AZERBAIJAN

Labor activist Afieddin Mammadov arrested following joint statement against new courier regulation

Afiyəddin Məmmədov

MEYDAN.TV
Published: 3 August 2023 

On August 1, 2023, Afieddin Mammadov, the Chairman of the Working Table of the HIK (Confederation of Labor Table Trade Unions), found himself in legal trouble after being detained and subsequently sentenced to 30 days of administrative imprisonment.

The arrest came shortly after he, along with the Courier Union Trade Union, made a press conference to announce a joint statement voicing concerns about a new law amendment.

The amendment, adopted by the Milli Majlis on December 16, 2022, mandates that motorcycles with a speed limit exceeding 50 km/h must have a registration plate and driver’s license. However, the availability of customs declarations required for obtaining registration plates has become a significant issue. Motorcycle sales points, allegedly evading taxes, have been refusing to provide the necessary documents.

In the joint statement, the Working Table, representing the interests of courier workers, and the Courier Union Trade Union, urged the Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan and other relevant institutions to promptly address and resolve the matter in the best interest of courier workers. The statement affirmed that “the corruption in the country shows itself in this area as well.”

Afieddin Mammadov’s arrest, following the issuance of the joint statement, raises questions about potential connections between his activism as the Chairman of the Working Table and his advocacy against the new regulation.

Ahmet Mammadli, chairman of the “Democracy-1918” Movement, of which Mammadov is a member, argue that his arrest could be a result of his efforts to challenge the status quo and fight against labor exploitation in Azerbaijan.

As of now, Afieddin Mammadov faces administrative imprisonment, and the circumstances surrounding his trial have raised concerns about due process and fair treatment.

He was stopped by people in civilian clothes and forced into a car while he was going home after the press conference and it is reported that Mammadov was followed during that action and then detained while going home. Additionally, he was brought before the court and judge without his lawyer present.

It is worth noting that this is not the first time Afieddin Mammadov has faced legal issues due to his activism. He has previously been arrested on charges of resisting the police, but he has consistently maintained that these accusations are baseless and driven by his dedication to social causes and workers’ rights. One particular incident during a previous arrest involved allegations of torture after he refused to provide access to his phone’s password.

Nine years ago the Yazidis genocide in Shengal

The 74th genocide arrived at the doors of the Yazidi community on 3 August 2014. The Islamic State killed, raped, kidnapped thousands in Shengal.

ANF
NEWS DESK
Thursday, 3 Aug 2023, 07:49

The Yazidi (Êzidî) Kurds, who have been living in the Mesopotamian region for thousands of years, have, throughout history, always been subjected to genocides and cruel betrayals and massacres and, on 3 August 2014, suffered the 74th genocide (or Ferman as they call it).

The Yazidi Kurds, who call the genocides perpetrated on them 'Ferman', the Kurdish term for decree, fell this time into the grip of almost total annihilation, captivity and enslavement by the ferocious ISIS gangs. But what was more suffocating for the Yazidis than the stranglehold of ISIS, was the betrayal that clad itself in a black garment.

A WELL-PREPARED GENOCIDE

When the ISIS gangs stood at the doors of Shengal, thousands of Peshmerga and asayish members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) chaired by Masoud Barzani, who until that very moment controlled the Shengal town, made a quick getaway without shooting even one single bullet. As a result of the flight of the KDP Peshmerga, thousands of Yazidis were slaughtered by the ISIS gangs, thousands more were abducted, predominantly women and children, and sold at markets into slavery. Interestingly, shortly before the genocide took place, the KDP forces seized all the arms and weapons the Yazidis had at that time and took into custody three of the twelve guerrillas of the People's Defense Forces (HPG) and the Free Women's Troops (YJA-Star), who came to the rescue of the fleeing Yazidi people. All this made it indeed very clear, how well prepared and organized this extensive genocide actually was.

THE UN REPORT ON THE GENOCIDE

According to the investigations of the High Commissioner of Human Rights of the United Nations, which were made public in October 2014, the results of the attacks launched on 3 August 2014 were as follows:

- around 5000 Yazidi men were massacred

- around 100 Yazidi men were beheaded

- 7000 Yazidi girls and women were abducted and sold at slave markets

- A number of Yazidi girls and women were raped

- Some Yazidi women were forced to marry ISIS commanders

The estimated number of unknown cases was much higher than what was written in the report of the United Nations.

