Month: April 2022

WHO: Health Care System in Eastern Ukraine Nearing Collapse

Posted on by SeeEU

The World Health Organization warns the health system in eastern Ukraine has all but collapsed, putting the lives of thousands of people trapped in Mariupol and other besieged areas at risk.   

U.N. health officials say it is critical they be granted immediate access to Mariupol and other areas hardest hit by fighting in eastern Ukraine. They say they have received reports that nearly all health facilities and hospitals in areas like the Luhansk region either are damaged or destroyed.  

The WHO is appealing for access to affected areas to assess health needs and to provide critical medical supplies to the sick and injured. Speaking from Lviv in western Ukraine, WHO spokesman Bhanu Bhatnagar said the WHO so far has not been able to enter Mariupol and does not know the health status of the besieged population.

Mariupol has been subjected to relentless bombing and shelling by Russian forces for the past two months. The city has been razed to the ground. Tens of thousands of people reportedly are living in underground bunkers, with limited food, water, and medical supplies.

Bhatnagar said the WHO is moving supplies it thinks are needed in Mariupol closer to the city. But he added it is essential that a safe passage is created quickly.

“We need a cessation of fighting for at least two days in order to move vital supplies in, but also assess the health needs,” he said. “We anticipate the worst. A health system that has collapsed completely and that brings with it all kinds of knock-on effects.  Of course, there are people with conflict-related injuries that need help.”  

Bhatnagar noted there also are people with chronic conditions and other health care needs that do not have access to vital medicine. He said the findings of a new WHO survey of 1,000 households across Ukraine show the devastating impact this war is having on access to health care.

“Two out of five households have at least one member with a chronic illness, like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease,” he said. “Of those, one in three is struggling to access healthcare for those chronic conditions.  Our survey also finds that the war is affecting people’s health-seeking behavior, with less than a third of households saying they sought out health services recently.”  

Bhatnagar added that 39% of people say the security situation inhibits them from seeking care for their illness, while 27% say no health care services are available in their area.

The WHO has confirmed 162 attacks on health care facilities and personnel, with at least 73 people known to have been killed.
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France Election: Le Pen’s Late Surge Rattles Europe Amid Russian Security Threat

Posted on by SeeEU

France goes to the polls Sunday for the final round of voting in the presidential election, with Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Rally party just a few points behind incumbent Emmanuel Macron. A Le Pen victory would have big implications for European security following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Putin links

In a fiery televised debate Wednesday, incumbent President Emmanuel Macron sought to highlight links between Marine Le Pen’s far-right party and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Her National Rally party took several loans from Russia in 2014, including a $9.75 million loan from the Kremlin-linked First Czech Russian Bank.  

“For our country, this is bad news, because you depend on the Russian regime and you depend on Putin.,” Macron said. “You don’t speak to other leaders, you speak to your banker when you speak to Russia, that’s the problem… None of us went to seek financing from a Russian bank, and especially not from one that is close to power in Russia.”

Le Pen said it was well known that French banks had refused to lend her money, so she sought financial assistance in Russia. 

NATO changes

What would a Le Pen presidency mean for Europe’s security at a time of conflict? Her approach to Russia is in stark contrast to that of most Western leaders. Speaking at a press event earlier this month, she outlined her policy on the conflict in Ukraine.

“As soon as the Russian-Ukrainian war is over and has been settled by a peace treaty, I will call for the implementation of a strategic rapprochement between NATO and Russia.” Le Pen said.

While she has condemned the invasion of Ukraine, the 53-year-old National Rally leader has been far less critical of Vladimir Putin himself. She has criticized the supply of heavy weapons to Ukraine by NATO members and plans to weaken French links with the alliance. 

“Once elected president, I will leave NATO’s integrated command, but I won’t renounce the application of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty on collective security.” Le Pen told reporters April 13.

Western unity

A Le Pen victory would severely weaken Western unity against Russia, says French political analyst Renaud Foucart of Lancaster University. 

“She has been among the first if not the only French candidate to recognize Crimea, the annexation of Crimea by Russia. So very, very clearly she will not be in favor of stronger sanctions. She has opposed them, and she has been very, very vocal about opposing sanctions on fossil fuels, on gas, on oil from Russia.,” Foucart told VOA.

However, in recent weeks Le Pen has risen in the polls, despite her past links with a Russian regime accused of war crimes in Ukraine. Gérard Araud, a former French ambassador to the United Nations and now a distinguished fellow with the Atlantic Council, says Le Pen has attempted to transform her image during the campaign.

“She has distanced herself somehow really from Putin. She has condemned the attack against Ukraine. Second point, you know in France — like in the U.S. — elections are decided not on foreign policy issues but on domestic policy issues. And like in the U.S., France is facing a wave of inflation.” 

Le Pen has focused her campaign on the rising cost of living and has characterized Macron as an aloof president more obsessed with Europe than France. Polls shows she has gained votes in poorer areas of France, and among younger generations who feel disillusioned by a lack of jobs and opportunities.

Frexit?

For years, Le Pen campaigned for France to leave the European Union. Now she says so-called “Frexit” is not her policy.

“The British got rid of the Brussels bureaucracy, which they could never bear, to move to an ambitious concept of global Britain,” she said April 13, in reference to Britain’s 2016 vote to leave the EU. 

“This is not our project. We want to reform the E.U. from the inside. The more we free ourselves from the Brussels straitjacket while remaining inside the EU, the more we will open ourselves up to the wider world. It seems to me that’s what the British understood well,” Le Pen said.

Former French Ambassador to the U.N. Gérard Araud says Le Pen’s reform agenda is so radical that it will inevitably fail.

“She is going to change it so dramatically, so radically, that actually either she won’t implement her program or she will leave the European Union.”

“If she is elected, basically it will be quite chaotic. The euro will go down, and there will be an emerging crisis between Paris and Berlin because she wants really to put an end to all Franco-German cooperation. And of course a crisis with Brussels, with lots of uncertainties down the road,” Araud told VOA.

Analyst Renaud Foucart agrees: “Most importantly, she’s not clear about who her allies (in the EU) would be. In order to reach that kind of agreement you would need to find other countries that are like-minded. But even within her own political family… she doesn’t seem to be able to find agreement.”

Global reaction

European leaders have largely avoided commenting on the elections. However, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, a NATO ally, said Thursday that ‘it would be a good thing for the world’ if Macron was re-elected.

Even if Macron does win a second term, France faces difficult problems in the years ahead, says Gérard Araud.

“Socially, there is something which is very unhealthy. Because Macron has been elected in 2017, and if he is re-elected in 2022, it will be the same – basically by the ‘haves’ against the ‘have-nots’. And so there is this deep rift in the French society,” Araud said.
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Report: Russia Likely Using French, German Military Gear in Ukraine

Posted on by SeeEU

France and Germany have armed Russia with nearly $300 million worth of military equipment that is “likely being used in Ukraine,” according to an exclusive report, based on European Commission data, in The Telegraph, a British newspaper.

The hardware was sent, the newspaper reports, despite a European Union-wide embargo on arms to Russia that was imposed following the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Germany has defended the sales, saying the items were “dual-use” equipment and that Russia had said they were needed for civilian, not military use.

The newspaper said the equipment sent to Russia included “bombs, rockets, missiles and guns.”  French firms also sent “thermal imaging cameras for more than 1,000 Russian tanks as well as navigation systems for fighter jets and attack helicopters,” The Telegraph reported.

At least 10 EU member states have sent almost $380 million worth of military equipment to Russia, The Telegraph reported, with 78% of that total coming from French and German companies.

Other European countries that sold arms to Russia include Austria, Britain, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Italy, according to The Telegraph.

Cristian Terhes, a Romanian member of the European parliament shared with The Telegraph the EU analysis of the probe into what countries have sold military goods to Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday seized on remarks by a Russian general as evidence that Moscow would invade other countries if it succeeded in Ukraine. The general had said Russia aimed to capture all of southern and eastern Ukraine and link it to a breakaway province in neighboring Moldova.

“This only confirms what I have already said multiple times: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was intended only as a beginning,” Zelenskyy said in his evening address Friday.

He said comments earlier Friday by Rustam Minnekayev, deputy commander of Russia’s central military district, show that Russia will not stop with Ukraine.

Russian state news agencies quoted Minnekayev as saying that Moscow wanted to seize Ukraine’s entire eastern Donbas region, provide a land corridor to link with the Crimean Peninsula, and capture the country’s entire south as far west as a Russian-occupied breakaway region of Moldova. That would mean carrying the offensive hundreds of miles past the current lines and to the border with Moldova.

Moldova summoned Russia’s ambassador Friday to express “deep concern” over the general’s comments.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Jalina Porter declined to comment on the Russian general’s statement but said Washington firmly supported Moldova’s sovereignty.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said the comments by the Russian general showed that Russia’s previous claims that it had no territorial ambitions were not true.

