the state governments have no capacity to enforce the agreements and are barely equipped to address many of the underlying causes of insecurity, including shrinking space for grazing and porous borders. Illegal mining activities. Competition over access to mineral resource deposits in Katsina and Zamfara states exacerbates already-existing tensions. Often terror groups control the minefields and are able to act with impunity because of the undue patronage they benefit from the authorities through connivance. The syndicates also fund banditry and cattle rustling in mining communities, displacing and inciting violence among Fulani pastoralists and farming communities. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS The policy solutions for the security challenges plaguing the northwestern states of Nigeria must be multipronged and include: Better supported border security and stamping down on corruption. The federal government must collaborate with state governments to address the immediate challenge of border porosity. Concerted efforts to recruit, train, and post adequately equipped customs and immigration personnel to the region can boost surveillance and stem the tide of the free flow of arms into the country. Moreover, addressing corruption here is pivotal, because border patrol is a major racket for security forces and government officials. The ongoing military response must also be sustained through strategic coordination with the counterterrorism unit of the Nigerian police force, while the recent introduction of drone surveillance and anti-banditry bombardment is maintained. Note: This blog reflects the views of the author only and does not reflect the views of the Brookings Africa Growth Initiative. © Brookings Institution 2021

Published by UN News on February 16, 2021. UNHCR says that killings and kidnappings have continued in North Kivu in the DRC in 2021. (UNHCR/Frederic Noy) Atrocities committed by armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have become part of a systematic pattern to disrupt lives, instill fear and create havoc, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday, expressing alarm over the ongoing situation. A record of more than 2,000 civilians were killed in three eastern provinces last year in attacks mainly attributed to armed groups, agency partners have reported. The violence has continued into this year. The most recent incident occurred in late January, when two men were killed and six others were seriously injured following an incursion into a site for forcibly displaced people in Masisi Territory, North Kivu province. Raids, curfews and ‘security’ payments UNHCR Spokesperson Babor Baloch said that three people from the Kivuye displacement site, which is supported by the agency, were kidnapped in raids carried out by an armed group a week ahead of the attack. The armed group has also imposed a curfew in the area and visits homes to force residents to make “security” payments. “UNHCR and its partners have heard numerous testimonies from people who have survived this targeted violence. Between December 2020 and January 2021, at least seven incursions by armed groups into five different sites have been reported in Masisi Territory,” said Mr. Baloch, speaking from Geneva. Displaced people under fire In eastern DRC, UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are supporting 22 sites, home to more than 88,000 displaced people. Thousands more are living in spontaneous sites, or in host communities. “Attacks by armed groups are carried out on the suspicion of collaboration with other groups or the Congolese security forces,” Mr. Baloch said. “Some of these sites are under threat from multiple armed groups. Civilians find themselves trapped in the middle of confrontations between different groups.” UNHCR has also received reports of armed groups forcibly occupying schools and homes, and attacking health centres, Mr. Baloch added. Some have also imposed illegal taxes on villagers who want to access their farms, thus cutting them off from their only source of food and income. “While the Congolese army’s military operations against militia groups are more often successful than in the past, the armed forces do not have the capacity to maintain control of the areas they secure, thus leaving space for armed actors to reclaim those areas and to impose themselves on the local population,” he said. Severe funding shortfall UNHCR is working with local authorities and communities to protect civilians, while also closely monitoring the situation through its partners on the ground. The violence has uprooted more than five million people in the past two years, according to UN estimates, but UNHCR’s efforts to assist them remain severely underfunded. The agency is seeking $195 million to support its operations in the DRC, but so far has received only six per cent of the funding. COPYRIGHT © UNITED NATIONS