GENOCIDES AGAINST YAZIDIS THROUGHOUT HISTORY

The Yazidis, who follow one of the most ancient faiths of Mesopotamia, have suffered in the course of history 74 genocides. Most of those mass murders were perpetrated by the Ottoman empire. Because most of these genocides to wipe out the Yazidi community were ordered by the leading Ottoman Shahs via a fiat, the Kurdish Yazidis dubbed those genocides, therefore, with the Kurdish term for "decree". The first genocide was ordered in the year 1246 by the lord of Zengi of Mosul, Bedreddin Lulu, the last one by the Neo Ottoman AKP and its ally KDP and perpetrated by the ISIS gangs. In each and every genocide, the name of Islam was used.

Some of the genocides that were perpetrated in the course of history against the Yazidi community and mostly ordered by the Ottoman Shahs, are listed here:

* In 1246 the massacre of Lalesh, directed by the lord of Zengi of Mosul Bedreddin Lulu

* In the 16th century mass murder of the Yazidis in Shêxan was ordered by a fatwa of Shekhulislami Osmani Ebu Siud Efendi and by a decree given by Sultan Suleyman

* In 1638 the governor of Amed, Melek Ahmed Pasha had a massacre executed in Shengal

* In 1650 mass killing of the Yazidis was decreed by Murad IV, perpetrated by Governor of Van, Shemsi Pasha in Mosul

* In 1715 a massacre was committed in Shengal by the Governor of Baghdad, Hasan Pasha

* In 1733 mass murder of the Yazidis in Shexan by the Governor of Baghdad Ahmed Pasha

* In 1752 mass murder in Shengal by the Governor of Baghdad, Suleyman Pasha

* Between 1732-1733 Nadir Shah ordered a massacre of the Yazidis in between Surdash and Kirkuk

* In 1733 the mass murder of the Yazidis at the shore of Lake Zap by the Celiliyan

* In 1735 Nadir Shah commanded the mass killing of the Yazidis in Mahabad, Saldûz and Meraxi

* In 1742 Alî Takî Han, one of Nadir Shah's loyalists, committed a massacre of the Yazidi people in Saldûz

* In 1743 Nadir Shah perpetrated a mass killing of the Yazidi Kurds in Kirkuk, Hewler and Altunköprü

* In 1773 Nadir Shah ordered a massacre of Yazidis at the shore of Lake Zap

* In 1787 the Celiliyan committed a mass murder against the Yazidis in Shexan

* In 1798 Deputy Governor of Baghdad Abdulazaz Bin Abdullah Beg had a massacre against the Yazidis perpetrated in Shexan

* Between 1753 and 1800 Ottoman Shahs ordered the pillaging, imposition of heavy taxes, enslavements and genocides of the Yazidi Kurds (about six major attacks were conducted in Shengal, Shexan and Mosul)

* In 1809 Governor of Baghdad Suleyman Pasha ordered a mass killing of the Yazidis in Shengal

* In 1824 massacre against the Yazidis in Shengal ordered by the Governor of Baghdad Ali Pasha

* Between 1832-1834 mass killings were commanded by the Lord of Soran Muhammed Pasha

* In 1835 Governor of Mosul Muhammed Ince Bayraktar had a massacre perpetrated in Shengal

* In 1836 Reshid Pasha had a massacre committed in Shengal

* In 1837 Hafiz Pasha had a massacre committed in Shengal

* In 1844 mass killing of Yazidis took place in Botan

* In 1892 the Islamisation politics of Abdulhamit the 2nd on the Yazidi community led to mass murders of the Yazidis

For more detailed information, one is advised to read the book "Yazidis in the clutches of fatwas, genocides and massacres" written by Prof. Dr. Kadri Yildirim and the book titled "A people defying genocides, the Yazidis" by journalist Mazlum Özdemir.

