HUMAN RIGHTS UGANDA

East Africa's LGBTQ community under siege
Isaac Kaledzi | Julius Mugambwa

DW
18 hours ago

In East African countries, people with diverse sexual orientations live in constant fear. Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric is on the rise in in the region as lawmakers in Uganda vote to pass new legislation to punish the community.

https://p.dw.com/p/4P1Pk


Trigger warning: Disturbing details follow below.

Eric Ndawula identifies as gay in Uganda. That comes at a high cost in a country that now wants to introduce even more draconian laws to punish lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people.

Ndawula has been shunned by his family because of his sexual orientation. He has also faced arrests and evictions.

"We were raided by a mob who wanted to attack us and kill us. But when we called the police to our assistance, we were instead arrested," he told DW.

Ndawula said he and others were then subjected to forced anal examinations by authorities.

"At the end of the day, we became suspects of carnal knowledge against the order of nature, even though we called the police for support from a mob that was going to lynch us," he said.

A picture taken at an LGBTQ pride event in Entebbe, Uganda in 2014

Image: Rebecca Vassie/AP Photo/picture alliance

The situation for the LGBTQ community in Uganda, where same-sex relations have been outlawed since the colonial era, is expected to get much worse.

New legislation was passed by the country's lawmakers on Tuesday and now awaits the consent of President Yoweri Museveni. The Anti-Homosexuality Bill provides for prison terms of up to 10 years in prison. As lawmakers debated the draft law on March 21, there was little sign of opposition.
Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric spiking

Asuman Balasalirwa, the lawmaker who put forward the controversial bill, told DW that it had widespread support.

"If you went to my constituency of Bugiri Municipality and ask the people whether they are with me on this issue, they will tell you we are behind our MP," he told DW.

VIDEO Uganda set to toughen anti-gay legislation 03:12

Angel Maxine, a transgender woman and leading advocate for LGBTQ rights in Ghana, has been monitoring Uganda's bid to criminalize homosexuality and identifying as LGBTQ.

"For me, I call it the reincarnation of colonialism. That is how the whole picture of what is happening in Africa looks to me. For me, it makes no sense," she told DW.

The lawmaker Balasalirwa has been lashing out at the LGBTQ community.

"Why are they invading our schools? Why are they invading our children? They are just being provocative. So, you want to invade our children and we look on? You want to invade our schools and we look on?" he said in a DW interview.

In 2014, Uganda's courts nullified draft anti-LGBTQ legislation on grounds that the parliament had not followed procedure. Balasalirwa's bill was similar to what was tabled in parliament at the time.

Ghana is also due to debate new anti-LGBTQ legislation

Image: Sumy Sadruni/AFP

Politician talks of 'castration' in Tanzania

In Ghana, an anti-LGBTQ bill is awaiting debate in parliament. Maxine is one of many activists who are openly opposing it.

"Criminalizing other human beings, telling other human beings how to live their lives, telling other human beings that it's like this there's no fluidity, you can't be yourself. You can't, If you do, you are going to prison. It affects the mental health of the human being,” Maxine says.

Ndawula and Maxine agree that legislation to criminalize the LGBTQ community reinforces the homophobia and hate people like themselves experience.

The righs of the LGBTQ community has come under increasing threat in Tanzania too. Same-sex relationships are illegal and convictions can lead to lengthy prison terms. Leading politicians are now calling for even harsher punishment.

On March 19, Mary Chatanda, the head of the women's wing of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party called for the castration of homosexual men.

"We ask the government to make stiff penalties to offences related to same-sex activities. Such people should be castrated if found guilty," Chatanda said. She was speaking at a public gathering to mark President Samia Suluhu Hassan's second year in office.

Kenya bans books with LGBTQ themes

According to Maxine, anti-LGBTQ statements are meant to intimidate the LGBTQ community.

"Castrating somebody won't change their feelings. Castrating somebody won't change who they are," Maxine told DW.

"If I am a trans woman and I still have my penis and you castrate me, you are affirming me of who I am because you still can't change my feelings of who I want to be with or who I love or how I want to be myself or how I want you. You can't change the feelings of a human being."

Last month, the Kenyan government intensified its restrictions on imported books with LGBT themes after public outcry. Parents and religious leaders in the country had demanded an audit of such books.

In late February, a Supreme Court that gave an LGBTQ and intersex rights group the green light to register as a non-governmental organization sparked an outcry.

Even President William Ruto criticized the ruling, saying homosexuality remained unacceptable in Kenya.

VIDEO Kenyan court paves the way for LGBTQ NGOs 01:55

Edited by Benita van Eyssen

Is the ocean a viable solution for water scarcity?

