Month: March 2018

As Mueller Seeks Interview, Trump Is Left Without Easy Options

Posted on by SeeUS

The special counsel’s office wants to talk to Donald Trump about the firings of James Comey and Michael Flynn, but as the president’s lawyers negotiate the terms and scope of a possible interview, they’re left with no easy options.

Balking at an interview, even a narrowly tailored one focused on obstruction of justice questions, risks perpetuating the perception that Trump has something to hide. But agreeing to discuss those matters with Robert Mueller’s team is risky for Trump, whose statements can be unpredictable and inconsistent. Weeks of dialogue between the sides have yet to resolve a question of extraordinary consequence: Will Trump, like many of his aides before him, get grilled by Mueller’s prosecutors?

“Obviously this is not just a legal problem, but this is also a political problem,” said Robert Ray, who succeeded Kenneth Starr as the independent counsel in the Whitewater investigation. “Life is not that simple. It requires a delicate balance between weighing the important legal issues that are involved but also recognizing the important political consequences as well.”

The negotiations have been closely held, but a resolution could arrive soon to avert the prospect of a grand jury subpoena, as happened to President Bill Clinton during Whitewater, or a lengthy court challenge reminiscent of the Watergate era.

Mueller’s interest in Trump himself has appeared focused on seminal moments of his administration even amid signs of an expanding, and intensifying, investigation. In the past month alone, Mueller secured the guilty plea of a Dutch lawyer for lying to the FBI, indicted 13 Russians accused of meddling in the 2016 presidential election and secured the grand jury testimony of a well-connected Lebanese-American businessman whose cooperation could open a new front for investigators.

Subjects of interest

Yet Mueller’s office has so far presented the president with more limited questions.

Prosecutors trying to establish whether Trump took steps to obstruct justice have conveyed interest in talking with the president about his decision to fire Comey as FBI director last May and about multiple conversations between the two men, including one in which Comey said he was encouraged to end an investigation into national security adviser Michael Flynn, according to people familiar with the investigation. They’re also interested in the February ouster of Flynn and the events leading up to it — the White House was warned that law enforcement thought he was vulnerable to blackmail — and in Trump’s pressuring of Attorney General Jeff Sessions over his recusal from the Russia investigation.

Those topics may be narrow, but Trump hasn’t always helped himself.

The White House initially said Trump was acting on the Justice Department’s recommendation when he dismissed Comey, but Trump said days later that he’d have done it anyway and was thinking of “this Russia thing” at the time. And though Trump has denied Comey’s account of his conversation about Flynn, a tweet from his account after Flynn pleaded guilty of lying to the FBI appeared to suggest for the first time that the White House knew at the time Flynn was ousted that he had misled investigators about his Russian contacts.

It’s impossible to rule out that Mueller’s team won’t seek answers from Trump on the investigation’s other tentacles, making it dangerous for Trump to be interviewed “because there are lots of things that Mueller is looking at that Trump doesn’t know the answer to,” said Solomon Wisenberg, the deputy independent counsel under Starr who led the grand jury questioning of Clinton in the Whitewater probe.

“This is very dangerous. There’s no question if he were a normal client, you would tell him, ‘Don’t go in for an interview,’ ” Wisenberg said.

Though Trump’s legal team has not said publicly what terms it would accept, “if you’re Trump’s lawyers, you want to limit damage. You want to limit both the time and the topic.”

And “if you’re Mueller,” Wisenberg added, “you have to think about, ‘It’s the presidency.’ You have to show proper respect for the office and the demands of the presidency. You don’t want to take a position that can be seen as unreasonable.”

Trump’s legal team has repeatedly pointed to its cooperation with Mueller, noting that the White House has furnished more than 20,000 documents and made more than 20 officials available for interviews without asserting executive privilege. But though Trump, who has decades of experience with lawyers and sees himself as a street-smart talker, has declared publicly that he wants to sit for an interview, that question is more delicate for his own attorneys. His personal lawyer, John Dowd, has pointed reporters to a 1997 appeals court opinion that created broadly interpreted presidential privilege.

Precedent for questioning

There’s well-established precedent for presidents to be questioned by government investigators. Ronald Reagan, for instance, provided written responses to questions from an independent counsel investigating the Iran-Contra scandal. George W. Bush was interviewed about the disclosure of a CIA officer’s identity. Clinton offered grand jury testimony.

If Trump and Mueller are unable to reach agreement, Mueller could theoretically subpoena Trump to compel his testimony before the grand jury. Trump might be reluctant for perception reasons to invoke a Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, Wisenberg said, but by the same token, “if anybody can pull off explaining to the American people why he’s not going in, it’s Trump.

 “If he doesn’t go in, I think he should make a statement. ‘I’m invoking my right, and here’s why.’ It could be a civics lesson for the country.”

If the calculus were simply a legal one, said Ray, “then you would just listen and be governed by the guidance of criminal defense counsel” not to speak.

Instead, he added, the president is surely mindful that the investigation has shadowed his administration and may conclude that speaking with Mueller may be the fastest way to resolve it.

“That is also a factor, too, and that is just as important to the administration and to the country,” Ray said.
…

your ad here

France to Fine Google, Apple Amid Broader Transatlantic Spat

Posted on by SeeUS

France added more kindling to a growing commercial dispute between Europe and the United States, announcing Wednesday it would sue American tech giants Google and Apple over allegedly abusive business practices.

After peanut butter, cranberries and bourbon, Google and Apple are the latest American icons in Europe’s crosshairs. Speaking to French radio Wednesday, French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire accused the two U.S. companies of unilaterally imposing prices and other terms on French startups.

Google and Apple may be powerful, Le Maire said, but they should not be able to treat French startups and developers the way they currently do.

France has taken legal action against the companies before. But this latest dispute comes amid a potential trade war, as Washington prepares to slap tariffs against steel and aluminum imports.

The European Union has vowed countermeasures on products such as peanut butter if the bloc is not exempted from the U.S. measures, which may take effect next week. But European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told the EU Parliament Wednesday she hopes that will not happen.

“As long as the measures have not entered into force, we hope to avoid a significant trade dispute,” she said. “The root problem, as many of you have said, is overcapacity in steel and aluminum sectors.”

Malmstrom said the European Union and the United States should instead work together to end unfair subsidies by some countries and level the trading field.

France has a mixed relationship with U.S. internet companies — both encouraging them to invest here, but also to pay more EU taxes — as it tries to build its home-grown industry.

Last year, it also threatened fines against Amazon for allegedly abusing its dominant position with suppliers. French justice has yet to rule on the case.
…

your ad here

US Rejects Iranian Accusations of Supporting Afghan IS

Posted on by SeeEA

The United States is rejecting as “laughable and patently false” Iranian allegations that American troops in Afghanistan support Islamic State militants.

Citing “intelligence as well as eyewitness accounts,” Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, earlier this week alleged U.S. military helicopters were seen rescuing and airlifting IS militants from battle zones and an eastern Afghan prison to unknown locations.

U.S. Ambassador to Kabul John Bass and NATO’s Resolute Support military mission, in separate statements Wednesday to an Afghan television station, dismissed Zarif’s accusations as propaganda.