Publié par France 24 le 17 février 2021 | Modifié le 17 février 2021. Paul Rusesabagina being escorted in handcuffs to a courtroom last year in Kigali. (Clement Uwiringiyimana/Reuters) Le procès pour terrorisme de Paul Rusesabagina débute, mercredi, à Kigali. Ce Rwandais fut dépeint par Hollywood comme un héro ayant sauvé près de 1 200 personnes à l'hôtel des Mille Collines, en 1994. Les discours des rescapés sont aujourd'hui très critiques sur son rôle de sauveur. Paul Rusesabagina a été rendu célèbre par "Hôtel Rwanda", le film hollywoodien sorti en 2004 qui raconte comment l'ancien directeur de l'hôtel des Mille Collines, à Kigali, un hutu modéré, a sauvé des milliers de vies au cours du génocide qui a tué 800 000 personnes, principalement des Tutsi, au Rwanda. "Il a vendu leur histoire" Pasa y était réceptionniste à l'époque, mais pour lui Paul Rusesabagina n'a sauvé personne. "Paul Rusesabagina faisait des affaires sur le dos des victimes du génocide, il leur spoliait ce qu'il leur restait comme argent. Il passait son temps à fêter avec les militaires qui tuaient les Tutsi à l'extérieur et qui venaient faire la fête le soir avec lui à l'hôtel", raconte cet homme, à la veille du procès de l'ancien directeur d'hôtel. Pourtant, d'autres rescapés des Mille Collines hors du Rwanda disent avoir survécu grâce à l'aide du manager. Une version qui n'est plus entendue à Kigali depuis que Paul Rusesabagina s'est engagé dans l'opposition. Alfred Ndahiro, auteur d'un livre critique du film "Hôtel Rwanda", dit avoir interrogé de nombreux rescapés. "Les survivants du génocide ont le sentiment qu'il n'est pas un héros. C'est un héros fait à Hollywood. Il les a trahis, il a vendu leur histoire pour gagner de l'argent. Il a fondé des groupes terroristes, il les a financés. Et ces groupes terroristes ont en fait attaqué le Rwanda", estime ce conseiller du président Paul Kagamé. "On l'a enlevé" Accusé de terrorisme par Kigali, Paul Rusesabagina a été arrêté, en août 2020, par la police rwandaise dans des conditions troubles alors qu'il arrivait d'un avion en provenance de Dubaï. Pour sa famille, les charges retenues contre lui sont politiques. Elle pense également qu'il ne serait jamais retourné de lui-même au Rwanda. "Il a utilisé sa plateforme d'Hôtel Rwanda pour exposer et pour éclairer les violations de droits humains que le gouvernement de Paul Kagamé, que le FPR commet aujourd'hui contre son peuple. Donc on l'a enlevé, on l'a emporté de force au Rwanda en violation du droit international", explique sa fille Carine Kanimba. Le Parlement européen a aussi évoqué un kidnapping lors d'une motion adoptée le 11 février. Les eurodéputés demandent une enquête internationale sur l'arrestation de Paul Rusesabagina et exigent la tenue d'un procès équitable de l'opposant politique. © 2021 Copyright France 24 - Tous droits réservés.

One of Haiti’s most high-profile judges, Yvickel Dabrésil, stands on a street during his arrest on Feb. 7, 2021, in a housing development in Port-au-Prince. FEBRUARY 18, 2021 07:00 AM, UPDATED FEBRUARY 18, 2021 04:38 PM The armed palace police officers awoke him in the middle of the night, mockingly called him “president,” threatened to kill him and placed him under arrest. Now one of Haiti’s most high-profile judges, Yvickel Dabrésil, is in hiding, fearful for his life as his nation’s political turmoil deepens. In an interview with the Miami Herald Wednesday, the magistrate at the center of an alleged plot to kill and overthrow President Jovenel Moïse recounted his detention and asserted his innocence, claiming the entire ordeal is a set-up. “It was a coup that they prepared for the seventh of February to discredit the opposition,” said Dabrésil, breaking his silence. “The names of three judges were being circulated, and since I was the one whom they found, they reacted. If they could have eliminated all three of these judges, they would have eliminated them.” A Supreme Court judge for the past two years, Dabrésil, 53, was arrested shortly before 3 a.m. on Feb. 7, the day Haiti’s opposition believes Moïse’s presidential term ended. Moïse argues he still has a year left in office and on that day announced an attempted coup. The allegations have roiled Haiti, adding to a deepening constitutional crisis that has spawned anti-government protests, rival claims to the presidency and a standoff between the president and the judiciary. At the center of the latest turmoil are Dabrésil and 17 other still imprisoned Haitians accused of trying to overthrow and kill the president. Audio tapes leaked online in the aftermath, allegedly capturing the accused coup plotters in action, suggest those arrested believed they were on a State Department-sanctioned mission to install a transitional government after Moïse’s departure. During one of the exchanges, a woman is heard saying, “Listen, I received orders from the State Department.” A man responded: “They contacted me as well so that’s why I was waiting for your call. I’m listening, commander.” Haiti Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe alluded to the recordings while providing additional details about the arrests. “These people had contacted the person responsible for the security