Kazakhstan’s Internet Shutdown Is Latest Episode In An Ominous Trend: Digital Authoritarianism

Governments using a kill switch to block internet access on a provincial or national scale is increasing.

ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN - JANUARY 12: A photo shows damage after the protests broke out over a rise in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices that turned into clashes with the police and vandalism in Kazakhstan's former capitol.
By Margaret Hu
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January 24, 2022 3:03 p.m.

This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It was originally published at The Conversation.

The Kazakhstan government shut off the internet nationwide on Jan. 5, 2022, in response to widespread civil unrest in the country. The unrest started on Jan. 2, after the government lifted the price cap on liquid natural gas, which Kazakhs use to fuel their cars. The Kazakhstan town of Zhanaozen, an oil and gas hub, erupted with a protest against sharply rising fuel prices.

Immediately, there were reports of internet dark zones. As the demonstrations grew, so did the internet service disruptions. Mass internet shutdowns and mobile blocking were reported on Jan. 4, with only intermittent connectivity. By Jan. 5, approximately 95% of internet users were reportedly blocked.

The outage was decried as a human rights violation intended to suppress political dissent. The deployment of a “kill switch” to temporarily shut down the internet on a national scale renewed questions of how to curb the global threat of digital authoritarianism.

As a researcher who studies national security, cybersurveillance and civil rights, I have observed how information technology has been increasingly weaponized against civilian populations, including by cutting off the essential service of internet access. It’s part of an ominous trend of governments taking control of internet access and content to assert authoritarian control over what citizens see and hear.
A growing problem

Governments using a kill switch to block internet access on a provincial or national scale is increasing. In recent years, it has occurred as a form of social control and in response to citizen protests in multiple countries, including Burkina Faso, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Egypt, China and Uganda. The number of internet shutdowns is on the rise, from 56 times in 2016 to over 80 times in 2017 and at least 155 blackouts documented in 29 countries in 2020.

The correlation between the growing use of the kill switch and growing threats to democracy globally is not a coincidence. The impact of this trend on freedom and self-determination is critical to understand as authoritarian governments become more sophisticated at controlling information flows, including spreading disinformation and misinformation.

Legal shutdown

Kazakhstan’s internet is largely state-run through Kazakhtelecom, formerly a state monopoly. Foreign investment and external ownership of telecommunication companies in Kazakhstan are limited. The Kazakh government has the legal power to impose internet censorship and control through both content restrictions and shutdowns; for example, in response to riots or terrorism.

Under Kazakh law, the government is empowered to “temporarily suspend the operation of networks and (or) communication facilities” when the government deems internet communication to be “damaging” to the interests of an “individual, society and the state.”

Citing terrorist threats, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev paralyzed mobile and wireless services for almost a week and invited Russian troops into the country to help with “stabilization” in the wake of the protests.

The off switch

Kazakh authorities first attempted to block access through Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) tools to block internet communications, according to a report in Forbes’ Russian edition. DPI examines the content of data packets sent through the internet. While it’s useful for monitoring networks and filtering out malware, DPI tools have also been used by countries like China and Iran to censor webpages or block them entirely.

DPI technology is not an impermeable barrier, though, and can be circumvented by encrypting traffic or using virtual private networks (VPNs), which are encrypted data connections that allow users to shield their communications. When the DPI systems were inadequate for a countrywide block, the authorities resorted to manually shutting off access, though precisely how is unclear.

One possibility is that authorities rerouted DNS traffic, which is how domain names lead people to the right websites, or worked in collaboration with internet operators to block transmissions. Another possibility is that the National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan has the capacity by itself to block access.

Digital life interrupted

The effects of the internet shutdown were immediately felt by the population. Political speech and communication with the outside world were restricted, and the ability of protesters and demonstrators to assemble was constrained.

The internet shutdown also hampered daily life for Kazakhs. The nation is highly integrated into the digital economy, from grocery purchases to school registrations, and the internet outage blocked access to essential services.

In the past, Kazakhstan’s government has used localized internet shutdowns to target isolated protests, or blocked specific websites to control information and limit the cohesiveness of protesters. In the early days of the January 2022 protest, some in Kazakhstan tried to circumvent internet restrictions by using VPNs. But VPNs were unavailable when the government disabled internet access entirely in areas.

Concentrated power, central control

The power of the Kazakhstan government to institute such a widespread shutdown may be evidence of greater control of the centralized ISP than other nations, or possibly an advance to more sophisticated forms of telecommunication control. Either way, the shutdown of entire networks for a near-total nationwide internet blackout is a continuation of authoritarian control over information and media.

Shutting off access to the internet for an entire population is a kind of digital totalitarianism. When the internet was turned off, the Kazakhstan government was able to silence speech and become the sole source of broadcast news in a turbulent time. Centralized state control over such a broad network enables greatly expanded surveillance and control of information, a powerful tool to control the populace.

As people have become savvier internet users, as Kazakhstan demonstrates, governments have also become more experienced at controlling internet access, use and content. The rise of digital authoritarianism means that internet shutdowns are likely to be on the rise as well.


Margaret Hu is a Professor of Law and of International Affairs at Penn State.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Analysis-'Aggressively conservative' Supreme Court plunges into U.S. culture war


Tue, January 25, 2022,
By Lawrence Hurley and Andrew Chung

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to hear a case that could doom university policies considering race as a factor in student admissions is the latest sign of the conservative majority's eagerness to put its stamp on America's most divisive issues.

The court already was due to issue rulings by the end of June in cases giving the justices a chance to curtail abortion rights and widen gun rights - major goals of U.S. conservatives. The case targeting the student admissions practices of Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, taken up https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-supreme-court-hear-challenge-race-conscious-college-admissions-2022-01-24 by the court on Monday, gives the conservative justices a chance to cripple affirmative action policies long despised by the American right, with a ruling expected next year.

The court has become increasingly assertive since the addition of former President Donald Trump's third appointee, Amy Coney Barrett, in 2020 gave the nation's top judicial body a 6-3 conservative majority. Her appointment changed the court's dynamics by marginalizing Chief Justice John Roberts, considered an incrementalist conservative.

"This particular six-justice majority seems willing to push ahead in an aggressively conservative direction on multiple fronts, without feeling the need to be moderated by concepts of judicial restraint, stare decisis or incrementalism," said Elizabeth Wydra, president of the liberal Washington-based Constitutional Accountability Center advocacy group.

Stare decisis is the legal doctrine of respecting precedents.