Tehran should be focusing its energies on supporting the Afghan government’s peace efforts “rather than spreading falsehoods,” Bass told TOLOnews.

“The facts are clear: U.S. forces have removed more than 1,000 ISIS-K combatants from the battlefield, and the combined efforts of the United States and the Afghan National Defense and Security forces have reduced ISIS-K’s presence in Afghanistan,” the ambassador said, using one of several acronyms for the Syrian-based terrorist group.

A U.S. embassy spokesman confirmed to VOA that Bass issued the statement exclusively to the channel in response to comments made by the Iranian foreign minister.

Captain Tom Gresback, of NATO’s mission, also told the Afghan television station that every effort has been made on the ground and from the air to kill IS militants and to prevent them from establishing a presence in the country.

“This false Iranian narrative has no substance, is based on no evidence, and repeats a deliberate Russian propaganda and disinformation campaign,” he said.

Moscow has also increasingly alleged in recent months that “unmarked” military helicopters are making flights to areas in northern Afghanistan where IS militants are entrenched, which borders Russia’s allied Central Asian states.

While Russians have avoided naming U.S. and NATO, the Iranian foreign minister, during his official visit Monday to neighboring Pakistan, directly accused Washington of supporting Afghan-based IS militants.

For their part, U.S. officials alleged Moscow and Tehran are supporting the Taliban insurgency to undermine hard-earned political and security gains Afghanistan has achieved over the past 16 years with the help of international partners.
…

your ad here

Iran Signs $740 Million Agreement on Oil Project

Posted on by SeeEA

Iran’s state-run oil company has signed a $740 million agreement with a Russian-Iranian consortium to develop two oil fields near the Iraqi border.

Under the agreement signed Wednesday, there will be a 48,000-barrel daily production of crude for a 10-year span in oil fields in Aban and West Paidar in the southwest near the border with Iraq. Iran currently produces 36,000 barrels of crude in both fields.

The consortium includes the Russian state-controlled Zarubezhneft Oil Co. and the Iranian private Dana Energy Co.

This is the second energy contract with foreign companies following the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Last year, Iran signed a $5 billion agreement with France’s Total SA and a Chinese oil company to develop its massive offshore natural gas field.
…

your ad here

UN Calls for Release of Arbitrarily Arrested in Eritrea

Posted on by SeeAF

The United Nations Human Rights Office is calling on the Eritrean government to immediately release all people who are arbitrarily detained and ensure they receive a fair trial. On Wednesday, a senior rights official updated the U.N. Human Rights Council on the prevailing rights situation in Eritrea.

For years, groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have considered Eritrea one of the most repressive countries in the world. There is no independent media, critics of the government are routinely arrested, and most young people are forced into years of “national service,” which some liken to slavery.

U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore, who presented Wednesday’s report, says the human rights situation for Eritrea’s people has not improved.

“Arbitrary detention without charge or trial are still the norm in the country, affecting thousands imprisoned, languishing within the country’s jail cells, including those who were reportedly arrested after participating in the funeral of the 93-year-old founder of an Islamic school who himself had been arrested for opposing the takeover of the school by the state,” she said.

Thousands of people reportedly were rounded up when demonstrations broke out at the cleric’s funeral earlier this month.

Gilmore says a U.N. delegation to Eritrea in October raised a number of troubling human rights concerns with authorities.

“We emphasized the need to strengthen the rule of law and to ensure access to justice. We urged an end to indefinite national service — which is the root cause of so many human rights violations,” she said. “We asked that information on the whereabouts of disappeared persons be provided urgently, as should access for the families of those in detention.”

Gilmore says the U.N. delegation urged the Eritrean government to implement a constitution under which human rights are fully protected.

She says the government said it was still considering a review of the constitution — something that Eritrean officials have raised as a possibility before, but with no actual results.

Gilmore says her office is committed to working with the government in hopes of bringing about tangible reforms to end decades of human rights violations.

 

 

 
…

your ad here

China’s Military Footprint Grows Alongside Economic Interests in Africa

Posted on by SeeAF

In the 2017 movie Wolf Warrior 2, the protagonist is a heroic Chinese soldier fighting mercenaries, pirates and an Ebola-like disease in a nameless African country. The film depicts a China that’s strong but benevolent — ready to fight but doing so in the name of justice and peace.

Wolf Warrior 2 also reflects the stance of the Chinese government, said Peter Fabricius, a freelance journalist and a consultant with the Institute for Security Studies, an Africa-focused research organization.

“[Chinese leader] Xi Jinping is carving out an increasingly assertive role for China on the world stage,” Fabricius told VOA.

Offscreen, China’s security footprint in Africa has been expanding quietly alongside its deepening economic interests across the continent. Experts disagree about whether China might, in the future, protect its interests through force. But they see its presence in Africa as a testing ground for a new kind of multilayered engagement around the world.

​Beyond peacekeeping

Historically, China exerted its security presence in Africa through contributions to United Nations peacekeeping missions, Fabricius said. However, it has long used its U.N. involvement to protect its interests, he added.

For instance, in South Sudan, where China has significant oil interests, the country has contributed a 700-troop infantry battalion to the U.N. mission, UNMISS. In the Democratic Republic of Congo — a major supplier of copper and cobalt to the Chinese economy — China has contributed 220 troops to the U.N. mission, MONUSCO.

But recently, China has shown a willingness to take direct military action in Africa. Its navy has monitored and captured Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, and last year China opened its first overseas logistics and military base, a naval resupply facility in Djibouti. 

China’s maritime presence, including its navy, is now arguably the world’s strongest, David Lampton, the director of China Studies at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies, said at a recent screening of the film in Washington.

“As China’s interests in the world grow, China feels entirely — as I think it should — entitled to protect its people. And that’s going to lead to a more interventionist China,” Lampton said.

​Strings attached

Western governments have long worried that China supports African governments with questionable human rights records by issuing loans or offering development aid with no strings attached.

“That’s been undercutting the efforts by Western donor countries, if you want to put it that way — development partners, more euphemistically — to use their aid, et cetera to develop democracy, human rights and so on, making it conditional,” Fabricius said.

In reality, Fabricius said, China does impose conditions. Countries that work with the world’s second-largest economy must observe the One-China policy, for example. That doctrine insists that Taiwan is part of China.

In other cases, nations that accept Chinese assistance have been asked to ban visits from the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing considers a subversive force working to promote Tibetan independence.

Development aid has also come with a cost. In Angola, China has offered aid in exchange for future rights to oil. In Djibouti, Kenya and elsewhere in East Africa, funding for large infrastructure projects may trigger exclusive access rights if countries struggle to pay back their loans.

Djibouti, home to the Chinese logistics and military base and a new Chinese-funded electric railway that connects it to Ethiopia, has borrowed the equivalent of more than 75 percent of its GDP from China.

​Projection of force

Experts disagree on whether China would protect its interests through direct force and under what circumstances that might happen.

But China’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, its massive collection of global infrastructure projects, has produced tensions that may require military might to protect commercial interests, Lampton said.

“I do not expect that the Chinese are going to be using military force to protect their investments in a general sense,” Deborah Brautigam, the director of the China-Africa Research Initiative, told a VOA reporter at the film screening. “I do think that Chinese companies will hire security guards to protect their investments.”