Stuart Braun

Desalination is highly energy intensive and environmentally toxic. But the unconventional freshwater resource is now vital for human survival in dry regions.

While around 70% of Earth's surface is covered with water, less than 1% percent is actually drinkable.

These finite freshwater resources are very unevenly distributed.

In hot, dry regions with growing populations and increasing living standards, there is not enough water to go around — a situation exacerbated by climate change.

As solutions such as cloud seeding or even iceberg harvesting remain unproven at scale, the desalination of our oceans into drinking water has emerged as the ultimate means to drought-proof regions suffering water poverty.

The centuries-old concept uses thermal distillation or a reverse osmosis membrane to separate salt from the sea.

The technique is now being utilized globally, with well over 20,000 desalination plants currently operating in over 170 countries — the 10 largest in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel.

Around 47% of the world's desalinated water is produced in the Middle East and North Africa alone, Manzoor Qadir, deputy director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, told DW.

These arid regions have few other options since, according to Qadir, they generate less than 500 cubic meters of water per capita through rainfall or river runoff — which is half the upper limit of water scarcity as defined by the UN. The United States, by contrast, produces 1,207 cubic meters of freshwater per person.

A desalination plant in Tel Aviv, Israel, a country that is increasingly reliant on desalinated water

Image: JIM HOLLANDER/Epa/picture-alliance

Water poverty is set to worsen as populations increase along with temperatures, with Sub-Saharan Africa predicted to become a "hotspot of water scarcity" by 2050, Qadir noted.

"It is a great option in terms of enhancing water resources," he said of desalination, adding that costs have "decreased tremendously" — from around $5 ($4.69) per cubic meter (1,000 liters) in the 2000s to 50 cents today.

"It's a no brainer," said Frithjof C. Kuepper, chair in marine biodiversity at the University of Aberdeen and an expert on the environmental impacts of desalination in Cyprus. "For countries like Cyrpus, there's no other option if they want to maintain this living standard."

The hottest and driest nation in the EU, Cyprus relies on desalination for 80% of its drinking water, according to Kuepper.

With variable rainfall necessitating water restrictions in the country as far back as the 1990s, Kuepper explains that Cyprus' government first tried to make up the shortfall by shipping in water from Greece.

"But it cost about ten times more than desalinating," he said, adding that the government started to build desalination plants in the early 2000s to avoid water shortages.
Marine and climate impacts of desalination

But both Kuepper and Qadir concede that before becoming a magic bullet for water scarcity, desalination presents some serious environmental trade-offs in its current guise.

Desalination - The answer to water scarcity? 07:06

Firstly, separating salt from water is highly energy intensive.

A 2021 studyon the environmental consequences of removing salt from seawater in Cyprus co-authored by Kuepper showed that the four desalination plants in the country generate around 2% of its total greenhouse gas emissions.

The plants also accounted for 5% of the total electricity consumption in Cyprus, representing one of the largest shares by sector of electricity consumption, according to the study.

Furthermore, the report notes that desalinated water produced generated around 103 million cubic meters of toxic, high-salinity brine effluent that impacted the Mediterranean seagrass ecosystem in the region of the discharge pipes.

In a reportco-authored by Manzoor Qadir on the state of desalination and brine production globally, it was shown that increased salinity, combined with climate-driven temperature rise, can cause a decrease in the dissolved oxygen content, resulting in conditions called hypoxia.

This hypersaline water can sink to the ocean bed and kill marine microorganisms that are vital to the entire food chain. In addition, chemical compounds such as copper and chloride are also observable in the desalination pre-treatment process and can be toxic to organisms in the receiving water, according to the report.

A villager collects drinking water from a water desalination plants in Bonbibi Tala in Satkhira, Bangladesh

Image: Mahmud Hossain Opu/AP/picture alliance

Making desalination sustainable

The authors of the Cyprus study conclude that the solution to the relatively high CO2 emissions is to deploy renewables to power desalination plants.

A Berlin-based company, Boreal Light, has developed off-grid solar and wind energy desalination plants that ensure greater energy independence and immunity from price fluctuations.

"We've got the water for free, we've got the electricity from the solar and wind for free, so we can now produce 1,000 liters [of fresh water] for 50 cents," Ali Al-Hakim, Boreal Light co-founder and general manager, told DW. The price for one cubic meter is as competitive as directly accessing freshwater from rivers or wells, he added — and is equal to today's cheaper desalination cost as quoted by Manzoor Qadir.

Meanwhile, though brine discharge can be better diffused through outfall pipes that are not in the vicinity of vulnerable marine life, Kuepper said a better solution would be to keep the remnant solids on the land.

