Polish fish farm fights 'myth of Russian caviar'

Issued on: 14/12/2022 

With Russian caviar banned by sanctions or boycotted by clients, producers elsewhere are battling the myth that the delicacy is still primarily Russian in origin 

© Wojtek RADWANSKI / AFP

Rus (Poland) (AFP) – With Moscow blacklisted since it invaded Ukraine, Europe's main producer of caviar wants to put an end, once and for all, to the delicacy's traditional association with Russia.

"For most people, caviar means Russia, but that hasn't been the case for a long time now," said Agata Lakomiak-Winnicka, marketing and sales manager for Poland's Antonius Caviar.

Based in the northeastern village of Rus, the company is one of the world's top makers of the luxury food, having produced 42 tonnes of black caviar last year -- more than any one firm in Italy or France and almost as much as those in China.

"We used to get clients who couldn't locate Poland on a map. Today we're on a whole different level," Lakomiak-Winnicka said.

The company exports mostly to the United Arab Emirates, the United States, France and Denmark and also supplies Michelin-starred restaurants around the world.

Retail prices range from 1,200 to 2,400 euros ($1,275-2,550) for sturgeon caviar and up to 8,000 euros for the albino kind.

The company's challenge now, one faced by producers worldwide, is the battle against "the myth of Russian caviar".

"Take any box of caviar that reads 'Russian tradition' or 'Russian method' and you'll see that 99 percent of the time it doesn't actually come from Russia," Lakomiak-Winnicka said.
Russia boycott

Traditionally, caviar was made from eggs from wild sturgeon in the Caspian and Black seas with the best-known producers in Russia and Iran.

But years of overfishing and pollution left the sturgeon at risk of extinction, and it is now a protected species.

Most caviar today is produced on fish farms and has nothing to do with Russia.

But consumers still associate the two -- a challenge for those who out of solidarity for Ukraine no longer want to buy Russian.

Most caviar is now farmed, with the sturgeon at Antonius Caviar's farms swim around in canals fed by the crystal clear water of a nearby river © Wojtek RADWANSKI / AFP

"Because of the war... clients ask about the provenance of the caviar," said Wiktoria Yerystova-Rostkowska, who owns a Russian shop outside Warsaw.

"They want good caviar but it can't be Russian," she told AFP, adding that she sources hers from Germany.

The EU and United States have banned Russian caviar as part of their sanctions against Moscow, but it was already practically impossible to buy due to restrictions to protect wild sturgeon.
Aquaculture

The green and black boxes of caviar are on display in the shop window.

Featuring a drawing of the fish, the label reads "malossol" -- the Russian for "lightly salted" and the name of the traditional method used to preserve caviar.

Yerystova-Rostkowska said the boycott of Russian products has left her struggling to stay open.

"It's no longer profitable. I'm down 80 percent in revenue," she said.

A mature female sturgeon can grow to more than a metre (three feet) in length 

© Wojtek RADWANSKI / AFP

Lakomiak-Winnicka for her part sees the boycott as an opportunity.

"It's a chance to explain that caviar no longer comes from Russia," she said.

It has been years since wild Russian caviar was available on the international market.

"The Caspian Sea no longer has any importance in caviar production," said Antonius head Marek Szczukowski.

"The vast majority of caviar sold around the world is derived from aquaculture," including in Russia, he added.
Sturgeon 'on vacation'

On the Antonius fish farm in Rus, thousands of sturgeon -- some more than a metre (three feet) in length -- swim around in canals fed by the crystal clear water of a nearby river.

The company initially farmed trout there, but because of climate change they switched to sturgeon, which prefer warmer water.

"The sturgeon are on vacation here, like they're in Hawaii," Szczukowski said.

The label reads: 'Proudly produced in Poland' to ensure clients know it doesn't come from Russia © Wojtek RADWANSKI / AFP

The caviar is harvested after the fish reach maturity, with the entire operation taking under 20 minutes.

Workers extract the caviar, wash and salt it, then box it up.

The label reads: "Proudly produced in Poland".

It used to also include the word "Russian" -- to denote the fish species -- but from now on it will just say "sturgeon caviar".

"At the express request of clients, we're changing the labels, leaving no room for doubt," Lakomiak-Winnicka said.

© 2022 AFP

US leads technology investment in Africa at Biden summit


Shaun TANDON
Wed, December 14, 2022


President Joe Biden was set Wednesday to unveil a long-term commitment to African leaders as the United States laid out a major investment push in technology in the continent, where China's infrastructure spending has made it a top player.

Biden will deliver an address on Africa to some 49 leaders who have gathered in Washington for the continent-wide summit, the first held by a US president since Barack Obama in 2014.

The White House said Biden will stress the importance of Africa, back a greater role for the African Union, and outline some $55 billion in support for the continent over the next few years.

After an initial announcement on training health workers, the White House said Wednesday that the United States will commit $350 million and mobilize $450 million in financing for digital development in Africa.

Improving connectivity will both spur development and advance social equality while creating more opportunities for US companies, the White House said.

China in the past decade has surpassed the United States on investing in Africa, mostly through highly visible infrastructure projects, often funded through loans that have totaled more than $120 billion since the start of the century.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday warned African leaders that both China as well as Russia were "destabilizing" the continent, saying Beijing's mega-contracts lacked transparency.
- Investing in technology -

US and African businesses laid out details of $15 billion in new trade on the second day of the forum, with a heavy push on the goal of digital development.