Lampton was less confident that China won’t use its expanding security presence to project force as its economic interests expand.

“China doesn’t want to depend on the U.S. Navy to guarantee its resource supply,” Lampton said. That punctuates the need to protect its own interests and also raises questions about whether China would act defensively or offensively. That’s a matter of perspective and of how a specific context gets framed, Lampton said.

​Highest-grossing film

The message of Wolf Warrior 2, directed by and starring Wu Jing, seems to be resonating at home. The film has become the highest-grossing movie in China, surpassing all domestic and Hollywood-produced films.

Rosemary Segero, a Kenyan businesswoman and consultant who attended the film screening, appreciated the portrayal and welcomed the message.

She said the movie depicted positive aspects of Chinese involvement in Africa and should be shown across the continent. “I think that would be used as a tool for peacebuilding and security,” Segero said.
…

your ad here

Commonwealth Africa Summit Focuses on Youth, Gender Equality

Posted on by SeeAF

Delegates from across Africa are attending the Commonwealth Africa Summit in London – where the theme this year is the ‘Common Good’. Topics under discussion include climate change and improving gender equality. The Commonwealth has its origins in the British Empire – most members were former colonies –  and Britain is hoping to rekindle those ties as it leaves the European Union.

 

Nineteen African countries are members of the Commonwealth – an organization that encompasses one-third of the world’s population.

 

The opening summit address was given by Maria Fernandez De La Vega, president of the Women for Africa Foundation.

 

She said that “in the face of the ever-greater tolerance of inequality, we have to continue to cry out for equality.” She said “the combination of young people and women together will allow us to take a new look at Africa.”

 

Issues like gender equality are being tackled by other institutions like the United Nations and the African Union. So what is the point of the Commonwealth? Sue Onslow is from the Institute for Commonwealth Studies at the University of London.

 

“There is a general interest and value which is attached to the Commonwealth as a political imagination, to the access and networks that it offers, to possibilities of best practice and indeed to emphasizing commonalities of working together,” she said.

 

Gambia was last month re-admitted to the Commonwealth after a four-year absence, following the democratic election of President Adama Barrow.

 

Zimbabwe has indicated that it may apply to re-join after it was suspended in 2002 following concerns over unfair elections.

 

Caroline Kampila – a Zimbabwean citizen living in London, attending the conference – hopes Zimbabwe will soon be readmitted.

 

“We’ve been isolated for such a long time and we really want to be where other people are, where other nations are,” she said.

 

Interest in the Commonwealth has also revived in Britain – where the government hopes increased trade could help to make up for any losses after leaving the European Union.

 

“Quite frankly I find that idea laughable because the Commonwealth is the antithesis, the very opposite of the EU as a bureaucratic, trading bloc,” said analyst Sud Onslow.

 

Nonetheless Britain is aiming to strengthen ties when it hosts the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting next month – when the leaders of all 53 member nations will gather in London and at the Royal Family’s residence at Windsor Castle.
…

your ad here

Egypt Coach Facing Obstacle of Ramadan Ahead of World Cup

Posted on by SeeEA

Well-traveled and much experienced as a soccer coach, Hector Cuper is facing a new obstacle when it comes to preparing Egypt for this year’s World Cup.

The tournament in Russia starts on the final day of Ramadan, the holy month that requires Muslims to fast from dawn to sunset. Egypt is scheduled to play its opening match a day later, on June 15, against Uruguay.

That means much of Egypt’s preparations for the World Cup – the country’s first in 28 years – will be done while the all-Muslim team is supposed to be fasting during daylight hours.

“If I deal with that pragmatically, I should turn the day upside down. Maybe Egyptian players are accustomed to doing this, but I as a Western person am not,” Cuper said late Tuesday on a TV talk show. “How can I train them at night around 11 or 12 after iftar (the meal Muslims eat at sunset to break their fast)? And how can I train them during the day without water and when they had nothing to eat?

“We are working on this and seeking to find the best way to overcome fasting fatigue and prevent it from hurting the players.”

Egypt, a record seven-time African champion, will also face host Russia and Saudi Arabia in Group A at the World Cup. Cuper, an Argentine who has coached extensively around his native country and in Europe, took over as national team coach in 2015.

There has been widespread speculation on whether soccer authorities in Egypt will request a fatwa, or a religious edict, from the country’s top theologian exempting the squad from fasting during the crucial month of preparation before the tournament begins.

In comments published Wednesday, Cuper said it would be up to the individual players to decide.

“Players of the national squad are absolutely free to fast and we cannot interfere in this because of my full respect for all faiths,” Cuper said, adding nutrition experts have been retained to advise the players on how to cope with fasting and sleeping during Ramadan.

In Russia, the Egyptian team will be based in Chechnya. Team officials have said they are happy to be in Grozny because it is a Muslim city where the players would be comfortable.

Devout Muslims refrain from food, water and sex while the sun is out during Ramadan. The lunar month is in May and June this year, with the long days making the fast a grueling 15- or 16-hour test of stamina. During Ramadan, Muslims break their fast at iftar, the traditionally large meal after sunset. Just before dawn, they eat another meal, sohour.

“I endure a great deal of hardship when I am fasting, but I prefer to honor my religious duty as long as I am able to cope,’ said Egypt defender Saad Sameer, who plays for Cairo club Al-Ahly. “I will fast the month of Ramadan, regardless of what the team decides.”

Another Egypt player, Zamalek midfielder Tareq Hamed, said he would abide by any decision reached by the team’s management on whether to fast.

“I hope we do well in the World Cup and not be distracted by issues like fasting,” said Hamed, adding he and many other players have in the past played matches while fasting.

Edicts exempting soccer players from fasting are not without precedence.

A 2008 edict by Egypt’s mufti, the country’s top theologian, exempted players from fasting during match days, arguing that if playing is what they do for a living then they should break their fast, provided that they compensate for those days after the end of Ramadan. Training, he said, did not provide grounds for breaking the fast.

The issue of Ramadan has showcased the religious dimension of sports, especially soccer, in Egypt, a majority Muslim country of about 100 million people, of whom about 10 million are Christians.

Egyptian match commentators routinely pray to God to come to the aid of the national team and they offer a prayer of thanks when they score. Beside the “Pharaohs,” the Egyptian national team has another nickname: “The Squad of al-Sajedeen,” or the team that kneels down and offers prayers, which they do after scoring.

It is also traditional for the team to collectively read the opening verse of the Quran before kickoff.
…

your ad here

Tuaregs Celebrate Culture in Niger Sahara Festival

Posted on by SeeAF

Tuaregs in northern Niger are hoping to draw tourists back to the region by putting their traditional dances, music poetry and camel races on display.

 

Despite concerns about Islamic extremism throughout the Sahel region in West Africa, organizers recently hosted more than 1,000 visitors to a cultural festival in Iferouane, a village in Niger’s far north.

 

“Without tourism, our youth risks falling into idleness and misery, and will join the wave of migration to Europe,” said Mohamed Houma, the mayor of the town located about 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of the central city of Agadez.

 

The Air festival, considered one of the most important gatherings to celebrate the culture of the Tuareg people, has been held since 2001.

