Manitoba premier says she will end court fight, negotiate carbon price with Ottawa

WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government has decided to not appeal a court ruling that said the federal government has a right to impose a carbon price on provinces.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Instead, Premier Heather Stefanson is hoping for a more amicable negotiation with Ottawa than her predecessor, Brian Pallister.

"This is an opportunity, I think, for us to press reset with the federal government and have more of a collaborative relationship with them," Stefanson said Wednesday.

"From the conversations that I've had so far with the prime minister, I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll be able to come to some deal that will be obviously in the best interest of Manitobans."

Pallister planned in 2018 to have a flat $25 per tonne price on carbon. That was lower than the minimum escalating level set by the federal government, but Pallister said Manitoba deserved credit for billions of dollars spent on clean hydroelectric projects, which utility customers continue to pay for.

Pallister said Manitoba's emissions plan, which included wetlands improvements and subsidies for fuel efficiency in the trucking industry, could meet or exceed federal emission targets without imposing a high carbon tax.

Ottawa brought in a "backstop'" carbon price on provinces that did not meet its demands, and promised to return the money, mainly to individuals through income tax rebates.

Manitoba took the issue to Federal Court and lost last month.

Stefanson did not provide any indication that Ottawa has softened its demand or agreed to give Manitoba a discount for its energy development.

"I think that those discussions are ongoing. I'm not going to reveal that right now."

Opposition NDP Leader Wab Kinew said Manitoba should reach a deal with Ottawa and come up with its own carbon-pricing plan.

"Spending money on pointless court battles is not doing anything to solve the climate crisis," he said.

Canada's carbon price started in 2019 at $20 a tonne and is set to rise to $170 a tonne by 2030. The current price of $40 a tonne adds about 8.8 cents a litre to gasoline, or about $3.50 more to a 40-litre fill-up of a car.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2021.

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press

NO COMMENT FROM ATA, YET

Alberta proposes bill to overhaul, publicize teacher discipline and decisions

EDMONTON — Alberta is proposing legislation to make public the names and case details of teachers disciplined for unprofessional conduct or incompetence.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The bill introduced by Education Minister  AND FORMER SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER 

Adriana LaGrange  would reorganize the disciplinary process and require ongoing criminal record checks for all teachers.

LaGrange says the vast majority of teachers are caring and responsible, but there needs to be more transparency and efficiency around teacher discipline.

The centrepiece of the bill proposes a new online portal to search Alberta teachers and teaching leaders.

The portal would contain dates and details of disciplinary decisions about individual teachers dating back to 1990.

The Alberta Teachers’ Association is currently in charge of disciplining its active members.

The portal would be run by the Alberta Education registrar and would be updated no later than two months after a decision was made.

There could be exemptions on a case-by-case basis, including having to comply with court orders or to make sure no harm or distress came to third parties.

"The overwhelming majority of teachers are incredible professionals; however, when disciplinary matters do arise the process should be timely and transparent," LaGrange told the house Tuesday as she introduced the bill.

"This important legislation would further ensure safety for students, confidence for parents, and accountability for teachers."

Under the bill, the number of disciplinary committees would be reduced and the minister would be granted the power to immediately cancel the teaching certificate of any educator convicted of a serious Criminal Code offence.

Which offences that would apply to are to be determined in regulations later.

The six current disciplinary panels would be telescoped into one staffed by ATA members and by individuals from the public selected by the education minister.

That main panel would handle disciplinary matters via three subcommittees.

The ATA would be required to inform the provincial government of any complaints lodged against its members and to deliver updates on ongoing complaints.

School authorities would have to do criminal checks when hiring new teachers and every five years afterward.

Current teachers would have 16 months to complete the checks.

Opposition NDP education critic Sarah Hoffman characterized the bill as misdirection from a minister who has failed students on multiple fronts, including not providing adequate supports to protect against COVID-19.

"This bill is a cynical attempt to distract from the catalog of harm Adriana LaGrange has caused to Alberta's education system," said Hoffman.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 16, 2021.

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press

'No Nukes' footage bypasses Springsteen's aversion to film

© Provided by The Canadian Press

NEW YORK (AP) — If there's one thing Bruce Springsteen's fans can find fault with in their hero, it's his early aversion to film cameras.

Because of that, there is very little onscreen documentation of Springsteen onstage in the mid- to late-1970s, when the power and majesty of the E Street Band combined with youthful exuberance for some truly epic concert experiences. Without a ticket and a good memory, they passed you by.