Based on oral arguments held last year, the court's conservatives seem poised, in a case from Mississippi, to undermine or even overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide and, in a case from New York, expand the right to carry firearms in public.

The court's increasingly aggressive stance toward taking up new cases signals an emboldened majority accelerating its rightward shift, court watchers said.

The court appears "more willing to reconsider precedent and consider broad questions when the opportunity arises," said Jonathan Adler, a professor at Case Western Reserve School of Law in Ohio.

Before conservative Justice Antonin Scalia's 2016 death and the subsequent addition of Trump's appointees - Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Barrett - the court had been more cautious in deciding on what types of cases to hear.

It had a 5-4 conservative majority, but one of the conservatives, Justice Anthony Kennedy, sometimes sided with the liberals on contentious "culture war" issues including abortion, affirmative action and LGBT rights. That led to the court occasionally avoiding contentious cases or taking up disputes with lower stakes. It appears no longer to have such qualms.

'POLITICAL APPEARANCE'

Four justices are needed in order for the court to take up a case. And it has at least that many who are undeterred by being perceived as political actors, said University of Denver political science professor Joshua Wilson, who specializes in conservative law and politics.

"Given the political appearance of the docket that they're putting together, it's all the more remarkable given that they have to know how much the public is paying attention," Wilson said.

The role of Roberts, who has sought to defend the court as an institution and has avoided quick and dramatic moves, has been diminished, with the conservative bloc able to prevail in rulings even if he sides with the liberal justices. Roberts served as the court's swing vote after Kennedy retired in 2018 and before Barrett replaced the late liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg two years later.

"When Roberts was the median (justice), even the four justices to his right were worried about where he would end up," said John McGinnis, a professor at Northwestern University School of Law in Illinois.

The justices now seem keen to dive in - sometimes even before lower courts have fully considered cases - as they did in multiple challenges to Trump administration policies blocked by lower courts.

The conservative justices also have exhibited skepticism toward the power of federal agencies, which could hem in President Joe Biden and future administrations. The court, for example, this month blocked the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccination-or-testing mandate for companies with at least 100 employees.

In what might be described as part of what some conservative activists label a "war on the administrative state" - curbing federal agency authority - the justices have taken up two cases challenging the scope of landmark environmental laws aimed at reducing air and water pollution. They did so despite Biden's administration asking them to hold off while agencies write new regulations.

Ian Fein, a lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council environmental group, said the court was "incredibly aggressive" in taking up the two cases.

The court has also made bold moves on religious rights.

Before Kennedy retired, it was generally supportive of religious challenges. That stance has deepened since then, including rulings backing religious groups https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-supreme-courts-shadow-docket-favored-religion-trump-2021-07-28 challenging COVID-19 restrictions. The court last week heard a case from Maine https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-supreme-court-again-tackles-public-funding-religious-schools-2021-12-08 that gives it an opportunity to further expand public funding of religious entities.

(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley and Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham and Scott Malone)

EXPLAINER: US Supreme Court takes up race in college admissions

By COLLIN BINKLEYtoday

FILE - An American flag waves in front of the Supreme Court building on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Nov. 2, 2020. The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review a challenge to the consideration of race in college admission decisions, often known as affirmative action. The justices are taking up a pair of lawsuits alleging that Harvard University and the University of North Carolina discriminate against Asian American applicants. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)


CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — The Supreme Court has agreed to review a challenge to the consideration of race in college admission decisions, often known as affirmative action. With three new conservative justices on the court since its last review, the practice may be facing its greatest threat yet.

The court said Monday it would consider a pair of lawsuits alleging that Harvard University and the University of North Carolina discriminate against Asian American applicants. The practice has been reviewed by the court several times over the past 40 years and has generally been upheld, but with limits.

A look at the case:

WHAT ARE RACE-CONSCIOUS ADMISSIONS POLICIES?

When colleges sort through their applicants deciding which ones to admit, some consider race along with grades and a host of other factors like athletics and community service. Some schools have used the practice for decades as a way to address racial discrimination against Black students and others who were long excluded from America’s colleges. Today, supporters say it’s an important tool that helps bring a diverse mix of students to campus, while opponents say it amounts to its own form of discrimination.

Most colleges don’t disclose whether they consider race, but the practice is believed to be limited to a small fraction of schools. Some estimates put it at a few hundred of the nation’s 6,000 colleges, mostly at more selective colleges.

Most states allow affirmative action but nine have outlawed it, including California, Florida and, most recently, Idaho, which banned it in 2020.

WHAT’S THE LATEST CHALLENGE?

The Supreme Court is taking up two lawsuits filed by Students for Fair Admissions, a Virginia-based group that says race should play no part in the admission process. The group is led by Edward Blum, a legal strategist who has spent years working to rid racial considerations from college admissions.

In its lawsuits, the group argues that Harvard and UNC intentionally discriminate against Asian American applicants. Examining six years of data at Harvard, the group found that Asian American applicants had the strongest academics but were admitted at the lowest rates compared to students of other races.

It also found that Harvard’s admissions officers gave Asian Americans lower scores on a subjective “personal” rating designed to measure attributes such as likeability and kindness.

A federal judge in 2019 upheld Harvard’s admissions practices, saying it was “not perfect” but passed constitutional muster. The judge said race-conscious practices always penalize groups that don’t get an advantage, but they’re justified “by the compelling interest in diversity” on college campuses.

An appeals court upheld the ruling in 2020.

The group brought similar claims against UNC, saying its process disadvantages white and Asian American students. A federal judge sided with the university last year.

In its appeal to the Supreme Court, the group asked the panel to review both cases and also to overturn the court’s 2003 decision in Grutter v. Bollinger, which upheld admissions policies at the University of Michigan’s law school. That decision cleared colleges to consider consider race if it’s done in a “narrowly tailored” way to serve a “compelling interest.”

The group’s appeal argued that the Grutter decision “endorsed racial objectives that are amorphous and unmeasurable and thus incapable of narrow tailoring.”

WHAT HAS THE SUPREME COURT SAID ABOUT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION?

Race-conscious policies have gone before the Supreme Court several times dating to the 1970s and have generally been upheld, with some limits.

Racial quotas that reserve a certain number of seats for minority students have been deemed unconstitutional, but the court has said colleges can consider race as long as it’s one of many factors in the decision.