THE MASSACRE OF 2007

One of the more recent mass killings against the Yazidi Kurds took place in 2007. On the 14th August 2007 attacks were carried out by four bomb laden trucks in the villages of Siba Shex Xidir and Til Izer of Shengal. As a result, 300 people were killed. No investigations were launched in this case whatsoever. It was reported that this massacre was perpetrated by a group of gangs called Ensar El Sune affiliated with Al-Qaeda, which tried at that time to get some foothold in Southern Kurdistan. However, many sources say that the Turkmen Front of Iraq (ITC) was involved in the attack, which was forged by the Turkish secret service in Southern Kurdistan.

The Yazidis called this attack until the 3rd August 2014 "the last decree".

SHENGAL’S STATUS BEFORE 3 AUGUST GENOCIDE

The Kurdish Yazidis were predominantly living in the Shexan district of Duhok, Shengal district of Mosul and the villages of surrounding districts. In 1975 under the Iraqi Ba'ath regime, the Yazidis were forcibly resettled. In each and every genocide they faced, the Yazidi people saved themselves from the protective arms of Mount Shengal. But in 1975 they were removed by force from the villages of the mountains and resettled in Khanasor, Til Izer, Sinune, Siba Shex Xidir, Kocho and Dugurê and around 15 other villages on the foothills of the mountain.

When, in 2003, the US intervened in Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein, a new constitution was prepared for Iraq. According to article 140 of this constitution, Shengal was left as a so called "disputable area" between the government of Southern Kurdistan and the central government of Iraq. A referendum was planned for 2007 to be held in Shengal as well, but until today that referendum was never realised.

However, unlike the cities of Kirkuk, Jalawla, Khanaqin and Tuz Khurmatu, the KDP established its monocracy in Shengal. The city was allegedly "under the protection" of the Peshmergas and asayish of the KDP and the federal police of Iraq.

SHENGAL’S SITUATION PRIOR TO AUGUST 3 GENOCIDE

After imposing its absolute rule on Shengal in 2003, the KDP promoted backward traditions of society and profited until the end from the caste system of the Sheiks, through which it kept the Yazidi people under its control. The KDP even used the faith of the Yazidis for its own advantage and supported this sheikh system, keeping tabs on the entire Yazidi people.

One of the commanders of the Shengal Resistance Units (YBŞ) Tîrêj Şengal talked with the ANF about the latest genocide of the Yazidis and the system, which the KDP had established in Shengal, saying: "They made everyone who went to them into one of their Peshmerga and paid them a wage. They told them, go eat and drink and get your money, but do not think. They did not appreciate it when people were talking about things like honour, freedom and values. So the people stayed unorganised and uneducated until the end."

PRESSURES ON WOMEN IN THE YAZIDI SOCIETY

Member of the Yazidi Women's Freedom Movement (TAJÊ) Xoxê Dexîl talked about the Yazidi society before the outbreak of the genocide and drew attention to the violence and pressure the Yazidi women were subject to in society, saying: "The status of the women was very weak in the Yazidi society, almost not existent. To put it in other words, a woman was as good, as much as the pressures she was subject to and as much as she was silenced! But one must not let out the continuous resistance of women against this. Yet those struggles were mostly constricted to some private people. However, when we saw after the genocide the women from Rojava and those in the guerrillas, we started to organise ourselves with their help."

TOWARDS 3 AUGUST GENOCIDE

On the 10th of June 2014 when ISIS invaded Mosul, Shengal ran into danger more than any other district of Mosul. The Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan issued many warnings for Shengal's protection. In the context of those foresights of Öcalan, the PKK sent a unit of 12 guerrillas to Mount Shengal. On the growing imminent threats that were hovering over Shengal, the leadership of the PKK got in contact with the KDP and called attention to the grave situation. The PKK made clear that it could send some of its forces to Shengal, but the KDP did not answer this call made by the PKK.