Cisco and partner Cybastion said they would commit $858 million to bolster cybersecurity through 10 contracts across Africa, addressing a vulnerability that has held up online development.

The ABD Group said it would commit $500 million starting in Ivory Coast to adopt cloud technology through data centers that can work with major US technology firms.

Technology leader Microsoft said it would employ satellites to bring internet access to some 10 million people, half of them in Africa, hoping to bridge a digital divide that has held back the continent.

The project will prioritize internet access in areas of Egypt, Senegal and Angola that have not had access to the internet, often due to unreliable electricity.

Microsoft president Brad Smith said that the company has been impressed by its engineers in Nairobi and Lagos.

In Africa, "there is no shortage of talent, but there is a huge shortage of opportunity," Smith told AFP.

Smith said he saw wide support in Africa for bringing internet access, saying many governments have leapfrogged over their Western counterparts in ease of regulation as the continent did not have the same "extraordinary web of licensing regimes" in place from the past.
- Support for democracy -

Unlike China, which has had a hands-off policy toward countries where it invests, the United States has also emphasized democracy, with Biden planning to press leaders up for election next year to ensure free and fair polls.


Secretary of State Antony Blinken took part in the signing of a $504 million compact with Benin and Niger under the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which funds projects in countries that meet key standards on good governance.

The deal aims to connect Benin's port of Cotonou with landlocked Niger's capital Niamey, with the United States estimating benefits to 1.6 million people.

"For a long time we've considered this to be our natural port," Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum said.

He hailed the partnership with the United States and promised "institutional reforms" to support trade.

In a veiled allusion to China, Blinken said that the deal will not "saddle governments with debt."

"Projects will bear the hallmarks of America's partnership. They'll be transparent. There'll be high quality. They'll be accountable to the people that they mean to serve," Blinken said.

US launches bid to bring power to African hospitals

The Rutshuru hospital supported by MSF (Doctors Without Borders), seen in July 2022, is the only functional health facility in war-battered area of the Democratic Republic of Congo 

© ALEXIS HUGUET / AFP/File

Issued on: 14/12/2022 - 

Washington (AFP) – The United States on Wednesday announced a $150 million initiative to bring power to hospitals in Africa, hoping to address a key challenge holding up health care on the continent.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) said the five-year program aimed at bringing electricity as well as internet access to at least 10,000 health facilities across sub-Saharan Africa.

Funded through partnerships with the private sector, the so-called Health Electrification and Telecommunication Alliance will focus on renewable energy in keeping with US promises on climate change.

USAID estimated that more than 100,000 public health facilities in sub-Saharan Africa lacked reliable electricity, which is also a prerequisite to internet access.

"Millions of people seeking care and treatment are at risk because they cannot depend on refrigeration for medical commodities like vaccines, the presence of lights for births or emergency surgeries at night or the digital connectivity for communications and records management that modern medicine relies on," USAID said in a statement.

"In short, insufficient power denies access to life-saving care."

Communities will also be able to sell excess electricity from power generation, providing jobs, USAID said.

The electricity push is one of a slew of announcements at the US-Africa summit led by President Joe Biden, the first continent-wide meeting by a US leader in eight years.

The United States at the summit pledged $55 billion over three years to support Africa. Private companies have also promised to step up efforts to improve electricity and internet access on the continent.

The Biden administration has sought to draw a contrast with China, which has surpassed the United States as Africa's top investor led by major infrastructure projects that often come through loans.

© 2022 AFP

First US-Africa summit in 8 years

The White House is rolling out the red carpet to African leaders from 49 countries. Joe Biden is hosting the first US-Africa summit in 8 years, seeking to win back influence in the region that's taken a back seat to other US priorities. As it got underway Tuesday, the US Defense Secretary warned that China and Russia are "destabilizing" the continent. FRANCE 24's International affairs editor Philip Turle tell us more about what's on the agenda.

 

US-Africa summit: Washington opens its wallet as it looks to boost influence

For the US-Africa summit, Washington is hosting around fifty African leaders, some of whom are highly criticised for their respect of human rights, and is promising billions of dollars in aid with the stated aim of regaining influence on the continent. This summit is the second after the one organised in 2014 under the presidency of Barack Obama. The United States denounced on Tuesday the "destabilising" role of China and Russia in Africa. FRANCE 24's correspondent in Dakar, Sam Bradpiece, tells us more.

 

Leaders of 45 African countries are attending to US-Africa summit

It is Day Two of a US-Africa summit in Washington. Leaders of 45 African countries are attending. The US is expected to commit 55 billon dollars to the continent over the next three years...tackle issues like food insecurity...but also the influence of Russia and China. FRANCE 24's Liza Kaminov tells us more.

Study explains surprise surge in methane during pandemic lockdown


Issued on: 14/12/2022 

Lockdowns cut air pollution from transport in 2020, but that helped methane concentrations to build up researchers said 

© Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP/File


Paris (AFP) – A mysterious surge in planet-heating atmospheric methane in 2020 despite Covid lockdowns that reduced many human-caused sources can be explained by a greater release from nature and, surprisingly, reduced air pollution, scientists said Wednesday.