Students’ race can be used as a “plus factor” to give them an edge, but it can’t be the defining factor, the court has said. Schools must be able to show they consider race in a “narrowly tailored” way, and that there is no race-neutral approach that would meet the same objective of increasing student diversity.

The court last examined affirmative action in 2016, when it upheld the admissions process at the University of Texas. That suit, also orchestrated by Blum, was filed by a white Texan who was denied admission to the university.

WHAT ARE THE POLITICS?

The Trump administration sided with Blum in the Harvard case, saying in 2018 that the school’s process “may be infected with racial bias.” The administration also rescinded an Obama-era policy encouraging schools to consider race, and it filed its own lawsuit accusing Yale University of discriminating against Asian American and white applicants.

The Biden administration later dropped the Yale lawsuit and supported Harvard against Blum, urging the Supreme Court not to take up the case.

Meanwhile, the court has shifted further to the right, with three new conservative justices appointed by Trump.

WHAT IS THE POSSIBLE IMPACT?

Affirmative action backers hope the court leaves things as they are, giving colleges flexibility to consider race within certain bounds. Opponents hope for a sweeping decision that would remove race from the admission process entirely.

Eliminating the practice would send shockwaves across American higher education and leave many schools scrambling to find other ways to promote diversity. Some colleges say that, without considering race, they would expect to see a decrease in their Black student populations.

Opponents say ending affirmative action would make the process fairer, and some say colleges could preserve racial diversity by giving an advantage to low-income students.

Between both extremes are a wide range of possible options. The court could add further restrictions on the practice, for example, or it could raise the standard of proof colleges must meet to show they’re within constitutional bounds.

WHAT ARE PEOPLE ARE SAYING?

Blum welcomed the court’s announcement, saying he hopes the justices will end racial considerations at all colleges. In a statement, he added that Harvard and UNC have “have racially gerrymandered their freshman classes in order to achieve prescribed racial quotas.”

Harvard President Lawrence Bacow vowed to defend the school’s use of race as one of many factors, saying it “produces a more diverse student body which strengthens the learning environment for all.”

Several groups representing students of color denounced the court’s decision to get involved. NAACP Legal and Educational Defense Fund director Sherrilyn Ifill said it “threatens the nation’s ideals of equality.”

In a statement, she said holistic, race-conscious admissions processes “mitigate systemic barriers to educational opportunities faced by many Black students and other students of color, ensuring that all hard-working and qualified applicants receive due consideration.”

Some other groups applauded the news. Mike Zhao, president of the Asian American Coalition for Education, said Americans should have equal opportunity to achieve success “through hard work, determination and initiative.”

“It’s time for the U.S. Supreme Court to step up to protect our constitutional rights,” he said in a statement.

USA
Delay in creating new cybersecurity board prompts concern

FILE - This Feb 23, 2019, photo shows the inside of a computer. A key part of President Joe Biden's plans to fight major ransomware attacks and digital espionage campaigns has been languishing for more than eight months.(AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

By ALAN SUDERMAN

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — It’s a key part of President Joe Biden’s plans to fight major ransomware attacks and digital espionage campaigns: creating a board of experts that would investigate major incidents to see what went wrong and try to prevent the problems from happening again — much like a transportation safety board does with plane crashes.

But eight months after Biden signed an executive order creating the Cyber Safety Review Board it still hasn’t been set up. That means critical tasks haven’t been completed, including an investigation of the massive SolarWinds espionage campaign first discovered more than a year ago. Russian hackers stole data from several federal agencies and private companies.

Some supporters of the new board say the delay could hurt national security and comes amid growing concerns of a potential conflict with Russia over Ukraine that could involve nation-state cyberattacks. The FBI and other federal agencies recently released an advisory — aimed particularly at critical infrastructure like utilities — on Russian state hackers’ methods and techniques.

“We will never get ahead of these threats if it takes us nearly a year to simply organize a group to investigate major breaches like SolarWinds,” said Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee. “Such a delay is detrimental to our national security and I urge the administration to expedite its process.”

Biden’s order, signed in May, gives the board 90 days to investigate the SolarWinds hack once it’s established. But there’s no timeline for creating the board itself, a job designated to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

In response to questions from The Associated Press, DHS said in a statement it was far along in setting it up and anticipated a “near-term announcement,” but did not address why the process has taken so long.

Scott Shackelford, the cybersecurity program chair at Indiana University and an advocate for creating a cyber review board, said having a rigorous study about what happened in a past hack like SolarWinds is a way of helping prevent similar attacks.

“It sure is taking, my goodness, quite a while to get it going,” Shackelford said. ”It’s certainly past time where we could see some positive benefits from having it stood up.”

The Biden administration has made improving cybersecurity a top priority and taken steps to bolster defenses, but this is not the first time lawmakers have been unhappy with the pace of progress. Last year several lawmakers complained it took the administration too long to name a national cyber director, a new position created by Congress.

The SolarWinds hack exploited vulnerabilities in the software supply-chain system and went undetected for most of 2020 despite compromises at a broad swath of federal agencies and dozens of companies, primarily telecommunications and information technology providers. The hacking campaign is named SolarWinds after the U.S. software company whose product was exploited in the first-stage infection of that effort.

The hack highlighted the Russians’ skill at getting to high-level targets. The AP previously reported that SolarWinds hackers had gained access to emails belonging to the then-acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf.

The Biden administration has kept many of the details about the cyberespionage campaign hidden.

The Justice Department, for instance, said in July that 27 U.S. attorney offices around the country had at least one employee’s email account compromised during the hacking campaign. It did not provide details about what kind of information was taken and what impact such a hack may have had on ongoing cases.

The New York-based staff of the DOJ Antitrust Division also had files stolen by the SolarWinds hackers, according to one former senior official briefed on the hack who was not authorized to speak about it publicly and requested anonymity. That breach has not previously been reported. The Antitrust Division investigates private companies and has access to highly sensitive corporate data.

The federal government has undertaken reviews of the SolarWinds hack. The Government Accountability Office issued a report this month on the SolarWinds hack and another major hacking incident that found there was sometimes a slow and difficult process for sharing information between government agencies and the private sector, The National Security Council also conducted a review of the SolarWinds hack last year, according to the GAO report.

But having the new board conduct an independent, thorough examination of the SolarWinds hack could identify inconspicuous security gaps and issues that others may have missed, said Christopher Hart, a former National Transportation Safety Board chairman who has advocated for the creation of a cyber review board.

“Most of the crashes that the NTSB really goes after ... are ones that are a surprise even to the security experts,” Hart said. “They weren’t really obvious things, they were things that really took some deep digging to figure out what went wrong.”