Solar-powered desalination in Somalia 05:25

The 2019 study on the state of desalination showed how sodium, magnesium, calcium, potassium, bromine, boron, strontium, lithium, rubidium and uranium could be harvested from the filtered material and reused in industry and agriculture. Recovery of these resources remains economically uncompetitive, however, Qadir believes.

This needs to change as reuse is an important sustainability solution, he added, especially "in countries producing large volumes of brine with relatively low efficiencies, such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar."
Reusing the brine

Scientists at the US research body, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have suggested ways to repurpose brine by using the salt to produce caustic soda, or sodium hydroxide.

When used to pre-treat seawater entering the desalination plant, sodium hydroxide helps prevent the fouling of the reverse osmosis membranes used to filter the ocean water. The researchers note that such fouling is a typical source of breakdowns and adds to the energy inefficiency and overall cost.

Although such brine reuse is still in the early developmental stage, Qadir notes that newer, more modern plants in the US that utilize the latest reverse osmosis technology already produce less brine.

Around 12% of the world's desalinated water is created in the US but only 3.9% of its brine, Qadir explains. By contrast, the Middle East and North Africa region generates around 47% of desalinated water but 70% of the total global brine output, he says, due partly to the presence of less efficient plants.

As the technology continues to improve, climate and environmental impacts will be reduced, says Qadir.

Kuepper says desalination is the obvious way to go. "Our job is to make sure it is sustainable."

Edited by: Tamsin Walker


Dramatic drought: Is Europe drying out?  8 images

Spring has not yet sprung but parts of Europe are already suffering from drought, especially in the south. A lack of rain and snow this winter means water levels in rivers and lakes remain low across the continent.Image: Luigi Costantini/AP/dpa/picture alliance

Brown instead of blue
It hasn't rained in France for more than a month — the longest winter dry spell since records began in 1959. The main reason is high pressure areas over Western Europe that push the rain clouds away. Climate change could make drought in Europe a permanent phenomenon. Here, at Montjean-sur-Loire, France's longest river, the Loire, has already almost run dry — and it's only March.

Image: STEPHANE MAHE/REUTERS

Another energy shortage?
The water level in the 140-hectare (346-acre) Lac du Chambon reservoir in the French Alps is already very low. France gets 15% of its energy from hydroelectric plants like this one, and is increasingly worried about another impending energy crisis. In the summer of 2022, some of France's nuclear plants had to be shut down temporarily, because there wasn't enough water in the rivers to cool them.

Image: Hubert Psaila Marie//abaca/picture alliance

Israelis, Palestinians, Arabs jointly tackle climate change

Jennifer Holleis

A new US-led initiative brings together Palestinians, Israelis and Arab states to address climate change in the region. Building trust and funding joint projects remain challenges.

The Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region is one of the most vulnerable to climate change. It’s already being hit disproportionately by rising temperatures, water scarcity and desertification. And the outlook for the future is grim.

These are all compelling reasons for experts in the region to collaborate more, say the organizers of a conference on agriculture, water and food security. The conference, which was attended by experts from Israel, the occupied Palestinian territories and several Arabic and Muslim countries, aimed to develop practical programs to address regional challenges.

"So much can be done in this region by cooperating across borders," said William Wechsler, senior director of the N7 Initiative which organized the conference held last week in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi. The initiative promotes collaboration between Israel and Arab and Muslim nations that have signed the Abraham Accords, a deal brokered in 2020 to normalize relations between Israel and several Arab countries, including Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

"For example, water can be made more available, food prices can be lowered, and people's lives can be made more secure," said Wechsler, listing the advantages of potential cooperations.

Wechsler believes agriculture is an ideal basis for climate change collaboration. Not only is it a field where progress can be made quickly, it could also have a big impact on people's lives across the MENA region.

Egypt seeks to address wheat shortages and inflation by implementing crops that need less water.I

mage: AFP

"If we miss the opportunity to address climate change now, the window of opportunity will eventually close," Wechsler warned.

Although there are challenges to establishing governments and private sector cooperations, Wechsler believes those actively involved in tackling climate change and its effects are keen to work together.

"At the end of the day, scientists and engineers are practical people who are interested in solving problems, no matter where they are from," Wechsler told DW.
Difficult to find funding for joint projects

For conference participant Faouzi Bekkaoui, the director of Morocco’s National Agricultural Research Institute, Israel has much to offer his country.

"Israeli expertise relates in particular to water usage efficiency, such as irrigation systems and developing more resilient crops and varieties," he told DW.

Morocco is among the world’s most water-stressed countries, according to a World Bank 2022 report, and its agricultural sector is badly affected by the water shortage and climate change.

