STATIST POLICING 

Emirati general accused of torture up for Interpol top role




General Raisi (L) has been campaigning to become Interpol president, despite allegations of torture against him (AFP/Ozan KOSE)

Remi BANET
Tue, November 23, 2021

Interpol may on Thursday find itself with a new president, an Emirati general accused of torture, adding to concerns the global police agency risks being co-opted by repressive regimes.

General Ahmed Nasser Al-Raisi, head of the United Arab Emirates' security forces, has been seeking election to the largely ceremonial and voluntary role since last year.

That follows years of generous funding for the Lyon, France-based body by the Emirati regime and accusations that Interpol's system of so-called "red notices" for wanted suspects has been abused to persecute political dissidents.

Only the Czech Republic's Sarka Havrankova -- a veteran officer overseeing the country's international cooperation in police matters -- is standing against Raisi in elections at this year's Interpol General Assembly in Turkey for the four-year post.

"The election of General Al Raisi would undermine the mission and reputation of Interpol and severely affect the ability of the organisation to carry out its mission effectively," three European Parliament members wrote in a letter dated November 11 to European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen.

While the position of president is symbolic, endorsement of the general by the group's 195 members "would send a signal to other authoritarian governments" that using Interpol to pursue critics abroad "is okay", said Edward Lemon, an assistant professor specialising in transnational repression at Texas A&M University.

- 'Torture and barbarism' -

In October 2020, 19 NGOs, including Human Rights Watch, expressed concern about the possible choice of Raisi, who they described as "part of a security apparatus that continues to systematically target peaceful critics".

Complaints of "torture" were filed against the general in recent months in France and Turkey, which is hosting the general assembly in Istanbul this week.

One of the complainants, British national Matthew Hedges, said he was detained and tortured between May and November 2018 in the United Arab Emirates, after he was arrested on false charges of espionage during a study trip.

In another complaint, lawyers for the Gulf Centre for Human Rights accuse the Emirati general of "acts of torture and barbarism" committed against government critic Ahmed Mansoor.

Mansoor has been detained since 2017 in a four-square-metre (43-square-foot) cell "without a mattress or protection against the cold" and "without access to a doctor, hygiene, water and sanitary facilities", the lawyers said.

These complaints have not resulted in any formal proceedings against Raisi.

Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock, who handles day-to-day management of the organisation, told journalists he was "aware of these accusations, which are currently an issue between the parties involved".

"It will be on Thursday the role of the member countries of Interpol to decide" on whether Raisi should get the role, said Stock, who was given a second five-year term in 2019.

South Korean Kim Jong-yang has been president of the organisation since the 2018 arrest of his predecessor Meng Hongwei in China, where he had served as a vice minister of public security.

"The questionable reputation of Raisi... whether deserved or not, is an important factor for the organisation," said Mathieu Deflem, sociology professor at the University of South Carolina and author of books on Interpol.

A report by a former British director of public prosecutions, Sir David Calvert-Smith, that was published in March concluded that the UAE hijacked the system of red notices -- international wanted notices -- to put pressure on opponents.

- 'Stymie reform' -

If he is elected on Thursday, Raisi would "likely work with like-minded governments to stymie reform efforts pushing for greater transparency in Interpol", Texas A&M's Lemon said.

Lemon said the UAE donated $54 million (48 million euros) to Interpol in 2017 -- an amount almost equivalent to the required contributions of all the organisation's 195 member countries. This amounted to $68 million (60 million euros) in 2020.

The UAE gave or had pledged to Interpol around 10 million euros in 2019, approximately seven percent of its total annual budget.

"Such funding reduces other members' ability to influence the organisation," Lemon said.

The Emirates hosted the general assembly in 2018 and wanted to host it again in 2020, he said.

That meeting was postponed due to Covid, and went to Turkey instead -- though the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan also faces accusations of mass detentions, abuse of trial process and repression.

Czech candidate Havrankova also believes these "very serious allegations" might prevent her rival's election.

"I'm just trying to bring the alternative," she said.

"It's for the delegations to decide how they want their organisation to be led."

rba/ach/raz/fo/pbr

1. The International Anti-Anarchist Conference of 1898 and ...
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Interpol: Torture Accusations against UAE Candidate

JUSTICE, 22 Nov 2021

Kersten Knipp | Deutsche Welle - TRANSCEND Media Service

17 Nov 2021 – The new head of Interpol will be elected next week. However, one of the candidates — Major General Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi from the United Arab Emirates — has been accused of torture.

The UAE’s candidate for the new president of Interpol is highly disputed and accused of torture.

Politicians, human rights organisations and former foreign detainees are concerned about a candidate from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who is running for presidency of the International Police Organization (Interpol).

If elected, Major General Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi would succeed Kim Jong-yang of South Korea, who has been in office since 2018.