Methane stays in the atmosphere only a fraction as long as carbon dioxide, but is far more efficient at trapping heat and is responsible for roughly 30 percent of the global rise in temperatures to date.

Released from the oil and gas, waste and agriculture sectors, as well as through biological processes in wetlands, the powerful greenhouse gas is a key target for efforts to curb global warming.

But a new study published in the journal Nature suggests that cutting methane may be even more of a challenge -- and more urgent -- than is currently understood.

Researchers in China, France, the US and Norway found that efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and air pollution will affect the atmospheric process that scrubs methane from the air. That means the planet-heating gas will linger longer and accumulate faster.

If the world is to meet the challenge of keeping warming to under 2 degrees Celsius since the pre-industrial era, "we will have to act even more quickly and even more strongly to reduce methane", said Philippe Ciais who co-led the research at France's Laboratory for the Sciences of Climate and Environment (LSCE).

The researchers focused on the mystery of the concentrations of methane in the atmosphere in 2020, which had their biggest increase on record even as Covid-19 lockdowns saw carbon dioxide emissions fall.

'Bad news'

What they found is potentially two pieces of "bad news" for climate change, said co-author Marielle Saunois of (LSCE).

Firstly, they looked at inventories to assess fossil fuel and agricultural methane emissions and found that human sources of methane did indeed fall slightly in 2020.

Then they used ecosystem models to estimate that warmer and wetter conditions over parts of the northern hemisphere caused a surge in emissions from wetlands.

That confirms other research and is worrying because the more methane released, the more warming, potentially creating a feedback loop largely outside of human control.

But that is only half of the story, the researchers found.

Researchers also looked at changes in atmospheric chemistry, because this provides a "sink" for methane, effectively cleaning it out of the air in a relatively short period by converting it to water and CO2 when it reacts with the hydroxyl radical (OH).

These hydroxyl radicals are present in tiny quantities and have a lifetime of less than a second, but they remove about 85 percent of methane from the atmosphere.

They are the "Pac-Man of the atmosphere", said Ciais: "As soon as they see something they eat it and then disappear."

'Dramatic'

The researchers simulated changes in OH using human sources of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide emissions that altogether affect the production and loss of hydroxyl radicals in the atmosphere.

They found that OH concentrations decreased by around 1.6 percent in 2020 from the year before, largely because of a fall in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions caused by the Covid lockdowns. Nitrogen oxide is emitted into the air primarily from burning fuel.

A 20 percent reduction in NOx could increase methane twice as fast, Cias told a press briefing, adding: "This has surprised us greatly."

The researchers said their study helps to solve the riddle of the rise in methane in the atmosphere in 2020.

But they acknowledged that more work would have to be done to answer the next mystery: why the rise in methane concentrations hit a new record in 2021.

Ciais said lower nitrogen oxide emissions from transport in the United States and India, as well as continued low levels of air travel due to the pandemic may have played a part.

Euan Nisbet, a professor of Earth Sciences at Royal Holloway University who was not involved in the research, said the jump in methane in 2020 was a "major shock".

"Even more worrying is the rise in methane in 2021 -- this was after the major Coronavirus shutdowns when the economy was recovering," he told AFP.

"As yet we don't have detailed studies but something very dramatic seems to be going on."

© 2022 AFP

WHY THEY LEFT CANADA

HSBC updates climate policy to stop funding new oil and gas

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT - AP

The logo of the HSBC is seen on a building in Hong Kong, Nov. 16, 2021. Banking giant HSBC announced Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, it will no longer finance new oil and gas fields as part of its updated climate strategy. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)

HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, announced Wednesday it will no longer finance new oil and gas fields as part of its updated climate strategy.

Climate campaigners welcomed the moved saying HSBC provided a new baseline for other major banks but urged the bank to go further.

The bank said it would still provide financing to existing fossil fuel projects “in line with current and future declining global oil and gas demand.” It would also continue to provide finance and advisory services to energy sector clients but will assess the companies’ plans to transition to clean energy.

“It sets a new minimum level of ambition for all banks committed to net zero,” said Jeanne Martin from the campaign group ShareAction. But she added the change “doesn’t deal with the much larger proportion of finance it (HSBC) still provides to companies that have oil and gas expansion plans.” She called for new proposals to address the issue of corporate-level financing for energy companies “as soon as possible.”

Climate experts said the move was nevertheless a big deal.

“Banks make everything possible, including either the entrenchment of the status quo, that is infrastructure based on fossil fuels, or a transition that’s at the pace and of the kind that science tells us that is needed to address the crisis of climate change,” said Timmons Roberts, a professor at Brown University and director of the Climate Social Science Network. “So big banks making pledges like this are a big deal, a very big deal.”

Roberts said there are incentives to make these pledges, following through is the harder part.

“They’ll need to be vigilant at tracking whether they keep their promise,” he said.

Aditi Sen, climate and energy program director at the Rainforest Action Network, said that each year their research on fossil fuel funding shows banks headquartered in the U.S. are the biggest culprits when it comes to fueling the climate chaos, “yet their commitments are flimsy at best and deliberately negligent at worst.”

The group found that the largest four U.S. banks together account for one quarter of all fossil fuel financing identified over the last six years.