“They stopped hiding it,” Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on Twitter, adding that Russia has “acknowledged that the goal of the ‘second phase’ of the war is not victory over the mythical Nazis, but simply the occupation of eastern and southern Ukraine. Imperialism as it is.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin previously said Russia had no intention of permanently occupying Ukrainian cities. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, a move that was widely condemned by the international community.

Russian ship

Russia’s Defense Ministry acknowledged Friday for the first time that the crew of the missile cruiser Moskva suffered casualties when the ship sank last week.

It said one serviceman died and 27 were missing.

Ukraine and the United States said the ship was hit by Ukrainian cruise missiles, while Russia blamed the sinking on a fire.

Immediately following the incident, Russia said the entire crew of the ship had been rescued. Moscow said Friday that 396 crew members had been rescued.

Military meeting

The Pentagon said Friday that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will hold a meeting April 26 in Germany with defense officials and military leaders from more than 20 countries to discuss Ukraine’s defense needs.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said that about 40 nations were invited to the meeting and responses were still arriving.

He said the talks, which include both NATO and non-NATO countries, will be held Tuesday at Ramstein Air Base.

Zelenskyy said Friday that allies were finally delivering the weapons that Ukraine had sought to defend itself.

Canada announced Friday it had provided heavy artillery to Ukraine, following a pledge by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Diplomatic efforts

In diplomatic activity Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Washington. The State Department said Blinken “reinforced our determination to help Ukraine successfully defend itself against Russia’s brutal and unjustified war of aggression.”

The U.N. announced Friday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will meet Putin in Moscow on Tuesday. He’ll also hold meetings and have a working lunch with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Guterres will then travel on Thursday to Ukraine, where he will meet with Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. The U.N. said he would also meet with staff of U.N. agencies to discuss the scaling up of humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians.

The U.N. chief wrote to Putin and Zelenskyy earlier in the week requesting meetings to discuss the next steps toward peace in Ukraine.

Guterres also appealed this week for a four-day humanitarian pause to coincide with Orthodox Easter, which is celebrated in Ukraine and Russia. So far, those efforts have failed.

At a Friday press conference in Moscow, Lavrov said talks to end the fighting in Ukraine are at a standstill because Kyiv has not responded to Moscow’s latest set of proposals.

“Another proposal we passed on to Ukrainian negotiators about five days ago, which was drawn up with their comments taken into account; it remains without a response,” Russia’s top diplomat said.

However, Russia’s lead negotiator at the talks with Ukraine, Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky, confirmed that he had engaged in several lengthy conversations with the head of the Ukrainian delegation on Friday, The Associated Press reported.

Alleged war crimes

In Geneva, the U.N. human rights office said Friday there was growing evidence that Russia had committed war crimes in Ukraine.

“Russian armed forces have indiscriminately shelled and bombed populated areas, killing civilians and wrecking hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure, actions that may amount to war crimes,” said Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The U.N. said it appeared that Ukraine had also used weapons with indiscriminate effects.

VOA U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press and Reuters. 
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Workers Make Gains as ‘Great Resignation’ Tightens Labor Markets

Posted on by SeeUS

When the coronavirus pandemic hit New Orleans in March 2020, Jeremy Fogg, an executive pastry chef at a popular local restaurant, suddenly found himself without a job.

Fogg was far from alone. In the first few months of the crisis, approximately 22 million Americans lost their jobs, with millions more seeing their hours cut.

“For the first stretch of the pandemic, I just kind of sat at home and waited for my job to call and tell me we were reopening,” he said. “But as the months went by without a call, I worried I’d run out of money. I opened my own pop-up bakery and began teaching baking at a local college.”

The call to return to work eventually came. When it did, Fogg responded in a way he never would have expected at the onset of the pandemic.

“I told them I wasn’t coming back.”

‘Great Resignation’

Fogg’s decision underscores a larger trend in America over the past two years — one that many experts believe has shifted at least some of the power in the country’s labor market from employers to employees.

The phenomenon is called the “Great Resignation,” in which millions of workers chose not to return to the workforce or traditional positions after the sweeping job losses in the early months of the pandemic.

Many who did return to work have since left their jobs — 47 million U.S. workers quit in 2021. Nearly one in five nonretired adults left their job at some point that year, with the nation’s “quit rate” reaching a 20-year high in November, according to the Pew Research Center.

“I think a lot of us realized during the pandemic that we wanted something different than what we were settling for,” Fogg told VOA.

Some people he worked with before the pandemic left New Orleans to be closer to family. Others switched to careers less demanding than the service industry. Still others moved to service industry jobs with better pay or benefits. Fogg said he got a taste of the rewards of working for himself and didn’t want to go back.

“We realized we deserved better from our jobs, and it’s given us the courage to ask for what we think we deserve,” he said.

Tight labor market

Patrick Button, a professor of economics at Tulane University, said the recession caused by COVID-19 is unlike other recent recessions in the United States.

“Typically, recessions were an issue of demand. Employers weren’t interested in hiring, and people were shut out of the workforce,” Button told VOA. “What we’re experiencing now, however, is a supply-side issue. There is a demand for workers by employers, but workers aren’t eager to return.”

That has forced many employers to meet workers’ demands for better pay and benefits, Button explained.

“Employers are having a difficult time hiring workers, and when they do, they’re having a tough time getting them to stay,” he said. “In order to compete against other businesses for workers, many companies are raising wages and offering a better work environment.”

The trucking industry, for example, had struggled to retain drivers for years before the pandemic as the baby boomer generation retired from the workforce. This has caused supply chain issues across the country.

Sherri Brumbaugh, president and CEO of Garner Trucking Inc., said the driver shortage has become more challenging since the Great Resignation.

“It’s the most difficult hiring situation I’ve ever experienced,” she told VOA.

Older generations, Brumbaugh said, were more accepting of the hardships that come with “life on the road.” Younger drivers, however, have different expectations.

“They don’t want to be away from their families for a week at a time, and they don’t accept waiting for hours at truck stops because freight hasn’t arrived,” she said. “There was a time when maybe we didn’t have to. But now, if we’re going to attract new drivers, we have to adjust to what potential employees are looking for.”

Service industry struggles

Leisure and hospitality workers have reportedly left their jobs at more than twice the national average.

Those in the industry say this trend began pre-pandemic and is resulting in more options for employees.

“There are a lot more jobs out there, and quite frankly, the industry has been slow to respond,” said Jay Frisard, who was a regional manager overseeing multiple restaurants for 25 years before switching careers to the logistics industry during the pandemic.

“Wages are higher for service industry workers now, but it’s still often a life that sucks — long hours, constantly on your feet, angry customers. It’s not easy,” he said.

Eric Cook, who owns two restaurants in New Orleans, including the award-winning Gris-Gris, agrees that restaurant work can be grueling, which may be why he and his industry peers are having difficulties filling positions.

“I think when restaurants and bars were closed during the pandemic, a lot of workers explored other industries,” Cook said. “For me, cooking food is about sharing our culture, and that’s rewarding. But I think for a lot of people, if they found work in another industry, they saw that they can make money while sitting at home and without as much stress.”

To stay competitive, Cook raised salaries from $12 and $14 an hour to $22, and he’s offered more salaried positions. Even so, he hasn’t been able to hire enough staff to open his restaurants full time.

“People keep saying, ‘Pay more. Pay more!’ But I can’t go much further without losing money,” he said. “It’s not like I’m making money doing this as it is. People see a full restaurant and think it’s a gold mine, but with being closed during the pandemic, and now rising labor costs and through-the-roof inflation, figuring out how to make a profit at a restaurant is like trying to land on the fricking moon.”

Effects that last?

A survey from the Pew Research Center found that low pay, a lack of opportunities for advancement and feeling disrespected at work are the top reasons Americans quit their jobs last year.

“For the most part, those who quit their jobs are finding new ones easily,” Pew’s associate director of research, Juliana Horowitz, told VOA. “That gives people more courage to find something better.”

According to the survey, the decision to seek new work is paying off.

“The majority of respondents are earning more money, and they’re finding work with more advancement opportunities,” Horowitz said.

Some believe the effects of the Great Resignation are being overstated. A recent Harris Poll survey for USA Today said that one in five people who resigned during the pandemic regretted it.

Chris Smalls, a former Amazon warehouse worker who spearheaded the successful campaign to bring the first unionized workplace in the technology giant’s history, mocked the idea that the trend is harming employers.

“When you quit your job, guess what? They hire somebody else,” Smalls, now president and founder of the Amazon Labor Union, told NPR in an interview.

But while economists like Button note that much of the wage gains earned by workers have been offset by inflation, they believe at least some of the gains made by laborers in the past year are meaningful and will be permanent.