EU continues training Libyan partners despite migrant abuses

By RENATA BRITO, FRANK JORDANS and LORNE COOK

1 of 5

FILE - Migrants are brought to shore after being intercepted by the Libyan coast guard on the Mediterranean Sea, in Garaboli Libya, on Oct. 18, 2021. A confidential European Union military report calls for the continued support and training of Libya’s coastguard and navy despite concerns about their treatment of migrants, a mounting death toll at sea, and the continued lack of any central authority in the North African nation. The report circulated to EU officials on Jan. 4 and obtained by The Associated Press offers a rare insight into Europe’s determination to cooperate with Libya and its role in the interception and return of thousands of men, women and children to a country where they face insufferable abuse. (AP Photo/Yousef Murad, File)


BRUSSELS (AP) — A confidential European Union military report calls for continuing a controversial EU program to train and equip Libya’s coast guard and navy despite growing concerns about their treatment of migrants, a mounting death toll at sea, and the continued lack of any central authority in the North African nation.

The report, circulated to EU officials this month and obtained by The Associated Press, offers a rare look at Europe’s determination to support Libya in the interception and return of tens of thousands of men, women and children to Libya, where they face insufferable abuse.

Compiled by Italian navy Rear Adm. Stefano Turchetto, head of the EU arms embargo surveillance mission, or Operation Irini, the report acknowledges the “excessive use of force” by Libyan authorities, adding that EU training is “no longer fully followed.”
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Hundreds of thousands of migrants hoping to reach Europe have made their way through Libya, where a lucrative trafficking and smuggling business has flourished in a country without a functioning government, fragmented for years between rival administrations in the east and west, each backed by armed groups and foreign governments.

The EU report acknowledges “the political stalemate” in Libya has hindered Europe’s training program, noting that the country’s internal divisions make it difficult to obtain political support for enforcing “proper behavioral standards ... compliant with human rights, especially when dealing with irregular migrants.”

The European Commission and the EU’s External Action Service — the equivalent of the 27-nation bloc’s foreign office — declined to comment on the report. But spokesman Peter Stano confirmed the EU is determined to train coast guard personnel and bolster Libya’s capacity to manage a massive search-and-rescue area of the Mediterranean.

The EU training program “remains firm on the table to increase the capacity of the Libyan authorities to save lives at sea,” Stano said.

Criticism of Europe’s migration policies has been growing. At least three requests have been filed to the International Criminal Court demanding that Libyan and European officials, as well as traffickers, militiamen and others be investigated for crimes against humanity. A U.N. inquiry published in October also found evidence that abuses committed in Libya may amount to crimes against humanity.

Last week, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for countries to “re-examine policies that support interception at sea and return of refugees and migrants to Libya.”

Stano dismissed those criticisms. “When it comes to migration, our objective is to save peoples’ lives, protect those in need and fight trafficking in human beings and migrant smuggling,” Stano said.

Human rights defenders and asylum seekers disagree.

“The Europeans pretend to show the good face,” said a Cameroonian woman who arrived in Libya in 2016 with her child thinking she would find work. Instead, she was trafficked and forced into prostitution after being separated from her daughter. The AP does not identify victims of sexual violence.

In 2018 she got on a smuggler’s boat bound for Europe but her group was caught by Libyan authorities and taken to the notorious Tajoura detention center where detainees were beaten and abused. She was only released after a friend paid a $700 ransom to the guards.

“They’re calling it saving lives? How is it saving lives when those lives are tortured after being saved?” the woman asked.

Questioned about the detention centers in Libya, Stano said the EU’s position is clear: “They are unacceptable. The current arbitrary detention system must end.”

But despite such assertions nothing has changed on the ground. The Libyan government last month named Mohammed Al-Khoja, a militia leader implicated in abuses against migrants, to head the Department for Combating Irregular Migration, which oversees the detention centers.

“The same people in charge of dismantling the trafficking business are the traffickers themselves,” said Violeta Moreno-Lax, founder of the immigration law program at Queen Mary University of London.

The EU report noted the “excessive use of physical force” by a Libyan patrol during the Sept. 15 interception of a wooden boat with about 20 migrants off the coast of Libya.

The Libyan forces used tactics “never observed before and not in compliance with (EU) training ... as well as international regulation,” said the report. It provided no further details about what exactly happened.

A spokesman for the Libyan coast guard did not respond to AP requests for comment about that incident or the EU report. In the past, Libyan interior ministry and coast guard officials have said they are doing their best with limited resources in a country plagued by years of civil war.

In response to AP questions, Frontex, the European coast guard and border agency that documented the Sept. 15 interception said it had filed a “serious incident report” but could not disclose details.

Ozlem Demirel, a German Left party member of the European Parliament, said the report offered “further evidence that there should be no cooperation with this force.”

“The fact that Irini is even seeking further training is, in my view, outrageous,” he said.

Violent tactics employed by Libyan authorities at sea have been widely documented for years. Last week, activists on a volunteer rescue ship reported seeing a Libyan patrol vessel “shooting at a person who had jumped into the water.”

Some 455 million euros ($516 million) have been earmarked for Libya since 2015 through the EU’s Trust Fund for Africa, substantial amounts of which have gone to finance migration and border management.

Snowstorm strands thousands in Istanbul, Athens

By MEHMET GUZEL and ELENA BECATOROS5

1 of 11

Abandoned vehicles are seen in an motorway way after a snowstorm, in Athens, on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. Army and fire service teams were deployed late Monday to extract hundreds of motorists trapped for hours in snowed-in cars. A snowstorm of rare severity disrupted road and air traffic Monday in the Greek capital of Athens and neighboring Turkey's largest city of Istanbul, while most of Greece, including — unusually — several Aegean islands, and much of Turkey were blanketed by snow.

 (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)


ISTANBUL (AP) — Rescue crews in Istanbul and Athens scrambled on Tuesday to clear roads that came to a standstill after a massive cold front and snowstorms hit much of Turkey and Greece, leaving countless people and vehicles in both cities stranded overnight in freezing conditions.

Highways and roads in and around Istanbul became clogged on Monday after the storm pounded the city of about 16 million people that straddles the European and Asian continents — accumulating more than 80 centimeters (31 inches) of snow in some areas.

Stranded motorists either spent the night in cars, abandoned their vehicles to walk home or crowded subways and other public transportation.