Controversial candidate: Major General Al-Raisi, pictured here in 2018 on Interpol’s Twitter account, following his election as Asia representative to the organization’s executive committee

There is also concern here in Germany. Earlier this week, three German politicians, Kai Gehring (the Greens), Peter Heidt (Free Democrats) and Frank Schwabe (Social Democrats) published a joint statement highlighting their fear for serious consequences for Interpol’s legal culture.

“Given the devastating human rights record of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the appointment of Mr Al-Raisi as president would be in blatant contradiction to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the organization’s mission,” they said, adding: “If nothing else, it would jeopardize Interpol’s international reputation.”

‘Directly involved in multiple cases’

The German MPs accuse the major of being “directly involved in human rights violations in a number of high-profile cases.”

They also see the major, who was appointed Emirati director general for “central operations” in 2005 and inspector general of the Interior Ministry in 2015, as an active representative of an authoritarian system.

“As a UAE state representative, Mr Al-Raisi is part of a security apparatus that systematically targets peaceful dissenters,” the three MPs wrote.

The statement further outlines that civil and political rights are severely restricted in the UAE and that dissidents, journalists and human rights defenders are subject to harsh reprisals, including enforced disappearances, torture, and arbitrary detentions under draconian anti-terror laws.

Those three German politicians are not the only ones voicing their concerns.

In late October, Human Rights Watch — together with 18 other human rights groups — had already expressed concerns about Al-Raisi’s candidacy.

In France, 35 French members of parliament called on President Emmanuel Macron to oppose Al-Raisi’s candidacy.

UAE rejects allegations

The UAE categorically rejects such accusations. “As a current member of Interpol’s Executive Committee, Major General Al-Raisi is a distinguished professional with a 40-year track record in community and national policing,” the UAE embassy in Germany wrote in a statement to DW.

The statement further says that “as the President of Interpol, he will remain committed to protecting people, making communities safer and providing global law enforcement the latest tools in the fight against sophisticated criminal networks.”

It continues by highlighting that the UAE is proud to be one of the safest countries in the world.

“The UAE also is the most progressive force for positive change in the world’s most difficult region. As an elected member of the UN Human Rights Council, the UAE prioritizes the protection of human rights at home and abroad, including the promotion of women’s empowerment, religious co-existence, and acceptance of people of determination.”

Complaints by former detainees

However, not only politicians but also formerly detained foreigners in the UAE are worried about the candidate.

Matthew Hedges (left) says he’s incredulous about news that al-Raisi could become head of Interpol

In May 2018, the British political scientist and security expert Matthew Hedges was arrested at Dubai airport after a two-week research stay during which he had conducted several interviews for his doctoral thesis.

The authorities accused him of spying for the UK.

In November that year, he was sentenced to life in prison, however, he was pardoned a few days later.

In May 2021, Hedges brought charges against four representatives of the Emirati authorities —  including Major General Al-Raisi —  who were allegedly linked to his arrest and the conditions of his detention.

He was physically intimidated and threatened, Hedges said in an interview on the phone with DW.

“I was told that nobody knew where I was and that I had no choice,” he continued and added that guards had also kept him from sleeping.

He had suffered panic attacks, after which his guards had forced him to drink a narcotic cocktail. Eventually, he even had suicidal thoughts. “All this was not just unacceptable behavior, but systematic abuse of power,” Hedges told DW.

The mere idea that Major General Al-Raisi could now be elected president of Interpol is inconceivable to Hedges. “He is responsible for torture. How can such a man become one of the world’s leading police officers? It’s ridiculous.”

Interpol headquarters in Lyon

A second British citizen, Ali Issa Ahmad, told DW on the phone about his time in detention in the UAE.

Ahmad had traveled to the UAE in January 2019 for the Asian Football Championship.

During the Qatar vs Iraq match on January 22, he had put on a Qatari team shirt. However, at that time, the Emirate was effectively considered a political enemy of the UAE following a former boycott initiated by Saudi Arabia. Employees of the UAE security authorities took the shirt from Ahmad.

Claiming that he didn’t know it was forbidden, Ahmad wore another Qatari team T-shirt the next day on the beach, and was arrested. Ahmad reports in an interview with DW that he was beaten, and at times, a plastic bag was pulled over his head. During his detention, he was also kept from sleeping.

While this cannot be verified independently, it is consistent with similar reports from international human rights groups.

Ahmad has filed a complaint against six representatives of the UAE security authorities — among them Major General Ahmed Naser al-Raisi.

“When I heard that he could possibly become president of Interpol, I was shocked,” Ahmad said.

Abuse of red notices?

The German Green MP Kai Gehring is convinced that “a repressive state that disregards elementary human rights and the principles of the rule of law in such a way should not be given such influence over the most important international police organization.”