in the National Palace, who had the responsibility to arrest the president, to take him to the Habitation Petit Bois and to facilitate the installation of the new provisional president to do the transition,” Jouthe said, mentioning the name of the residential development where the arrests took place. Dabrésil refuted allegations from authorities that he was staying overnight in one of several bungalows with others detained in the alleged plot because they were planning an attack. Instead, he said he often sleeps at the house, which he considers a second home, on nights where he can’t get home because of Haiti’s warring gangs and recent kidnapping spike. He couldn’t address why the others, including a former presidential candidate and high-ranking Haitian police inspector, were arrested in the same development, which has since been seized by Haitian government officials. “I am not a politician,” he said. “I am more of a technician.” Dabrésil said he was asleep with his security keeping watch outside when specialized police officers with the Haiti National Police in charge of security for the National Palace stormed the residential development. They threw two tear gas grenades inside his home to force his exit, he said. After huddling inside for 45 minutes, he heard a voice commanding that officers spray the house with bullets. That’s when he finally decided to walk out. He said he told the officers that he was a judge on the country’s highest court, but they arrested him anyway. He also contends the arrest was illegal because under Haitian law detentions cannot take place between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless it’s during the act of a crime. “They came and broke all of the windows and said I was engaged in a coup d’etat,” Dabrésil said. “I asked them, ‘How can there be a coup d’etat? With how many people did they find me? There were two guns, M4s, that weren’t even next to my bed. They were with my security.” The automatic weapons, which Haiti police later listed as evidence, were provided to him by the police for his protection when he was an appeals court judge overseeing a high-profile and still unsolved murder case — that of Haitian journalist and agronomist Jean Léopold Dominique, Dabrésil said. Dabrésil acknowledges that a presidential speech authorities found at his home belonged to him. But it was more of an outline, he said during a later interview on Radio Kiskeya, than an actual speech. He had written down a few lines, he said, at the insistence of friends who heard his name being mentioned by the opposition as a possible interim replacement for Moïse. Since the arrest, some opposition leaders have suggested that the group was framed, allegedly by a man purporting to be Daniel Whitman, who worked for the U.S. government from 1985 to 2009. Dabrésil denies having any contact with anyone alleging to be Whitman, and Whitman himself said he doesn’t know how his name surfaced in the saga. “[It’s a] pretty clear case of impersonation, it seems, and identity theft,” Whitman said. “Don’t know who would have thought this could serve a purpose.” Roody Metellus, a former Haitian diplomat and member of the opposition, backed up that assertion, saying he investigated and discovered that someone was using Whitman’s name and calling from a Miami number registered to someone else. If not for his inquiry, Metellus said other members would likely have been ensnared in the incident. Asked whether Whitman was working on behalf of the State Department in making contact with Haitian leaders to plan a post-Moïse transition, a spokesperson said they do not discuss cases involving private U.S. citizens without their written consent. “It is our well-established practice to conduct diplomatic relations through our embassies, not private individuals. And we have a very capable embassy and ambassador in Port-au-Prince,” the spokesperson said. In the days since his arrest and eventual release, Dabrésil has found himself out of a job. Moïse removed him from the bench along with two other justices named by the opposition as potential replacements. The move has been denounced as illegal, along with Moïse’s appointment of three magistrates to the high court, which experts say is designed to pack the judiciary with loyalists. Some Haiti observers believe the Supreme Court itself bears some of the responsibility for the current crisis. Though it refused late last year to swear in a nine-member elections commission that was unilaterally appointed by the president, it has been silent about all of the decrees he has taken — several of which lawyers have said were illegal and overreaching. Only after Dabrésil, the court’s youngest judge, and his two fellow justices were removed did the issue of the government’s questionable actions came to the forefront. Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Julie Chung cited the decision in a tweet she issued Tuesday. “I am alarmed by recent authoritarian and undemocratic acts — from unilateral removals and appointments of Supreme Court judges to attacks against journalists,” she said. “Respect for democratic norms is vital and non-negotiable.” Dabrésil, who welcomes the Biden administration’s stance, said he’s now fighting to not only get his job back but to clear his name and get the others out of jail. He still faces charges, since his release was based on a technicality given his status. Seven individuals close to him, including his Haiti National Police detail and friends who were visiting him, are among those who remain jailed. “I didn’t want to be released. I wanted to stay in jail to be in solidarity with the others but I was told to go,” he said, adding that he has been told that his life was in danger. Though Dabrésil says he has a battery of lawyers working on his behalf, the case is far from reaching a solution. Haiti’s judiciary is plagued with corruption and far from independent. Making matters even more challenging, four different judges associations have called for an indefinite shutdown of the justice system to force the president to respect the constitution following his recent decrees against the Supreme Court. Dabrésil said that the justice system today, “is under all forms of pressure.” Still, he’s putting his faith in his fellow judges. “I feel today that those who make up the justice system have to find a way to clean the image of the justice system in relation to this case because when you take a Supreme Court judge and imprison him, I don’t know what name you can even give it,” he said. “I think it’s a moment for the justice system to repair its image, and do something historic.” Link to Original Article Miami Herald © 2021

KYIV (Reuters) - A Belarusian court on Thursday jailed a pair of journalists for two years on charges of orchestrating protests against President Alexander Lukashenko, while Washington imposed visa restrictions on 43 Belarusian officials it accused of undermining democracy. Belarusians Katsiaryna Andreyeva, 27, and Darya Chultsova, 23, were detained in November in an apartment they had been using as a vantage point to film demonstrations over the death of a protester killed several days earlier. Both women, who were working for Belsat, a Warsaw-based satellite TV channel that provides Belarussians with an alternative to state-run television, pleaded not guilty. They appeared in a cage at Thursday’s hearing, hugging and making “V”-for victory signs. Their lawyer said they would appeal. Asked about Thursday’s verdict, Belarusian Information Minister Igor Lutsky said the court would not have made its ruling unless it was justified. More than 33,000 people have been detained in a violent crackdown on protests against Lukashenko’s rule following a contested August election his opponents say was rigged. He has been in office since 1994. In Washington later on Thursday, the United States announced visa restrictions on 43 Belarusians, including law enforcement officials it accused of detaining and abusing peaceful demonstrators. Also targeted were judges and prosecutors allegedly involved in sentencing protesters and journalists. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States was alarmed by Lukashenko’s violent crackdown on protesters, activists, and journalists. “We stand with the brave people of Belarus and support their right to free and fair elections,” he said in a statement. Neighbouring Lithuania, where Tsikhanouskaya is based, urged Minsk to end a “spiral of repression”. Poland said it would have “very serious consequences”. The European Union’s foreign affairs spokesman, Peter Stano, condemned the “shameful crackdown on media”. Exiled opposition figure Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya praised the spirit of the two journalists, writing in a tweet: “Just look at Darya and Katsiaryna – strong, smiling, and saying goodbyes to their loved ones through bars. Lukashenka can’t break us.” RENEWED CRACKDOWN The crackdown prompted new Western sanctions. Lukashenko has refused to step down, buttressed by support from Moscow, which sees Belarus as a buffer against the European Union and NATO. In a statement earlier, Andreyeva said she had risked her health and life for her work. “I managed to hide from rubber bullets, explosions of stun grenades blows from truncheons. My colleagues were much less fortunate,” she said. “I have everything: youth, a job that I love, fame, and, most importantly, a clear conscience.” The journalists were filming protests after the death of 31-year-old Roman Bondarenko, who died in hospital in November after what protesters say was a severe beating by security forces. The interior ministry denied responsibility. Lukashenko has mixed promises of reform with a renewed crackdown this week that saw police raiding the homes of journalists and rights activists and one of Lukashenko’s main electoral opponents put on trial for corruption. A separate trial begins on Friday of a journalist from the local outlet TUT.BY who contradicted the government’s assertion that Bondarenko had been drunk at the time of his death. Reuters © 2021 Access the full article here.