VIDEO Catching fog in Morocco  06:30

"Israel also made significant progress in biotechnology or genomics, and all these areas could be beneficial for Morocco, as well," he said.

But funds for joint Moroccan-Israeli projects or academic exchanges are limited. Bekkaoui has now applied to the US-based Merck Foundation, which funds projects between Israel and the Arab countries that signed the Abraham Accords, for a grant.

The region lacks a tradition of cross-border academic cooperations.

"Most national research administrations … have limited pathways to grant research funding to foreign organizations," said Youssef Wehbe, a researcher at the National Center of Meteorology in Abu Dhabi, in a recent podcast by the Middle East Institute.

Finding funding for cross-border projects to combat climate change is even more complex. During the World Climate Summit COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, richer nations agreed to provide adaptation funds worth $40 billion (€37.3 billion) annually for low- and middle-income countries from 2025 onwards.

But most of this finance is awarded in the form of loans for mitigation projects to reduce fossil fuel usage, such as installing solar panels or wind farms, which return a profit to lending nations, explained Wehbe.

In contrast, financing for adaptation schemes is low as they are "harder to fund and are less attractive to funding nations compared to the loan model, which returns a profit for these lending nations," Wehbe said.

He calls for more globally oriented research programs targeting climate change "to solicit ideas from the international scientific community."

Israeli irrigation technology could help other countries in the region, for example Morocco

Image: Menahem Kahana/AFP

Tackling climate change to reduce conflict

Agriculture and climate change expert Jamal Saghir, a professor at Canada's McGill University and former World Bank director, also regards collaboration across borders as the best solution.

"Regional cooperation is always a win-win situation and much better than national or bilateral projects," he told DW. "Most of the Mideast countries are not doing enough yet and climate change is much faster."

The Middle East is warming at twice the global average. This is expected to fuel competition and conflict over dwindling resources – making it essential for the region to tackle climate change and its consequences such as more migration and unrest.

However, Saghir believes the region can leapfrog these issues through technology. Here he seesIsrael and the Gulf countries in a position to take a lead.

"Israeli technology is leading in desalination and irrigation and the region would benefit a lot from these methods," he said. The United Arab Emirates, beyond their thriving oil business, have also made significant investments in renewable energies, he pointed out.

"Joint collaboration will lead to new ideas in research and development, which can then be implemented by several countries," he said. "What are they waiting for? This could happen now."

Cross-border regional cooperation could help address water shortages before it is too late, say the organizers of the summit

Image: Albert Gonzalez Farran/UNAMID/AFP

Building a basis of trust

Tareq Abu Hamad, executive director of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Israel, believes tackling climate change together with other scientists across the region could turn into "a great opportunity to build trust."

"We live in a small region that is considered as a hotspot when it comes to climate change, and we do not have any other option than cooperating with each other to deal with these challenges," he said.

Alex Plitsas, who is involved in the N7 Initiative, was struck by one scene at the conference that filled him with hope.

"The most extraordinary thing I witnessed … in Abu Dhabi was when a male Arab diplomat from a Gulf state wearing traditional thobe & donning a kaffiyeh sat with a female Israeli entrepreneur and I late at night," he wrote on Twitter, "as they worked to figure out how to make people's lives better."




Edited by: Jon Shelton and Kate Hairsine

Sri Lankans struggle to afford food as IMF approves bailout

Aparna Ramamurthy

Sri Lanka has secured $2.9 billion from the International Monetary Fund — a lifeline for the debt-ridden country. But for millions struggling with poverty, the bailout might not bring immediate relief.

For many living in crisis-hit Sri Lanka, skipping meals has become a new normal.

"It has been a year since we had three meals a day," 34-year-old Selvaraj Sadasivam told DW.

Sadasivam and his family of seven live in Kegalle district, some 78 kilometers (48 miles) from Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo. He works as a farm hand on a tea estate, and struggles to live a normal life with his sick father, his brother, sister, nephews, and niece.

He earns up to 1,000 Sri Lankan rupees per day (€2.78, $2.90), but only if he manages to pluck 22 kilos (48.5 pounds) of tea leaves. His brother and sister also have jobs, yet the family can only afford to eat twice a day.

A year ago, the island nation was facing unrest when it defaulted on its sovereign debt. Although the political crisis has since subsided, many Sri Lankans are still crippled by poverty.

"My nephews and my niece walk for around 28 kilometers each day to go to school because we cannot afford to get them a bus pass. They love to eat meat and fish, but it is expensive. We do not have that kind of money," Sadasivam said.

This is not an isolated case in the South Asian country.

According to the data from World Food Programme (WFP), food insecurity is a serious concern in Sri Lanka.