He is particularly critical of the possible use of so-called red notices to locate individuals wanted for serious crimes by the UAE security apparatus. These could be misused to have political opponents arrested, Gehring fears.

Among those is Ahmed Mansoor, an activist and blogger who has been imprisoned in the UAE since 2017. Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch accuse the UAE of treating Mansoor in violation of human rights standards.

As a result, the Gulf Center for Human Rights has charged Al-Raisi in a French court. It accuses him of being responsible for the torture of Ahmed Mansoor.

Detained: Activist and blogger Ahmed Mansoor

And yet, the UAE’s embassy argues that they have been a proud and committed member of Interpol since 1973.

“The country has a distinguished track record working in partnership with fellow members to disrupt criminal networks and bring fugitives to justice,” the embassy wrote in a statement addressed to DW.

The statement further highlights that “between 2018 and 2021, 516 lawbreakers wanted by 58 countries were arrested and handed over by the UAE for crimes relating to criminal association, theft, fraud, money laundering, terrorism, and other crimes.”

However, human rights issues weren’t mentioned in this context at all.

__________________________________________________

This article was adapted from German by Jennifer Holleis.

Coal, an unavoidable pollutant in the harsh Afghan winter
 

Caroline TAIX
Tue, November 23, 2021

At a Kabul market, coal is arriving by the tonne as the winter cold sets in.

Even as prices rise, Afghans have few options but to burn it for heat, creating some of the world's most dangerous air.

"Pollution causes serious respiratory diseases ... All Afghans know what coal does," customer Amanullah Daudzai, dressed in a traditional beige shalwar kameez, tells AFP.


More than three months after the Taliban drove the Western-backed government out of the country, Afghanistan's economy is facing collapse.

In such desperate conditions, Daudzai says coal is still cheaper than the alternatives.

"If we had electricity and gas, people wouldn't use coal," says one of the market traders, Abdullah Rahimi.

None of Rahimi's 40 or so employees seems to have escaped the black dust that has crept deep into the wrinkles of the older workers.

It is already well established under the nails of the younger staff, and is probably inside their bronchial tubes as well, though some are not yet 15 years old.

They throw blocks of coal to each other, push wheelbarrows loaded with bags, make piles with shovels, and load customers' vehicles.

- 'Hotter and hotter' -

It is a long way from this month's COP 26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, where nearly 200 nations signed a deal to try to halt runaway global warming, naming coal use among the main culprits.

Afghanistan, one of the world's poorest countries, remains a relatively modest polluter.

In 2018, the average Afghan caused 0.2 tonnes of CO2 emissions, compared with about 15 from the average American, World Bank figures show.

Nevertheless, Kabul is often ranked in the top 10 worst cities for pollution globally.

Every winter the air in the capital, located at an altitude of 1,800 metres (5,900 feet), becomes toxic, filled with smoke from domestic heaters burning coal, wood and any other waste that can be burned, from household garbage to car tyres.

From the surrounding mountains, the thick cloud of smog that covers the basin where at least five million people live can clearly be seen.

"Global warming is a problem for the whole world. We are aware of it here," says Daudzai.

"It's getting hotter and hotter, we don't get snow every winter like we used to."

- Buying coal to survive -

Plagued by decades of war, and still reeling from the consequences of the Taliban takeover in August, the environment is rarely a priority for Afghans.

International aid has dried up and the economy has come to a standstill, while climate change-related drought is spreading hunger.

Coal prices have risen by nine percent in the past year, partly because of more expensive transport.

"Before, we used to sell one or two truckloads a day. Now we need 15 or 20 days," says the trader Rahimi.

Mohammad Yusuf Mangal, a 21-year-old real estate agent, has just negotiated to buy five tonnes. He will need six more to keep himself warm all winter.

Business is suffering, but "we have to buy coal to survive" the winter, he says.

At another market, Sharifa Atayee, a 38-year-old widow with five children who had come to ask about prices, gives up.

"It's too expensive this year," she says.

She does not know when she will be able to buy more. She used to work in the police force, but has been unemployed since the arrival of the Taliban.

Now without a salary, she has sold all her gold and jewellery, but it is not enough.

ctx/emd/st/ecl/leg

Coal, an unavoidable pollutant in the harsh Afghan winterCoal dust coats a worker at a coal yard on the outskirts on Kabul (AFP/WAKIL KOHSAR)

Algeria's poor fret over plan to slash subsidies on basic goods

Algeria plans to scrap its generous state subsidies on basic goods that have long helped maintain social peace but strained state budgets as energy revenues have fallen. © Ryad KRAMDI Algeria has for decades subsidised everything from bread and milk to fuel and electricity

Many economists support the plan as a necessary evil, as long as the neediest are protected, but some poor families are fearful about the impact.

The North African country, heavily dependent on oil and gas exports, has for decades subsidised everything from bread and milk to fuel and electricity, at the cost of billions of dollars a year.