“Today HSBC has made a big step forward on climate, which proves that U.S. banks can step it up to do the same,” Sen added. “Financial institutions writ large play a really, really important role in keeping afloat the fossil fuel economy that we have, but also they have a huge role and an opportunity to drive the shift towards a clean energy economy.”

In a report last year the International Energy Agency said investments in new coal mines, oil and gas wells need to end immediately if the world stood a chance of meeting its commitment in the Paris Agreement of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). Fossil fuel financing from the world’s 60 largest banks has reached $4.6 trillion U.S. dollars in the six years since the adoption of the agreement, with $742 billion in fossil fuel financing in 2021 alone, according to the most recent Rainforest Action Network report.

Earlier this year a group of institutional investors found that several banks — including HSBC — would need to significantly step up their efforts on climate if the Paris goal is to be met.

Bank policies must be reconciled with the climate upheavals and economic threats posed by those upheavals that the banking industry warns about, said U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat who is a leading advocate for strong action on climate.

“For a long time the banking industry has been talking out of two sides of its mouth. They’ve been offering these really grim warnings about the bursting of the carbon bubble and the collapse of coastal property values and all of that, while at the same time continuing to behave as if the things that they were saying weren’t true,” he said. “So this aligns HSBC policy with what the banking industry has been saying for a long time, and I think it’s welcome and overdue.”

___

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

HSBC to end funding for new oil and gas fields

ALEX TAI/SOPA IMAGES\GETTY IMAGES

By Esme Stallard
BBC News Climate and Science

HSBC has announced it will stop financing new oil and gas fields, as part of its efforts to drive down global greenhouse gas emissions.

Environment groups said the move sends "a strong signal" to fossil fuel giants that investment is waning.

Europe's largest bank said it made the decision after receiving advice from international energy experts.

It comes following previous criticism of HSBC for funding oil and gas projects despite its green pledges.

Jeanne Martin, head of the banking programme at ShareAction, a charity that campaigns for reducing investment for fossil fuels like oil and gas, said: "HSBC's announcement sends a strong signal to fossil fuel giants and governments that banks' appetite for financing new oil and gas fields is diminishing."

The charity called on other banks to follow suit - saying this move sets a "a new minimum level of ambition" for the sector.

In 2020, HSBC made a pledge to be "net zero" - which means not adding to greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere - and investing up to $1 trillion (£806bn) in clean energy.

However, the bank came under criticism earlier this year when it was revealed it had invested an estimated $8.7bn (£6.4bn) into new oil and gas in 2021, according to ShareAction.

In the update to its energy policy, the bank said the decision had been made "follow[ing] consultation with leading scientific and international bodies" who had estimated that current oil and gas fields would meet any demand in 2050 under a "net-zero" scenario.

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, 197 countries agreed to try to keep temperature rises "well below" 1.5C to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Experts say that to achieve this, net zero must be reached by 2050.
What does net zero mean and how are countries doing?

HSBC follows Lloyds bank - Britain's biggest domestic bank - which announced a similar decision in October.

Tony Burdon, chief executive at climate finance campaign Make My Money Matter, said: "it's another nail in the coffin for fossil fuel expansion, and a massive signal to other UK banks that the game is up on new oil and gas."

In October, the UK government announced a new round of North Sea oil and gas licences

It is not yet clear if this is the beginning of a trend across the sector, but it comes just months after the UK government announced a new round of licensing for oil and gas production in the North Sea.

New UK oil and gas licences defy climate warnings

HSBC has said it will continue to keep its investments already in oil and gas fields as it "recognises that fossil fuels, especially natural gas, have a role to play in the transition, even though that role will continue to diminish".

SEE

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/11/hsbc-to-sell-canadian-unit-to-royal.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/12/china-fire-sale-of-hsbc-rbc-raises.html

I AM THE REAL VICTIM SEZ FASCIST HOMOPHOBE
Far-right writer in Swiss court claims facing LGBTQ 'harassment'

Issued on: 14/12/2022 - 

The French Swiss far-right writer Alain Bonnet writes under the name Alain Soral. 

© Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP

Lausanne (AFP) – Far-right essayist Alain Soral, who appeared in court in Switzerland on Wednesday over homophobic remarks, told the hearing that he was himself the victim of "harassment" by the LGBTQ community.

The writer, a 64-year-old French-Swiss citizen now living in the western Swiss city of Lausanne, was sentenced in April by the regional attorney general to three months behind bars for "defamation, discrimination and incitement to hatred."

That ruling came after Alain Soral -- a pen name for the controversial writer whose real name is Alain Bonnet -- appeared in an online video attacking Swiss journalist Cathy Macherel of the Tribune de Geneve newspaper, who had written an article about him in 2021.

Macherel had filed a complaint over the video, where Soral described her as a "fat lesbian activist for migrants" and as "queer" -- a word he said was synonymous with "degenerate".

The attorney general, who under Swiss law has the power to unilaterally impose sentences of up to six months in prison, ruled at the time that Soral's comments were "profoundly homophobic" and amounted to an "incitement to discrimination".

Soral, who has already faced around 20 convictions in France, mainly over charges of incitement to hatred and defamation, opposed the Swiss sentence, and the case was pushed to a Lausanne court for Wednesday's one-day hearing.

Dressed in jeans and sneakers, Soral provided lengthy responses to questions, with the judge repeatedly asking him to slow down.