The government announced an investigation into social science research, broadening attacks on what it sees as destabilizing American influences. PARIS — Stepping up its attacks on social science theories that it says threaten France, the French government announced this week that it would launch an investigation into academic research that it says feeds “Islamo-leftist’’ tendencies that “corrupt society.’’ News of the investigation immediately caused a fierce backlash among university presidents and scholars, deepening fears of a crackdown on academic freedom — especially on studies of race, gender, postcolonial studies and other fields that the French government says have been imported from American universities and contribute to undermining French society. While President Emmanuel Macron and some of his top ministers have spoken out forcefully against what they see as a destabilizing influence from American campuses in recent months, the announcement marked the first time that the government has moved to take action. It came as France’s lower house of Parliament passed a draft law against Islamism, an ideology it views as encouraging terrorist attacks, and as Mr. Macron tilts further to the right, anticipating nationalist challenges ahead of elections next year. Frédérique Vidal, the minister of higher education, said in Parliament on Tuesday that the state-run National Center for Scientific Research would oversee an investigation into the “totality of research underway in our country,’’ singling out post-colonialism. In an earlier television interview, Ms. Vidal said the investigation would focus on “Islamo-leftism’’ — a controversial term embraced by some of Mr. Macron’s leading ministers to accuse left-leaning intellectuals of justifying Islamism and even terrorism. “Islamo-leftism corrupts all of society and universities are not impervious,’’ Ms. Vidal said, adding that some scholars were advancing “radical” and “activist” ideas. Referring also to scholars of race and gender, Ms. Vidal accused them of “always looking at everything through the prism of their will to divide, to fracture, to pinpoint the enemy.’’ France has since the early last century defined itself as a secular state devoted to the idea that all of its citizens are the same under the law, to the extent that the government keeps no statistics on ethnicity and religion. A newly diversifying society, and the lasting marginalization of immigrants mostly from its former colonies, has tested those precepts. Calls for greater awareness of discrimination have met opposition from a political establishment that often views them as an invitation to American multiculturalism and as a threat to France’s identity and social cohesion. In unusually blunt language, the academic world rejected the government’s accusations. The Conference of University Presidents on Tuesday dismissed “Islamo-leftism’’ as a “pseudo notion” popularized by the far right, chiding the government’s discourse as “talking rubbish.’’ The National Center for Scientific Research, the state organization that the minister ordered to oversee the investigation, suggested on Wednesday that it would comply, but it said it “firmly condemned” attacks on academic freedom. The organization said it “especially condemned attempts to delegitimize different fields of research, like post-colonial studies, intersectional studies and research on race.’’ Opposition by academics hardened on Thursday, when the association that would actually carry out the investigation, Athéna, put out a sharply worded statement saying that it was not its responsibility to conduct the inquiry. The seemingly esoteric fight over social science theories — which has made the front page of at least three of France’s major newspapers in recent days — points to a larger culture war in France that has been punctuated in the past year by mass protests over racism and police violence, competing visions of feminism, and explosive debates over Islam and Islamism. It also follows years of attacks, large and small, by Islamist terrorists, that have killed more than 250 French, including in recent months three people at a basilica in Nice and a teacher who was beheaded. While the culture war is being played out in the media and in politics, it has its roots in France’s universities. In recent years, a new, more diverse generation of social science scholars has embraced studies of race, gender, and post-colonialism as tools to understand a nation that has often been averse to reflect on its history or on subjects like race and racism. They have clashed with an older generation of intellectuals who regard these social science theories as American imports — though many of the thinkers behind race, gender, and post-colonialism are French or of other nationalities. Mr. Macron, who had shown little interest in the issues in the past, has won over many conservatives in recent months by coming down hard against what he has called “certain social science theories entirely imported from the United States.’’ In a major speech on Islamism last fall, Mr. Macron talked of children or grandchildren of Arab and African immigrants “revisiting their identity through a post-colonial or anti-colonial discourse’’ — falling into a trap set by people who use this discourse as a form of “self-hatred’’ nurtured against France. In recent months, Mr. Macron has moved further to the right as part of a strategy to draw support from his likely main challenger in next year’s presidential election, Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader. Polls show that Mr. Macron’s edge has shrunk over Ms. Le Pen, who was his main rival in the last election. Chloé Morin, a public opinion expert at the Fondation Jean-Jaurès, a Paris-based research group, said that Mr. Macron’s political base has completely shifted to the right and that his minister’s use of the expression Islamo-leftism “speaks to the right-wing electorate.” “It has perhaps become one of the most effective terms for discrediting an opponent,” Ms. Morin said. Last fall, Mr. Macron’s ministers adopted a favorite expression of the far-right, “ensauvagement,’’ or “turning savage,’’ to decry supposedly out-of-control crime — even though the government’s own statistics showed that crime was actually flat or declining. Marwan Mohammed, a French sociologist, and expert on Islamophobia, said that politicians have often used dog-whistle words, like “ensauvagement’’ or “Islamo-leftism,’’ to divide the electorate. “I think the government will be offering us these kinds of topics with a regular rhythm until next year’s presidential elections,’’ Mr. Mohammed said, adding that these heated cultural debates distracted attention from the government’s mishandling of the coronavirus epidemic, the economic crisis and even the epidemic-fueled crisis at the nation’s universities. The expression “Islamo-leftism” was first coined in the early 2000s by the French historian Pierre-André Taguieff to describe what he saw as a political alliance between far-left militants and Islamist radicals against the United States and Israel. More recently, it has been used by conservative and far-right figures — and now by some of Mr. Macron’s ministers — against those they accuse of being soft on Islamism and focusing instead on Islamophobia. Experts on Islamophobia examine how hostility toward Islam, rooted in France’s colonial experience, continues to shape the lives of French Muslims. Critics say their focus is a product of American-style, victim-based identity politics. Mr. Taguieff, a leading critic of American universities, said in a recent email that Islamophobia, along with the “totally artificial importation’’ in France of the “American-style Black question” sought to create the false narrative of “systemic racism’’ in France. Sarah Mazouz, a sociologist at the National Center for Scientific Research, said that the government’s attacks on these social theories “highlight the difficulty of the French state to thinking of itself as a state within a multicultural society.” She said the use of the expression “Islamo-leftism” was aimed at “delegitimizing” these new studies on race, gender, and other subjects, “so that the debate does not take place.” The New York Times © 2021 Access the full article here.