“Of course, not everything we’ve seen will linger,” he said. “But employers are seeing that things like the ability to work from home, flexible hours and benefits such as sick pay are important. And I think those changes will stay to some degree.”

Whether it’s stronger unions, leaving a job for a better opportunity, or in his case, starting his own business, Fogg believes the Great Resignation has helped empower many workers to evaluate what they want out of a job.

“There’s nothing wrong with standing up for yourself and not accepting less than you deserve,” he said. “I think a lot of us are finally realizing that.”
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Kremlin Critic Jailed Over Denouncing Ukraine War

Posted on by SeeEU

Russian authorities have opened a criminal case against a prominent opposition activist and remanded him in pre-trial detention Friday for allegedly spreading “false information” about the country’s armed forces.

A court in Moscow ordered Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr. held in detention until June 12.

Lawyer Vadim Prokhorov told reporters that the false information case against Kara-Murza cited a March 15 speech to the Arizona House of Representatives, in which he denounced the war in Ukraine, as the basis for the latest charges. The activist rejects the accusations.

Russian media reported that similar charges were being drawn up against outspoken tech executive Ilya Krasilshchik, the former publisher of Russia’s top independent news site, Meduza. The moves against the two Kremlin critics are part of a widening crackdown against individuals speaking out against Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Russia adopted a law criminalizing spreading false information about its military shortly after its troops rolled into Ukraine in late February. The offense is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Human rights advocates so far have counted 32 cases targeting critics of the invasion.

Kara-Murza is a journalist and a former associate of late Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated in 2015, and oligarch-turned-dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was jailed for years in Russia. Kara-Murza himself was hospitalized with poisoning symptoms twice, in 2015 and 2017.

Arizona Speaker of the House Rusty Bowers denounced the Russian government’s moves against Kara-Murza.

“I am deeply disturbed over news reports regarding the arrest and political persecution of Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza,” Bowers said in a statement. “Don’t forget about these freedom fighters, like Vladimir Kara-Murza. We must remember names!”

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey tweeted: “Kara-Murza’s brave opposition to Putin has inspired us all. Arizona will always stand for freedom. And we will support those like Kara-Murza who take a stand against oppression.”

Krasilshchik, the tech executive who left Russia in early March, told Meduza that he had learnt about the case against him from news reports, which by Friday evening remained unconfirmed. Russian media have linked the charges to an Instagram post, featuring what Krasilshchik said was the photo of charred human remains in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.

“You can’t recover after seeing the images from Bucha,” the photo caption read. “You feel that the army of this country of ours, it’s capable of anything … and so is the country. That we’re just an order away from mass executions.”

Also Friday, veteran Russian human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov said in an online statement that he was “temporarily” leaving the country.

Ponomaryov, a former State Duma lawmaker who had helped found Russia’s oldest human rights organization in the 1980s, has been a vocal opponent of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, and initiated multiple public petitions against it.

In his statement Friday, he claimed to be “allowing himself to take a vacation” to “look after my health …, but also think through the difficult situation in which we all find ourselves, and plan further (campaigning) activities, which we cannot stop by any means.”

“I doubt my time away will be long,” he added.

In a separate move Friday, the Russian justice ministry added Kara-Murza and several other prominent Kremlin critics to the registry of “foreign agents.” The designation implies additional government scrutiny and carries strong pejorative connotations that can discredit those on the list.

The new additions to the registry included Leonid Volkov, top ally of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and Alexei Venediktov, former editor-in-chief of Russia’s oldest critical radio station, Ekho Moskvy. The station was taken off the airwaves shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine.  
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1 Killed, Several Injured as 5.7 Quake Shakes Bosnia

Posted on by SeeEU

A 5.7-magnitude earthquake rocked southern Bosnia late Friday, killing one person and injuring several others, local media reports said.

A 28-year-old woman who was injured when a rock fell on her house in the town of Stolac, near Mostar, died in hospital, a medical source quoted by media said. Several others were slightly injured, including members of the victim’s family.

The earthquake also toppled walls and caused property damage in several other localities, including Mostar and the town of Ljubinje, according to local and civil defense authorities.

The shallow quake struck at 2107 GMT and was centered 14 kilometers northeast of Ljubinje, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

It was felt across the Balkans as far away as Belgrade, Zagreb and Skopje, more than 400 kilometers from the epicenter, according to AFP correspondents. Reports to the USGS indicated the quake was also felt in Albania and southern Italy.

It was followed by several weaker aftershocks.

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre warned that “aftershocks are likely to happen in the coming hours and days.”

The Balkans is prone to seismic activity, and earthquakes are frequent.

A 6.4-magnitude quake on Dec. 29, 2020, in the Petrinja region of Croatia, near the capital Zagreb, killed seven people and destroyed hundreds of buildings and houses.

In March 2020, Zagreb was hit by a 5.3 tremor that caused extensive damage. In November 2019, more than 50 people were killed in Albania by a 6.4 earthquake that also left thousands homeless. 
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US, Cuba Talk About Accepting More Deportees

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U.S. and Cuban officials met in Washington this week to discuss a record number of Cubans arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, and to determine whether Cuba is willing to start accepting Cuban deportees.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters the goal of the conversation was to promote safe and legal migration between the two countries, and to address the issue of returns and repatriation of citizens. U.S. officials released no further details.

Cuba’s foreign ministry released a statement reiterating Cuban concerns over U.S. measures that impede legal and orderly migration and insisting that the U.S. honor a commitment to issue 20,000 annual visas for Cubans to emigrate to the United States. That process was halted under the Trump administration.

Cuban officials said they emphasized there is no justification for the continued interruption of the visa service. Last month, the State Department said it would begin processing some visas for Cubans in Havana and start reducing the backlog created by a four-year hiatus.

Cuba has a history of not accepting people returned or deported from the United States, but Maria Cristina Garcia, migration analyst and professor at Cornell University, says the policy has shown a little flexibility over the years.

“You’ll recall that after the Mariel Boatlift of 1980, thousands of Cubans were detained indefinitely, across the United States, because Cuba refused to take them back. It wasn’t until the early 1990s that the Castro regime began accepting a small number of these Cuban detainees.

Garcia said that in 2005, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the U.S. government had violated the law by indefinitely detaining “Mariel” Cubans who could not be deported because Cuba would not allow their return. More than 900 Mariel Cubans were released.

What is the deportation process?

During a process at an immigration court, deportation orders are usually issued after a foreign national violates the terms of their visa, is found to be undocumented or is convicted of a crime.

If the person is sentenced to prison for a crime, they may be deported after serving the sentence. If they are detained administratively for an immigration violation, they can be held for up to 180 days while federal officials try to obtain travel documents for deportation.

When the United States seeks to deport an immigrant, it generally follows a framework negotiated with the other nation; these are often detailed in writing, through a memorandum of understanding.

Countries that do not negotiate or do not follow these written agreements and refuse to accept their nationals back are deemed “recalcitrant” or “uncooperative.”

Before the United States can deport someone, the other country must agree to receive the deportee. There must also be an administratively final order of removal, or deportation order, and the individual must have a travel document issued by a foreign government.

What happens when a country does not want to accept their citizens with a U.S. order of removal?

“The way the law stands now, the State Department, which handles these things at this point, is supposed to continue its efforts to negotiate with either the country in question or a third country that might be willing to take some of these people off our hands,” David Abraham, professor of law emeritus at the University of Miami School of Law, told VOA.

But if it is not possible to send someone back to their home country or a third country willing to take them, Abraham said, they sit in detention while waiting for a review of their case to determine whether they are a danger to the community. Such a review can be conducted every six months.

And if they are found not a danger to the community, they can be released with an ankle bracelet or other kind of monitoring device along with a financial bond which is usually paid by U.S. relatives.

Is Cuba on the U.S. recalcitrant countries list?

A country is placed in the “uncooperative” or recalcitrant countries list if it refuses to allow U.S. removal flights into the country, or because it denies or delays the issuance of travel documents, such as passports.

During former president Barack Obama’s second term, 23 countries were categorized as “recalcitrant,” or “uncooperative” with deportations. Under Trump, the number decreased to nine.

Cuba was still on that list as of 2020. VOA asked Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) for an updated list of recalcitrant countries under the Biden administration, and the current number of Cubans facing deportation orders. Officials did not reply before publication.

In 2020, ICE officials told VOA in an email that Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Laos, Pakistan and Vietnam were on the list of recalcitrant countries.

ICE said its assessment of a country’s cooperativeness is formally reviewed twice a year; however, it can be revisited at any time as conditions in that country or relations with that country evolve. As a result, this list is subject to change as countries become more or less cooperative.

How many Cubans are arriving at U.S. borders?