© RYAD KRAMDI Algerian Prime Minister Aimene Benabderrahmane has assured parliament that "the government has no intention of cutting state aid"

But income from energy exports has fallen for years, especially during the downturn driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, heightening the strain on public finances in the country of 43 million.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which advocates subsidy reform, last month urged Algiers to "recalibrate" its policies.

Lawmakers voted last week to wind back the subsidy system that has helped share the energy wealth with all households regardless of income, leaving some people worried about how they will get by.

© Ryad KRAMDI Algeria's lower house of parliament passed a bill on November 17 that paves the way to scrapping subsidies on basic goods, replacing it with targeted aid

"It's a disaster," Hafidha, a mother-of-two with a monthly pension of 50,000 dinars ($360) said at an Algiers market.

"Already with the current prices we have a hard time making ends meet. The price of sugar, oil, water and fuel will definitely go up."

Public fears were stoked when fruit and vegetable prices recently skyrocketed.

The price of potatoes more than tripled to 140 dinars ($1) a kilogram, although authorities blamed this on market speculators they said they had since disbanded.

- 'Recalibration' -

During Algeria's transition to a market economy in the 1990s, subsidies replaced the fixed prices of a planned economy that had been in place since independence from France in 1962.


Algeria's subsidy system has been financed by energy exports that account for about 95 percent of foreign revenues and 60 percent of its budget.

But with a recent decline in energy prices, "the state no longer has the means for such a generous social policy" economist Omar Berkouk told AFP.

"All the World Bank and International Monetary Fund experts, as well as economists, have pointed to the need to reduce (subsidies) by better targeting the recipients," he added.

Critics of state subsidies say they are costly, create harmful market distortions and are inefficient because they help rich households more than poor ones.

In early October, the IMF said the pandemic and a fall in oil prices and output had "seriously impacted the economy last year" when Algeria's real GDP contracted by 4.9 percent.

Although a recovery is underway, it recommended "a broad-based fiscal adjustment" with measures to protect the most vulnerable should start in 2022.

Algeria's state budget for next year sets aside the equivalent of $17 billion for social transfers, including compensation measures, as well as assistance for education, health, housing and support for large families.

This is far below the $30-40 billion a year in the state budgets between 2012 and 2017.

- Identifying the needy -

Previous governments considered introducing more targeted subsidies in 2015, and again in 2017 when the current President Abdelmadjid Tebboune was prime minister.

"It was ex-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika who prevented any such action, with an eye to running for a fifth term," Berkouk said about the late veteran leader who was ousted amid mass protests in 2019.

Zoheir Rouis of the Jil Jadid (New Generation) party said the lifting of subsidies should not be "an end in itself but another way to optimise public spending".

Social and labour issues expert Nouredine Bouderba however slammed the move as "dangerous for national cohesion" in comments to the Reporters news outlet, arguing it comes as the purchasing power of many Algerians is already "under violent assault".

Prime Minister Aimene Benabderrahmane, who is also finance minister, assured parliament that "the government has no intention of cutting state aid", promising instead "a new philosophy that targets families in need with direct aid".

But Berkouk voiced concern that "it's difficult to identify the people in most need" given the large informal economy and absence of income and asset declarations.

"The poor are visible in the streets, but there is no statistical tool to identify them."

abh/fka/jsa/hc/fz

Sweden's parliament set to elect first woman PM
  

Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson looks set to become Sweden's first woman prime minister (AFP/Jonathan NACKSTRAND)

Andersson would replace Stefan Lofven (R), who resigned on November 10 after seven years as prime minister (AFP/Jonathan NACKSTRAND)

Pia OHLIN
Tue, November 23, 2021, 

Sweden's parliament looks set to elect Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson as the country's first woman prime minister on Wednesday, hours after she clinched a last-minute deal securing key support.

The 54-year-old, who took over as leader of the Social Democrats earlier this month, reached a deal with the Left Party late on Tuesday to raise pensions in exchange for its backing in Wednesday's vote in parliament.

"We have reached an agreement to strengthen the finances of the poorest pensioners," Andersson told public broadcaster SVT minutes after the deal was announced.

"We're not going to block Andersson," Left Party leader Nooshi Dadgostar told Swedish Radio.

Under Sweden's system, a prime ministerial candidate does not need the support of a majority in parliament -- rather, they just need to not have a majority against them.

Andersson has already received the support of the Social Democrats' coalition partner the Greens, as well as the Centre Party.

However, political observers noted there was still a slight chance the Centre Party could thwart Andersson's bid.

It has previously warned that it could withdraw its support if she concedes too much ground to the Left Party.

Centre Party leader Annie Loof refused to comment late Monday on the Left's deal with Andersson.

The vote will take place at 0800 GMT.

If elected, Andersson would formally take over her functions following a meeting with King Carl XVI Gustaf on Friday.