Exclusion of Civil Society from Discussions Raises Concern The administration of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro should ensure that any discussions about changing the country’s human rights policies occur in a transparent manner, with meaningful consultation with and participation by civil society and particularly affected groups, Human Rights Watch said today. The Bolsonaro administration has established a working group to propose changes to the National Human Rights Program, the most important statement of human rights policy in Brazil. The working group does not include any representatives of civil society, Congress, or the justice system, and all its discussions are secret. “The Bolsonaro administration, which has promoted an anti-rights agenda, has announced it is planning to change the National Human Rights Program in absolute secret, and without the participation of anyone who disagrees with its policies,” said Maria Laura Canineu, Brazil director at Human Rights Watch. “Given the administration’s deplorable human rights track record, there is a real risk that the result of this secret process will be disastrous for the protection of human rights in Brazil.” The National Human Rights Program establishes a roadmap of principles and measures to improve the protection of rights and liberties and has been the basis for rights-respecting policies. On February 10, 2021, the minister of women, family, and human rights issued a regulation creating a working group to review the National Human Rights Program and to propose changes. The regulation prohibits the release of any information about the group’s discussions until it ends its activities, in November. The 14 members of the group are all representatives of the Ministry of Women, Family, and Human Rights. They can invite representatives of private or public bodies to its meetings, but these guests will have no voting power. Brazil has put in place three National Human Rights Programs since the end of the dictatorship (1964-1985). All three were drafted after ample, transparent public consultation. For the last revision, the federal government under then-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva established in 2008 a working group made up of representatives of civil society, Congress’s human rights commissions, prosecutors, judges, and public defenders, in addition to the executive branch. The working group organized a national conference that examined and updated the previous National Human Rights Program, which dated from 2002. Additional regional meetings were held. The Lula administration estimated that 14,000 people participated in the discussions. The current National Human Rights Program was adopted in 2010. One of its results was the creation of a Truth Commission to investigate human rights abuses during Brazil’s dictatorship. President Bolsonaro, then a member of Congress and an overt apologist for the military regime, opposed the Truth Commission. In addition, the 2010 National Human Rights Program calls for protecting people with disabilities against discrimination, reducing police killings, providing education on sexual and reproductive rights, and upholding freedom of speech, among other critically important initiatives. The Bolsonaro administration has tried to undermine all those policies. It has opened the door to denying inclusive education to children with disabilities and establishing segregated schools for them. It has encouraged more police violence through public statements and legislative proposals. It has punished public servants for recommending maintaining sexual and reproductive health services during the Covid-19 pandemic. And The Bolsonaro administration has taken other measures to undermine transparency. In March 2020, it suspended deadlines for government agencies to respond to public information requests during the Covid-19 emergency and prevented citizens from appealing declined requests. And in June, it stopped providing complete data about a number of confirmed Covid-19 cases and deaths. In both cases, the Supreme Court overturned those measures. President Bolsonaro has also shown significant hostility toward non-governmental organizations. In April 2019, he decreed the elimination of most federal councils, committees, and working groups that included representatives of civil society. The decree also eliminated the government committee in charge of coordinating the implementation of the National Human Rights Program. On February 12, more than 200 Brazilian non-governmental organizations issued a joint statement criticizing the creation of a working group to review the National Human Rights Program made up just of representatives of the Bolsonaro administration. They pressed for revocation of the regulation that created the group. International human rights law requires governments to provide the public with access to information, including by actively putting in the public domain information of public interest. Governments are also obligated to consult with affected communities whenever a decision-making process may substantially affect the way of life and culture of a minority group. More broadly, transparency is a critically important element of public accountability and democratic governance. “Given its potential implications for the rights of people throughout Brazil, as well as marginalized groups, any substantive review of the country’s human rights policies should be conducted openly, with broad participation by society, including experts and groups that may be particularly affected,” Canineu said.it has sought prosecutions of people who criticized its response to Covid-19. Human Rights Watch © 2021 Access the full article here.