Rescue teams worked overnight to clear snowy roads and highways, but abandoned vehicles hampered their operations. Istanbul Gov. Ali Yerlikaya urged motorists to return to their vehicles and move them.

In Athens, rescue crews were still trying to free around 200-300 drivers trapped on a major highway that runs across Athens and connects the Greek capital with the city’s international airport.

Some drivers similarly abandoned their cars and walked home. Others trekked to a nearby train station, jumping over the barriers at the side of the road to reach the platform after spending the night in their cars. The train service had been suspended, but a train was there Tuesday morning to pick up those who had made it to the station from the highway.

The army was sent out overnight to deliver food and water to those trapped and to help free as many as possible.

Istanbul’s Disaster Coordination Center, or AKOM, says an Icelandic low-pressure system is behind the cold front and precipitation affecting most of the country.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the snowfall in and around Istanbul would continue until Thursday and urged people not to venture out in private cars unless necessary. He said many of the stranded vehicles weren’t fitted with snow tires.

Authorities suspended flights at Istanbul Airport — where the roof of a cargo facility collapsed from the weight of the snow on Monday — over safety concerns. But Adil Karaismailoglu, the transport minister, said limited flights would resume soon. Istanbul’s second airport, Sabiha Gokcen, was also operating limited services.

“Nothing is moving. The snow ploughs can’t even reach us,” Ahmet Odabasi, 40, one of thousands of travelers stranded overnight on a highway west of Istanbul, told The Associated Press by telephone.

“I have been stuck here for 12 hours now. I am lucky that I have gas, food and water,” said the motorist, who was driving to Istanbul from the city of Edirne, near the border with Greece.

Authorities in Greece had warned people to limit their movements to the essential only and to use snow chains on city streets, but many people had set out for work in the morning when the snowfall was much lighter and became trapped in their cars as the day wore on. Some of the problems were reportedly caused by trucks that slipped and jack-knifed across the road, blocking traffic.

Authorities and the highway management were coming under intense criticism for allowing a situation whereby drivers were stuck for so long.

The snowstorm, complete with thunder and lightning, hit the wider Athens area late in the morning Monday, dumping large amounts of snow on the city. It is the second year in a row that Greece has experienced a freak snowstorm. Last year, similar weather in February left tens of thousands of trees felled by the weight of the snow on city streets, parks and woodland around Athens.

Officials said the Greek prime minister contacted the highway’s administration and asked for each trapped driver to receive 2,000 euros ($2,265) in compensation, which the highway administration accepted.

The severe weather also brought rare snowfall to vacation resorts in Turkey’s southwest region, including Bodrum and Datca, with snow and slippery conditions blocking a highway linking the provinces of Mugla and Denizli. Antalya city center, on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, saw its first snowfall in 29 years, the private NTV television reported.

In Istanbul, AKOM manager Selcuk Tutuncu told the AP that 40,000 tons of salt have been used since the beginning of the storm to clear roads.

“Right now there are over 1,500 vehicles and over 7,000 personnel working out in the field nonstop,” Tutuncu said.

On Monday, authorities in Istanbul suspended intercity bus services and blocked travel to the city from Turkey’s northwestern Thrace region. Civil servants were allowed to stay at home Tuesday, except for those employed in security, health and transportation sectors. Schools across Turkey were already closed for a winter break.

Imamoglu said the Istanbul municipality has provided shelter to around 1,500 homeless people. Teams have left some two tons of food for stray cats and dogs, Imamoglu said.

The mayor said he hoped the snow would fill dams and bring relief to the region, which has been suffering from a dry spell.

___

Elena Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece. Suzan Fraser contributed from Ankara.

Snowstorm brings much of Turkey and Greece to a halt

The extreme weather caused major disruption to the Greek captial Athens, and forced the closure of Istanbul airport. It is the second year in a row of unusually heavy snowfall.



Most institutions were able to stay open in Istanbul despite the heavy snow

Large parts of Greece and Turkey were covered in a blanket of snow Monday.

It is an unusual occurrence for the southern Mediterranean countries, but the second time that it has happened in two years.

The rare snowstorm — called "Elpida" or "Hope" in Greek — brought the Greek capital Athens to a standstill.

Overnight temperatures fell to -14 degrees Celsius (6.8 degrees Fahrenheit). Schools and vaccination centers were forced to close.

Snow also brought down the roof of one of the buildings at Istanbul's major air traffic hub, grounding flights to and from Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Snow is usually limited to the northern mountainous regions of Greece, on rarely falling with such intensity in Athens
Greeks told to stay home

The Greek government declared a holiday for parts of the country, including the capital, to keep people from going outside.

"We ask citizens to avoid leaving their homes. It will be a difficult night," Climate Change and Civil Protection Minister Christos Stylianides said.

"The height of the snow is unprecedented in some areas," he added.

Hundreds of drivers in the city were stuck in their cars for hours with rescue workers braving the cold to free the stranded motorists.


Some motorists in Athens were stuck in their cars for up to five hours

A snowstorm in February last year left four people dead across Greece as well as cutting power for thousands of residents for several days.

Kostas Lagouvardos, research director at the National Observatory of Athens, told ANT1 TV that the capital had not seen back-to-back winters like this since 1968.

Snow fell on several Aegean islands, including on the beaches of popular tourist spot Mykonos.
Extreme weather in the southern Mediterranean

Neighboring Albania also closed all elementary and high schools for three days due to the freezing temperatures.

Snow fell across Turkey before reaching the northern region of Syria, home to thousands of refugees in makeshift camps, unprepared for the levels of cold the storm brought.

Snow flurries are expected to continue in Greece and Turkey for several days.

A session at the Greek parliament in Athens had to be suspended due to the storm

Greece also suffered deadly and destructive wildfires last summer that lasted for days. These were put down to the effects of climate change that increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather.

ab/rt (AFP, AP)

SEE 

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/01/waterspout-swirls-over-greek-island.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/01/heavy-snow-in-athens-causes-traffic.html

The last throes of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army

After being driven out of Uganda, the Lord's Resistance Army ran riot in the Central African Republic, where it behaved more like a criminal gang than a terrorist militia. Now the LRA's days seem to be numbered.



Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army fighters in a file photo of 2006

The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) was founded in northern Uganda in 1987 to chase President Yoweri Museveni out of office and establish a Christian theocracy.

After being driven out of the country by the Ugandan military, LRA fighters instilled terror among the region's politically unstable neighbors — particularly in southern Sudan and present-day South Sudan, the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the southeastern Central African Republic (CAR).