A WFP study says that over three in 10 households are facing inadequate food consumption. Animal protein, dairy and fruit are consumed less than three days a week in the average household.

"One kilogram of chicken costs around 1,500 Sri Lankan rupees and the price of rice is also high. So, we are forced to buy low quality rice," said Subramaniam Jaya Kannika, a mother of three who resides in the suburbs of Colombo.

Kannika has three daughters, aged 9, 13 and 14.

She makes pencil pouches for a living, and earns 15,000 Sri Lankan rupees, or just over $43.5 per month.

Government imposes tax hikes to unlock IMF bailout

Many of Sri Lanka's 22 million people are facing a similar struggle, especially after the government announced tax hikes and raised electricity prices this year.

Sadasivam's family earns around 30,000 Sri Lankan rupees per month and find it hard to cope with the new austerity measures.

"Last year, the electricity bill for my house was 180 rupees. Last month it was 680 and this month we got a bill of 1,445 rupees," he said. "Should we eat or spend money on bills?"

"We do not have a television or a refrigerator. All we have is a light and that too we use during nighttime."

And yet, experts say there are some positive signs. Rohan Samarajiva, founding chair of the think tank LIRNEasia, told DW that "comparatively, the situation has turned out better than it used to be last year."

"There are no shortages of food supplies and fuel now. There are no long queues outside gas stations," he said.

VIDEO Sri Lanka fishermen: No kerosene, no food 02:54

In mid-March, over 40 trade unions participated in a national strike demanding a rollback of high taxes, lower interest rates and reduced power tariffs. Public sector staff, including doctors, teachers and other employees, protested soaring living costs.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe's administration defended the tax hike by saying it was essential to put public finances on track to unlock the bailout by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Long road to recovery

On March 20, the IMF finally approved the long-awaited $2.9 billion bailout for the debt-ridden nation.

The announcement came days after China gave financial assurances required by the IMF to unlock the deal. Previously, India also gave required assurances for the bailout. Beijing and New Delhi are the nation's biggest lenders.

The hope is that the IMF payout deal, named the Extended Fund Facility arrangement, will help restore financial and macroeconomic stability in Sri Lanka.

"But IMF support would not mean an immediate relief for the people who are suffering" said Dr. Muttukrishna Sarvananthan, development economist and principal researcher at the Point Pedro Institute of Development in Sri Lanka.

The IMF's approval will boost the confidence of international creditors and investors, according to Sarvananthan. "But total recovery will take a long time," he added.

Sri Lanka has approached IMF for help 16 times since 1965. On many occasions, the full amount initially agreed was not disbursed as Sri Lanka did not completely comply with the conditions of the loan arrangements. But this time there is an important difference, according to the economist.

"In the past, Sri Lanka approached IMF, before the default. This time it is after the default," said Sarvananthan. "The money will not be released by IMF all at once. So, the country must comply to all the conditions of IMF, and it will be reviewed periodically."

"This time we cannot fool the IMF or take it for granted," he added.

How Sri Lanka's economic crisis hits daily life

Millions of Sri Lankans are struggling to secure two square meals a day and afford critical medicines amid the nation's acute economic turmoil.

Unaffordable rice
This woman from Wanathamulla, a neighborhood near the capital Colombo, is struggling to feed her three children and grandchild. Her husband left her after a cooking gas explosion left her injured. She has no steady income and tries to keep the family afloat by doing casual jobs. Even basic foodstuffs like rice have become almost unaffordable for millions of Sri Lankan families

Protein deficiency
Nilanthi Gunasekera, 49, poses with a handful of dried fish. "Before the economic crisis, we ate well and we served meat or fish to our kids at least three or four times a week. Now fish is out of the reach of our family and so is meat," she said.

PHOTOS Sri Lankans worried about their future Images: Kim Kyung-Hoon/REUTERS

Over 3.7 million Sri Lankan households need help for their everyday needs and have applied for social safety net, according to Rohan Samarajiva of LIRNEasia think tank.

"Poor and vulnerable people are paying the price," he said.

Kannika from Colombo feels that her children are bearing the weight of the crisis even more than she does herself. She is more worried about her children's education.

"I could not buy new books and notebooks for my daughters. They borrow old books from the seniors in school and neighbors and use them," she said.

"I do not have enough money to send them to tuition classes or buy them new dresses."

Edited by: Darko Janjevic

China: Sandstorms blanket Beijing as air pollution spikes

Beijing and several other provinces are being affected by thick, dense sandstorms that are severely affecting visibility. Deforestation has escalated already rampant air pollution in the Chinese capital.