She would replace Stefan Lofven, who resigned on November 10 after seven years as prime minister in a widely expected move aimed at giving his successor time to prepare for the country's September 2022 general election.

The Social Democrats are currently hovering close to their lowest-ever approval ratings with elections less than a year away.

The right-wing opposition, led by the conservative Moderates, has in recent years inched closer to the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats and hopes to govern with its informal backing.

- 'Pragmatic' technocrat -

Despite being a nation that has long championed gender equality, Sweden has never had a woman as prime minister.

All other Nordic countries -- Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland -- have seen women lead their governments.

After being confirmed as the Social Democrats' leader, Andersson, a former junior swimming champion often described as "pragmatic" and a "technocratic bureaucrat", outlined three political priorities going forward.

She said she wanted to "take back democratic control of schools, healthcare and elderly care", and move away from welfare sector privatisation.

She also said she aimed to make Sweden a worldwide role model in climate transition.

And she vowed to end the segregation, shootings and bombings that have plagued the country in recent years, usually due to rival gangs settling scores or organised crime battling over the drug market.

The violence has mainly hit disadvantaged neighbourhoods with large immigrant populations, but has increasingly spilt over into other areas.

In 2020, 47 people were killed in 366 shootings in the country of 10.3 million people, according to official statistics.

There were also 107 bombings and 102 attempted detonations.

Crime and immigration are expected to be among Swedes' main concerns in next year's election.

Lund University political analyst Anders Sannerstedt predicted it would be a "close race".

"Right now four parties to the right command 174 seats (in parliament), while the four parties to the left have 175 seats. Recent polls show roughly the same," he said.

Sannerstedt said he expected "no major changes" in policies from a government headed by Andersson.

hdy-po/jxb

MACHISMO IS MISOGYNY
Mexican women fight for right to self-defense


Women take part in a self-defense class in a park in Mexico City

 (AFP/CLAUDIO CRUZ)

Yussel Gonzalez
Tue, November 23, 2021, 11:43 PM

Imprisoned for killing the man she says raped her, Roxana Ruiz is fighting to prove her innocence in a case taken up by activists campaigning for the right to self-defense.

"My only crime was to defend myself against the man who raped me," Ruiz, 21, wrote from the prison where she has been held since May in a suburb next to Mexico City.

Rights groups will use Thursday's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to argue that legitimate self-defense is not a crime in a country facing a femicide crisis.

In a letter published by activists, Ruiz said that her attacker was a man who insisted on accompanying her home after she went for a beer with a friend.

Once there, he asked to stay the night, saying that he lived far away.

While she was asleep, the man sexually assaulted her, beat her and threatened to kill her, before she suffocated him while defending herself, she wrote.

"I was afraid, terrified," she said.

"I didn't want him to hurt anyone else," Ruiz added.

Having reflected on her experience while in prison, "I've started to think that the laws and society are unjust," she wrote.

"Maybe I should have let my attacker have his way and perhaps leave me dead or injured," she added.

- 'Accomplice of femicide' -

Mexico registered 736 femicide cases between January and September, following 975 cases in the whole of last year, according to official figures.

Despite the clear risks, Ruiz faces an uphill battle to prove that she acted in legitimate self-defense because no forensic evidence was collected from the scene.

Her lawyer, Abigail Escalante, accuses the authorities of failing to follow basic protocols such as a gynecological examination.

"Why does a woman who suffered a crime have to prove that she's actually a victim?" Escalante asked.

The case has triggered protests by feminist groups, who denounce impunity for men who kill women.

In a demonstration outside the jail where Ruiz is being held, protesters put up banners reading "self-defense is not a crime" and "the state is an accomplice of femicide."

Her mother Ana Ruiz joined the protest to call for her daughter to be set free.

"He wanted to kill her as well as rape her. He had threatened to kill her and she defended herself," she said.

- 'Save our lives' -

Yakiri Rubio, now 28, was locked up for 18 months on charges of murder after she fatally wounded the man who sexually assaulted her.

Rubio was cleared after her lawyer, Ana Suarez, proved that it was self-defense.

The authorities "dislike knowing that women can defend ourselves, so they don't want to do their job," she said.

Now both work for an association helping women, including through self-defense classes taught by a martial arts instructor.

"It's to learn to save our lives," said Suarez's sister Maria Jose, one of the organizers.

Rubio tells women to seek good advice in case they are arrested after defending themselves.

Equally important is "that your family believes you, that society supports you, takes care of you and protects you, and that the media reports the truth," she added.

yug/dr/dw

SYA, Def Jam's taboo-breaking female Malaysian rapper

PUBLISHED : 24 NOV 2021 
WRITER: AFP

These pictures taken on Oct 9, 2021 show Malaysian hip-hop artist Nur Batrisya Mohammad Nazri, known as SYA, at a studio in Kuala Lumpur. (AFP photo)

Wearing sunglasses and a tiger print dress as she raps into a mic, Malaysian hip-hop artist SYA calls for empowerment while taking a sledgehammer to stereotypes of Muslim women.