That makes this week's release of a 90-minute film that shows them performing at the “No Nukes” benefit concerts in September 1979 significant for fans and music historians. It's found money.

Before a friendly crowd at New York's Madison Square Garden, Springsteen and his gang of Jersey toughs crackle with pent-up energy. They'd been off the road in 1979, recording “The River,” and are thrilled to be before an audience again. Their typical four-hour show was condensed into 90 minutes. Sharing a bill with artists like Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, and Bonnie Raitt, they burned to show peers what they could do.

Little wonder, then, to see them burst onto the stage with a roaring version of “Prove it All Night.” That's exactly what they intended to do.

When filmmaker Thom Zimny first reviewed the footage, it was without sound, and he could still tell something special was happening.

“You see them explode onscreen,” he said. “The sheer force of E Street at this point was amazing to see.”

Springsteen explains that superstition led him to keep cameras away in those days, something about a musician not wanting to look too closely at his bag of tricks.

“I don't want to see what I'm doing, because it might change what I'm doing,” he said recently, “and what I'm doing is working for me and it's working for the audience.”

It's different now; all of Springsteen's shows are filmed. Back in 1979, the “No Nukes” concert escaped the film phobia because a crew was on hand to make a documentary on the benefit for alternatives to nuclear energy.

There actually wasn't much incentive for filming shows in the pre-MTV, pre-YouTube days, said Chris Phillips, editor and publisher of Backstreets, the website for Springsteen news, With no real outlet on television or the movies, “you were just playing rock ‘n’ roll,” he said.

As a result, footage of more than snippets of Springsteen onstage then are relatively rare, he said. One show in Phoenix turns up on YouTube, recorded by his record company for a commercial to promote Springsteen in parts of the country where he wasn't well known yet. Portions of a Houston show, taken for an arena's in-house use, survive. So does a recording Springsteen's first show in London, at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1975.

A couple of Springsteen's performances appeared on the “No Nukes” documentary and album. Mostly, the footage remained locked away in a vault until Zimny was given access.

He turned it into the film that is being released now partly as a pandemic project.

“It was something that I did because I missed the band so much,” Zimny said.

Unlike much of the surviving footage of Springsteen from those days, Zimny was working with quality film, shot by a crew that could provide multiple angles. Still, there are imperfections: images of Steve Van Zandt's solo on “Jungleland” are missing, perhaps because they were reloading cameras.

Zimny kept to the running list of the shows, held on back-to-back nights (including Springsteen's 30th birthday), and including some different encores — the “Detroit medley” of covers one night, a performance of Buddy Holly's “Rave On” another. The shows included sneak peeks of “Sherry Darling” from “The River” and the upcoming album's title cut, and a duet with Browne on “Stay.”

Rabid fans were always aware this footage had to exist, somewhere, Phillips said. Its emergence is a treat for the Backstreets editor, too: He didn't see Springsteen live until the “Born in the USA” tour five years later.

“After waiting 40 years for this, it does not disappoint,” he said. “It's an amazing thing, with tempos that are off the charts.”

That's evident when they play “Born to Run.” Decades into the song's existence, its appearance in concert is now a karaoke-like ritual — the lights go up, everyone sings along. It was still a relatively new song in 1979, and the band attacks it on “No Nukes” with a double-time ferocity.

The film also illustrates how vital Clarence Clemons was to the show: catch how he and Springsteen make eye contact during “Rosalita,” launching an extended choreography. Springsteen leans on him, literally and figuratively. With Clemons and organist Danny Federici now dead, the band's not the same.

The “No Nukes” film is on sale as a DVD or Blu-Ray disc, in separate packages with audio CDs of the music. The film won't be available on streaming services until next year; audio is available for streaming on Friday.

Zimny described how Springsteen, now 72, was juiced when he was first shown the concert footage, and quickly sang along with his 30-year-old self on the screen.

“We were young, we were kids,” Springsteen said at a public screening last week in New Jersey. “What the film is packed with is youthful energy at a level that was surprising even to me when I saw it. It's a great document of the band at a very, very specific moment.”

___

David Bauder, The Associated Press

RIP

Singer on 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight,' Dead at 79
Ashley Boucher

Philip Margo, a member of the band The Tokens, has died. He was 79.© Charley Gallay/Getty Philip Margo

Philip died on Saturday at a hospital in Los Angeles after suffering a stroke, his family told The New York Times. Further details about his death were not given.