"I have been the target of a smear campaign, of harassment, especially by the Tribune de Geneve and the LGBTQ community" in Switzerland, he charged.

He acknowledged his comments in the video had been made in a somewhat agitated state, but said he did not believe they were "injurious".

Soral said Macherel's article had been the last in a series "attacking me ever since I arrived in Lausanne" in 2019, and stressed the video should be seen as his "right to reply".

He insisted that he had moved to Switzerland three years ago not to conduct a political battle but to write "in peace".

Soral's lawyer Pascal Junod told AFP it was a matter of freedom of expression and said the defence will request "an acquittal".

Among his most recent convictions, the author was ordered by a French court in September to pay 15,000 euros ($15,750) in damages to anti-racism organisations over a rap video deemed anti-Semitic.

And last February, he saw the European Court of Human Rights reject his appeal of a 2016 conviction over a Holocaust-denying drawing on his website.

© 2022 AFP

Young Iranians Facing Death Penalty Over Protests

December 14, 2022 
Agence France-Presse
FILE - In this photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran shows students at a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, in the custody of the country's morality police, in Tehran, Oct. 7, 2022.
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PARIS —

A doctor, rap artists and a footballer are among around two dozen Iranians who risk being hanged as Tehran uses capital punishment as an intimidation tactic to quell protests, rights groups say.

The executions in the past week of Mohsen Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard, both 23 years of age and the first people put to death over the protests, sparked an outcry, especially as Rahnavard was hanged from a crane in public rather than in prison.

SEE ALSO:
Iran Executes Second Man Linked to Protests

But campaigners warn that more executions will inevitably follow without tougher international action, with a dozen more people already sentenced to death over the protests and a similar number charged with crimes that could see them hanged.

"Unless the political cost of the executions is increased significantly, we will be facing mass executions," said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group.

He accused Iran's leaders of using executions to "spread fear among people and save the regime from the nationwide protests."

SEE ALSO:
Iran Judiciary: 400 Protesters Jailed Over Tehran Protests

The largely peaceful protests sparked by the death in September of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating Iran's strict dress code for women, are posing the biggest challenge to the Islamic republic since the 1979 revolution.

There have been no reports of a slackening in protest activity in recent days, including after the executions, but the movement has been marked by phases of more and less intense demonstrations.

Authorities describe those facing death sentences as "rioters" who are being judged in full accordance with the country's Sharia law.

But activists express alarm over the use of vaguely worded Sharia legal charges against protesters, such as "enmity against God," "corruption on earth" and "armed rebellion," all of which are capital crimes in Iran.

SEE ALSO:
Iran Protest Crackdown Targets Lawyers

'Unfair trial, torture'

The international human rights group Amnesty International currently confirms 11 cases of death sentences issued against individuals over the protests, and another nine cases where individuals have been charged with crimes that could see them given the death penalty.

One young protester, Sahand Nourmohammad-Zadeh, was sentenced to death over charges — which he denied — that he did no more than tear down highway railings and set fire to trash cans and tires, Amnesty said.

The group said it was concerned another young man, Mahan Sadrat, 22, could be executed "imminently" after being sentenced to death in a "grossly unfair trial" over accusations of using a knife to attack an individual.

Mohammad Ghobadlou, aged 22, was sentenced to death on charges of running over police officials with a car, killing one and injuring several others, Amnesty said, adding it had "serious concerns" he was subjected to torture and other abuse in jail.

Saman Seydi, a young Kurdish rapper, was sentenced to death on charges of firing a pistol three times into the air during protests, adding it had received information he had also been subjected to torture to extract forced confessions.

Before his arrest, Seydi had posted material on Instagram in support of the protests, while his rap songs had also been critical of the authorities.

Hamid Ghare-Hasanlou, a doctor, and his wife, Farzaneh Ghare-Hasanlou, were on their way to the funeral of a killed protester when they were "caught up in the chaos" of a fatal assault on a member of the Basij militia, Amnesty said.

Hamid Ghare-Hasanlou was sentenced to death and his wife to 25 years in prison, with the court relying on incriminating statements from his wife which Amnesty said were coerced and later retracted by her in court.

Her husband was tortured in custody and hospitalized with broken ribs, it said.

Those who face the death penalty after being charged with capital crimes include Toomaj Salehi, 32, a prominent rapper who was charged "solely in connection with critical music and social media posts," Amnesty said, adding that he had been tortured in detention.

The professional footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani, 26, is in a similar position after being charged over the deaths of three security officials in November in the city of Isfahan, it said.

The world union of professional footballers, FIFPRO, said it was "shocked and sickened" by the reports he faces death.

Executed 'at any moment'

Campaigners are seeking to highlight all individuals facing the death penalty in the hope that increased scrutiny on specific cases can help spare lives.

But they warn the executions are often sudden.

Rahnavard was hanged just 23 days after his arrest and shortly after a last meeting with his mother, who was given no inkling her son was about to be put to death.

Activists were also unaware of Shekari's case until his execution was announced by state media.

SEE ALSO:
More Iranians at Imminent Risk of Execution, Rights Groups Say

Amnesty said Iranian authorities are issuing, upholding and carrying out death sentences in a "speedy manner" and there is a "serious risk" that people whose death sentences have not been made public could be executed "at any moment."