The first female signing for label Def Jam -- the label behind superstars from Jay-Z and Rihanna to BTS and Justin Bieber -- in Southeast Asia, her debut single "PrettyGirlBop" tackles misogyny and acceptance in her Muslim-majority homeland.

"I just want women to feel more comfortable in their own skin," SYA, whose long dark hair is uncovered, tells AFP.

"I don't have to pretend to be somebody else just to fit what society deems is good."

The track, which also features up-and-coming Singapore artist Yung Raja, includes scenes of SYA dressed in white, and stroking a cat wearing a pearl necklace in a lavish bedroom.

Underlining her desire that women should not be pigeon-holed, it then switches to her holding a snake and wearing a leopard print jacket, as she defiantly raps: "I wanna be like me."

She is among a crop of young artists from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines who have been signed by global music giant Def Jam's Southeast Asian arm.

Lauded by the industry as a rising star, the 25-year-old says she faces online abuse from those who believe her behaviour is not appropriate for a young Muslim woman.

"I've had a lot of disturbing comments," the rapper reveals, adding that she has been accused of being a prostitute and had her faith questioned.

"'Is she a Muslim? How much per night? Why is she showing so much skin?'"

- 'Imposter syndrome hit me' -

While Malaysia is a relatively affluent country, society remains largely conservative, with critics saying women's rights are not sufficiently protected and harassment is common.

SYA says she is facing down the "patriarchal mindset" and "sexualisation" of those who don't conform to the cliched expectations of Muslim women

Most members of Malaysia's ethnic Malay Muslim community follow a moderate form of the religion and while the majority of women wear a headscarf, there is no law requiring it.

But conservative Islam has been gaining ground, pushed by hardline politicians and preachers, accompanied by growing criticism of any activities and behaviour seen as undermining the faith.

For SYA -- real name Nur Batrisya Mohammad Nazri -- art and religion should be kept firmly separate, however.

"What does (religion) have to do with me as an artist, and what I create?" she said.

The artist, who spent much of her childhood overseas, burst onto the music scene almost by accident when she posted some of her work online, drawing the attention of well-known local rapper SonaOne.

He connected her with Def Jam, which had started a push into Southeast Asia, seeking to capitalise on a new wave of regional stars and a youthful demographic with increasing disposable income.

"First and foremost, I consider myself a writer... writing was the reason I am doing all of this... I had never planned to be an artist," says SYA.

The star confesses she was plagued by "self-doubt" and taken aback by her success.

She recalls: "Impostor syndrome really hit me hard. There are other people out there, especially independent artists, who make music 24/7 and are still struggling to get signed."

- 'Be your own person' -

Growing up, SYA took part in talent shows and listened to artists such as Britney Spears and Michael Jackson.

She later drifted towards hip hop as it was "such an outspoken type of genre".

Her parents are "getting used to the idea" of her becoming a star, she said, adding that her mum was her "biggest supporter".

After months of only doing online shows due to a lengthy coronavirus shutdown in Malaysia, she now plans to return to live performing.

SYA has yet to run into trouble with authorities but artists regularly do in Malaysia.

Rapper Namewee, from the country's ethnic Chinese minority, relocated to Taiwan after controversy over videos he made that critics allege insult Islam.

Despite this, SYA still thinks male artists have far more freedom to rap about sensitive subjects in the conservative country without fear of being criticised.

"For the boys, there are no limitations. If they want to rap about sex or weed, it is a pass," she said.

"But for women, if you are Malay, you don't want to insinuate you are doing all of those things."

SYA hopes her music inspires other women -- not to emulate her, but to be more confident in themselves.

"I don't want to be the perfect role model," she said.

"You can take inspiration from me (to) be your own person."

UN hails Colombian peace process, despite setbacks, as US to remove FARC from terrorist list

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday he celebrates the advances made to implement Colombia’s 2016 peace deal with the demobilized FARC rebels, but added efforts must be redoubled to sustain economic opportunities for ex-combatants.

© Raul Arboleda, AFP

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed a peace deal with the government in 2016, resulting in the demobilization of some 13,000 members, including 7,000 combatants.

The agreement ended the FARC’s role in the Andean country’s long-running internal conflict, which has left millions displaced and more than 260,000 dead.

While the Colombian government’s measures to further the peace deal have seen progress, more state help is needed to ensure the survival of projects for ex-combatants, Guterres said during a trip to the country.

“We must redouble efforts to guarantee the sustainability of these projects, with financial and technical support, and land and housing,” Guterres said while visiting a re-integration camp located in Colombia’s Antioquia province, with President Ivan Duque welcomed Guterres’ visit as historic, which “will allow us to see the implementation of Peace with Legality and other programs.”