Perhaps best known for singing baritone in The Tokens' 1961 hit song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," Philip also worked as a music producer and television writer throughout his career. He wrote on shows including Diff'rent Strokes, Small Wonder and The Upper Hand, among others.

The Tokens also featured Philip's brother Mitch Margo, Jay Siegel and Hank Medress. The band's Facebook page paid tribute to Philip, who they said was "surrounded by his beloved family" at the time of his death.

"He loved the space program, Hallmark movies and salt-water taffy but he loved family most of all," the statement read, in part.

The group's biggest hit has a complicated history.

South African musician Solomon Linda first came up with the melody in the 1930s, according to Rolling Stone, and later recorded it with the Original Evening Birds as the song "Mbube," according to the New York Times. That track was later performed by the Weavers in the 1950s before it was brought to The Tokens

.

© Provided by People Michael Ochs Archives/Getty The Tokens

In 1961, songwriter George Weiss was hired by RCA Records to add lyrics to the song for the doo-wop band. In December of that year, the song went No. 1 on the Billboard chart and has since become one of the most recognizable pop songs worldwide.

When a version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was used in Disney's The Lion King in 1994, Philip said: "Now that it's current, we're current. I am thrilled," the New York Times reported.

But while the track brought The Tokens success, Linda wasn't credited or compensated at the time for the use of his melody. His family ended up suing Disney after a 2000 Rolling Stone article told the story of the song's origins. A settlement was reached in 2006 and Linda, who died in 1962, was given a postmortem writing credit on the song.

The Margos, Siegel and Medress first started singing together in 1959, and wrote their first song, "Tonight I Fell in Love," together before coming up with a name for themselves. They landed on The Tokens, the name of a group that Medress had formerly been a part of, according to the New York Times.

Philip is survived by his wife, three children and eight grandchildren.

Canada halts import of goods linked to forced labour from China, Malaysia
Caitlin Taylor, Katie Pedersen, Eric Szeto 

© Canada Border Services Agency In a first, the Canada Border Services Agency intercepted a shipment of women's and children's clothing from China under a trade tariff that prohibits goods 'mined, manufactured or produced wholly or in part…

The federal government has stopped two separate shipments of goods linked to forced labour from entering Canada — a move that has some advocates pleased but still pushing for more.

A shipment of women's and children's clothing from China was intercepted in Quebec and held by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) sometime between Oct. 11 and Nov. 3.

The clothing was held under a trade tariff that prohibits goods "mined, manufactured or produced wholly or in part by forced labour" from entering Canada.

It marked the first time the federal government has implemented this tariff, which was brought into effect on July 1, 2020, after the ratification of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

In another move, a major supplier of nitrile gloves to the Canadian government was asked by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) to cease shipments until the company proves there is no forced labour in its supply chain.

"It's about time," Independent Sen. Julie Miville-Dechêne said of the halted shipments.

She has been fighting for tougher Canadian laws against forced labour and modern slavery for years, introducing transparency legislation around the issue in the Senate.
'Transparency problems'

CBSA would not provide information about which company imported the clothing nor details about the Chinese manufacturer.

"We have to name those companies. We don't know where this merchandise was going to go, and for me, that's a transparency problem," said Miville-Dechêne.

A recent CBC Marketplace investigation found Canadian retailers had brought hundreds of shipments of clothing into Canada from a Chinese factory suspected of secretly using North Korean forced labour.

Malaysian subsidiary has $220M PPE contract

Meanwhile, Supermax Healthcare Canada — a subsidiary of Malaysian glove manufacturer Supermax Corporation — was asked by the federal government to withhold all deliveries until it had passed a social responsibility audit proving that the company doesn't use forced labour.

The audit is already underway and the results are expected in mid-November, said PSPC.

Supermax has come under fire in recent months after a BBC investigation in February revealed many forced labour indicators were present at their Malaysian factories.

In October, U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped all disposable gloves produced by Supermax Corporation and its subsidiaries from entering that country.

Supermax Healthcare Canada currently has a contract with the federal government valued at more than $222 million to provide Canada nitrile gloves amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"That's a big contract," said Andy Hall, a workers' rights advocate based in Asia, who has spoken out for years on the issues migrant glove workers face in Malaysia.