 

It was marked last month by the sound of tende, the Tuareg style of music and drumming, as the women and men, on foot and on their camels, participated in song and dance competitions.

Since 2001, the gatherings have been held to celebrate the culture of the semi-nomadic Tuareg people. More than 2 million Tuaregs live in the Sahara Desert area, stretching across Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Algeria and Tunisia.

 

Niger’s Air region, with oases, mountains and sand dunes, has been a destination for adventurous Western tourists since the 1980s and the visitors have been a financial boon for the region. But the tourism has dwindled since the Tuareg rebellion, which lasted from 2007 to 2009, and from the proliferation of armed and extremist groups in the Sahel region.

Security guards watched over the dozen French and Belgian tourists who participated this year’s in Air Festival.

 

“We are very happy because this festival shows the rest of the world that despite the international geopolitical and security context, we live here in peace, sheltered from the upheavals of some of our neighboring countries,” Houma said.

French tourists to the festival this year included Jacques Maire, a French legislator who heads a France-Niger Friendship group in the French National Assembly.

 

While the situation in Niger is tense, he said it is not the worst in the region.

 

“There has always been a strong French appetite for the Sahara,” said Maire. “We must seize every opportunity to recreate tourist flows.”‘

 

 
…

your ad here

Jobs Frustration as Syrians, Iraqis Adapt to New Life in Australia

Posted on by SeeEA

International resettlement experts from seven countries are gathering in Sydney Wednesday to look at ways to help millions of people displaced by the war in Syria. The summit will also release the first results of a research project looking at how 12,000 refugees from the conflict have adapted to life in Australia.

A study funded by the Australian Research Council has tracked the lives of 200 Syrian and Iraqi families who have been resettled in the state of Queensland.

They were part of an emergency intake of refugees from the Syrian crisis, and arrived in Australia in 2016 and 2017.

The survey found that while most were happy to forge new lives in Australia, there was deep frustration at the lack of employment.

Jock Collins, a professor of social economics at the University of Technology Sydney Business School, was part of the research team.

“There is a frustration about work,” he said. “They are very highly educated people; dentists, sort of pharmacists, engineers, major positions in multi-national corporations — strong achievements in a professional life. They are anxious to get going here and they find they have not been able to do that. There is a frustration about that. Basically, the key point is that getting a job is difficult but critical.”

Typically refugees in Australia suffer disproportionately high rates of unemployment. The University of Technology Sydney estimates that only about 17 percent of recently arrived refugees in Australia are working.

Community leaders worry that those statistics can influence the way the broader Australian community considers refugees.

Atem Atem, a Sudanese community leader who arrived in Australia in 2002, is a university graduate. He attended the Sydney resettlement summit and believes high rates of unemployment can stir negative perceptions of those fleeing persecution.

“If you are someone who lives in the suburbs and who has never met a refugee and you just hear refugee stories, which is the majority of the population then you think that we should not have refugees because they are hopeless,” he said. “Those are the stories that you hear in the media and a lot of people who just get information from the media, which is the majority of the Australian population, believe that refugees are no good for Australia, that they are not contributing.”

Australia typically grants refugee visas to about 14,000 people each year through official humanitarian programs. Asylum seekers who arrive by boat have been detained in offshore camps run by Australia in the South Pacific. They have been told they will never be allowed to resettle in Australia under a strict policy designed to stop asylum seekers risking their lives at sea. Critics of the policy say it is inhumane and breaches international law.

 
…

your ad here

Gun Control Bills Wait in US Congress Despite Public Support

Posted on by SeeUS

An unexpected resurgence of gun control proposals following last month’s shooting at a Florida high school is showing signs of ebbing in the U.S. Congress, where a bill to strengthen a national background check for gun ownership is treading water despite public pressure in favor of it.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, so far has held back on bringing it to the floor for debate and a vote, even though it has at least 69 co-sponsors in the 100-member chamber.

McConnell told reporters on Tuesday that he was “extremely interested” in passing both the background check measure and a school safety bill “soon,” but he did not elaborate.

The background check bill aims to improve the investigation of prospective gun buyers who have criminal backgrounds.

Students, their parents and gun control activists increased efforts nationwide to address gun-related deaths in the United States after 14 students and three adults were shot and killed by a former student at a school in Parkland, Florida on February 14.

The background check bill is being pushed by Republican Senator John Cornyn following last November’s mass shooting at a church in his home state of Texas that was carried out by someone with a domestic violence conviction. That crime was not reported to the federal gun-check data base.

“I’m convinced that those 26 people and the 20 more who were wounded would be alive today and the injured would not have been shot if an appropriate background check system had been in place,” Cornyn said on Tuesday.

Cornyn, the No. 2 Senate Republican, has accused Democrats of erecting roadblocks to his bill by demanding debate on broader, tougher gun controls, even though they also support the background check measure.

Proposals favored by gun control advocates, including a ban on assault-style weapons and the closing of loopholes on requiring background checks before gun purchases, are opposed by the National Rifle Association gun rights group, which has broad influence in U.S. politics through its election campaign donations that largely go to Republicans.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York has called for a full-fledged debate on guns, including legislation closing loopholes that let certain sales at gun shows and over the internet skirt background checks.

‘Something tiny’

Democrats also want votes on banning assault-style weapons like the one used in Parkland and legislation to facilitate gun-restraining orders on people thought to be posing an imminent danger to a community.

“Our Republican friends hope we’ll pass something tiny, something small, so they can clap their hands and say they did something on gun violence and move on,” Schumer said in a speech on the Senate floor.

A handful of Republican senators oppose Cornyn’s background check bill as written, even though it has the support of the National Rifle Association.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has stepped back from his tough talk of just a few weeks ago in which he suggested raising the minimum age for some weapons purchases and even forgoing “due process” court procedures in order to speed law enforcement’s ability to take guns away from those threatening violence.

Against that backdrop, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Wednesday is slated to debate a bill authorizing $50 million a year to help schools and law enforcement agencies prevent violent attacks.

The bill stops short, however, of allowing the money to be used to train and arm teachers and other school officials so they can attempt to repel shooters.

With McConnell devoting Senate floor debate time this week and next to other legislation, there is the possibility that any gun measure will have to wait at least until April because of a two-week spring break.

Some gun advocates fear that by then the political will in Congress for gun legislation will have evaporated.

Democrats disagree, noting that Wednesday’s planned nationwide walkouts by students demanding tougher gun laws will be followed by demonstrations across the United States and elsewhere on March 24.

Also, a makeshift memorial on the Capitol grounds was receiving national media attention. Composed of about 7,000 pairs of shoes, it commemorates child gun-related deaths since the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
…

your ad here

With Pompeo’s Rise, Uncertainty Deepens for Iran Nuclear Deal

Posted on by SeeUS

It is unclear how Mike Pompeo becoming U.S. secretary of state may affect the Iran nuclear deal.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s choice of the Central Intelligence Agency director to replace Rex Tillerson means an Iran hawk who fiercely opposed the 2015 pact as a member of Congress will now be in charge of the U.S. diplomacy trying to strengthen, and perhaps save, it.

Former U.S. officials and serving European officials were at a loss to gauge how the switch would affect negotiations between the United States and three European powers — Britain, France and Germany — that are also parties to the agreement.