The accord has been beset with challenges, with several former commanders – who argued the deal was not being fulfilled – returning to arms, while close to 300 ex-FARC have been killed since the deal was signed, according to local advocacy group Indepaz.

United States President Joe Biden’s administration plans to remove the FARC from the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier on Tuesday.

Dropping the designation for the group would serve as a show of support for the peace deal.

The UN Secretary General also expressed his concern over the violence affecting indigenous communities across the country.

“I express the solidarity of the United Nations with the indigenous peoples of ... Colombia in the face of the violence that continues to affect their lives, their customs and their ancestral territories,” he said.

(AFP)

The Colombian town that 'adopted' a conflict's anonymous dead




1Nearly 60 years of civil conflict left an estimated 120,000 Colombians listed as missing (AFP/JOAQUIN SARMIENTO)

Lina VANEGAS
Tue, November 23, 2021, 1:53 PM·4 min read

On many funerary plaques in the Colombian town of Puerto Berrio, there are no names. Simply the letters N.N, often hand-painted, after the Latin "Nomen nescio" for "anonymous."

During the worst years of Colombia's near six-decade conflict, the 1,540-kilometer (957-mile) Magdalena River that flows past the town in the northern Antioquia department brimmed with hundreds of unidentified bodies.

They washed up swollen, often mutilated, sometimes just body parts.

The dead were extracted from the river, "adopted" by the people of Puerto Berrio and interred at La Dolorosa cemetery, where townsfolk still come to pray and tend to the tombs every day.

"I tell myself that if we take care of a missing person here, someone else somewhere might be taking care of my son's grave," said 60-year-old Blanca Bustamante, whose two children disappeared without trace.

Her son Jhon Jairo Sosa Bustamante, a 20-year-old soldier, disappeared 14 years ago while on leave. Then her daughter Lizeth, aged nine, vanished too.

Nearly 60 years of civil conflict left an estimated 120,000 Colombians listed as missing -- four times the toll of the 20th century dictatorships of Chile, Argentina and Brazil combined.

"If they died as N.N, there must be other people who love and care for them. That’s what I hope," Bustamante told AFP among the plastic flowers and hand-painted tomb

 inscriptions.

Townsfolk come every day to La Dolorosa cemetery to tend to the graves of the unknown dead (AFP/JOAQUIN SARMIENTO)

- 'Maybe he is here' -

The historic peace accords signed in 2016, resulting in the disarmament of the FARC Marxist guerrilla group, finally allowed Colombian families to start the long and difficult search for their missing loved ones.

The deal gave birth to a special search unit -- called the UBPD in Spanish -- for missing persons, the majority of them civilians who got caught up in the ruthless war waged by paramilitary groups, guerillas, drug traffickers and the security forces.

In five years, the unit has identified 127 bodies through a laborious process of gathering information and DNA -- a delicate mission in areas where holdout armed groups still fight today.

In Puerto Berrio alone, 116 unidentified bodies have been found. But there could be as many as 700, according to the UBPD search unit.

Nelcy Diaz recently travelled to Puerto Berrio in search for her husband Jose Jesus Cubillos, who was 42 when he was kidnapped along with five others from a neighboring town in 2002.

Someone had told her that a guerrilla sporting six watches on his arm had boasted about killing the six men.

The teacher, 57, assumes her husband's body was thrown into the Magdalena River -- Colombia's longest.

"Maybe he is here," she told AFP, showing a photo of her husband on her mobile phone.

Jose Lupo Escobar, a 69-year-old fisherman, said he had a "love-hate" relationship with the river.

"For us, it is a source of life," but also reminiscent of a "very dark" period.

"We found floating corpses... we often tore off a leg, a hand, sometimes a head" while trying to recover them, he recounted.

Many funerary plaques in the Colombian town of Puerto Berrio are marked simply N.N. after the Latin 'Nomen nescio' for 'anonymous' (AFP/JOAQUIN)

- 'Even a small bone' -

Ex-combatant Jairo Mira confessed to having used the river as a "graveyard."

"Daily deaths here were 15 or 20... Puerto Berrio had become a war zone," recalled the 56-year-old who joined a paramilitary group as a teenager.

He served 17 years in prison for a massacre of 30 people.

As the corpses began to accumulate in the cemetery of La Dolorosa, "a very special faith in the community" moved them to embrace the souls of the unknown dead, said Ramon Morales, who was an undertaker in the early 2000s, a particularly grim period of the conflict.

"An N.N. would arrive and there would be people at the door saying: 'Keep it for me'" to take care of, he recalled.

For UBPD search unit head Luz Marina Monzon the people of Puerto Berrio were performing an "act of humanity" that helped "give sense to the horror."