"The executions of two people connected to the protests in Iran are appalling, and we are extremely worried for the lives of others who have been similarly sentenced to death," the office of the U.N. high commissioner for human rights told AFP.

It added that Iran had "ignored" its pleas not to carry out the executions.

UN removes Iran from women's rights body over protest crackdown

The Economic and Social Council at the United Nations voted to remove Iran from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women on December 14, 2022 

United Nations (United States) (AFP) – The United Nations on Wednesday voted to remove Iran from a women's rights body over Tehran's brutal crackdown of women-led protests.

Following a campaign led by the United States, 29 members of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) voted to expel the Islamic republic from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) for the remainder of its 2022-2026 term.

Eight countries voted against and 16 abstained. A simple majority was needed to adopt the move, which had been proposed by the United States.

The resolution says it strips Iran of its membership of the commission with immediate effect.

The text says the Iranian leadership "continuously undermine and increasingly suppress the human rights of women and girls, including the right to freedom of expression and opinion, often with the use of excessive force."

It adds that Iran's government does so "by administering policies flagrantly contrary to the human rights of women and girls" and the commission's mandate "as well as through the use of lethal force resulting in the deaths of peaceful protestors, including women and girls."

The commission is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.

In early November, Vice President Kamala Harris said the United States would work with other nations to oust Iran from the commission.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had also campaigned for the move.

Opponents, including Russia and China, noted that Iran had been elected to the body and that expelling it set "a dangerous precedent."

Nations on the women's commission are elected by the UN Economic and Social Council, whose members in turn are voted on by the General Assembly.

Iran has been gripped by demonstrations since the September 16 death in custody of Masha Amini, a young Iranian Kurd who had been arrested for allegedly violating the country's strict dress code for women.

Authorities have since made thousands of arrests in a crackdown on what they regard as riots.

Iran's judiciary has said it has handed down 11 death sentences in connection with the protests.

Iran had accused Washington of pressuring countries ahead of the vote.

© 2022 AFP

Iran likely to be ousted from UN women's body

Story by By REUTERS • Yesterday 

Iran appears set to be ousted from a UN women's body on Wednesday for policies contrary to the rights of women and girls, but several countries are expected to abstain from the vote requested by the United States, diplomats said.

A woman walks after the morality police shut down in a street in Tehran, Iran December 6, 2022.

© (photo credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA/REUTERS)

The 54-member UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) will vote on a US-drafted resolution to "remove with immediate effect the Islamic Republic of Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women for the remainder of its 2022-2026 term."

The 45-member Commission on the Status of Women meets annually every March and aims to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. A US official told Reuters they had "consistently seen growing support" to remove Iran.

Iran, 17 other states and the Palestinians argued in a letter to ECOSOC on Monday that a vote "will undoubtedly create an unwelcome precedent that will ultimately prevent other Member States with different cultures, customs and traditions ... from contributing to the activities of such Commissions."

The letter urged members to vote against the US move to avoid a "new trend for expelling sovereign and rightfully-elected States from any given body of the international system if ever perceived as inconvenient and a circumstantial majority could be secured for imposing such maneuvers."


Iran's riot police forces stand in Tehran Bazaar, in Tehran, Iran December 5, 2022.

 (credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA/REUTERS)

Only five of the signatories to the letter are currently ECOSOC members and able to vote on Wednesday.

Related video: Iran protests: 400 protesters sentenced to jail, says judiciary (WION)
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The Islamic Republic on Monday hanged a man in public who state media said had been convicted of killing two members of the security forces, the second execution in less than a week of people involved in protests against Iran's ruling theocracy.

Nationwide unrest erupted three months ago after the death while in detention of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by morality police enforcing the Islamic Republic's mandatory dress code laws.

The demonstrations have turned into a popular revolt by furious Iranians from all layers of society, posing one of the most significant legitimacy challenges to the Shi'ite clerical elite since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran has blamed its foreign enemies and their agents for the unrest.

The Geneva-based UN Rights Council voted last month to appoint an independent investigation into Iran's deadly repression of protests, passing the motion to cheers of activists. Tehran accused Western states of using the council to target Iran in an "appalling and disgraceful" move.

Football player Amir Nasr-Azadani to face execution for supporting women's rights in Iran: Reports

Story by dnawebdesk@gmail.com (DNA Web Desk) • Yesterday 

Iranian football player Amir Nasr-Azadani may face execution for his role in the recent demonstrations in Iran, as per reports of local media. Nasr-Azadani was a former player for teams such as Rah-Ahan, Tractor, and Gol-e Rayhan. The Islamic Republic's legal system intends to hang him for a crime known as "moharebeh." Protests erupted across Iran following the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody.


Football player Amir Nasr-Azadani to face execution for supporting women's rights in Iran: Reports© Provided by DNA

Mahsa Amini, 22, died while in the custody of the nation's morality police for violating the country's dress code. Protests by Iranian citizens for greater freedom have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of citizens, especially during protests.

Footballers' union FIFPRO, which represents 65,000 professional football players worldwide, also addressed the incident in a tweet. FIFPRO expressed outrage at the news concerning Amir Nasr-Azadani and urged that his sentence be commuted.

“FIFPRO is shocked and sickened by reports that professional footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani faces execution in Iran after campaigning for women’s rights and basic freedom in his country. We stand in solidarity with Amir and call for the immediate removal of his punishment,” the tweet read.