In March, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data shows 32,396 encounters of Cuban migrants at the border. In October – the first month of fiscal year 2022 – that  number was 6,067.

Cubans, who often arrive in the U.S. by illegally crossing the southern border, face a lower risk of being deported or expelled under title 42 — a public health authority that has been used to block asylum to thousands of migrants of other nationalities due to COVID-19.

According to CBP data, there were a total of 1,529 Cuban deportees in 2020. Of that number, 238 had criminal convictions and 1,291 were non-criminal.

Can Cubans with U.S. removal orders be dropped off at Cuban ports of entry?

No. In July 2016, former ICE Deputy Director Daniel Ragsdale explained to Congress a protocol must be followed to deport a foreign national.

What happens to those with deportation orders in the U.S. but who are released from immigration detention?

David Abraham, University of Miami professor of law emeritus, said the State Department is “obligated to do its best to find somewhere to take [foreign nationals] either [to their] home country or another country that we can persuade.”

If the issuance of travel documents fails and people are released from immigration detention, Abraham said that depending on the terms of someone’s bond, they might be allowed to work.

“[Or] you may find that you can only work in the shadow economy where no one is asking you for a social security number … But yes, it’s a bad position to be in,” he said. 
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Mideast Clashes Escalate as US Focuses on Ukraine

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U.S. officials say they are deeply concerned about ongoing violence in Jerusalem. However, with deadlocks in the Israeli and Palestinian governments and heightened focus on the Ukraine war, there may not be much the Biden administration can do to restart a Middle East peace process. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports.
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Russia Might Want to Invade Other Countries, Ukraine’s Zelenskyy Warns 

Posted on by SeeEU

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy seized Friday on remarks by a Russian general as evidence that Moscow will invade other countries if it succeeds in Ukraine. The general had said Russia aimed to capture all of southern and eastern Ukraine and link it up with a breakaway province in neighboring Moldova.

“This only confirms what I have already said multiple times: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was intended only as a beginning,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address.

He said the comments earlier Friday by Rustam Minnekayev, deputy commander of Russia’s central military district, showed that Russia would not stop with Ukraine.

Russian state news agencies quoted Minnekayev as saying that Moscow wanted to seize Ukraine’s entire eastern Donbas region, provide a land corridor to link up with the Crimean Peninsula, and capture the country’s entire south as far west as a breakaway, Russian-occupied region of Moldova. That would mean carrying the offensive hundreds of miles past the current lines and to the border with Moldova.

Moldova summoned Russia’s ambassador Friday to express “deep concern” about the general’s comments.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Jalina Porter declined to comment on the Russian general’s statement but said Washington firmly supported Moldova’s sovereignty.

Ukraine’s defense ministry said the comments by the Russian general showed Russia’s previous claims that it has no territorial ambitions were not true.

“They stopped hiding it,” Ukraine’s defense ministry said on Twitter, adding that Russia had “acknowledged that the goal of the ‘second phase’ of the war is not victory over the mythical Nazis, but simply the occupation of eastern and southern Ukraine. Imperialism as it is.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin previously said Russia had no intention of permanently occupying Ukranian cities. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, a move that was widely condemned by the international community.

 

Russian ship

Russia’s defense ministry, meanwhile, acknowledged Friday for the first time that the crew of the missile cruiser Moskva suffered casualties when it sank last week.

It said one serviceman died and 27 went missing during the ship’s sinking.

Ukraine and the United States said Ukrainian cruise missiles had hit the ship, while Russia blamed the sinking on a fire.

Following the incident, Russia said the entire crew of the ship had been rescued.

Moscow said Friday that 396 crew members had been rescued.

 

Military meeting

The Pentagon said Friday that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would meet next week in Germany with defense officials and military leaders from more than 20 countries to discuss Ukraine’s defense needs.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said about 40 nations were invited to the meeting and that responses were still arriving.

He said the talks, which will include both NATO and non-NATO countries, would be held Tuesday at Ramstein Air Base.

Zelenskyy said Friday that allies were finally delivering the weapons that Ukraine had sought to defend itself.

Canada announced Friday that it had provided heavy artillery to Ukraine, following a pledge by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

U.S. President Joe Biden authorized another $800 million in U.S. military assistance to Ukraine on Thursday, declaring it was necessary to help Kyiv’s forces repel Russian fighters in the critical battles unfolding in the eastern region of the country.

 

Diplomatic efforts

In diplomatic activity Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Washington. The State Department said Blinken “reinforced our determination to help Ukraine successfully defend itself against Russia’s brutal and unjustified war of aggression.”

The U.N. announced Friday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres would meet Putin in Moscow on Tuesday. He’ll also hold meetings and have a working lunch with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The U.N. chief wrote to Putin on Tuesday requesting a meeting to discuss the next steps toward peace in Ukraine. He also wrote to Zelenskyy. Guterres’ representative said his office was in contact with the government in Kyiv about scheduling a visit there as well.

Guterres also appealed this week for a four-day humanitarian pause to coincide with Orthodox Easter, which is celebrated in Ukraine and Russia. So far, those efforts have failed.

At a Friday press conference in Moscow, Lavrov said talks to end the fighting in Ukraine were at a standstill because Kyiv had not responded to Moscow’s latest proposals.

“Another proposal we passed on to Ukrainian negotiators about five days ago, which was drawn up with their comments taken into account, it remains without a response,” Russia’s top diplomat said.

However, Russia’s lead negotiator at the talks with Ukraine, Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky, confirmed that he’d engaged in several lengthy conversations with the head of the Ukrainian delegation on Friday, The Associated Press reported.

 

Alleged war crimes

In Geneva, the U.N. human rights office said Friday that there was growing evidence that Russia had committed war crimes in Ukraine.

“Russian armed forces have indiscriminately shelled and bombed populated areas, killing civilians and wrecking hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure, actions that may amount to war crimes,” said Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights.

The U.N. said it appeared that Ukraine had also used weapons with indiscriminate effects.

On Thursday, Putin declared the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol “liberated,” after nearly two months of fighting, even though Russian forces have not been able to penetrate the city’s massive Azovstal steel plant that remains in the hands of Ukrainian fighters and civilians.

Zelenskyy said Russian forces controlled most of Mariupol but that Ukrainian troops did remain in part of the besieged city.

VOA U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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Niger Parliament Votes in Favor of Foreign Troop Presence

Posted on by SeeAF

Members of Niger’s parliament on Friday voted in favor of allowing the deployment of foreign forces fighting jihadists in the impoverished Sahel nation.

After several hours of debate, the MPs voted 131-31 for the proposal.

Some activists had been campaigning against the presence of foreign troops, branding them as occupiers who would threaten national sovereignty. The outcome of the vote was in little doubt, however, with the parliament in Niamey dominated by allies of President Mohamed Bazoum.

In its battle against al-Qaida and Islamic State-linked jihadists, Niger has the support of several Western countries, including the United States and France, which have military bases in the capital and the Agadez region in the north.

“Entering into new partnerships in no way calls into question our sovereignty over the national territory,” said Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou.

The agreed-upon text “unequivocally indicates the openness of our country to conclude alliances” against jihadists, he said.

Niger “is practically surrounded by armed terrorist groups,” the head of government said.

He also referred to the ongoing withdrawal of the French anti-jihadist Barkhane force and the smaller Takuba force of European special forces from neighboring Mali.

Two jihadi insurgencies

The prime minister opened the door to increased collaboration with France, in particular.

According to the government document handed to MPs and seen by AFP, the current situation requires Niger and other countries to commit to “an effective fight against terrorism, in the framework of bilateral or multilateral cooperation, either current or in the future.”

“The special forces of friendly countries will be deployed … [and] installed on the territories of members of ECOWAS [Economic Community of West African States] facing the threat.”

These include Benin, Ghana, Niger and Ivory Coast, the document stated.

U.S. and French special forces are already operational in Niger, which has declared itself ready to host more. But their possible deployment in the other countries has not been officially mentioned previously.

According to the document, in Niger, “which already houses foreign troops’ bases, new sites will be set up nearer the theaters of operation” in Mali, where multiple jihadi groups operate.

“The locations and operational methods” of these forces will be discussed with Niger’s military hierarchy, it stated.

There was opposition to the parliamentary vote on Friday, but it failed to carry the day.

“We cannot give the government a blank check,” said opposition parliamentarian Soumana Sanda, while another mentioned “gray areas.”

France is reconfiguring its anti-jihadi forces in the Sahel after its relationship with Mali broke down following a military coup in August 2020.

Germany, which runs a logistics outpost in Niamey, has set up a center close to the border with Mali to train Nigerien special forces. Italy and Canada are also involved in special forces training.

The poorest country in the world according to the benchmark U.N. Human Development Index, Niger is facing two jihadi insurgencies. One is unfurling in the southwest of the country, coming from neighboring Mali, while the other is in the southeast, from Nigeria.