Some said Washington may take a harder line under Pompeo and the Europeans may be under more pressure to offer concessions, while others suggested his views on the deal have evolved and he may be better placed to influence Trump to keep it.

U.S., British, French and German officials are due to meet on the deal Thursday in Berlin.

“Any officials negotiating with the Europeans right now will get a much more aggressive set of requirements from Pompeo,” said Richard Nephew, a former White House and State Department official who worked on Iran during the Obama administration.

“The odds of them coming up with a thoughtful compromise by May just got a lot longer,” he added.

Trump on Tuesday singled out the Iran nuclear deal as one of the main differences he had with Tillerson.

“I think it’s terrible, I guess he thinks it was OK,” Trump said.

Trump delivered an ultimatum to the European powers on Jan. 12, saying they must agree to “fix the terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal” or he would refuse to extend U.S. sanctions relief on Iran. U.S. sanctions will resume unless Trump issues fresh “waivers” to suspend them on May 12.

The crux of the July 2015 pact between Iran and six major powers — Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States — was that Iran would restrict its nuclear program in return for relief from sanctions that have crippled its economy.

Trump sees three defects in the deal: its failure to address Iran’s ballistic missile program; the terms under which international inspectors can visit suspect Iranian nuclear sites; and “sunset” clauses under which limits on the Iranian nuclear program start to expire after 10 years. He wants all three strengthened if the United States is to stay in the deal.

In a Jan. 13 cable, the State Department sketched out a path under which the three European allies would simply commit to try to improve the deal over time in return for Trump keeping the pact alive by renewing sanctions relief in May.

Trump ‘is what matters here’

Other European officials and former U.S. officials said Pompeo’s rise, if he is confirmed as secretary of state by the Senate, might have a more ambiguous effect on the negotiations and that, in any case, Trump’s views are paramount.

“All our work is going into delivering a credible package that is sellable to Trump,” said a European diplomat on condition of anonymity. “He is what matters here.”

While Pompeo was a fierce critic of the deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as a congressman, he tempered his views when testifying before Congress in January 2017 to seek confirmation as CIA director.

“Pompeo was a hawk on Iran. However, my understanding is he doesn’t want the deal to disappear,” said a former senior U.S. official. “People should not jump to conclusions.”

Many of Trump’s top national security aides, like Tillerson, have argued that the United States is better off with the Iran nuclear deal than without it. That stance was echoed Tuesday by the U.S. general who heads the U.S. military command responsible for the Middle East and Central Asia.

Former U.S. officials suggested that, as the administration nears a planned summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un about Pyongyang’s nuclear program, it could rethink its stance on the Iran deal.

European diplomats saw some chance Pompeo may have more influence over Trump than Tillerson, who antagonized the U.S. president by reportedly calling him a “moron” and who differed with Trump on Iran and other issues.

“If Pompeo is that hawkish, then in reality all it is is the affirmation of Trump’s policies. It’s Trump’s line,” said another European diplomat. “Hopefully, he’ll have the mandate that Tillerson didn’t have.”
…

your ad here

US Appeals Court Upholds Texas’ Ban on ‘Sanctuary Cities’

Posted on by SeeUS

A Texas immigration crackdown on “sanctuary cities” took effect Tuesday after a federal appeals court upheld a divisive law backed by the Trump administration that threatens elected officials with jail time and allows police officers to ask people during routine stops whether they’re in the U.S. illegally.

 

The ruling was a blow to Texas’ biggest cities — including Houston, Dallas and San Antonio — that sued last year to prevent enforcement of what opponents said is now the toughest state-level immigration measure on the books in the U.S.

 

But for the Trump administration, the decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans is a victory against measures seen as protecting immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally. Last week, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions sued California over its so-called sanctuary state law.

 

In Texas, the fight over a new law known as Senate Bill 4 has raged for more than a year, roiling the Republican-controlled Legislature and once provoking a near-fistfight between lawmakers in the state capitol. It set off racially-charged debates, backlash from big-city police chiefs and rebuke from the government in Mexico, which is Texas’ largest trading partner and shares close ties to the state.

 

Since 2010, the Hispanic population in Texas has grown at a pace three times that of white residents.

 

“Allegations of discrimination were rejected. Law is in effect,” Republican Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted after the ruling was published.

 

A major focal point of the Texas law is the requirement for local authorities to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, or risk jail time if they don’t. Police chiefs, sheriffs and constables could also face removal from office for failing to comply with such federal “detainer” requests.

 

One sheriff Abbott had in his sights was Travis County’s Sally Hernandez, an elected Democratic who runs Austin’s jails. Last year, Hernandez announced on the day Donald Trump was sworn-in that her department would no longer comply with all detainer requests, a decision Republicans repeatedly pointed to in their defense of the measure.

 

“Words just can’t express how disappointed I am with this ruling,” Hernandez said. But she said her department would follow the law as directed by the courts.

 

The Texas law is often slammed by opponents as a near-copycat of Arizona’s “Show Me Your Papers” law in 2010, but the two measures are not identical. Whereas the Arizona law originally required police to try to determine the immigration status of people during routine stops, the Texas bill doesn’t instruct officers to ask.

 

U.S. Circuit Judge Edith Jones wrote in the court’s opinion that the Arizona law — which was partially blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court — was more “problematic” because it mandated the questions during traffic stops. She added that no suspicion, reasonable or not, is required to ask questions off lawfully-detained individuals.

 

“It would be wrong to assume that SB4 authorizes unreasonable conduct where the statute’s text does not require it,” she said.

 

But the Texas law remains worse in “a lot of respects,” said Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, which helped lead the lawsuit against SB4. He said they were still deciding their next steps following the ruling, which could include asking the full appeals court to reconsider. Until then, Gelernt said they will closely watch how Texas implements the law.

 

Police chiefs across Texas said the law will create a chilling effect that will cause immigrant families to not report crimes or come forward as witnesses over fears that talking to local police could lead to deportation. Critics also fear it will lead to the racial profiling of Hispanics and put officers in an untenable position.

 

Last year, Mexico’s foreign ministry expressed concern that the law could trample on the rights of Mexican citizens who choose to live just across the border.

 

But the law was enthusiastically backed by the Trump administration, which had joined Texas in court to defend the measure. Sessions has blamed sanctuary city policies for crime and gang violence, and announced in July that cities and states could only receive certain grants if they cooperate with immigration agents.

 

Sessions is now targeting California, which passed sanctuary laws in response to the president’s promises to ramp up the deportation of people in the U.S. illegally.
…

your ad here

White House Hosts Meeting on Gaza Crisis; Palestinians Boycott

Posted on by SeeUS

The White House on Tuesday hosted 19 nations, including Israel and Arab Gulf states, to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but the Palestinian Authority boycotted the meeting, angered by the Trump administration’s policies on Jerusalem.

U.S. President Donald Trump reversed decades of U.S. policy in December when he decided to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv.

The administration is also putting the final touches on a Middle East peace plan, and U.S. officials said the conference was integral to future negotiations.

“Fixing Gaza is necessary to achieve a peace agreement,” one of the senior administration officials said. The officials stressed that the multination humanitarian and reconstruction effort remained in its beginning stages.