"They came to the Central African Republic in 2008 and went on a rampage, especially in my home region of Haut Mbomou," recalled Ernest Mizedjo, who represents the country's far eastern communities in the parliament in the capital Bangui.

According to Mizedjo, the LRA committed many atrocities against civilians, especially in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

"They burned villages and tortured the inhabitants," he told DW. "Farmers could no longer cultivate their fields, hunters could no longer hunt and fishermen could no longer fish. They raped pregnant women and girls."

While the extent of atrocities committed by the LRA in the CAR is believed to be vast, he added, there are no official figures on the number of victims.


Aubin Kottokpinze was kidnapped and tortured by the LRA in 2008

According to the United Nations (UN), more than 100,000 people were killed by the LRA across several countries and regions. Between 60,000 and 100,000 children have been abducted, and many were misused as child soldiers. More than one million people were displaced as a direct consequence of the attacks.

52-year-old Aubin Kottokpinze, from Haut Mbomou is one of the victims. He told DW how he was captured by LRA fighters in 2008, at the age of 39.

"They kidnapped me, abused me and tortured me," he recalled. "It was a terrible experience, from which I never recovered. Look at me, I am only a shadow of my former self. I look much older today than I am."
Where is Joseph Kony?

The International Criminal Court (ICC), based in The Hague, issued an arrest warrant for the founder and leader of the LRA, Joseph Kony, in 2005.

Kony's whereabouts are currently unknown. For some time he was thought to be hiding in the border region of Kafia Kingi, between Sudan and South Sudan.

US agents, UN soldiers, an African Union task force and members of federal armies in countries where the LRA is active are all searching for the rebel leader. But so far, no one has managed to catch him. The Ugandan army did not even have a picture of Kony until 2000.


Detained in 2015 in the CAR, LRA leader Dominic Ongwen (center) was sentenced to 25 years by the ICC last year

"Nobody knows if Kony is still alive at all, or if the LRA fighters are still under his leadership, or whether the fighters are still held together by any kind of ideology," Adolphe Agenonga, an expert in geopolitics at the University of Kinsangani in DRC told DW. "What is certain is that the LRA is militarily very weak."

The former "army" now consists of splinter groups, he explained. The LRA is said to have only 200 to 1,000 fighters left in scattered groups, who presumably have no close contact with commander Kony.
From fighters to bandits

"The LRA of today is not to be compared with the notorious army that made headlines in the international media in 2012," Agenonga added, explaining that sporadic attacks nowadays are carried out primarily to guarantee the survival of its members.

Many fighters also go underground by mingling with the nomadic Mbororo herders in the region.

"Of course, nomadic herders themselves are also sometimes victims of kidnappings and hostage-taking by LRA fighters," Agenonga said.


The LRA are now fighting for survival, not a cause

CAR MP Ernest Mizedjo agrees that the LRA fighters now behave more like a criminal gang that is trying to survive by staging raids and dealing in ivory.

"The LRA rebellion has turned into a business in recent years," he told DW. "They smuggle and trade arms across borders, supplying all sorts of other militias in northeastern DRC."

"They smuggle ivory and also trade in smuggled ivory from Sudan. So, the LRA has turned from a rebel group into a band of criminals doing illegal business. "
CAR citizenship for Joseph Kony?

But there are indications that the LRA fighters in the CAR are growing tired of their way of life.

There are reports that some fighters have presented themselves to authorities, as confirmed by Judes Ngayakon, governor of the Haut Mbomou region.

"I recently received a delegation from the LRA who told me they were ready to hand over their weapons," Ngayakon told DW.

But that's not all: In the capital Bangui, there are rumors that Joseph Kony is ready to negotiate a ceasefire agreement. In return, he would want to be involved in a possible peace process — and be given CAR citizenship. CAR's Minister of Humanitarian Action, Virginie Baikoua, confirmed this correspondence to DW.


Rebel leader Joseph Kony is applying for CAR citizenship

What's behind it then? Ernest Mizedjo believes all the evidence indicates that the LRA fighters have grown tired.

"They've probably lost moral too, and maybe it's just that they don't have a leader anymore," he said. "In addition to this, they simply don't have any support. Every rebellion needs a certain amount of support from the population." Mizedjo hopes this means that the farmers who fled their lands can now return to their fields.

Aubin Kottokpinze, who has been at the forefront of the fight against the LRA in CAR since his kidnapping in 2008, agrees. Today, Kottokpinze is the President of the Association of LRA Victims and advocates for justice above all else.

"We welcome the fact that the Ugandan rebels are leaving our country and laying down their arms," he said. "Our concern is that our state and the international community meet their responsibilities and acknowledge our suffering."

"We also want the perpetrators brought to justice. We ask the CAR government to support us in our quest for justice before the International Criminal Court."

Jean-Fernand Koena contributed to this article adapted from German.

END BLASPHMEY LAWS
Bollywood star cleared of obscenity charges over 2007 Richard Gere kiss


Shilpa Shetty is perhaps best known outside of India for her appearance on British reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother in 2007 (AFP/Sujit Jaiswal) (Sujit Jaiswal)

Tue, January 25, 2022, 3:18 AM·2 min read


Indian actress Shilpa Shetty has been formally cleared of obscenity charges dating from when Hollywood star Richard Gere publicly kissed her at an AIDS awareness event 15 years ago.

The incident triggered a local firestorm at the time, with radical Hindu groups burning effigies of both celebrities to protest the perceived insult to Indian values.

A judge soon afterwards issued arrest warrants, with both accused of various counts of obscenity and indecency.


The charges against Gere were quickly shelved, allowing the actor -- one of the world's best-known Buddhists -- to return to India for a meeting with the Dalai Lama.

But the case against Shetty languished in India's glacial legal system for more than a decade until it was finally discharged in Mumbai last week.

In a court order made public on Tuesday, a judge said the charges against the actress were "groundless" and that she had been subject to an unwanted amorous advance from the Hollywood A-lister.

"It seems that... Shilpa Shetty is the victim of alleged act of accused No. 1 (Richard Gere)," the order said.

Footage of the 2007 incident shows Gere spontaneously kissing Shetty on the hand, before tightly hugging her and planting repeated kisses on her cheek, while both were onstage.

Shetty's lawyer said the entire case rested on the fact that "she did not protest when she was kissed by the co-accused".

"This by no stretch of imagination makes her a conspirator or perpetrator of any crime," the lawyer added.