Criticism of the presence of foreign forces prompted Bazoum to announce in February that he would ask parliament to agree on any new “arrangements” with foreign partners to tackle the jihadists. 
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Turkey’s Gezi Park Trial Nears Its End

Posted on by SeeEU

The long-running trial of Turkish activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala nears its end as he and seven other defendants delivered their final defense statements on Friday.

In the trial, known as the Gezi Park trial, Kavala and 15 other defendants face many accusations, including attempting to overthrow the government and organizing the 2013 Gezi Park protests. Kavala denies the charges.

The Gezi Park protests began as an environmental demonstration in an Istanbul park and then turned into nationwide anti-government unrest against then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Eight protesters were killed during the protests.

Kavala, 64, has been in jail for four and a half years without a conviction, and he spent 19 months of this time in pre-trial detention. If convicted, Kavala faces a life sentence.

Speaking to the court Friday by video link from prison, Kavala said, “It is evident that those who issued the indictment did not feel constrained by laws, considering that they will receive political support as they intended to prolong my detention.”

ECHR ruling

In December 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) released a ruling in favor of an immediate release of Kavala, saying there is a lack of reasonable suspicion that he committed a crime. As a member state of the Council of Europe, Turkey is legally bound by ECHR rulings, but it has not complied in the Kavala case.

In February, the Council of Europe (CoE) Committee of Ministers began proceedings against Turkey over its failure to respect the ECHR ruling. The proceedings mean that Ankara faces a suspension of its voting rights in the CoE.

Political case

Many human rights activists assert the case is politically motivated.

“This case has been a political case from its very beginning, and it was shaped directly by the president,” Mehmet Durakoglu, head of the Istanbul Bar Association, told VOA.

As a lawyer who has followed all of the hearings in the Gezi Park trial, Durakoglu said the prosecution has not presented a case that would justify a conviction.

“There is not even the slightest bit of evidence. Architects have been prosecuted for doing architecture, city planners for doing city planning and lawyers for practicing law. Under normal circumstances, no sentence should be delivered in this case,” Durakoglu noted.

The court had been expected to reach a verdict on Friday, but it postponed the hearing until Monday to allow defense lawyers to finish their statements.

Prosecutor Edip Sahiner has asked for Kavala and architect Mucella Yapici to be convicted of attempting to overthrow the government through violence, which would carry a sentence of up to life in prison without parole.

The courtroom was packed with some 200 people, including opposition members, rights groups, and Western diplomats.

Soros allegations

The Gezi Park trial indictment alleges that Hungarian-born, U.S.-based financier George Soros and his Open Society Foundation were behind the protests, and that they acted through Kavala, a former member of Open Society’s Turkey branch board.

Both Kavala and the Open Society Foundation deny these accusations. The foundation ceased its operations in Turkey in 2018, saying that it was no longer possible to work in the country.

“The fact that no member of the Open Society Foundation board other than me was summoned to testify and that George Soros is not among the accused shows that people who wrote this indictment do not believe this scenario that Soros organized and financed the Gezi protests through me,” Kavala said in his final defense statement.

Erdogan has publicly called Kavala “Soros scum” and “domestic Soros.”

Kavala’s prolonged detention stirred a diplomatic crisis between Turkey and the embassies of 10 Western countries, including the United States, Canada and Germany, last October.

In response to the embassies calling for Kavala’s release in a letter, Erdogan threatened them to be “persona non grata.” The embassies responded with one-sentence public statements reiterating their “compliance with Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.” The article regulates diplomatic norms against interference in the internal affairs of host states.

After the court hearing, Evren Isler, one of Kavala’s lawyers, told reporters the judicial panel’s actions were detached from the facts.

“Today’s hearing has shown us once again how the judicial panel has lost touch with the facts. No matter what we said, the panel gave the impression that they did not care,” Isler said.

“One of the many violations, in this case, is the violation of the right to a fair trial. The judicial panel is obliged to give the impression that they protect the right to a fair trial,” Isler underscored.

This story was originated in VOA’s Turkish service. Some information in this report came from Reuters.
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Florida Battles Disney World Over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill

Posted on by SeeUS

The Walt Disney Company, a global entertainment giant, has found itself on the wrong side of a political battle with Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of the state of Florida, where Disney employs nearly 80,000 people in a constellation of theme parks, hotels, and restaurants, constituting the single largest tourist attraction in the world.

On April 19, in a news conference, DeSantis called on Florida legislators to revoke a special tax status that, for more than 50 years, has allowed Walt Disney World to operate as the de facto municipal government within the 39-square miles its parks cover in central Florida. Less than 48 hours later, both chambers of the legislature had done what DeSantis asked. The governor signed the bill Friday.

The hurried process gave interested parties little time to assess the effects of the policy change, but the message it sent to Disney and other companies in Florida was clear: crossing DeSantis can lead to swift and severe retribution by the state’s government.

Origins of the fight

The dispute in Florida relates to a measure that DeSantis signed into law in late March, called the Parental Rights in Education bill. The aim of the new law was to restrict discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools. In kindergarten through the third grade, all discussion of LGBTQ issues is banned under the law. For all older children, any such discussion must be “age appropriate.”

The state law empowers parents to sue schools if they believe their child has been instructed on LGBTQ issues inappropriately. Opponents of the bill have characterized it as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, because the vague language in the statute makes it unclear exactly what is considered appropriate.

The Walt Disney Company has significant political influence in the state of Florida, but it was not initially engaged in the discussion about the proposed law. This prompted protests from some of its employees, who complained that the company should have been using that influence to protect its LGBTQ workers and their families.

Disney takes a position

On March 11, Disney CEO Bob Chapek sent a contrite note to the company’s employees, apologizing for the company’s lack of action.

“Our employees see the power of this great company as an opportunity to do good. I agree,” he said. “Yes, we need to use our influence to promote that good by telling inclusive stories, but also by standing up for the rights of all.”

Chapek went on to say that Disney would increase its support for advocacy organizations resisting similar legislation around the country. He also said that the company had paused all political donations in Florida while it considers how to be sure those donations reflect the company’s values.

On March 28, after DeSantis signed the bill, the company issued a statement attributed to a representative saying the bill “should never have passed and should never have been signed into law.”

It continued, “Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that. We are dedicated to standing up for the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ members of the Disney family, as well as the LGBTQ+ community in Florida and across the country.”

Offense taken

In the United States, it is not at all uncommon for businesses to express their opposition to actions taken by the government at the federal, state, or local level. In fact, doing so is considered constitutionally protected speech.

However, Florida’s governor took particular exception to the company’s statement on the Parental Rights in Education law, and almost immediately began discussing the possibility of revoking the company’s status within the 39-square-mile area known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District.

The district was created in 1967, specifically for the project that would become Walt Disney World. It gives the company broad authority over how the property is developed. In exchange, the Walt Disney Company is responsible for all municipal services in the district, including fire and rescue operations, road repairs, and sewers and water treatment.

DeSantis couched his calls for the change in language suggesting that he was addressing broader concerns. “I would say any special privileges that are in law I would like to get rid of generally,” he said.

However, of the more than 1,800 special districts that have been created within Florida, Disney’s is the only one affected by the legislation.

Reaction mixed

Among Democrats, both in Florida and across the country, the move to punish Disney was broadly criticized. On Thursday, while at a fundraiser in Oregon, President Joe Biden said, “Christ, they’re going after Mickey Mouse,” adding that in his view the “far right has taken over the [Republican] party.”

Among Republicans, the reaction was more mixed. A number of prominent conservative outlets appeared to support the move. The Wall Street Journal editorial page, for example, said that the move stands as a “warning” to other companies, “especially Big Tech and Wall Street.”

“If they try to impose their cultural values, they risk losing Republican allies on the policy issues that matter most to their bottom lines, such as regulation, trade, taxation, antitrust and labor law,” the editorial said.

Others were less sanguine. Writing in the Atlantic, conservative attorney and author David French worried that in their haste to punish Disney, Florida’s Republicans were abandoning a commitment to the Constitution’s protection of free speech.

“With the passage of Florida’s bill targeting Disney, it’s unambiguous now,” he wrote. “As the right cheers Ron DeSantis, it is forsaking the First Amendment.”

Uncertain impact

The bill rescinding Disney’s tax status will not take effect until next year, but local officials are already scrambling to figure out what its impact will be.

Currently, in its capacity as the government of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, Disney charges itself $165 million in taxes each year. Those taxes go toward the municipal services that the company provides. The district also carries about $1 billion in bond debt, on which Disney, as the de facto government, makes payments.

Local officials in Orange and Osceola counties, where the district is located, have said that they are concerned that they will have to sharply raise taxes on their residents in order to provide the services for which Disney now pays.