Jared Kushner, a senior adviser to Trump who is overseeing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process for the White House, gave a two-hour presentation to the attending countries, officials said, but the potential U.S. peace plan was not addressed.

No Israeli-Arab talks

Attendees included representatives from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, as well as several European nations. The format did not allow for direct discussions between Israel and the Arab states, officials said.

Potential electricity, water, sewage and health projects were discussed, but officials declined to outline specific proposals. A senior administration insisted that many projects could be implemented without assistance of the Palestinian Authority, but the goal was to have it ultimately engage in the multilateral process.

Gaza faces a 43.6 unemployment rate, and many in Gaza blame Israel for the hardships, accusing it of placing an economic blockade on the enclave that has drastically reduced movement of people and goods.

But Gazans also fault their own leaders, complaining of a power struggle between Hamas, the armed group that seized military power in Gaza in 2007, and Fatah, the secular party of Western-backed Palestinian President Abbas.

Israel, which pulled its settlers and soldiers out of Gaza in 2005, says it has been forced to control access to and from the territory to prevent Hamas from sending out gunmen and bombers, and from smuggling in weapons or material to make them.

The Palestinian Authority’s prime minister, Rami Hamdallah, escaped an apparent assassination attempt in Gaza on Tuesday, when a bomb struck his convoy. Hamas and the Palestinian Authority signed an agreement in October that called for the Islamist group to hand administrative control of Gaza to the authority, but it remains to be fully implemented.
…

your ad here

US Trying to Improve Syrian Detention of Foreign Fighters

Posted on by SeeUS

The United States is trying to improve Syrian rebels’ ability to detain what has become a steadily growing number of foreign fighters in Syria, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East told Congress on Tuesday.

 Army General Joseph Votel, the head of U.S. Central Command, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces were holding more than 400 detainees.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has been urging reluctant allies to address the escalating crisis by taking responsibility for their citizens who have been captured. During a meeting of allied defense ministers in Rome last month, Mattis pressed them to use diplomatic, legal and other means to take back citizens detained in Syria to make sure they don’t get back on the battlefield. And the subject came up again during a meeting of NATO defense ministers that followed.

“We are working with our partners in the government here to work to get them back to their countries so they can be prosecuted in accordance with their laws,” Votel told senators Tuesday.

Asked by Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, if there was a “credible,” long-term plan to detain the fighters inside Syria, Votel said the U.S. was working on that now.

So far, however, those entreaties to allies have been largely unsuccessful. Officials have said that only one or two detainees have been returned to their home countries.

British stance

As an example, British officials made it clear they did not want to accept the return of two notorious British members of an Islamic State cell who were commonly dubbed “The Beatles” and were known for beheading hostages. The two men — El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Amon Kotey — were captured in early January in eastern Syria and are being held by the SDF.

Belgium officials have also spoken against the return of any detainees to their country. Belgium Foreign Minister Didier Reynders has suggested that detainees be tried where they were captured.

Most of the foreign fighters are from the region, including Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Hundreds of them have fought alongside IS in recent years as it seized large parts of Syria, raising concerns they’ll commit terrorism at home if they return.

The U.S. is mainly advising and working with the SDF and with other nongovernment organizations and the United Nations to ensure detainees get appropriate care, including food, beds and shelter from the weather. But the U.S. military in Syria doesn’t have the funding or ability to actually solve detention facility shortages.

As the number of detainees increases, U.S. officials worry that the SDF will lose either the ability or the will to continue to hold them. Doing nothing, Mattis warned the allies, is not an option.
…

your ad here

Sierra Leone Election Front-Runners to Contest Runoff After First-round Stalemate

Posted on by SeeAF

Sierra Leone’s election to pick outgoing President Ernest Bai Koroma’s successor will head to a runoff later this month after neither of the two front-runners secured an outright majority in the first round, the electoral commission said on Tuesday.

Opposition leader Julius Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone People’s Party led the field of 16 candidates with 43.3 percent in the first round of the vote, held last Wednesday, according to results announced by the commission in the capital Freetown.

Maada Bio, who briefly ruled the West African country as head of a military junta in 1996, will square off against first-round runner-up Samura Kamara of the ruling All People’s Congress, who took 42.7 percent.

The runoff will take place on March 27, the commission said.

Koroma is stepping aside after his maximum two terms in office. The largely peaceful vote to replace him came as a relief for the country of seven million people, which endured a brutal, diamond-fueled civil war in the 1990s.

But the winner will face pressure to revive a moribund economy that has been ravaged in recent years by low prices for its main export, iron ore, and an Ebola outbreak.
…

your ad here

Hungary: Orban Backers Staging Pre-election ‘Peace March’

Posted on by SeeEU

Organizers of a “Peace March” supporting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Tuesday they expect as many as 200,000 people to attend the event, set to take place three weeks before Hungary’s April 8 national election.

Leaders of the Civil Union Forum said the ruling Fidesz party is supporting Thursday’s march to parliament, where Orban will speak on a holiday commemorating the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.

Organizer Andras Bencsik said the march in Budapest is meant to provide “an impulse” for a successful election, “so we can help Fidesz.”

“We have to take this election very seriously — life or death is practically at stake,” Bencsik, chief editor of the Demokrata weekly magazine, said. 

Opposition groups plan several demonstrations across the city, with the two largest expected to be a student-led protest outside the State Opera House and a Peace March for supporters of the opposition announced by the satirical Two-Tailed Dog Party.

The Two-Tailed Dog Party has been around for over a decade and conducted several popular campaigns mocking Orban’s policies. It is fielding candidates for the first time in next month’s election. 

Orban, a populist criticized for centralizing power and weakening democratic checks and balances, is seeking a third consecutive term. He and other Fidesz candidates have not participated in debates and most of Orban’s campaign stops have not been shared with the news media.

Orban has made immigration his main campaign theme. He opposes mass immigration, especially by Muslim migrants, whom he says threaten Europe’s Christian culture and lifestyle.

“If we become an immigrant country, there will be regression, decline and stagnation,” Orban said last week at a business forum. “If … we do not become an immigrant country, then Hungary will progress.”

Orban’s anti-migration stance has targeted the European Union, George Soros and, lately, the United Nations.  

His chances of winning the election are being enhanced by a fragmented opposition, which has had a hard time agreeing to back a single candidate in voting districts where Fidesz could be defeated.

“If the opposition parties coordinate with each other, they can achieve some level of success,” Gabor Gyori, a senior analyst at political research institute Policy Solutions said. “It may not be enough to get a majority, but it would definitively be enough to stop Fidesz from getting a two-thirds majority.”
…

your ad here

US Official Urges Resolution of Macedonia Name Dispute

Posted on by SeeEU

A senior U.S. official on Tuesday urged Macedonia and Greece to seize the moment to resolve a decades-long dispute over the Balkan country’s name that has prevented it from joining NATO.

Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wes Mitchell visited Macedonia’s capital, Skopje, as part of a Balkan tour. He told reporters “there is a tremendous opportunity” for Skopje and Athens to reach a deal over the long-running spat.

Macedonia and Greece have been at odds for a quarter-century over the name Macedonia, but have pledged to resolve the dispute by the summer. Greece argues the country’s name harbors territorial claims on its own northern province of Macedonia.