According to IranWire, Nasr-Azadani and two other people accused of the crime appeared on state television on November 20 and read a "forced" confession. Nasr-Azadani was also present at the protests, according to IranWire. However, according to sources, he was never near the area where Cheraghi and the two Basij members were killed. The insider further claimed that his participation in the protests was restricted to yelling slogans for a few hours.

Apart from the international community, Iran's football community has also expressed support for Nasr-Azadani. Former Iran national team player Mehdi Mahdavikia claimed to have seen the 26-year-old during the youth squad's camp in Germany and conveyed his worries about any prospective trial.

Other renowned Iranian footballers who have requested a stay of execution include Ali Karimi, Masoud Shojaei, Mohammed Reza Akhbari, and Siamak Nemati.

How Canadian doctors are helping Iranian colleagues document brutality of regime

Story by Chris Brown • CBC

As the Iranian government continues to crack down on its opponents — even executing two protesters in the past week — doctors inside and outside of the country are joining together to document horrific injuries inflicted by the regime.

"The number of people who oppose the regime is very big — perhaps more than 80 per cent or 90 per cent of my colleagues," said a trauma doctor in Iran who has been treating ghastly injuries inflicted on protesters by the regime's security forces.

CBC News has agreed not to identify him or reveal any other details about his work, as doing so could compromise his safety.

"I have seen injuries on the legs, hips and face resulting from shotgun pellets," he said in an interview.

"There have been several cases where they hit them in the forehead — and there was one case in our hospital where a young child was shot in the face and lost both of his eyes."


In this photo taken by an individual not employed by The Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, Iranians protest the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the morality police, in Tehran on Oct. 1, 2022.© The Associated Press

The country's Islamic regime has been shaken by three months of street demonstrations and protests ignited by the Sept. 16 death of Mahsa Amini.

The 22-year-old woman died in custody in Tehran after she was arrested by the country's morality police for not properly wearing a hijab, which is mandatory under Iran's Islamic law.

'Yes, we are at risk'

Amini's death — attributed to police brutality based on leaked medical scans — has triggered widespread street demonstrations and other acts of protest that are ongoing.

Two protesters have been executed by the regime in the past week after widely discredited trials where the young men were denied proper legal representation and executed without the chance of an appeal.

Amnesty International says it identified a further 20 people at risk of execution because of their links to the protests.

"I think it will turn into a revolution," said the doctor, who believes despite the horrendous consequences of challenging the regime, people will continue to bravely resist.



A mobile phone in Cyprus displays a Twitter post on Monday about the execution announced by Iranian authorities of Majidreza Rahnavard, the second person linked to nearly three months of protests who has been executed.© AFP/Getty Images

But for Iranian doctors, treating government opponents injured by security forces is dangerous by itself.

"I treated patients who were injured and shot and needed to have the bullets removed in my clinic — and that caused my office to receive a call from a 'private' or 'unknown' number — that means it's a call from the intelligence services," he told CBC News.

"So yes, we are at risk."

In late October, hundreds of medical professionals who were protesting outside the medical council of Iran were shot in their backs and legs after security services opened fire on them with shotguns.

Doctors in Iran share details of injuries

Getting even basic information out of the country has been difficult, as authorities have attempted to disrupt messaging service platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram.

Despite that, doctors who have treated patients have still managed to share details of the injuries they've been seeing with colleagues outside of the country, including doctors in Canada.

"We try to be their voice," said Dr. Saeed Zavareh, a Vancouver internal medicine specialist, who tries to stay in contact with colleagues inside Iran.

Zavareh, 53, trained in Iran as a doctor and immigrated to Canada just over 20 years ago.

In the last few months, he said, doctors in Iran have sent him hundreds of scans of patients, many showing ghastly injuries inflicted by the country's security forces.

"I have seen eye injuries — more than 50 — and that's only me. In the United States, they have a big database that has around 1,000 cases reported," Zavareh told CBC News.

During previous uprisings in Iran, such as in 2019, security services killed more than 1,500 people, but this time the tactics are different, Zavareh said.

He believes the aim is to leave people grossly disfigured to dissuade others from taking to the streets.

"Imagine a teenager losing both eyes and walking in your neighbourhood every day — it's part of the traumatization, part of creating horror for the whole neighbourhood that this is your future if you come to protest."

Zavareh said that in some cases, he has been able to offer diagnostic or treatment advice based on the photos or body scans of those injured.

On other occasions, he said, Canadian and overseas doctors have been able to send packages through the mail containing supplies, medicine and surgical instruments so that doctors in Iran can set up treatment centres in their own homes rather than work in their clinics.

"They try to make it such a scary place so no one even goes outside — that's the horror — terrorizing people who don't want [anything] more than freedom."

But more often than not, Zavareh said, the most important thing that foreign doctors can do is catalogue the injuries inflicted on regime opponents and collect evidence.

"Every piece of information that comes from Iran is priceless for us. We need more evidence when we want to go ahead and file a case in [an] international court for crimes against humanity," he said.

Concerns for Iranian doctor sentenced to death

The challenges and dangers facing Iranian doctors have been recognized by medical associations across Europe and in North America.

In mid-November, the Canadian Medical Association released a statement calling on Iranian authorities to let doctors do their jobs without interference.