A FORCE OF 11000 WELL-EQUIPPED MEN WERE ON SITE

After invading Mosul, the ISIS gangs charged Tal Afar, a district of the Turkmen community in the immediate vicinity of Shengal. A great number of the Shia Turkmen people here fled to Shengal. The gangs were now very close to attacking Shengal next. However, instead of commencing the necessary preparations, the KDP suddenly began to seize the arms and weapons of the Yazidi people, telling them: "We will protect you". According to official statistics that were revealed afterwards, prior to the barbaric attacks of the ISIS gangs on Shengal, the number of the Peshmerga and asayish members of Southern Kurdistan and the Iraqi Federal Police, traffic police and armed units that were affiliated with some other political parties comprised altogether 11000 personnel positioned in Shengal and the surrounding villages.

“THEY WERE HERE FOR MONEY, AND FLED WHEN DANGER APPROACHED”

YBŞ Commander Tîrêj Şengal gave the following information about the military force in Shengal: "At that time, when the ISIS gangs took over all the areas around Shengal one after another, we still did not believe that we could be next. Because we were surrounded by a massive army of Peshmergas and even Iraqi soldiers. And we trusted them. They used to tell us: 'We will protect you'. But unfortunately, they fled when the attacks started. Only when we asked them why they ran away, did we understand that they did not consider this place their soil and had been conscripted for the "duty to defend" only for the money. As they saw the danger approaching, they fled as soon as they were ordered to do so, without even looking back once."

THEY SEIZED THE ARMS OF YAZIDI YOUTHS

Shengal Autonomous Council Deputy Co-chair Qehtan Xelîl recalled that the Peshmerga of the KDP seized all the weapons and arms of the young Yazidis shortly before the start of the genocide and stated: "On the crossing from Shengal to Tal Afar, the KDP had set up a checkpoint. When ISIS swept over ravaging, all the arms of the Yazidi youth were taken away from them here. They assured us with words like: 'We will protect you, don't worry, you don't need to take up arms'. And they seized all the weapons there. However, during the genocide they did not even shoot a bullet, they did not give one martyr and had not even one of their fingers bleed. They all ran away."

YPG: We will always stand with our Yazidi people

“In the event of an attack against our Yazidi people, we will take it as an attack directed against us and act accordingly. Our heroic martyrs entrusted us with the defence of Shengal,” said the YPG.

ANF
NEWS DESK
Thursday, 3 Aug 2023, 16:34

The General Command of People’s Defense Units (YPG) released a statement marking 3 August, the ninth anniversary of the beginning of the ISIS genocide against the Yazidi population of the Shengal (Sinjar) region of southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) in 2014.

Calling the Yazidi genocide one of the most tragic and traumatic massacres in human history, YPG stated: “The forces responsible for the Shengal region at the time, as well as all regional and international states remained blind, deaf and dumb about this genocide, which was a great shame not only for the region but the entire humanity. All world powers are responsible for defending the rights of the Yazidi community and supporting their freedom struggle to make sure that they are not subjected to similar massacres again.”

Pointing to the heroic resistance put up by the HPG (People’s Defense Forces), YPG (People’s Defense Units) and YPJ (Women’s Defense Units) to defend Shengal, YPG noted that young women and men in Shengal took part in the resistance alongside the YPG-YPJ fighters and prevented a terrible genocide.

The YPG stressed that the invading Turkish state seeks to complete the Yazidi genocide that ISIS left unfinished, calling on the international powers and states to intervene in the Turkish state that collaborates with ISIS and to call it to account.

The YPG statement concluded: “We will always stand with our Yazidi people as we did in the past and do today. In the event of an attack against our Yazidi people, we will take it as an attack directed against us and act accordingly. Our heroic martyrs entrusted us with the defence of Shengal.”

US STATE DEPT.

The 9th Anniversary of the Yezidi Genocide

PRESS STATEMENT

MATTHEW MILLER, DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON

AUGUST 3, 2023

Today we remember the victims and stand in solidarity with survivors of the Yezidi genocide perpetrated by ISIS terrorists. ISIS abducted and killed thousands of Yezidis, forcing boys to become child soldiers and selling women and girls into sexual slavery. The number of people killed remains unknown, and discoveries of mass graves continue. The scars of that experience are borne by Yezidis around the world to this day.