The two countries have intensified talks recently in hopes of finding a compromise to end the dispute.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, speaking at a joint news conference with Mitchell, said he had told the U.S. official Macedonia and Greece were “starting the final phase that will ultimately bring a dignified solution to this issue.”

The left-led governments in both countries have been holding talks with a U.N. negotiator, Matthew Nimetz.

Greece wants Macedonia to add a modifier such as “north” or “upper” to Macedonia’s name, and Zaev has said he is open to some options.

But the proposals have triggered protests in both countries.

“We acknowledged that the only solution that will last is the one that both parties would work out for themselves,” Mitchell said. “We are encouraged in that regard with the steps that Macedonia and Greece have taken, so we want to be supportive.” 

Mitchell visited Kosovo before arriving in Macedonia, and was scheduled to head from Skopje to Serbia.
…

your ad here

About 5,000 Ethiopians Flee to Kenya After Botched Military Operation

Posted on by SeeAF

About 5,000 Ethiopians have crossed into Kenya seeking refuge since March 10, the Kenyan Red Cross Society said, after several civilians were killed in what the Ethiopian military said was a botched security operation targeting militants.

Ethiopian state media reported Sunday that soldiers had been deployed to an area near the town of Moyale in Oromia, a region that borders Kenya, in pursuit of Oromo Liberation Front fighters who had crossed into the country from Kenya.

But faulty intelligence led soldiers to launch an attack that killed nine civilians and injured 12 others, the Ethiopian News Agency said.

In a statement Tuesday, the Kenyan Red Cross Society said “the population of refugees from Ethiopia continues to increase” and was now estimated at 5,000.

Refugees from Ethiopia had begun to arrive in Kenya on March 10, it said, adding that they were mostly women and children, including “pregnant and lactating mothers, chronically ill persons, those abled differently and the elderly.”

Some of those fleeing had moved with their livestock, compounding pressure on struggling relief agencies, the Red Cross said.

The Oromo Liberation Front is a secessionist group which the Ethiopian government describes as terrorist.

Outbreaks of violence have continued in Oromia province even after Ethiopia declared a six-month, nationwide state of emergency last month following the resignation of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

A state official in the Oromia region told Reuters on condition of anonymity that tens of thousands of people have also been internally displaced.

Ethiopia has said that five soldiers who took part in the attack near Moyale have been “disarmed” and are under investigation, while a high-level military delegation has been dispatched to the area to inquire further into the incident.

The town’s mayor was not immediately available to comment.

Desalegn said his unprecedented Feb. 15 resignation was intended to smooth the way for reforms, following years of violent unrest that threatened the ruling EPRDF coalition’s hold on Africa’s second-most populous nation.

His successor as premier and EPRDF chairperson is expected to be named before the end of this month.
…

your ad here

Burundi Ruling Party Titles Nkurunziza ‘Visionary’ Ahead of Referendum

Posted on by SeeAF

Burundi’s ruling party reaffirmed its loyalty to President Pierre Nkurunziza on Tuesday, saying that he was a “visionary” and that it would work to implement his ideas, ahead of a referendum that could extend his rule for at least a decade.

The small and impoverished Central Africa nation has been rocked by insecurity since 2015, when Nkurunziza decided to seek a third term in office that his opponents said was unconstitutional.

The country is due to hold a referendum in May on whether to amend the constitution to extend presidential terms to seven years from five. The proposed changes would limit the president to two consecutive terms but would not take into account previous terms, potentially extending Nkurunziza’s rule to 2034.

Evariste Ndayishimiye, secretary general of the ruling CNDD-FDD, told a press conference in the capital Bujumbura that the party had decided to give Nkurunziza the title of “CNDD-FDD Party Visionary” after appraising his ideas and teachings.

The title has no specific role attached to it and appeared to be aimed at shoring up support for the president ahead of the referendum.

Ndayishimiye said the party has also started “working on his ideas.”

On social media, some Burundians said the announcement was likely a step toward Nkurunziza seeking a life presidency.

Several leaders around Africa have sought to void laws or use other tactics to thwart opponents and prolong their reigns beyond constitutional limits, sometimes for decades.

Those who opposed Nkurunziza’s third five-term launched an armed struggle against his government, and the resulting violence has left hundreds dead and forced at least 400,000 people into exile.

Regional efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict have dragged on without results so far.
…

your ad here

Kazakhstan Outlaws Exiled Banker’s Political Movement

Posted on by SeeEU

Kazakhstan has effectively outlawed a political movement created online by an exiled opponent of Nursultan Nazarbayev, after it called for street protests against the country’s long-term president.

Mukhtar Ablyazov, a former chairman of Kazakhstan’s biggest bank who now lives in France, has attacked Nazarbayev via Facebook and other social networks, and used the same platforms to recruit supporters inside the oil-rich Central Asian nation.

A Kazakh court ruled Tuesday that his political movement, Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK), is extremist, meaning its supporters are considered criminals, the prosecutor general’s office said in a statement.

The movement says it has a membership of around 80,000, predominantly inside Kazakhstan.

Nazarbayev, who has run the former Soviet republic since 1989 and routinely wins elections with more than 90 percent of the vote, appointed Ablyazov energy minister in the 1990s, but their relations soured in the 2000s.

Kazakhstan authorities say the exiled businessman instigated and bankrolled a series of protests across the country in 2016 that forced Nazarbayev to delay an unpopular land ownership reform.

They also accuse Ablyazov, who a French court ruled against extraditing in 2016, of embezzling billions of dollars from BTA, the bank he used to run. Kazakhstan has indicated it may also press charges of murder against him.

Ablyazov, who has denied any wrongdoing, did not reply to a request for comment Tuesday.

DVK responded to the court ruling by urging its supporters to protect their anonymity online.
…

your ad here

UN Investigators Call for Accountability and Justice in South Sudan, Burundi

Posted on by SeeAF

U.N. investigators are calling for justice in light of separate reports to the United Nations Human Rights Council describing widespread and gross violations of human rights in South Sudan and Burundi.

More than four years of fighting in South Sudan has left nearly six million people facing hunger, more than four million internally displaced and two million living as refugees in neighboring countries. 

The Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan describes a civilian population at the mercy of fighters and criminal gangs who commit atrocities with impunity. 

It says the warring parties must abide by the peace agreement they signed in 2015. The chair of the commission, Yasmin Sooka, told the council that the Hybrid Court for South Sudan, which was required under the agreement, should be set up right away.

“It is just one signature away — all it needs is for the government to sign the MOU [Memorandum of Understanding],” Sooka said. “If this does not happen, the African Union has the authority to set up a hybrid court — outside the country, if necessary — to try alleged perpetrators for South Sudan.” 

Sooka says the hybrid court will not be able to deal with the staggering number of violations in South Sudan, but it can make perpetrators legally accountable for their crimes. She says witnesses are anxious to testify, and evidence for trials can be gathered both inside and outside the country.

“Our work so far has barely scratched the surface of the violations we believe have occurred,” she said. “More worrying is that we did not have to search too hard for corroborated accounts of astounding cruelty, dehumanization and ethnic persecution. … We have, indeed, struggled to do justice to the scale and intensity of the horror we documented.” 