"These purchasing practices are contributing to modern slavery practices in Malaysia."

While Ottawa has paused the shipments that fall under its contract, nitrile gloves from Supermax are still permitted to enter Canada.

Since February, shipping records show that Supermax Healthcare Canada imported more than 370,000 kilograms of nitrile gloves from another company subsidiary, Supermax Global Ltd. (HK) into Canada. The most recent shipment — on Nov. 5 — was for 47,434 kilograms of gloves.
Not doing enough,' advocate says

In a statement, Supermax Healthcare Canada said if the audit substantiates the recent allegations of forced labour, the company will "explore all possible options to address the situation and take swift action to ensure that workers' rights are respected in its supply chain."

Last January, a CBC Marketplace investigation found that several Canadian companies with millions of dollars worth of federal contracts for personal protective equipment (PPE) were connected to imported goods from Malaysian manufacturers with allegations of forced labour in their factories.

Despite these two actions, Hall said the Canadian government should be doing more.

"I see companies that have systemic forced labour issues that are still exporting to Canada," he said

"This has been highlighted to [the Canadian government] and they are not addressing the issue, so I think definitely they are not doing enough."

Faculty association holds rally as bargaining stalemate with University of Lethbridge continues
By Danica Ferris Global News
Posted November 17, 2021 9:04 pm

 Faculty at the University of Lethbridge have been without a contract for more than 500 days, and on Wednesday, held an information rally as the bargaining impasse rolls on. As Danica Ferris reports, staff say they’re concerned about the impact of further cuts.

Dozens rallied on the edge of the University of Lethbridge campus on Wednesday afternoon in support of faculty, who have been without a contract for more than a year.

University of Lethbridge Faculty Association president Dan O’Donnell says the effects of the bargaining impasse are being felt on multiple levels.

READ MORE: U of L board of governors, faculty association heading for mediation

“We’re 500-odd days in without a contract, there’s been very little progress at the table, and we think that that’s coming across everywhere at the university,” O’Donnell said.

“The University of Lethbridge is the second-largest employer in the town. It’s professors, faculty and the students that we bring — from overseas, from elsewhere in the country — who supply the business to the tradespeople, to the businesses, to the shops, to the landlords.”

Bargaining for a new agreement began in January. ULFA recently published an open letter on its website, available for anyone to send to the U of L board.

Health science associate professor Julia Brassolotto says she and her colleagues are feeling the uncertainty more than anything.

“We’re not sure what it’s going to look like, if we’ll end up having to take a pay cut. We’re not sure about the supports that will be there for students and for research going forward,” she said.

“All of that is unsettling, and just not having a contract, in general, is a bit uneasy. But I also think the people who are impacted most are all of our sessional lecturers and contract instructors because they’re the most precariously employed of us all.”

READ MORE: Open letter calls for flexibility in University of Lethbridge course delivery

O’Donnell says his group has been asked to take a 4.5 per cent wage rollback retroactive to July 2020 when they already get paid 10 to 15 per cent less than faculty at similar universities.

He says the cuts are bound to affect the quality of education that they’re all so proud to provide.

“The University of Lethbridge has always punched above its weight in terms of its impact, in terms of the quality of its research, the quality of its teaching, and we believe that’s in real danger now,” he said.

Brassolotto says she fears cuts will eliminate the things that set the school apart.

“I think one of the things the U of L is really proud of is how small our classes are, how well we get to know our students, the kinds of research opportunities and experiential learning opportunities that they get,” Brassolotto said.

READ MORE: Lethbridge post-secondary schools say enrollment is ‘steady’

“Making them bigger and having staff who are burnt out, who have increased workloads, who are struggling with mental health stressors as a result of that, it’s going to make for bad learning conditions for students.”

The University of Lethbridge responded to Wednesday’s rally with a statement: “By the end of 2022-23, the government of Alberta’s operating support for the university will have been reduced by over 21 per cent since 2019-20.”

“Advocating for ongoing public support for post-secondary education is an important activity, and like ULFA, the University of Lethbridge continues to make the case to the government of Alberta that investments in post-secondary education will help our city, region and province grow, diversify our economy and improve the quality of life of Albertans and beyond,” the university said.


READ MORE: University of Lethbridge named second-best primarily-undergraduate school by Maclean’s


The statement added that last month, the board’s negotiating team applied for informal mediation under the Alberta Labour Relations Code.