OUAGADOUGOU/BAMAKO (Reuters) - Suspected Islamists killed at least 18 people in attacks in northern Burkina Faso and central Mali on Wednesday and Thursday, government and security sources said. Attacks by militants with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State are common in the two West African countries, where Islamists have expanded their reach in recent years despite the presence of 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers and 5,100 French troops. This week Chad announced it would deploy 1,200 troops to the area to complement France’s Barkhane counter-terrorism force, as leaders of the five Sahel countries and their allies met to assess the security situation. The attack in Burkina Faso happened on Thursday morning between the towns of Markoye and Tokabangou, where residents were ambushed on their way to a market across the nearby border in Dolbel, Niger, government spokesman Ousseni Tamboura said in a statement. Eight people died and nine were wounded, he said. A security source said that one more person later died of injuries. In Mali, at least nine people were killed and others were missing or wounded in a spate of attacks near Bandiagara in the central Mopti region, local government sources said. Gunmen opened fire in two villages on Wednesday evening and ambushed several public transport cars on the road between Sevare and Bankass on Thursday, two mayors said. Chad will send its troops to the tri-border region between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, the epicentre of attacks in the Sahel. Since the start of the year, over 150 civilians have been killed by militants in the three countries, including 100 in an attack on two villages in Niger in early January. Reporting by Thiam Niaga and Tiemoko Diallo, additional reporting by Boureima Balima in Niamey; Writing by Bate Felix and Nellie Peyton; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Grant McCool © Reuters 2021

Loss of autonomy in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir threatens minorities’ rights – UN independent experts. Nimisha Jaiswal/IRIN | Women walking past Indian security forces in Srinagar, summer capital of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. 18th February 2021 India’s decision to end autonomy in Jammu and Kashmir and restrict the participation of minorities in political and other activities sparked the concern of two UN-appointed independent human rights experts, on Thursday. “The loss of autonomy and the imposition of direct rule by the Government in New Delhi suggests the people of Jammu and Kashmir no longer have their own government and have lost power to legislate or amend laws in the region to ensure the protection of their rights as minorities”, Fernand de Varennes, Special Rapporteur on minority issues, and Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, said in a statement. Autonomy imperiled As Jammu and Kashmir were India’s only Muslim-majority state, India granted them partial autonomy out of respect for the ethnic, linguistic and religious identities of its people. On 5 August 2019, the Government unilaterally revoked its special status and in May 2020, passed the so-called Domicile Rules, which removes protections for those in the territory. The new laws override previous ones that had granted the Kashmiri Muslim, Dogri, Gojri, Pahari, Sikh, Ladhaki and other established minorities the right to buy property, own land and access certain state jobs. “These legislative changes may have the potential to pave the way for people from outside the former state of Jammu and Kashmir to settle in the region, alter the demographics of the region and undermine the minorities’ ability to exercise effectively their human rights”, the experts said. Moreover, the number of successful applicants for domicile certificates that appear to be from outside Jammu and Kashmir raised their concern that demographic changes on a linguistic, religious and ethnic basis have already begun. Undermining minority rights The UN experts urged India to ensure the economic, social and cultural rights of the people in Jammu and Kashmir along with their rights to freedom of expression and participation in matters affecting them. Independent UN Special Rapporteurs are appointed  by the Human Rights Council. They are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity. See article here. © 2021 UN News

February 18th, 2021 12:17 PM Human rights activists say “red-tagging,” a tactic whereby individuals are labelled as communists or terrorists – often without substantial proof – is being increasingly deployed by government supporters and state officials in the Philippines. The practice equates many left-wing activities with terrorism. Rights activists say it is now being used against doctors, activists, academics, students and journalists, among others. Rights groups say the tagging spree has led to a spate of unlawful detentions and killings. Cristina Palabay, secretary general of the human rights organization Karapatan, told VOA at least 78 people have been killed as a result of either red-tagging or anti-terrorism police operations in the last year alone. There were also some 136 arrests, according to records compiled by the group. "More and more people are now in the firing line - things appear to only be getting worse,” said Palabay. Ibarra Gutierrez, a human rights lawyer and former member of the Philippine House of Representatives, told VOA that while the Philippines has a long history of red tagging, the current administration is the first to use the tactic openly. “Red-tagging also occurred during prior administrations, but people at the top were still smart enough to distance themselves from it – they would not outright condone the killings. “Now we have officials in government