The complex of Disney theme parks and supporting services brings an estimated $75 billion in revenue to central Florida every year. According to the Themed Entertainment Association, in 2019 they combined to attract 58.8 million visitors from around the world.
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Ukraine War Adds to Supply Strain in Global Auto Industry

Posted on by SeeUS

A global shortage of microchips is only a part of the difficulty roiling the global automotive industry. As more drivers return to work as pandemic restrictions ease — increasing demand for new vehicles — inventory is scarce. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh has more from Chicago.
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Six Killed in Restaurant Blast in Somali Capital

Posted on by SeeAF

Six people were killed Friday in a blast at a beachside Mogadishu restaurant, which was hosting Somalia’s police chief and legislators when the explosion occurred, an ambulance service said.

Government officials were unharmed in the blast, which sparked a fire inside the building, sending smoke into the sky as diners scrambled to safety.

“There was a blast in the restaurant presumably caused by a suicide bomber, but we are not sure so far [about] … the cause,” said police officer Mohamed Ali.

“The police commissioner was inside the restaurant when the blast occurred, but he is safe [as are] several legislators who stayed there,” he told AFP.

“Six people died and seven others were wounded in the blast,” Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of the Aamin Ambulance service, told reporters.

Al-shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack.

“Our special operations unit was responsible for the attack on government top officials including the police chief and apostate lawmakers, the attack has resulted in deaths and injuries among those at the scene in Abdul Aziz district,” the group said in a statement published on its Shahada News Agency.

The explosion was followed by sporadic gunfire, said Farah Dahir, a diner at a nearby restaurant.

“I can see several ambulances rushing [to] the scene now, but it is very difficult to know about what exactly happened. The whole area is sealed off by police now,” he told AFP.

Mortar attack

The explosion came days after a mortar attack targeted Somalia’s parliament during a meeting by newly elected lawmakers.

No lawmakers were harmed in Monday’s assault, which was claimed by the Islamist militant group al-Shabab, which has been waging an insurgency against the central government for more than a decade.

The Horn of Africa nation has seen a spate of attacks in recent weeks as it hobbles through a long-delayed election process to pick a new president.

Some parliamentary seats remain unfilled but sufficient lawmakers have been sworn in to move the election process forward, with both houses due to choose a speaker next week.

Somalia has not held a one-person, one-vote election in 50 years.

Instead, polls follow a complex indirect model, whereby state legislatures and clan delegates pick lawmakers for the national parliament, who in turn choose the president.

The election delays have worried Somalia’s international backers, who have warned that the chaos distracts from the fight against al-Shabab.

The al-Qaeda-linked militants frequently attack civilian, military and government targets in Somalia’s capital and outside.

The jihadists controlled Mogadishu until 2011, when they were pushed out by an African Union force, but they still hold territory in the countryside.

VOA’s Somalia service contributed to this report. 
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Azeri Asylum-Seekers Face Charges After Repatriation From Germany 

Posted on by SeeEU

Rights activists in Azerbaijan are accusing the government of manufacturing false charges to arrest critics who have been returned to the country after failing to gain asylum in Germany.

Samir Ashurov was detained on April 19 on charges of assault with a knife, just weeks after he was deported from Germany back to his native country.

Ashurov had fled to Germany in 2018 when he was a member of the opposition REAL Movement. After leaving Azerbaijan, Ashurov continued criticizing the Azerbaijani government.

He was readmitted to Azerbaijan on March 29, after the German government refused to grant him asylum.

His lawyer, Elchin Sadiqov, told VOA that Ashurov had left his house earlier this week planning to renew his passport so that he could again leave the country. Instead, he said, Ashurov was attacked in the street and had a knife planted on him.

“He said that a man approached him near a metro station in Baku, shouting and knocking him to the ground. Samir ran away and shouted, ‘Police,’ and that’s when the police officers immediately detained him,” Sadiqov said.

“They then put a knife in the right pocket of his jacket,” Sadiqov said. “He took the knife out and threw it away. Then they put it back in his left pocket. He was then taken to the 24th Police Station of the Nizami District Police Office.”

Ashurov’s lawyer said he was tortured in custody and now was on a hunger strike, protesting his arrest.

“He said that he was beaten at the police station,” said Sadiqov. “When I met him, he had bruises on his chest and groin. He said he had been on a hunger strike since April 19 to protest his arrest.”

Elshad Hajiyev, spokesperson for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, called these allegations completely unfounded.

“Samir Ashurov is charged with a specific crime, and what his lawyer says is a defense. And that’s understandable,” he said.

A targeted campaign

Government critics say authorities are using criminal charges to jail political opponents, in particular those who have spoken out while seeking asylum abroad. They say it’s part of a coordinated campaign by President Ilham Aliyev.

“I met Samir Ashurov last week after his deportation from Germany. He told me that he had been summoned to the prosecutor’s office several times, was being monitored and that preparations were being made for his arrest,” Tofiq Yaqublu, deputy chairman of the opposition Musavat Party and a senior politician of the National Council of Democratic Forces, wrote on Facebook.

Ashurov, who spoke with VOA earlier this month following his return from Germany, said he was also questioned at the airport about why he had left the country.

“I said that I was facing political persecution in Azerbaijan,” he said. “I told them that I had been arrested twice under false pretenses. I told them that I would be one of the victims of the government. Just like four political activists before me — Malik Rzayev, Mutalim Orujov, Punhan Karimli and Jafar Mirzayev were arrested.”

He also predicted that he would be detained in the future. “This regime will arrest me again on false charges,” Ashurov told VOA.

In January, Mirzayev, a member of the Germany-based DAS (Elect a Democratic Azerbaijan) group, was detained on charges of drug trafficking and sentenced to four months of pretrial detention. Mirzayev faces between five and 12 years in prison.

Karimli, a member of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA); Rzayev and Orujov have also been charged with drug trafficking.

Some see coordinated campaign

Some rights activists argue that the arrests are part of a coordinated effort aimed at migrants who sought asylum in other countries.

“Political activists deported from Germany were being arrested on drug charges. Now they have switched from drugs to knives,” Afgan Mukhtarli, an investigative journalist, human rights defender and former political prisoner currently living in Germany, said in a Facebook post. “We knew Samir would be arrested. Ilham Aliyev takes revenge on migrants. In his speeches, he repeatedly targeted migrants, calling them agents.”

Zafar Ahmadov, co-founder of a human rights NGO known as “Defense Line,” told VOA that the fate of readmitted political activists continues to be a concern.

“The arrest of all five readmitted political activists is not a coincidence,” said Ahmadov, who is also a member of the Democracy for Azerbaijan (AND) movement. “As a rule, we raise the issue of readmitted human rights activists before the EU Delegation and the embassies of EU member states.”

The German Embassy in Azerbaijan on Thursday told VOA it was monitoring Ashurov’s case.

“We are monitoring such incidents. We hold regular talks with the Azerbaijani government on human rights issues,” the embassy officials said.

Pact on repatriation

The European Union and Azerbaijan in 2014 signed an agreement on the repatriation of persons residing without authorization. Since the signing of the agreement, more than 2,000 people have been returned to Azerbaijan, including 420 in 2021.

International human rights organizations, including Freedom House and Human Rights Watch, report that the government of Azerbaijan frequently arrests individuals exercising their fundamental rights on trumped-up charges.

The Azerbaijani government, on the other hand, says people are not persecuted for their political beliefs.

This story originated in VOA’s Azerbaijani Service.
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France Blames Russian Mercenaries in Mali for False Claims About Mass Graves

Posted on by SeeEU

The French military has accused Russian mercenaries of creating a mass grave and falsely blaming it on the French.

The French Army says it has drone video, seen by news agencies Associated Press and Agence France-Presse, of Russian mercenaries burying bodies near Gossi, Mali, where the French army withdrew from a military base this week.

Video of what appears to be a similar location circulated Thursday on Twitter, showing a blurred image of what are alleged to be bodies buried in the sand. The accompanying Twitter message says the departing French army left that scene behind in Gossi.

Speaking to AFP and AP, the French Army said the mercenaries created the site to circulate images and blame the French army to stoke anti-French sentiment in Mali.

The drone video was reportedly captured Thursday morning, but the French army left Gossi on Tuesday. France recently said it would withdraw its troops from Mali in a operation expected to take four to six months.

A Twitter account named “Dia Diarra” posted a video Thursday, including what appears to be bodies partially buried in the sand, with the caption, “This is what the French left behind when they left the base at Gossi. These are excerpts from a video that was taken after they left! We cannot keep silent about this!”

“Dia Darra” claims to be a Malian veteran and “patriot” and posts mostly pro-Malian military and pro-Russia content. The original profile photo used for the account could also be seen on the Russian social media website VK on an account of a man believed to be located in Colombia.