“Informal mediation is an established, positive and constructive tool for collective bargaining, which supports both parties in reaching mutually acceptable agreements through a neutral third party. The board negotiation team believes the assistance of an objective third-party mediator is necessary to achieve a resolution,” the university said.

The two sides — along with the mediator — are set to meet next in late November.
© 2021 Global News, a division of Co

Couple's $86M reward in Monsanto pesticide case stands

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California's highest court rejected on Wednesday a challenge by Monsanto Co.'s to $86.2 million in damages to a couple who developed cancer after spraying the company's Roundup weed-killer in their yards for three decades.

The state Supreme Court's denial of review upholds an appeals court's ruling in favor of Alva and Alberta Pilliod.

The First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco found in a 2-1 ruling in August that Monsanto was at fault for knowingly marketing a product whose active ingredient, glyphosate, could be dangerous.

Monsanto’s parent company, Bayer, said it disagreed with the high court's decision.

"We continue to stand strongly behind the safety of Roundup, a position supported by assessments of expert regulators worldwide as well as the overwhelming weight of four decades of extensive science,” the company said in a statement.

Brent Wisner, a lawyer for the Pilliods, told the San Francisco Chronicle the verdict “was based on solid science and unanimous law” and the company should halt its “frivolous appeals.”

Bayer announced over the summer that it would stop selling the current version of Roundup for home and garden use in U.S. stores, starting in 2023.

Bayer said it would replace the herbicide’s main ingredient, glyphosate, with an unspecified active ingredient, subject to federal and state approval, while continuing to sell Roundup with glyphosate for farm use.

Bayer has agreed to pay $10 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits that have already been filed in state and federal courts and has sought, unsuccessfully so far, to resolve future lawsuits with a settlement fund of up to $2 billion, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Associated Press, The Associated Press

ADF: What is the group is behind the deadly bombings in Uganda?

"Islamic State" claimed responsibility for the triple suicide bombing in Kampala and have named the attackers. Police have linked them to a little-known extremist group that operates along the Uganda-DR Congo border.

    

Bomb explosion in Uganda's capital Kampala: The Islamic State claims responsibility

The triple suicide bombing in the heart of Uganda's capital Kampala on Tuesday killed several people and injured scores more.  Two blasts happened three minutes apart and sent terrified residents rushing for cover as cars burst into flames.

Police blamed the attacks on Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a local Islamist extremist group with ties to the so-called "Islamic State" (IS). IS meanwhile took credit for the attack via its Amaq news agency on Telegram.

'Islamic State' names bombers 

IS identified the bomber that carried out the first attack at a police checkpoint as Abu Sabr al-Ugandi, and gave the names of the two others who carried out a separate bombing together near the National Assembly as Abu Shahid al-Ugandi and Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Ugandi.

The Ugandan government said three civilians and three bombers were killed and 33 people were injured in the blasts.

Ugandan explosives experts secure the scene of an explosion in a Kampala suburb in October

The attacks follow two recent bombings in Kampala. Last month a number of people were wounded in a blast on a long-distance bus in Mpigi District and a woman was killed in a bombing at a roadside eatery in Komamboga.

Police said the explosions were connected and carried out by the ADF.

ADF is little understood

The blasts in Kampala shocked a nation that is known as a bulwark against violent Islamist militants in East Africa, and whose leader, Yoweri Museveni, has spent years cultivating Western security support.

But Uganda was not spared: The al Qaeda-linked Somali insurgent group al Shabaab has carried out deadly attacks there in the past, including a 2010 attack that killed 70 people.

Who is now behind the ADF group and what do they stand for? Analysts and UN experts disagree on how closely local ADF fighters actually work with the international IS network.

United Nations peacekeepers secure streets in Ochia in DRC after a terror attack by ADF

Ben Shepherd, an expert on African politics and conflict at the London-based think tank Chatham House, says the ADF is poorly understood. "There have been claims made from within the group that they are part of the IS, but we do not really know if that is true," Shepherd told DW.

There is no hierarchical leadership representing the group. The IS taking responsibility for the attacks certainly aids their propaganda war, he added.

The extent of local support for the ADF in Uganda, or the nature of its ties to the group may have across the border in the Democratic Republic of Congo, are unclear. "It is one of the least understood armed groups operating in the Great Lakes," Shepherd said.

A hybrid group embedded in DRC

The ADF has been active since 1996, formed initially as a sort of joint operation between disaffected Islamic youth who had fallen into a dispute with the Ugandan government and were pushed out of the country after trying to mobilize support.

