CANADIAN EH

Award-Winning Lawyer to Testify in Hamid Nouri Trial

Thursday, 17 March 2022

IRANWIRE

The well-known Iranian lawyer Mohammad Oliaei-Fard has agreed to appear as an expert witness in the trial of Hamid Nouri in Stockholm. Oliaeifard, a member of the Tehran Bar Association now residing in Canada, advises IranWire on matters related to Iranian domestic criminal law and the prisons regulations.

Oliaeifard is expected to appear via videolink at a hearing scheduled for Thursday, March 24 to present and take questions on a 15-page report examining the extent of Nouri’s culpability in the state-sponsored mass murders of political dissidents committed at Gohardasht and Evin prisons in summer 1988.

Hamid Nouri was arrested in November 2019 while on a visit to Sweden after a complaint by a private plaintiff. He is accused by Swedish prosecutors of war crimes and murder for his alleged part in the massacre as a then-prison official. So far 71 hearings linked to the case have taken place at Stockholm District Court. Nouri continues to deny the charges against him.

Related coverage:

Hamid Nouri Trial: Defendant's Outburst on Being Called an 'Executioner'

Nouri to Political Prisoner: “Today Your Dead Body Will be Taken Out of Here”

Hamid Nouri: Iran's 1988 Prison Massacre 'A Fantasy'

Hamid Nouri Trial Witness: 'I Said Goodbye to Myself'

Ex-Prisoner at Hamid Nouri Trial Recalls Narrow Escape From Death Squads

1988 Massacre Witness: Hamid Nouri 'Handed Out Sweets' in Execution Queue

Hamid Nouri Trial: Amid Gut-Wrenching Testimonies, A Sister's Search for Answers

Hamid Nouri's Trial: Where Is Siamak Toubaei?

Hamid Nouri Trial Opens in Stockholm

'The Nation is a Plaintiff': Scores of Iranians to Testify in Case Against Hamid Nouri

Hamid Nouri to Face Trial for War Crimes in Sweden Over 1988 Massacre of Iranian Prisoners

Iranian Ex-Prisoners Recall 'Courier of Death' Hamid Nouri Ahead of Sweden Trial

Justice at Last? 1988 Massacre Suspect Arrested in Sweden

Opinion: Sanctions will weaken Russia's role as a transit route from Europe to China and increase the importance of the "middle corridor"

18 MARCH 2022
Orkhan Baghirov

"The sanctions imposed on the Russian economy will have a significant impact on Russia, limiting its ability to conduct foreign trade relations, which will in turn affect its position as a main transit country in Eurasia", writes Orkhan Baghirov in this op-ed. "Within the new geo-political realities, the Middle Corridor can emerge the winner, and can become the main land route in Eurasia. It will in turn strengthen the political and economic position of the participating states, including Azerbaijan, Turkey, and the Central Asian countries, all of who aspire to become regional transportation hubs".

The Russia-Ukraine war that started on February 24 triggered harsh reactions and comprehensive economic sanctions from many countries around the world, including members of NATO and the EU. As part of counteractions against Russia, heavy sanctions were imposed on different sectors, such as energy, finance, trade and many countries limited their trade relations with Russia.

All the imposed sanctions will have a significant impact on Russia, limiting its ability to conduct foreign trade relations, which will in turn affect its position as a main transit country in Eurasia. Generally, there are three main railway routes in the east-west transport corridor that physically connects Europe and China, two of the main economic power centers in the world. The northern route goes through the territory of Russia and, for the most part, follows the route of the Trans-Siberian Express. The central route goes across Kazakhstan before connecting to the northern route in the west of Russia. The southern route also goes through Kazakhstan and is divided into two directions. One goes through the territory of Iran before reaching Turkey. The other, more efficient one, crosses the Caspian Sea and continues to the territories of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey, which is called the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) or Middle Corridor. This corridor is considered one of the most important routes in reviving the ancient Silk Road. Its formation began after 2013, when the agreement on the establishment of a Coordination Committee for the Development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route was signed.