Air pollution escalated in Beijing on Wednesday as the city was hit by a huge sandstorm, as dust also engulfed other parts of the country in an orange haze.

In the north and northwest areas of China, high winds and dust turned the sky a glaring tangerine, reducing visibility to less than few hundred meters in some areas.

According to the forecasters, low visibility will be common with drivers cautioned against speeding under the conditions.

The sandstorms will gradually move south and then weaken said the forecasters.

Authorities noted that the pollution was largely being caused by airborne particles called PM10, which are small enough to be inhaled and can aggravate a range of health issues including respiratory issues.

Yellow warning issued.

The country has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

The weather service on Wednesday issued a yellow warning for dust across the north and northwest regions for 24 hours.

Beijing the capital was also issued a yellow sandstorm warning. Over the past days, the city has experienced sand and dust storms increasing pollution levels drastically.

A massive sand and dust storm has engulfed Beijing.

Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo/picture alliance

Hazardous storms.

On Wednesday, Beijing recorded an air quality index of 500, putting the pollution level at 6, which is considered very hazardous to human health. This is according to the Beijing Ecological Environment Monitoring Center.

Some unofficial readings recorded the index twice that of the official reading.

People in affected areas were advised to "do a good job of protecting against wind and sand, and close doors and windows in a timely manner," the weather service said, calling on people to wear masks while outdoors.

According to the weather service, children, the elderly and people with respiratory allergies and other conditions should "limit how much they go out."

Beijing regularly faces dust storms in March and April due to its proximity to the Gobi desert as well as deforestation throughout northern China.

In spring changes in wind flow carry loose particles across the largely arid region creating the sand and dust storm.

The current storm is "the most extensive of the year so far," according to the national weather service.

VIDEO Huge sandstorm covers Chinese city  00:45

dmn/es (AFP,Reuters)

Gaza fisherman tests waters in legal fight over Israeli blockade

22 Mar 2023 

Palestinian fisherman Jihad al-Hissi and his sons work in their boat at the seaport in Gaza City on Jan 10. Gaza fisherman Jihad is used to rough waters but he now he faces a new storm. An Israeli court may seize his boat after he breached the limits of the enclave's fishing zone. - AF
GAZA CITY - Gaza fisherman Jihad al-Hissi is used to rough waters but he now faces a new storm.

An Israeli court may seize his boat after he breached the limits of the enclave's fishing zone.

The issue is crucial for thousands in the blockaded Palestinian territory of 2.3 million people, where fishing in the Mediterranean Sea remains one of the few economic lifelines.

Hissi, 55, with square shoulders and a scruffy beard, told his story at Gaza's dock early one morning as fishermen sold their overnight catch of sea bream, prawns and sardines.

For now he has his boat, but its fate is uncertain as Israeli authorities argue before a Haifa court that it should be permanently taken away.

The vessel, used to catch gamberi prawns off southern Gaza near Egypt, is named the "Hajj Rajab", but its owners have erased the name from its yellow hull.

"I don't want the Israelis to spot us and seize my boat," said Hissi, who had a violent encounter with an Israeli naval patrol boat more than a year ago.

Israel says its land, air and sea blockade of Gaza is needed to protect it from rocket and other attacks from Hamas and to prevent arms smuggling to the Islamist militant movement.

Palestinians argue it is an effective siege that has crippled Gaza's economy and further impoverished its people, while the fishing limits deny it crucial protein.

Last year's incident came on February 14 when Hissi's vessel ventured beyond the maritime zone that Israel declared in 2007, the year Hamas seized power in Gaza.

The boat's cabin is still damaged from the water cannon blasts and the rubber-encased bullets fired by the Israeli forces that day.

Israel, in documents presented to court, accuses Hissi of having "repeatedly violated the security restrictions imposed by the Israeli army in the maritime zone adjacent to Gaza".

The Israeli non-government group Gisha has helped defend Hissi and in September secured the boat's return, but Israeli authorities now demand the court "permanently confiscate" the vessel.

The fishing zone allowed by Israel currently extends only to the heavily fished areas between six and 15 nautical miles (about 11 to 28 kilometres) off the Gaza coast.

Hissi argues this is less than the maximum of 20 nautical miles agreed in the 1990s under the Israeli-Palestinian agreements in Oslo.

But he also admits to going even beyond that from time to time, in search of shrimp which nets around $21 per kilogram (2.2 pounds) and can make the difference between profit and loss.

The legal fight is closely watched by thousands of fishermen in Gaza.

If Hissi's boat is permanently confiscated, this would spell "a serious threat to the thousands of fishermen in Gaza, because it aims to put an end to fishing," charged Nizar Ayyash, president of the union representing the 4,000 fishermen in Gaza.