The ADF — historically a Ugandan rebel group — became embedded in places such as North Kivu in Congo and engaged with other armed groups. The group came to be treated as one of the perhaps 120 armed groups active in eastern Congo, Shepherd said.

The group has operated alongside fighters from groups supportive of the former regimes from Milton Obote and Idi Amin who felt sidelined by Museveni's politics. ADF members have also been linked to rebels engaged in a drawn-out fight for greater independence for communities on the borders between Uganda and the DRC.

In the nearby Rwenzori Mountains, they've have been blamed for thousands of civilian deaths.

According to Shepherd, the ADF is hybrid in character: It is motivated by a Salafist and ethno-nationalist ideology and the needs of desires of the cross-border community.

Soldiers in DRC patrol in villages near Beni after an attack of the rebel group Allied Democratic Forces

It faced pressure attacks, opposition against it by the Congolese government and by UN and the Ugandan government periodically.

Why is Kampala targeted? 

In recent years, the ADF has become much more of a threat to Conoglese communties, as a serious rise in violence continues. When its leader, Jamil Mukulu, was arrested in Tanzania in 2015, he was extradited to Uganda and put on trial for terrorism. The group was reduced to a few hundred fighters. Since 2019, the ADF, led by Mukulu's successor Musa Baluku, has displayed a more Islamist character.

Dino Mahtani, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the ADF's focus had once been on settling local scores and controlling local war economies. "With the more recent affiliation of its main faction to ISIS [Islamic State], a number of foreigners from across East Africa with more globalist jihadist agendas have been arriving into its camps," he said.

In April 2019, IS began to claim some ADF attacks on social media, presenting the group as its regional branch — the Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP), which is said to stretch from Somalia to Mozambique and Congo.

In March 2021 the United States officially linked the ADF to IS. "Until we understand who the ADF are at present it is very hard to understand the motivations for the attacks that took place," analyst Ben Shepherd said.

Cambodia targets Mother Nature group in latest crackdown on dissent

The NGO's efforts to highlight environmental issues in the country have come to the attention of authorities. 

While six members were released from jail last week, they still face charges and official harassment.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is stamping out dissenting voices

Though founded less than a decade ago, Mother Nature Cambodia has quickly become a major nuisance for Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's government.

The NGO's efforts to shed light on environmental issues that are threatening the Southeast Asian country's diverse ecology, as well as its dwindling natural resources, has prompted the Cambodian government to take action.

While six Mother Nature activists were released last week on bail after spending up to 14 months in jail, they still face criminal charges and constant harassment from the Cambodian authorities and judiciary. Some of the charges carry up to 10 years in prison.

"They are a thorn in the side of powerful business interests and corrupt government officials as they leverage social media to keep Cambodians informed about what's happening to their natural landscape," Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International's deputy regional director for campaigns, said of the environmental activists in an interview with DW.

"Cambodian authorities have repeatedly targeted Mother Nature Cambodia because of the group's fearless and relentless activism against destructive development projects, illegal mining, pollution, and deforestation," she added.

The group's campaigns have included efforts to overturn a planned hydropower project in the remote Areng Valley and expose the mining and export of sand from coastal areas. The Cambodian government had been forced to act regarding the latter when, in 2016, Mother Nature's activism led to a total export ban on coastal sand.

Exposing human rights abuses

Their work has, predictably, attracted the attention of Cambodia's authorities, which have jailed several members of the group for their advocacy as part of a wide crackdown on all forms of dissent.

Mother Nature's founder Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, who was deported from Cambodia in 2015, told DW that the arrests and charges of the group's activists are aimed at stopping their documentation of "the systematic destruction of the environment," which in turn has exposed alleged corruption and human rights abuses.

"In Cambodia, the moment any individual or group becomes effective at protecting the environment, human rights, or especially in inspiring other people to speak out, the regime will place as many obstacles as possible to hinder their work," said Gonzalez-Davidson.

The six activists released on bail are still subject to various probationary conditions, such as judicial supervision, which limits their freedom of movement and requires monthly check-ins with local authorities.

"These tactics are merely an illustration of the precarious environment in which human rights defenders in Cambodia operate, and of the Royal Government of Cambodia's relentless efforts to stifle opinions," Chak Sopheap, executive director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, told DW.

Who are the activists?