The British Medical Association released a similar statement last week, calling on authorities to "cease persecution of health professionals" who treat those injured by security forces.

"We have had examples of doctors in Iran who have treated protesters and been rushed away to be interrogated themselves and actually punished," Dr. Raanan Gillon, past-president of the BMA, told CBC News in London.

One of the highest-profile and most worrying cases involves Dr. Hamid Ghareh Hassanlou, an Iranian radiologist who was tortured by police and sentenced to death.

Iranian authorities accuse him of being part of a mob that attacked and killed two members of a government militia, but his colleagues say the alleged confessions are fraudulent and were obtained under duress.

"We are now working to save his life," said Zavareh, the Vancouver internal medicine specialist, explaining that he has reached out to medical groups around the world and key figures at the United Nations.

"We heard that they are planning to execute him faster than we can [help] him."

The international networks helping Iranian doctors have grown quickly. In some cases, medical professionals are working through their medical associations or physician colleges, while other associations are more informal.

Iranian regime appears unmoved

British dentist Dr. Nader Fallah, who lives just outside London, has been organizing demonstrations and travelling across Europe to pressure governments to impose even harsher international penalties on the Iranian regime.

"The frustration is that we live outside Iran. Initially we felt powerless to help, but in a very quick period of time we have organized multiple associations and groups that hold rallies throughout the world," Fallah said in an interview near Watford, England, where he was seeing patients.


A picture obtained by AFP outside Iran shows a demonstrator raising his arms and making the victory sign during a protest over the death of Amini, in Tehran on Sept. 19.

© AFP/Getty Images

While Fallah said he accepts that the support the outside medical community can provide to Iranian doctors is limited, he believes by documenting the abuses and acting as a conduit for doctors inside the country, pressure on the Iranian regime can be sustained.

"The more we become the voice of Iran — and with the atrocities against humanity — we find there is more action from European allies [governments] and friends."

The Iranian regime, however, appears unmoved by the foreign support for the protesters and has brushed aside the widespread condemnation.

Earlier this week, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi vowed to continue cracking down on protesters.

"The identification, trial and punishment of the perpetrators of the martyrdom [killing] of security forces will be pursued with determination," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Still, the doctor interviewed by CBC News in Iran said he believes the support from Canada, Britain and beyond is vital and will continue to be going forward.

"The fear to voice your opposition has resulted in this regime remaining in power for too long. I think this fear is dissipating," he said.

"Every day, the number of people expressing their opposition — and who are brave enough to do so — is increasing."

WAIT, WHAT?

Hong Kong police wrong to ban Tiananmen vigil, court rules

The court overturned the conviction of jailed democracy activist Chow Hang-tung, who led a group that used to organise Hong Kong's annual Tiananmen vigil.

File photo of a Tiananmen vigil in Hong Kong in 2019. 

(Photo: AFP/File/ISAAC LAWRENCE)

14 Dec 2022 

HONG KONG: Hong Kong police's decision to ban a Tiananmen vigil last year was unlawful, a court ruled on Wednesday (Dec 14), as it overturned the conviction of jailed democracy activist Chow Hang-tung.

The ruling is a rare rebuke of authorities in a city where the public commemoration of the deadly 1989 incident in Beijing has been virtually wiped out in recent years.

Chow, a 37-year-old lawyer and one of Hong Kong's most prominent democracy activists, led a now-disbanded group that used to organise the city's annual candlelight vigils to mourn those killed in Tiananmen Square.

Police have banned the last three vigils citing the coronavirus and security fears and the courts have already jailed multiple activists who defied those bans, including Chow.

Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai is also among those behind bars for defying the various bans on the vigils, in his case for the 2020 event.

Chow was jailed for 15 months in January for writing articles urging the public to "light candles to seek justice for the dead", which a lower court said amounted to inciting others to defy the ban.

But High Court judge Judianna Barnes on Wednesday said police wrongly banned the vigil in 2021 as they did not "proactively and seriously consider" ways to facilitate a public gathering, as was required by law.

As the government failed to prove the ban was legally valid, Chow's articles would no longer constitute a crime and her conviction was scrapped on appeal.

A Hong Kong court has overturned the conviction of political activist and barrister Chow Hang-tung (pictured after her arrest in June 2021) who was jailed over a Tiananmen vigil (Photo: AFP/File/Peter PARKS)

Despite her court victory, Chow remains in custody as she faces further prosecutions including for national security charges which carry up to a decade in jail.

Chow was arrested on the morning of Jun 4, 2021, when her articles appeared on social media and in a newspaper calling on residents to mourn Tiananmen victims.

At the time, police warned that the vigil was banned due to the pandemic and that thousands of officers would be on standby to halt any "unlawful assemblies".

But judge Barnes said on Wednesday that police failed to fulfil their duty under the law to take reasonable measures to facilitate public gatherings, such as imposing conditions on social distancing.

"Although the organisers expressed willingness to follow any reasonable demands by the police, the police only raised questions ... and did not propose measures or conditions that could obviously be considered," the judge said.

AFP has contacted the Department of Justice and Hong Kong police for comment.

In mainland China, censors have long scrubbed what happened at Tiananmen Square, both online and in the real world.

Commemoration of the Tiananmen incident in Hong Kong has largely been driven underground.

Last year, multiple statues marking the historical event were removed from university campuses while an activist-run museum was shut down