The court battle comes amid a rise in Israel's temporary seizures of fishing boats suspected of smuggling or breaching the fishing zone.

Last year saw 23 boat confiscations, the highest number since 2018, according to the Palestinian non-governmental group Al Mezan.

The group also recorded 474 security incidents involving Gaza fishermen last year, the most in five years.

Gisha lawyer Muna Haddad argued that the case was "outrageous" and came amid "an unprecedented escalation in targeting those fishermen".

Haddad accused Israel of misusing provisions of international law on armed conflict regarding the seizure of enemy ships by imposing them on civilians.

In the court documents seen by AFP, Israel claims Hissi "abused" legal protections and that his crew had "threatened" the safety of soldiers during the maritime seizure.

Israeli military officials assured AFP they wanted to support Gaza's economy -- but without compromising Israel's security.

"We fish to survive," said Hissi, whose family once lived in Jaffa, now part of Tel Aviv, before fleeing to Gaza during the 1948 war.

"And we will continue to fish even when our profits are low. I don't know how to do anything else in life anyway." - AFP

‘Guns and Roses’: Bulgaria arms trade booms on Ukraine war

AFP Published about 5 hours ago

KAZANLAK: With its huge munitions factories and endless rose fields, Kazanlak in central Bulgaria has been really living up to its “Guns and Roses” nickname since Moscow invaded Ukraine.

Bulgaria’s booming arms industry has never had it so good, with exports estimated at $4.3 billion last year (about four billion euros) – three times its previous record.

The country’s oldest arms maker Arsenal, which already employs 7,000 workers in its Kazanlak plant, is offering seaside holidays and other incentives to attract staff.

It has even been tempting back Bulgarians who left the Balkan country to find work abroad.

“When they hired us they said there’s orders to keep us busy for at least five years,” one of the newly hired workers told AFP at the factory gates.

“I have only been here a week myself, but I already have three new colleagues,” said the woman, who would not give her name.

Historic Russia links

While you might think it would be trumpeting its success from the rooftops, the company did not reply to AFP requests for an interview.

Although Bulgaria itself has largely not sent arms to Ukraine because of the EU member’s historic ties with Moscow, that is where Kazanlak’s burgeoning production is mostly destined.

Its arms and munitions are instead being bought up by neighbouring Romania and Poland before being funnelled to Kyiv.

Kazanlak and the “Valley of the Roses” around it, which is also famous for its rosewater, suffered badly when its arms makers lost their markets when the Soviet bloc collapsed in 1989, though conflicts in the Middle East revived demand for their cheap and sturdy weapons, like the AR-M1, the “Bulgarian Kalashnikov” rifle, in the 2010s.

Arsenal’s upturn “benefits the whole town”, Yordan Ignatov, deputy chair of the local chamber of commerce, said.

“Last year, Kazanlak had the lowest unemployment rate in the country after Sofia,” he added, half the national average.

Investment is also booming.

“Everything that is built is bought,” real estate agent Teodor Tenev told AFP.

Bulgaria specialises in ammunition for Soviet-era weapons – those most used by Kyiv – though it wants to modernise its ageing production facilities with European money to start churning out NATO-standard shells and other ammo.

And there was more good news on that front Monday when European Union foreign ministers agreed on a two-billion-euro plan that included jointly purchasing desperately needed artillery shells for Ukraine.

Even though it stands to vastly benefit from the deal, Sofia sought to save its diplomatic blushes by not signing the joint declaration.

Nor did its reticence stop EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton from starting a tour last week of European arms makers in Bulgaria.

Up the road from Kazanlak in Sopot, Breton visited the country’s biggest arms maker, VMZ.

‘Not a political pawn’

Supplying arms to Ukraine is an extremely sensitive issue in Bulgaria.

The Socialists – the successors to the old communist party – and the ever-rising ultra-nationalists are firmly against as the country gears up for the fifth election in two years next month.

Parliament so far has authorised only one shipment of light arms and ammunition to Kyiv.

Mud: The common enemy in eastern Ukraine

Shortly after the invasion began, pro-European then-premier Kiril Petkov walked a tightrope to try to help Kyiv.

“We estimate that one-third of the ammunition needed by Ukraine in the first phase of the war came from Bulgaria,” Petkov told the German daily Die Welt.

Even after the fall of Petkov’s short-lived cabinet last June, indirect arms sales continued.

Retired Bulgarian army colonel Vladimir Milenski regrets that Bulgaria has refused to openly arm Kyiv.

“This would have sent a strong political signal showing that we are not a political pawn in Russia’s hands,” he said.