Thun Ratha, Long Kunthea and Phuon Keoraksmey were sentenced in May to between 18 and 20 months in prison, along with Gonzalez-Davidson and Chea Kunthin, two other activists, who were convicted in absentia.

The three environmentalists had been held in pre-trial detention since September 2020 before being convicted of incitement over attempts to organize a peaceful one-woman protest march to Hun Sen's residence to rally against the filling-in of Phnom Penh's largest lake.

Although they saw their sentence in their incitement case reduced on November 5 after over 14 months in prison, the trio still faces plotting charges on a separate case, which carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in jail.

Three other Mother Nature activists, Sun Ratha, Ly Chandaravuth and Yim Leanghy, were arrested in June after documenting wastewater being discharged into Phnom Penh's Tonle Sap river.

Apart from plotting charges, two of them were also charged with insulting the King, along with Gonzalez-Davidson, who was charged in absentia.

The royal insult charges correspond to remarks made in private online discussions, according to the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO).

Crackdown on environmentalists

Amnesty's Ming Yu Hah says that instead of celebrating Mother Nature's work, the government "is imprisoning its members as part of a broader crackdown on any form of dissent in an increasingly repressive environment under Prime Minister Hun Sen."

Others have endured intimidation, or worse, according to the latest UNHCR report.

In early February, five activists were detained while investigating illegal logging in Prey Lang and were only released after thumb printing documents pledging not to return there without official permission.

A month earlier, an indigenous rights activist was found guilty of public defamation over comments published on social media which criticized the government's approach to the country's forests and other environmental issues.

Another case has seen an activist go into hiding since July last year after a timber trader filed criminal charges against him.

Prominent activist Leng Ouch, who received the world's leading environmental prize for his work exposing illegal logging, has also been arrested and detained at least twice in the past two years.

Even in cases where activists have been freed from detention, "most are subject to judicial supervision — which in cases like these is just another form of judicial harassment," said Pradeep Wagle, representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia.

'Regime is sending a message'

Persecution and judicial harassment of environmental and human rights activists has dramatically increased recently.

In just the last 18 months, 25 human rights campaigners have been arrested and charged, according to the United Nations Human Rights Cambodia Office. Some have already been convicted while others have been detained and are awaiting trial.

"Imprisonment has become a common price to pay by those who speak out for human rights in Cambodia, made possible by the use of the subservient judiciary," Sopheap told DW.

Mother Nature's Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson said: "The regime is trying to send a message to the Cambodian population, and particularly the youth, that telling the truth and being active in the protection of the environment and human rights, can carry very negative consequences."

Edited by: John Silk

Austrian city swears in first-ever communist mayor

The Austrian Communist Party came in first in Austria's second-largest city, Graz, a surprise win in municipal elections. Newly elected Mayor Elke Kahr said she would focus on housing and social policies.


Elke Kahr had served as Graz councilor for the past 16 years

The city council in the Austrian city of Graz voted to elect Elke Kahr as its mayor on Wednesday, officially becoming the first communist leader of a major city in Austria.

The previous mayor of Graz, Siegfried Nagl, was a member of the People's Party and had held the post for 18 years. On Wednesday, Graz's city council elected Kahr with 28 of 46 votes.

Kahr is a member of the Austrian Communist Party, which unexpectedly won the municipal election in Graz, with 28.9% of the vote, ahead of the center-right People's Party, with 25.7%.

Graz is Austria's second-largest city after the capital, Vienna, and its government has a proportional representation electoral system that allows parties with more than 10% in the government.

For decades, the Communist Party has been an important political force at the local level in Austria and Kahr herself has been a member of the party for almost 30 years.

Kahr is the first communist to head a major Austrian city

Kahr pledges new housing policy

Kahr had served as Graz councilor for the past 16 years and had been involved in transportation policy for the city from 2017 until her election as mayor. She has been known to be passionate about housing and social policy.

The 60-year-old said in her first speech as mayor that she would be committed to a new housing plan for the city.

Her party currently leads an alliance with the Greens and the Social Democratic Party. The bloc has already promised to set limits to the profit-driven building activity in the city.

The governing coalition has also said it would strongly support social and environmental measures. One policy they have touted is the pledge that every child in Graz be granted a bicycle, although it is still not clear how the city will provide them.

"Mobility behavior later in life is shaped during childhood," said Manuela Wutte of the Green Party, in support of the measure.