Bustamante said she would continue honoring the unidentified dead and hoping for closure about the fate of her own children.

"Even if it is a small bone, a little finger, it would mean so much to us."

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Colombia peace deal: The families displaced five years on

By Steven Grattan
Montería, Colombia

Pub

Image caption,

A group of Emberá families has been living on the streets after being displaced by violent gangs

Sheets of tarpaulin supported by sticks pepper a public square in the northern Colombian city of Montería where a community of indigenous Emberá people have lived since mid-April.

The community fled violence which broke out between rival armed groups in their rural communities many hours away, along the banks of the Sinú river.

One barefoot Emberá woman said she wanted to return, but fears for her and her family's lives.

Image caption,

Margarita Pernia and her family fled their home after gangs took control of the area

"We are here out of serious need," says Margarita Pernia, 42, sitting beside her three teenage daughters in their traditional indigenous clothing and face markings.

"They have guns. After 6pm we couldn't go out anywhere, because even though we are on our land, they prohibit it," Ms Pernia said. "We lived in terror."

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Ms Pernia said they fled because different armed groups were taking control of the land on their indigenous reserve, although she was unable to identify exactly who the groups were.

In Montería, the Emberá community sleep on the ground on thin pieces of foam and wash themselves in the nearby river, where they also defecate.

Image caption,

The Emberá's living conditions in their makeshift camp are extremely basic

"We're here, putting up with mosquitos and hunger. Our children have gotten sick and some have died," said Fabio Bailarín, 52, a spokesperson for the Emberá people who is part of the 2,700 who fled.

This is a small example of the multiple forced displacements happening each month around Colombia, a country where armed conflict violence is on the rise.

The twenty-fourth of November marks the fifth anniversary of the official implementation of a historic peace deal signed between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) rebel group and the government in 2016.

But for many in the Andean nation, peace never arrived.

Existing or dissident rebel groups and new illegal armed groups involved in drug production or trafficking and illegal gold mining have moved into and vie for control of the areas the Farc rebels left behind after demobilising.

An overwhelming amount of these illicit activities occur on the ancestral lands of Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities.

Colombia's Ombudsman's Office reported a 213% increase in the number of displaced families, from 1,682 in 2020 to 5,266 in 2021.

During the first half of this year there were 102 incidents of mass displacement, where 44,290 people fled to usually more urban areas for safety from armed conflict violence.

"For many communities across Colombia, the promise of peace has become a devastating disappointment," said Juan Pappier, senior Americas researcher at Human Rights Watch.

"While the peace process initially brought some relief, violence in remote areas is now increasing and many regions are at risk of experiencing a return to pre-peace process levels of violence."

Image caption,

Many displaced Emberá women try to earn a little money by making and selling beaded necklaces

Armed groups confining communities is another phenomenon on the rise.

"Illegal armed groups exert control over local populations by restricting their freedom of movement. This means "confining" them which involves imposing curfews, check points and not allowing persons to leave or enter the community in question or to bring in outside goods into the area," said Gimena Sánchez-Garzoli, Andes director for the advocacy group Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA).

The southwestern Pacific region, especially Chocó, has been worst affected by this. The United Nations said in a recent report that 96% of confined people this year belong to indigenous or Afro-Colombian groups.

Most of those under confinement do not speak out to local authorities, rights groups or journalists out of fear of reprisal.

Ms Sánchez says confining communities allowed armed groups to gain military advantage against whomever they are fighting with and guarantees that the local population submits to their demands.

Young and underage Colombians also continue to be recruited into the ranks of illegal groups.

ACAPS, a non-governmental organisation which analyses humanitarian crises globally, predicted in a September 2021 report that forced recruitment, gender-based violence, massive displacement and massacres were likely to increase in the coming months in Colombia's provinces on the Pacific coast, where "at least 10 armed groups are disputing territory".

The report said that confrontations between armed groups for territorial control increased the number of confinements, mass and individual displacements, and homicides in 2021 - a trend likely to continue.

The Pacific provinces are key for coca cultivation - the raw ingredient for cocaine - which is at an all time production high too.

Landmines and other explosive devices are also being planted again by armed groups to protect their valuable coca fields, which frequently maim civilians and security forces.

A Colombian government spokesperson told the BBC they could not provide a direct response to questions posed about rising violence in the country.

On the other side of the public square in Montería, 52-year-old Ireña Domico Charras sits alone.

Image caption,

Ireña Domico Charras received death threats

Using a sewing pin, she carefully scoops up small beads and places them onto a piece of thread to make bracelets to sell around the city. She is a local leader within her Emberá community.

"They've killed some of our leaders in Sinú. I have received death threats and my husband too," says Ms Charras, who said her brother was killed by the Farc and she was displaced three other times before the peace deal.

"If you don't do what they say, they'll kill you. We need the government to guarantee our safety before we can go back."