“To belong to the EU and NATO family and behave in such a way as not to infringe on the interests of Russia, an aggressor, is in the end tantamount to supporting it.”

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY 

Chip war and censorship hobble Chinese tech giants in chatbot race

Baidu's AI chatbot has not yet been launched for public use
(Photo: AFP/File/Jade GAO)

22 Mar 2023 

BEIJING: Search giant Baidu's lacklustre unveiling of its chatbot exposed gaps in China's race to rival ChatGPT, as censorship and a US squeeze on chip imports have hamstrung the country's artificial intelligence ambitions.

The highly anticipated preview of "Ernie Bot" last week was limited to a pre-recorded demonstration with simple questions to summarise the plot o
From cloud computing to autonomous driving, none of the array of services Baidu had earlier promised its Ernie Bot could do were on display.

The firm's shares plunged as much as 10 per cent during the unveiling, although they rallied the following day on positive reviews from brokerages including Citigroup, whose analysts were among a small group of people invited to test the bot.

A flurry of Chinese companies including Alibaba, JD.com, Netease and TikTok-parent Bytedance have rushed to develop services that can mimic human speech since San Francisco-based OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November, sparking a gold rush in the market.

Google on Tuesday invited people in the United States and Britain to test its AI chatbot, known as Bard, as it continues on its own push to catch up.

The popularity of ChatGPT in China - where users have to scale Beijing's internet firewall using virtual private networks (VPNs) and foreign phone numbers - has left Baidu and others scrambling to regain its dominance on home turf.\

"OpenAI probably spent as much time just testing GPT-4 as Baidu spent building Ernie Bot," said Matt Sheehan, fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"China's tech ecosystem doesn't have a tradition of funding open-ended research that doesn't have a clear path to profitability."

Related:

Chinese tech firms working on ChatGPT-style technology

CHIP SUPPLY

Ernie Bot is fluent in Mandarin, as well as other regional languages including Hakka spoken in South China and Taiwan, and targets the Chinese market with more than one billion internet users.

A headache for developers is Beijing's heavy-handed censorship of anything seen as challenging the Communist Party - including a one-time purge of Winnie-the-Pooh after the cartoon bear was compared to Xi Jinping.

When asked if the president of 10 years is "a good leader", one of China's best-performing publicly available ChatGPT-style models, developed by Beijing's Tsinghua University, says: "The input may contain ethical content. Please try a different input."


Related:


What is Generative AI, the technology behind OpenAI's ChatGPT?

As ChatGPT takes the world by storm, professionals call for regulations and defences against cybercrime


The strict restrictions on the Chinese internet mean companies have "significantly less data resources for training purposes compared to Western competitors", Lauren Hurcombe, a technology lawyer at DLA Piper, told AFP.

Ernie Bot has not yet been launched for public use.

China has announced ambitious plans to become a global leader in the field of AI by 2030, and consultancy group McKinsey estimates the sector could add about US$600 billion every year to China's gross domestic product by then.

Most of the growth will come from producing driverless cars, adding more robots to assembly lines and healthcare breakthroughs, according to McKinsey, and the government has also used AI to beef up its mass surveillance programme.

However, Washington has moved to suffocate China's technology ambitions, blocking through sanctions its access to high-grade chips, chipmaking equipment and software used to design semiconductors.

This has made it difficult for Chinese companies to buy chips including Nvidia's A100 and its successor H100, considered the gold standard for large-scale AI training systems.

"There is a real question whether a domestic supply can be generated in the short term," Hurcombe said.

AI GAP

But the effect of the US measures will take time to make a dent because Chinese companies rushed to stockpile high-end chips before Washington announced the export controls in October.

Baidu has its own chip design arm, Kunlun, and the company says it is capable of mass-producing a seven-nanometre chip that is partly used to power its AI systems.

Dou Shen, head of Baidu's AI Cloud group, shrugged off questions about the impact of the US restrictions during a call with investors in November, saying: "We think the impact is quite limited in the near future."

For years, China has bragged about filing more artificial intelligence patent applications than the United States.

But the average number of citations of its patents - an indication of the importance and originality of its inventions - lagged behind the United States and other developing countries in 2020 and 2021, according to Stanford University's AI Index 2022 report.

The United States also had twice as many AI start-ups as China, and had three times more private investment flowing into the sector in 2021, according to the report.

The Chinese government's top-down approach to spurring innovation has failed to deliver results.

The Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence, established in 2018, introduced a ChatGPT-like product two years ago.

Wu Dao was described by its creators as "the world's largest" AI language model with 1.75 trillion parameters, which is significantly larger than OpenAI's previous GPT-3 model with 175 billion parameters. But it never really caught on.

Source: AFP/gs