who regularly use the tactic themselves - the levels of shamelessness in the Philippines have reached an all-time high,” said Gutierrez. For more than 50 years, the Philippine government has been mired in a civil war with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA). After peace talks to end the insurgency collapsed in 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte has since accused the CPP and other left-wing groups of trying to “overthrow the government.” The accusation comes alongside the enactment of a controversial anti-terror law in July last year. Amid this heightened anti-terrorism campaign, those who express dissent may now find their names appearing on lists, street tarpaulins or Facebook posts, accusing them of being communist rebels. For some, the simple label is tantamount to a death sentence. In a high-profile case last December, a red-tagged doctor and her husband were gunned down in broad daylight by unknown assailants in the city of Guihulngan. Dr. Mary Rose Sancelan - who had led her community’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic - had reportedly appeared on a list from local militia group ‘Kagubak,’ which baselessly claimed Sancelan had links to the NPA. Some local rights groups have long asserted that a ‘culture of red-tagging’ is ‘state-sponsored,’ but presidential spokesperson Harry Roque has repeatedly denied claims of a government-led plan to accuse people of being communists. While red-tagging has been embraced by many anti-communist groups, some Philippine state officials have also used the tactic. Last month, Facebook pages belonging to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) published a list of academics and alumni from the University of the Philippines, claiming the individuals were either deceased or current NPA rebels. In an online statement following his red-tagging in the now-deleted list, former Philippine Health Insurance Corporation CEO Alexander Padilla said: “I am appalled and disgusted [at] how [the] government cavalierly plays with the lives of innocent people. I am now anxious for me and for others on the list, whose lives are now placed in peril.” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana called the list an “unpardonable gaffe,” while the AFP’s Civil Military Operations Office (CMOO) released a statement to “apologize for those who were inadvertently affected by inconsistencies.” The CMOO also said that personnel responsible would be held accountable, with the Presidential Palace urging the military to ‘exercise prudence’ when disseminating information online. See article here. © 2021 VOA News

An urgent appeal for $222.6 million was made on Tuesday by the UN refugee agency and partners to assist more than 315,000 Burundian refugees this year. Published by UN News on February 16, 2021. Refugees from Burundi prepare to board a flight back home in December 2020. (UNHCR/Samuel Otieno) “Increased international support is crucial to ensure Burundian refugees receive meaningful protection and care in neighbouring countries”, said Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ (UNHCR) Regional Director for the East, Horn of Africa and Great Lakes region. More international backing For nearly seven years, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have hosted Burundi refugees. And although a political transition last year has brought hope that more refugees may be able to return home, the majority will continue to need international protection throughout the year. This year, the 2021 Burundi Regional Refugee Response Plan seeks critical support to provide food, shelter and education, as well as access to healthcare and water, which are especially needed for prevention and response measures related to the coronavirus pandemic. “Committing resources is an important signal that the world has not forgotten Burundian refugees and their host communities”, said Mr. Nkweta-Salami. On shaky ground The UN refugee agency cited a political crisis in 2015 that had constrained the country’s peacebuilding and social cohesion and yielded international sanctions that led to market instability, price increases, food insecurity and supply shortages. Moreover, rising unemployment and the collapse of social services have resulted in a sharp deterioration in living conditions. And in 2019 more frequent and severe shortages of fuel and currency contributed to a flourishing black market. With a population of approximately 12 million, Burundi is one of the most densely populated countries in Africa. According to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) October 2020 World Economic Outlook, the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita stood at a meagre $267. Meanwhile, the economy remains heavily reliant on agriculture, which accounts for more than a third of the country’s GDP, but whose productivity is the lowest in the region. A joint plan Last year’s $293 million Burundian refugee response appeal, which was just 40 per cent financed, was among the most underfunded globally. The consequences for the lives of refugees and their host communities were acute and included cuts to food rations, inadequate shelters, shortages of medicines and insufficient livelihood activities. This year’s appeal includes funding to step up voluntary, safe and dignified return for those who choose to repatriate, and is complemented by a Joint Refugee Return and Reintegration Plan, which covers returnee receptions and monitoring along with reintegration support in Burundi. Although conditions are not yet conducive for the promotion of voluntary repatriation, UNHCR is supporting the return of Burundian refugees if their decision is voluntary, free and informed, and that their return takes place in safety and dignity. COPYRIGHT © UNITED NATIONS