Shetty, 46, has not yet issued a public statement in response to the court order.

Back in 2007 she had defended Gere's actions and blamed India's "lunatic fringe" for the uproar.

Gere later apologised for his exuberant display, apparently an attempt to demonstrate that kissing was a safe activity that did not spread AIDS.

Shetty is perhaps best known outside of India for her appearance on British reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother in 2007.

The series was engulfed by scandal after Shetty was subjected to racist bullying by other contestants.

ng/gle/axn

Gun control and firearms possession in Germany

School shootings are relatively rare in Germany, a country with some of the strictest gun laws in Europe. DW looks at Germany's gun ownership laws.


German gun owners need a special pass


The shooting at Heidelberg University has reawoken some interest in German gun control, which is regulated by the 2002 Weapons Act. In 2019 Germany's Bundestag agreed to new gun control regulations, including a controversial measure that would have everyone who owns a firearm regularly checked by the country's domestic intelligence agency (BfV).

According to the Weapons Act, you need a weapons possession card (Waffenbesitzkarte) to own or buy a firearm and a weapons license (Waffenschein) to use or carry a loaded firearm. This means collectors, for instance, only need the first, whereas hunters must have both.

A weapons possession card allows gun owners only to "transport" a firearm, rather than carry it. That means it must be unloaded and inside a locked case when taken out in public. But for those with a gun license, German law has no provision stipulating whether a gun must be concealed or loaded in public or not.

There is also a minor firearms certificate,(Kleiner Waffenschein) which is easier to obtain, and which is needed to carry lower-powered weapons, such as air guns, starting pistols, flare guns, or anything that can only shoot blanks or irritants.

Altogether, the costs for an application, including the required insurance, can run to around €500 ($540).
What kinds of guns are legal in Germany?

German law makes a distinction between weapons and war weapons, with the latter listed in the War Weapons Control Act.

In Germany, it is illegal to possess or use any war weapons. These include all fully automatic or semi-automatic rifles, machine guns (unless antiques from World War II or earlier), or barrels or breeches for such weapons. Pump-action shotguns are also banned under the Weapons Act.
Who is allowed to own guns in Germany?

Applicants for a German gun license must

1) be at least 18 years old,

2) have the necessary "reliability" and "personal aptitude,"

3) demonstrate the necessary "specialized knowledge,"

4) demonstrate a "need," and

5) have liability insurance for personal injury and property damage of at least €1 million ($1.1 million).
How do applicants demonstrate 'reliability' and 'personal aptitude'?

Local authorities are responsible for processing gun license applications, and therefore verifying reliability, personal aptitude, and need. Depending on where the applicant lives, the competent authority could be either the public order office (Ordnungsamt) or the police.

Amongst other criteria, the law says that applicants are deemed unreliable or lacking personal aptitude if:
They have been convicted of a crime in the last ten years
Their circumstances give reason to assume they will use weapons recklessly
They have been members of an organization that has been banned or deemed unconstitutional
They have in the last five years pursued or supported activities deemed a threat to Germany's foreign interests
They have been taken into preventive police custody more than once in the last five years
They are dependent on alcohol, drugs, or are mentally ill

In addition, anyone under 25 applying for their first gun license must provide a certificate of "mental aptitude" from a public health officer or psychologist.


German gun laws also stipulate how guns can be stored
How do applicants demonstrate 'specialized knowledge'?

Applicants for a gun license must pass an examination or have undergone some training to acquire a gun. State examinations cover the legal and technical aspects of firearms, safe handling, and shooting skills.

Specialized knowledge can also be verified with other examinations, as long as they cover the same areas: these include hunting license examinations, gunsmith's trade examinations, or full-time employment in the gun or arms trade for three years.

The completion of certain training courses involving firearms, which conclude with an examination, are also recognized as specialized knowledge.

In addition, officially-recognized shooting associations can also carry out their own examinations.
How do applicants demonstrate 'need'?

The law states that gun license applicants must prove some need to obtain one, and defines this as "personal or economic interests meriting special recognition, above all as a hunter, marksman, traditional marksman, collector of weapons or ammunition, weapons or ammunition expert, endangered person, weapons manufacturer, weapons dealer or security firm."

People who show they are unusually likely to be the victim of a crime can also be deemed as having a need to own a firearm.

Members of shooting associations and clubs can also demonstrate the "need" for a gun license if they submit a certificate from an association of traditional marksmen confirming that they need these weapons in order to maintain a tradition.

Edited by Rina Goldenberg

This article was first published in 2020.

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Japan orders probe of Vietnamese intern abuse case


Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa said he had instructed 

the immigration agency to 'swiftly deal with' the case 

(AFP/Philip FONG) 

Tomohiro OSAKI
Tue, January 25, 2022, 3:13 AM·2 min read

Japan's justice minister on Tuesday ordered the immigration agency to investigate violent workplace abuse allegedly suffered by a Vietnamese intern in a case that has heightened scrutiny of a state-sponsored training programme.

A video appearing to show the man being punched, kicked and battered with a stick by his co-workers at a construction company sparked outrage after it was released by the 41-year-old's labour union and went viral this month.

The man who came to Japan in 2019 under the internship scheme has spoken out about his nearly two-year ordeal, saying he does not want other Vietnamese trainees in Japan to go through the same.


Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa said he had instructed the immigration agency to "swiftly deal with" the case.

"Human rights violations against foreign technical interns, such as abuse, are absolutely unforgivable," he told reporters.

More than 350,000 trainees live in Japan under the state-sponsored scheme, which has been running for decades.

Its stated aim is to help workers from less developed economies gain skills in industries such as agriculture, construction and food processing.

But critics say some employers use the programme as a cheap source of labour that puts the interns at risk of exploitation and abuse.

The Vietnamese man described the alleged physical assaults as "so aggressive and so brutal" at an online news conference on Tuesday.

His name was withheld at the event, where he spoke through an interpreter alongside Mitsugu Muto, chair of the labour union that now shelters him.

Muto said persistent assaults against the trainee at the company in western Japan once involved his co-workers throwing a piece of equipment at him, resulting in his teeth being knocked out and his lip lacerated.

The trainee also separately suffered a rib fracture after a colleague kicked him with safety boots in the chest, he said, adding that the case is under police investigation.

Muto said the man's case was extreme, but stories of harassment, low wages and verbal abuse are all too common among foreign trainees.

"We believe it's rooted in a lack of human rights awareness... and there's an element of racism as well," he said.