The commission is collecting and preserving evidence to be shared with the hybrid court, as well as with a truth commission and a reparations body that are part of the peace agreement for South Sudan, according to Sooka.

Paulino Wanawilla Unango, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs of South Sudan, calls the report repetitious and flawed. He says the human rights situation in his country has improved and rejects the commission’s assertion that people commit crimes with impunity.

In Burundi

Meanwhile, the three-member Commission of Inquiry on Burundi finds no improvement in the political, security, economic, social and human rights situation in Burundi since its last report to the council in September.

Commission member Francoise Hamson says many political opponents of President Pierre Nkurunziza, as well as journalists and human rights defenders, remain in exile.

“Members of civil society organizations who are still present in Burundi are under constant pressure of facing arrest,” Hamson said. “The commission received a great deal of information and testimonies to cases of harassment and violence committed by public officials and/or by members of the ruling party’s youth league, [known as] the Imbonerakure, against individuals who may vote no or who refuse to enroll on voters’ list for the referendum.” 

Dozens of people have been arrested for supporting a “no” vote in an upcoming referendum that could allow the president to extend his term in office. Hamson says people remain under constant threat of abuse. 

“These cases supplement other human rights violations, specifically arrests and arbitrary detention, torture and ill treatment, disappearance and violations of the right to an effective appeal and to a fair trial,” Hamson said.

Burundian Ambassador Renovat Tabu questioned the legitimacy of the commission and rejected the report, saying it lacked credibility as it was riddled with false allegations about the country’s human rights situation.
…

your ad here

Tillerson’s Firing Worries Some Africa Experts

Posted on by SeeAF

The State Department had billed Secretary Rex Tillerson’s first diplomatic trip to Africa as a mission to reaffirm U.S. collaboration with the continent on counterterrorism, development and good governance.

Tillerson’s abrupt dismissal Tuesday, just hours after returning from his weeklong tour of five countries, raises questions about the strength of any commitments he made there, several longtime Africa observers say.

“I don’t know how the Africans are going to take that,” said John Campbell, who served as U.S. ambassador to Nigeria from 2004 to 2007.

Campbell, an Africa scholar at the Council on Foreign Relations, noted that Tillerson’s trip had represented “a bit of fence mending” following U.S. President Donald Trump’s alleged description two months ago of African nations as “s—hole countries.”    

Trump’s sacking of the top U.S. diplomat could be interpreted as “another example of the administration disrespecting Africa,” Campbell said. “What, after all, do the various assurances that presumably the secretary provided during his meetings – what does that mean when he gets fired?”

Tour of five countries

Nigeria was one of the stops on Tillerson’s Africa tour, which also took him to Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya.

His first stop was Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, where he met with dignitaries including the head of the African Union Commission. Moussa Faki Mahamat, in a March 8 Twitter post, said they’d had “fruitful discussions” on peace and security, “including AU-led initiatives to fight terror. …”

VOA could not reach any AU representative for comment about the implications of Tillerson’s dismissal, nor had the organization posted any public statement on social media as of midday Tuesday.

Ethiopian government officials also declined to comment. Just before undertaking his trip last week, Tillerson announced $533 million in humanitarian aid for Ethiopia and some other African countries. But, as a Brookings Institution analyst observed, the Trump administration had not proposed any new initiatives.

“It is unusual for a secretary of state to make a trip like this and to have no deliverables,” Witney Schneidman, a nonresident fellow with the institution’s Africa Growth Initiative, told VOA last week.   

Impact on Chad’s travel ban?

In Chad, Tillerson had praised the country’s “positive steps to strengthen control over its passports and improve information-sharing,” suggesting the changes could lead to its removal from a list of countries whose nationals face a broad ban on entering the United States. The Trump administration put Chad on its travel ban list last September.  

Evariste Ngarlem Tolde, a political scientist with the University of N’Djamena, speculated that the U.S. might eventually lift the ban on Chad. Tillerson “came to Chad because the U.S. president sent him,” Tolde said to VOA. “So everything he said is going to be accomplished.”

Melvin P. Foote has a different view. The founding president and CEO of the Constituency for Africa, a Washington-based organization that promotes public-private partnerships with the continent, said that with Tillerson’s firing, “I don’t see a way forward. I don’t.”

Foote, appearing on VOA’s “Africa 54” TV show, said he believed the move would diminish U.S. influence – already outpaced by China and Russia – on the continent.

“I don’t hear anything that says we have a coherent strategy with Africa,” he said.  

VOA French to Africa correspondent Andre Kodmajingar contributed from Chad; Hausa Service’s Mahmud Lalo contributed from Washington.
…

your ad here

Italy’s League and 5-Star Attack EU Budget Rules After Vote

Posted on by SeeEU

Italy’s far-right League party and the 5-Star Movement, which both performed strongly in this month’s inconclusive national election, attacked European Union budget rules on Tuesday, saying they must be overhauled.

The March 4 election ended in gridlock, with the League becoming the biggest member of a right-wing coalition that took a combined 37 percent of the vote, and the anti-system 5-Star emerging as the largest party in parliament on 32 percent.

Neither of the two has enough seats to govern alone, but they would have a majority in both houses if they joined forces.

Starting next month, the country’s president will begin to cajole rivals into finding common ground on which they could govern together.

Speaking at separate events, League leader Matteo Salvini and 5-Star’s Luigi Di Maio agreed that a budget deficit ceiling of 3 percent of economic output set under EU rules was hurting economic growth and should be changed.

“On the deficit, it seems that by now everyone agrees this parameter should be revised and replaced. Now we should see how,” Di Maio told foreign reporters in Rome.

Earlier in the day, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Salvini said the deficit limit was “one of those rules, written around a table, which we are happy to respect if they help people live better, but if in the name of those constraints we have to fire, close and destabilize, no”.

Though the League and 5-Star agree budget austerity should be scrapped, their two leaders adopted a different tone towards Brussels. Salvini denounced the European Union as “destroyers,” while Di Maio said he wanted constructive relations.

“As prime minister, my first trip would be to Brussels,” Di Maio said, adding that his group had no intention of quitting the euro currency and that he wanted nothing to do with “Europe’s extremist parties.”

The comment appeared to be directed against Salvini, who has aligned the League with France’s National Front of Marine Le Pen and the Dutch Freedom Party of Geert Wilders. Salvini also wants Italy to abandon the euro when it is politically feasible.

“I challenge anyone to say the 5-Star’s program is an extremist program,” Di Maio said, stressing that his overall goal would be to cut Italian debt by stimulating growth.

For his part, Salvini said he wanted a right-wing government, and he ruled out doing a deal with the center-left Democratic Party (PD), the big loser in the election.

The PD has repeatedly said it does not want to ally itself with anyone and that it plans to go into opposition.

If the president fails to break the deadlock, he could try to persuade parties to back a non-political government with a limited mandate — but Di Maio dismissed this option.

During the election campaign, all of Italy’s parties responded to rising dissatisfaction with the EU by promising to renegotiate treaties. However, the League was the only large party to say explicitly it was willing to leave the EU if fiscal and immigration rules were not re-written.
…

your ad here