After that was pointed out by several Twitter users, the profile picture was changed to a photo of Malian President Assimi Goita. The account has been active since January 2022.

Many governments have accused the Malian army of working with mercenaries from the Russian company the Wagner Group which, critics say, has close ties to the Russian government.

Mali’s government denies the allegation, saying it works only with “Russian instructors.”

In March, Human Rights Watch reported that residents of Moura, in central Mali, said that hundreds of civilians were killed by the Malian army while working with “white soldiers,” who spoke a language not familiar to them.

VOA spoke to a man who saw 12 to 15 men killed and witnessed both Malian and white soldiers in the village during the five-day operation.
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Guterres: Mother Earth Is in Trouble and Action Is Needed

Posted on by SeeUS

Environmentally, the planet was on a downward slide well before the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution designating April 22 in 2009 as International Mother Earth Day. The aim of this day is to celebrate the wonders of Mother Earth.

The day also is meant to shed light on the issues threatening the health of the world’s ecosystems to ensure their survivability.

Unfortunately, says U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, humans have been poor custodians of our fragile planet, which is facing a triple planetary crisis.

“Climate disruption. Nature and biodiversity loss. Pollution and waste. The triple crisis threatening the well-being and survival of millions of people around the world. The building blocks of happy, healthy lives—clean water, fresh air, a stable and predictable climate—are in disarray, putting the Sustainable Development Goals in Jeopardy.”

Ecosystems support all life on Earth. A healthy ecosystem depends on a healthy planet. Yet, scientists warn the planet is losing 4.7 million hectares of forests every year. They estimate around one million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction.

And, the warming of the planet, they say, could lead to a climate disaster, rendering the planet uninhabitable.

Despite the dire outlook, Guterres says not all is lost. He says there is still

hope of saving Earth if nations act together to tackle the problems that are endangering the well-being of the planet.

He notes much has been accomplished since the global environmental movement started 50 years ago at a conference in Stockholm, Sweden. He says nations have

negotiated agreements which have, among others, succeeded in shrinking the ozone hole.

They have expanded protections for wildlife and ecosystems, and have ended the use of leaded fuel, thus preventing millions of premature deaths.

“But we need to do much more. And much faster. Especially to avert climate catastrophe. We must limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. And we are far off track…At the same time we must invest rapidly in adaptation and resilience, particularly for the poorest and most vulnerable who have contributed least to the crisis.”

In June, Sweden will host a high-level U.N. meeting to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first U.N. conference on the human environment. Guterres says the gathering of world leaders will be a great moment to address the triple planetary emergency.

He says we only have one Mother Earth so everyone must do everything to protect her.
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South Sudan Newspaper Editor Arrested for Defying Court Order

Posted on by SeeAF

The editor-in-chief of South Sudan’s oldest English-language newspaper, the Juba Monitor, has been arrested for allegedly defying a court order to stop publication over alleged malpractice.   

Anna Namiriano was arrested Tuesday afternoon after not acting on an order issued last week by Juba’s Kator High Court to shut down the paper. She reportedly was being held at Juba’s central prison.   

The case involves a dispute between the newspaper’s management and the family of its late founder, veteran journalist Alfred Taban, who died in April 2019. Taban’s family had filed a lawsuit in 2020 against the independent newspaper’s managers and its publisher, Grand Media Africa, accusing them of mismanaging the paper’s ownership and resources. 

The family has sought restrictions on the newspaper’s activities until the case is resolved.   

Last week, the Kator High Court suspended the Juba Monitor’s activities, said Becu Pitia Lagu, an attorney representing the Taban family.   

“Anna deliberately refused to implement the court ruling which was passed on the date 13th of this month asking her to close down the newspapers, cease the activities of the company,” Pitia told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus.   

Lazarus Yuggu, an attorney representing Namiriano, said the court never informed his client or the publisher of the shutdown order. He called his client’s arrest illegal.   

“There is no reason why the judge issued that order,” Yuggu told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus. “There is no court contempt at all, because all of us were present at the court. I think this company is not actually a foreign company, whereby a judge may suspect [someone] of absconding or running away from the jurisdiction or something of that kind. The parties are present before the judge.”  

Yuggu said the paper’s management had already paid printing fees for a week in advance, so they continued publishing. “They just wanted to print for the one week that has been paid for,” the attorney said.    

Namiriano plans to appeal the court order, Yuggu said.   

The Juba Monitor was established in Juba roughly a decade ago after Southern Sudan seceded from the rest of Sudan. 
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Britain and India Enhance Security, Economic Ties

Posted on by SeeEU

India and Britain have agreed to boost economic as well as defense ties that could eventually help New Delhi move away from its dependance on Russian arms.   

Following talks in New Delhi between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart, Boris Johnson, who is on a two-day visit to India, the two sides said they will wrap up a free trade deal by October and announced a security partnership.  

“We have agreed a new and expanded defense and security partnership, a decadeslong commitment that will not only forge tighter bonds between us, but support your goal of Make in India,” Johnson said, referring to Modi’s push to expand domestic manufacturing of weaponry.    

Despite pressure from its Western allies, like the United States and Britain, India has taken a neutral position on the Ukraine crisis, refusing to condemn Russia or join sanctions imposed by Western countries.   

Analysts attribute India’s stance partly to the fact that India sources much of its military equipment from its former Cold War ally.   

Britain said it will ensure faster delivery of defense equipment by streamlining licensing rules for exporting military hardware to India. Officials in New Delhi called it a “welcome development.”  

Britain is offering next-generation defense and security collaboration across five domains — land, sea, air, space and cyber — to face complex new threats, according to the British Embassy.   

“What we are looking for is a combination of U.K.’s technology and our production base to make it a win-win situation,” Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla told reporters.   

Indian Prime Minister Modi told reporters that both sides underscored the importance of diplomacy and dialogue to settle the Ukraine crisis.   

Indian Foreign Secretary Shringla said that there was no “pressure” on India over the position it has taken.   

Modi said he also stressed a “free, open, inclusive and rule-based order in the Indo-Pacific,” in an apparent reference to China’s aggressiveness in the region.  

Both leaders sounded an upbeat note on strengthening ties. Using Hindi words, Johnson called Modi a “khaas dost,” or special friend, and said, “Our relations have never been as strong or as good between us as they are now.”  

It was “historic” that Johnson’s visit to India came in the 75th year of its independence, Modi said.  

Johnson said a free trade pact, when signed, could take trade between the two countries “to a whole new level.” The deal is expected to double their current trade of $50 billion by 2030.  

The British prime minister also announced that Britain is to reopen its embassy in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, at a news conference he held after his talks with Indian leaders.     

“The extraordinary fortitude and success of (Ukraine) President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy in resisting Russian forces in Kyiv means I can announce that very shortly, next week, we will reopen our embassy in Ukraine’s capital city,” Johnson said.   

The main British diplomatic mission had been moved to the western city of Lviv in February.    

In response to a question, the British leader said it remained a “realistic possibility” that Russia could win the war in Ukraine.    

“Putin has a huge army. He has a very difficult political position because he has made a catastrophic blunder. The only option he now, he now has is to use his appalling, grinding approach led by artillery, trying to grind the Ukrainians down,” Johnson told reporters.   

Saying that it was important to keep up “wave after wave” of pressure on Russia, he said Britain was seeing what it could do to reinforce the supply of military equipment, such as tanks to Poland, so that it could send heavier weaponry to Ukraine. 

 
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Greek Prosecutor to Probe Alleged Bugging of Journalist’s Phone

Posted on by SeeEU

A Greek prosecutor said on Thursday she had begun an investigation into an allegation by a journalist that his smartphone had been infected by surveillance software in an operation by the country’s intelligence service.

A spokesman for Greece’s EYP intelligence service told Reuters it had no comment on Greek media reports detailing the assertion by Thanasis Koukakis, 43, a financial journalist who works for CNN Greece and has done investigative reporting on financial crimes.

The allegation comes as the European Union (EU) is beginning to follow the United States in taking a harder look at spyware merchants and the use of powerful surveillance software.

“A preliminary investigation has begun on the matter,” the prosecutor, who declined to be identified, told Reuters, adding the probe would seek to determine whether there had been a breach of the country’s telecommunications privacy legislation.

Koukakis told Reuters he believed his phone had been infected by Predator spyware developed by Cytrox, a Europe-based surveillance company. Cytrox Predator spyware is sold in Greece by Intellexa, which did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Koukakis, who first suspected EYP was listening to his calls in July 2020, asked independent telecommunications privacy authority ADAE to determine whether a privacy breach had taken place and if so whether it had been ordered by a prosecutor.

“I could not believe I was being wiretapped,” Koukakis told Reuters.