A 2021 report by the US Department of State said foreign-based and domestic traffickers "continued to abuse the government-operated Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) to exploit foreign workers".

Japan's government "did not hold recruiters and employers accountable for abusive labour practices and forced labour crimes", the Trafficking in Persons Report said.

tmo/kaf/je

Cambodia: EU draws criticism over 'inaction' against opposition crackdown

Since the dissolution of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, PM Hun Sen's government has arrested hundreds of opposition activists. Analysts say Brussels has failed to exert pressure on the authoritarian regime.


Opposition leader Kem Sokha faces 30 years in prison if found guilty

Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha returned to the courtroom on January 19 for a politically-motivated trial in which he is accused of treason.

Sokha, 68, was arrested in September 2017, just months before the forced dissolution of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), the country's only viable opposition party which he co-founded and served as president.

Hundreds of CNRP-aligned individuals and activists have been arrested, jailed, or harassed by authorities since 2017. Many more have fled abroad, joining the party's elected politicians who left for exile after being stripped of their positions.

According to Human Rights Watch's estimates, there are currently 68 CNRP-affiliated individuals in prison, while another 90 have been released on bail pending charges, like Sokha. Three have reportedly died in custody.

Several CNRP-linked individuals have also been killed since 2017, including Sin Khon, who was murdered in Phnom Penh last November. The same month, at least 126 CNRP-affiliated individuals were summoned for a series of "politically-motivated mass trials," Amnesty International stated in its 2021 report.
'Fabricated conspiracy theories'

"Severe physical assaults of individuals affiliated with the CNRP continued, with no one arrested or investigated for any of the attacks," the UK-based human rights watchdog added.

Several exiled, senior CNRP leaders — including "acting-president" Sam Rainsy and its vice presidents — were last year sentenced in absentia to more than 20 years in prison for allegedly conspiring to foment a "color revolution."

Watch video 02:43EU mulls end to Cambodia deal

The Supreme Court, which outlawed the CNRP in 2017, claimed the party was plotting a US-backed coup, which US Ambassador to Phnom Penh, W. Patrick Murphy, has called "fabricated conspiracy theories."

Sokha faces 30 years in prison if found guilty. He was released to house arrest before his bail conditions were relaxed in late 2019. His trial began in January 2020, around 28 months after his arrest, but was then delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There is absolutely no possibility of justice for Kem Sokha in Cambodia's highly politicized courts," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch.

Transparency International's latest Corruption Perceptions Index ranks Cambodia the 20th worst country in the world for official graft, just two places ahead of Iraq. All areas of the state, including the judiciary, are now controlled by the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), which has been in power since 1979.

Ky Tech, the government lawyer leading the prosecution against Sokha, is a member of the ruling party's decision-making Central Committee.
Possibility of a political settlement

"I would expect delays [to the trial] because the pattern has been to draw it out and milk it for all it's worth," Sophal Ear, associate dean and associate professor at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, told DW.

Government spokesman Phay Siphan has repeatedly told local media in recent weeks that no politician can intervene in the trial proceedings, but he noted a political resolution could be found afterwards.

Ou Virak, president of the Phnom Penh-based Future Forum think tank, reckons the Phnom Penh Municipal Court could give Sokha a suspended sentence, sparing him a prison sentence even if he is convicted of treason.

Alternatively, he said, Prime Minister Hun Sen could arrange for Sokha to be given a royal pardon, which would also spare the opposition leader a prison term, but that would only come after "political negotiation" between Sokha and the Cambodian premier.
The end of opposition politics?

It is widely suspected that Hun Sen, one of the world's longest-ruling heads of government, wants to cajole Sokha into either resigning from politics or agreeing to lead a greatly defanged opposition party.

His goal, analysts told DW, is to cement a split between Sokha and Rainsy, who has been in exile in France since 2015.

Watch video 01:11 Road trip through Cambodia

Sokha co-founded the CNRP in 2012 after merging his political party, the Human Rights Party, with Rainsy's eponymous group.

The opposition pair has a tempestuous relationship, but their public shows of unity made the CNRP an electoral possibility. It won just 4% points less than the CPP in the 2013 general election.

Sokha and Rainsy maintained their public solidarity after their party's ban in 2017 but a spat began in late November last year when Sokha bemoaned Rainsy for using his name. Sokha's daughters, who play a leading role in his faction of the banned party, also accused Rainsy of "racism" and "sexism."

However, analysts say there is no indication yet that Sokha is prepared to agree to Hun Sen's demands, which could lead to a protracted court trial.

After the CNRP was dissolved, the ruling CPP went on to win all 125 seats in the National Assembly in the following year's general election.

Despite controlling a near monopoly of political offices in the country, the ruling party's authority still isn't absolute. Hun Sen last month solidified plans to hand over power to his eldest son, the de facto military leader Hun Manet, who was named the ruling party's next prime minister candidate.

A dynastic handover is expected sometime between the next two general elections, in 2023 and 2028, and it would run much more smoothly if there is no real opposition threat to contend with.
'Inefficient' EU response

Cambodia also faced a considerable backlash from the West because of its democratic deterioration.

The United States last month ordered a review of Cambodia's place in its preferential GSP scheme over human rights and political conditions in the country. In August 2020, the EU removed around a fifth of Cambodia's trade privileges, re-imposing tariffs on exports, for similar reasons.

Watch video 06:17 The EU and Cambodia -- free trade at risk

Cambodia's economy contracted by around 3% in 2020 and only grew by 2.2% last year, compared with highs of around 7% during the 2010s. Any further trade sanctions by the US or the EU, its main export markets, would severely hamper economic recovery efforts.

Cindy Cao, associate researcher at the European Institute for Asian Studies, described the EU's response to the deteriorating situation in Cambodia since 2017 as "unethical and inefficient."

The bloc's "economic coercion did not have any of the positive impacts Brussels publicly declared to aim for," she told DW, noting that Sokha has not been released nor the CNRP reinstated.

On top of that, the EU trade sanctions have exacerbated economic difficulties in the garment industry, affecting vulnerable workers, especially during the COVID pandemic.

Peter Stano, an EU spokesperson, says Brussels has been "closely monitoring" the trial of Kem Sokha and the resumption of court proceedings. He didn't respond to questions about possibly removing even more of Cambodia's trade privileges, adding that "these preferences could be fully restored if there is a substantial improvement on the issues of concern."

Edited by: Shamil Shams