Despite the fact that the "Middle Corridor" is more efficient in terms of transportation time, it attracts only a small portion of the land cargos that goes from east to west or vice versa. It is related to the fact that this corridor is newly established and there are still some technical problems, including harmonization of customs systems of participating countries. The share of this route in the transportation of cargoes between China and Europe was approximately about 5-6% in 2020 and 2021. But, the northern and southern routes are the traditional routes, and most of the land transportation in Eurasia goes through these routes, which makes Russia the main actor in connecting Europe with eastern Asia. In 2020, transportation of cargoes by railway through the territory of Russia from China to Europe accounted for 69 % of trans-Eurasian railway transit. The other advantage of routes that get through Russian territory is related to the fact that although they link together three large customs zones (China, Eurasian Economic Union, and EU), they have only two border crossings along the nine-thousand-kilometer journey.

However, despite the mentioned advantages, the heavy sanctions and the refusal of European countries to cooperate with Russia are going to increase the importance of the Middle Corridor, which could attract the cargo flows of the northern and central routes. Even before the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, container transportation via the Middle Corridor had been noticeably increasing. During the pandemic , because of the closure of the borders of Iran, the Middle Corridor became the best alternative for cargo transportation. Also, we expect that the intensification of the USA-China rivalry in the Indo-Pacific region will redirect some part of the Chinese cargo flows from sea to land transportation in Eurasia, which will also increase the importance of the Middle Corridor in coming years.

It is obvious that, currently, the capacity of the Middle Corridor is not great enough to meet the whole volume of cargos that goes through the traditional routes. But with improvements, it could gradually replace them and become a main rail connection in Eurasia. For this to happen and to improve the economic efficiency of this route, the existing barriers should be eliminated, and the process of the harmonization of policies and legislation in relevant countries should be finalized. The first steps in this direction have already been taken, and recently, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan agreed to establish a joint venture to develop the TITR. The main goal of the new joint venture is to consolidate transit cargo on this route by contributing to the tariff setting, cargo declaration, and unified IT solutions. The Kazakh side noted the importance of reorienting export of cargo flows from Kazakhstan to Europe along the Middle Corridor.

It is becoming clear that the recent political and military confrontation, and pandemic related problems substantially, are having an impact on the transportation of cargos around the world. Within the new geo-political realities, the Middle Corridor can emerge the winner and can become the main land route in Eurasia. It will in turn strengthen the political and economic position of the participating states, including Azerbaijan, Turkey, and the Central Asian countries, all of who aspire to become regional transportation hubs.

source: Orkhan Baghirov is Leading advisor at the Center of Analysis of International Relations in Baku, Azerbaijan

photo: Map of the "Middle Corridor"connecting Europe to China

The views expressed in opinion pieces and commentaries do not necessarily reflect the position of commonspace.eu or its partners

Education is a salvation for many courageous girls fleeing forced marriage in Burkina Faso

17 MARCH 2022



The idea of giving in to the weight of tradition by marrying a man she had neither chosen nor met was unthinkable for Marie, Evelyn, or several hundred other courageous girls who preferred to escape from their respective villages to regain their freedom.

When her family imposes a foreign and much older man on her, 20-year-old Marie decides to flee the family home in the night and walk for hours through the Burkinabe bush to reach the town of Kaya, where there is one of the few Nun-run shelters that prioritises the education of girls enstranged from their community.

While forced marriages are illegal in Burkina Faso, they remain common in practice and often involve underage girls. The country has become the epicentre of violence in the Sahel, with 2,354 people killed by terrorists in 2021, surpassing the violence in Mali according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

By seizing large swathes of territory, armed groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and ISIL have succeeded in instilling fear in Burkina Faso, displacing 1.7 million people according to a UN report published in December 2021.

Many families, fearing the arrival of terrorists, flee their native villages and try to marry off their daughters as quickly as possible to reduce the number of mouths to feed. In a country where, according to the World Bank, 40% of the population lives below the poverty line, the welfare of the family trumps the girl's romantic life.

As a result, certain girls, and young women - victims of an unfavourable political context - find the courage to join the Santa Maria Goretti shelter, where more than 100 young women have sought refuge.

Burkina Faso said there were 650 cases of forced marriage and 2200 child marriages between 2019 and 2021. This is likely to be an undercount, as many arrangements are carried out in secret.

One of the nuns of the institution, Sister Veronique Can Sono, deplores the state in which the girls are on arrival at the shelter, often covered in lash marks, and condemns practices that, according to her, honour their customs, but fail to honour human beings.

That is why these educators are dedicated to helping these young women forge their own destinies.

Sources: CommonSpace.eu with Reuters (London) and other media outlets

Picture: Evelyne (pseudonym),16, who escaped a forced marriage, prepares to go to school at the Catholic nuns' shelter, Santa Maria Goretti; Reuters website