Koukakis said the authority responded in July 2021, saying it had not found anything violating the law on the confidentiality of communications.

ADAE’s reply came four months after the government passed an amendment to the privacy law barring it from informing individuals subject to eavesdropping for national security reasons. The amendment took effect retroactively.

ADAE had no immediate response. The legal counsel for ADAE, Katerina Papanicolaou, told Reuters she was not authorized to comment on the matter.

After his phone “started acting strangely” in what appeared to be a second spying attempt, Koukakis said he asked for help from Toronto University’s Citizen Lab, which tracks the spyware industry. Citizen Lab researcher Bill Marczak confirmed the Lab analyzed Koukakis’s phone and found traces of Predator spyware.

“We analyzed it and confirmed a Cytrox infection,” he told Reuters. “We identified the SMS on the phone used to target him … it is the first Greek case we have been able to confirm.”

Commenting on the reported bugging of Koukasis’ phone, government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou told reporters this week Greek authorities do not use the spyware allegedly involved in the hacking and do not do business with companies selling it.

The EU considers the use of spyware against journalists unacceptable.

Koukakis’ case will be investigated by EU lawmakers tracking the spread of espionage software in Europe, said Sophie in’t Veld, a Dutch member of the European parliament. The Greek case “would very much fall within the scope of our inquiry,” she said.
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Kenya’s Former President Kibaki Dies at 90

Posted on by SeeAF

Former Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, who served as the country’s third president has died at the age of 90.

His death was announced Friday by his successor, incumbent Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who called him inspirational.

“Emilio Mwai Kibaki was a quintessential patriot whose legacy of civil responsibility will continue to inspire generations of Kenyans long into our future,” he said.

Kibaki’s served as president from 2002 to 2013, winning elections against Kenyatta and ending four decades of one-party rule.

He came to power promising to fight corruption and transform Kenya’s economy.

While Kibaki ushered in economic reforms, corruption continued.

His disputed re-election in 2007 against Raila Odinga, who accused him of rigging the outcome, led to street clashes and the deaths of more than 1,100 people.

But Kibaki was also hailed in 2010 for shaping a new constitution for Kenya and improving social services.

Kenyatta also praised the late president for transforming the country.

“The late former president’s administration conceptualized and spearheaded a transformation in crucial sectors such as education through the globally lauded free primary education program, infrastructure developments in transport and energy and the increasing the availability and the access to health care for his fellow Kenyans,” Kenyatta said.

At the end of two terms, Kibaki handed power to Kenyatta, who was elected in 2013, and retired from politics.
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Biden to Sign Executive Order on Earth Day to Protect Country’s Oldest Trees

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. President Joe Biden has chosen Earth Day on Friday to sign an executive order to protect some of the country’s largest and oldest trees.

The order the president is scheduled to sign in Washington State will require the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service to identify threats to older trees, such as wildfire and climate change, and develop policies to safeguard them.

Old trees are an ally in fighting climate change because they absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming.  Scientists say redwood forests are among the world’s most efficient means of removing and storing carbon dioxide.  Thousands of U.S. redwoods have been destroyed in recent years.

Biden’s order will require federal land managers to define and count mature and old-growth forests nationwide within a year.

The measure is a safeguard designed to protest U.S. forests that have been decimated by fires, drought, and blight in recent years.

Some information in this report came from the Associated Press and Reuters.
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Audio: McCarthy Said He Would Urge Trump to Resign After Jan. 6 Riot

Posted on by SeeUS

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy told fellow GOP lawmakers shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection that he would urge then-President Donald Trump to resign, according to audio posted Thursday night by The New York Times and aired on The Rachel Maddow Show on the U.S. cable network MSNBC. 

In the recording of a Jan. 10 House Republican Leadership call, McCarthy is heard discussing the Democratic effort to remove Trump from office and saying he was thinking of calling Trump and telling him, “I think it will pass and it would be my recommendation he should resign.”

It’s unclear whether McCarthy, who is in line to become House speaker if Republicans gain control during the fall midterm elections, followed through on his thinking or was merely sharing ideas privately with his colleagues in the aftermath of the deadly Capitol assault. 

In the same conversation, McCarthy told his colleagues he doubted Trump would take the advice to step aside.

“That would be my recommendation,” McCarthy is heard saying in response to a question from Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who would emerge as a staunch Trump critic. “I don’t think he will take it, but I don’t know.”

Earlier Thursday, after the Times published its initial story describing the conversation, McCarthy released a statement calling it “totally false and wrong.” His spokesman, Mark Bednar, had told the paper, “McCarthy never said he’d call Trump to say he should resign.”

Bednar did not immediately respond to questions late Thursday night after the audio’s release. Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the tape.

The audio threatens to badly damage the relationship between McCarthy and Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the Republican Party, despite his role in inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection and his refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election. And it could threaten McCarthy’s standing with House Republicans aligned with Trump, whose support he will need for votes to become House speaker next year.

The audio depicts a very different McCarthy than the one who has been leading House Republicans over the last year and a half and who has remained allied with Trump even after delivering a speech on the House floor shortly after Jan. 6, during which he called the attack on the Capitol “un-American.” At the time, McCarthy called the assault among the saddest days of his career and told his fellow Republicans that Trump “bears responsibility” for the violence. 

Even after the violence, though, McCarthy joined half of the House Republicans in voting to challenge Joe Biden’s election victory.

Since then, the California Republican has distanced himself from any criticism of Trump and has avoided directly linking him to what happened. Within weeks of the siege at the Capitol McCarthy said he did not think Trump provoked the attack, as other prominent Republicans said at the time. 

Instead, McCarthy has allied with Trump, visiting him at the former president’s Florida residence at Mar-a-Lago as he relies on the former president’s brand for campaign support this fall. 

McCarthy indicated during an interview with The Associated Press this week in California that Trump will motivate voters to turn out for the party in this fall’s midterm elections.

“He’ll motivate, get a lot of people out,” McCarthy said at a GOP event in Fresno.

The Times report Thursday was adapted from an upcoming book, This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future, by Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns.

In the audio, Cheney, who eventually lost her No. 3 leadership position after voting in favor of Trump’s impeachment, can be heard asking McCarthy about a 25th Amendment resolution calling for Trump’s ouster and whether Trump might resign.

“I’ve had a few discussions. My gut tells me no. I’m seriously thinking of having that conversation with him tonight,” McCarthy is heard saying. “What I think I’m gonna do is I’m gonna call him.”

“I think it will pass and it would be my recommendation he should resign,” he later adds. “I mean, that would be my take but I don’t think he would take it. But I don’t know.”

McCarthy, 57, has been strategically charting his own delicate course as he positions himself to try to take over as speaker if Republicans retake the House. He has begun to build out his leadership team and last summer tasked several groups of Republican lawmakers with drafting proposals on the party’s core legislative priorities in hopes of making a fast start in 2023.

But even as he inches closer to leading the chamber, McCarthy is well aware of the downside of power in recent months as hard-right members of the conference have created headaches with inflammatory actions and statements.

There was little immediate reaction Thursday night from fellow Republicans who could determine his future.

To be sure, no other Republican leader in the House has amassed the standing to challenge McCarthy for the leadership position.

McCarthy has recruited the class of newcomers bolstering GOP ranks and raised millions to bolster Republican campaigns. He has drawn his closest rivals into the fold even as he works to shore up the votes that would be needed to become speaker. 

An outside group aligned with McCarthy has led fundraising ahead of the midterm elections, and rank-and-file Republicans working to regain the House majority are unlikely to be critical of the leader ahead of November.

Still, McCarthy has also been a person of interest for the House committee investigating the storming of the Capitol on Jan 6. The select committee, which Cheney vice-chairs, requested an interview with McCarthy in mid-January, hoping to learn more about his conversations with Trump “before, during and after” the riot. 

They had also sought information about McCarthy’s communications with former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in the days before the attack. Hours after the request was made, McCarthy issued a statement saying he would refuse to cooperate because he saw the investigation as not legitimate and accused the panel of “abuse of power.”

The committee has been especially focused on McCarthy’s communications with Trump and White House staff in the week after the violence, including a conversation with Trump that was reportedly heated.

Without his cooperation, it remains unclear whether the panel will be able to gain testimony from McCarthy or any other congressional allies of Trump. While the committee has considered subpoenaing fellow lawmakers, they have so far avoided doing so as it would be an extraordinary move and could run up against legal and political challenges.
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Nigerian NGO Trains Disabled Women to Make, Sell Crafts  

Posted on by SeeAF

An aid group in Nigeria is helping hundreds of women living with disabilities to become their own bosses by learning how to make crafts and sell them. The group recently held a trade fair to showcase the products – as Timothy Obiezu reports from Abuja.
Camera: Emeka Gibson     
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