Our support for the Yezidi community is unwavering. As we reflect on this day, we continue to press for justice and accountability for victims and survivors and respect for the human rights of all Yezidis, including the freedom of religion or belief. We urge full implementation of the Yezidi Survivors’ Law, as well as the 2020 Sinjar Agreement, in consultation with the communities that call Sinjar home. Governance and security officials should reflect the diversity of the communities that they serve.

By pursuing justice and accountability, addressing the drivers of violence, and preventing genocide and other atrocities in the future, Iraq has the opportunity to embark on a new path that leads to greater peace, stability, and prosperity for all of its communities. With this approach, Iraq can serve as an example of mutual respect and coexistence for the region and the world. Yezidis are crucial in this effort. So while we keep alive the memory of the victims and recognize the survivors and their suffering, we also honor the strength, resilience, and determination of Yezidis.

SEE

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=YEZIDI

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=YAZIDI

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=YEZEDI

Civil disobedience action for Öcalan at CPT, EP and ECHR

Kurdish people continue their protests worldwide to demand freedom for Abdullah Öcalan who has not been heard from for over two years.

ANF
STRASBOURG
Thursday, 3 Aug 2023

Concerns over the situation of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan increased after the Executive Council Member of the Kurdistan Democratic Communities Union (KCK), Sabri Ok said in an interview on the Kurdish TV Channel Sterk TV on July 8 that threatening letters had recently been sent to Abdullah Öcalan anonymously via the Imrali prison administration.

Lawyers are requesting to meet with Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan twice a week. However, applications for visits are systematically left unanswered. In some cases, months later, lawyers are informed that disciplinary action has been taken against the Kurdish people's leader and therefore no visit can be granted.

In its annual report about rights violations in Turkish prisons, the Human Rights Association (IHD) stated that Öcalan has not been heard from for 29 months.

Kurdish activists staged civil disobedience actions to denounce the isolation of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan at the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), European Parliament (EP) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg on Thursday.

Chanting the slogans “Bijî Serok Apo” (Long Live Leader Öcalan), the activists called on the CPT, EP and ECHR to fulfil their responsibilities and take action against the aggravated isolation regime imposed on the Kurdish leader.

The activists called on the youth and everyone else to be in constant action until Öcalan gains his freedom.

In an attempt to prevent the action, French police attacked the demonstrators with pepper spray.

OPPORTUNISTIC ANTI-COLONIALISM

Türkiye a factor in rising anti-colonial sentiment in West Africa, says expert

5 countries can veto all decisions while African countries are not taken into account, says Turkish professor

Halil İbrahim Medet | AA

03.08.2023 


ISTANBUL

Türkiye's long-standing anti-imperialist stance and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's famous motto "The world is bigger than five," has been a factor in the rising anti-colonialist sentiment in West Africa, an expert said.

Professor Enver Arpa, director of the Regional Studies Institute of the Ankara Social Sciences University, spoke to Anadolu about the anti-colonial sentiment in West Africa, especially among the youth.

"President Erdogan, in his speeches, criticizes the ongoing injustices in Africa and the brutal policies carried out during the colonial period. 'The world is bigger than five' is not a mere slogan, there is more to it than what is visible," said Arpa, who formerly headed Middle East and Africa at state-run charity Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA).

The expert said the 54-nation strong Africa has no say in international platforms.

"Five countries can veto all decisions. This is actually a sign that African countries and other countries are not taken into account in these platforms. Türkiye is rebelling against this," he said.

Türkiye has paid more than just lip service for the development of Africa, the professor said, highlighting multiple projects undertaken by Turkish institutes on the continent.

Anti-France sentiments in the region

Arpa said there is growing dissent against French neo-colonialism in West African countries such as Mali, Chad and Burkina Faso.

"The new administrations of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger declared that they would unite against France by fighting on the same side if necessary."

France eventually had to withdraw its troops from Mali.

Thanks to technology, Arpa said, the youth of the region became aware of both the potential in their country and the prosperity of other countries.

France increasingly losing its influence

After the coup in Niger, he said, the country's uranium supply came to the spotlight once again.

France has been buying uranium to run its nuclear power plants from its former colony for nearly half a century, he said.

African nations which grow barley and have untapped resources of uranium and precious metals are some of the poorest in the world, Arpa added.

The youth of West Africa are uncomfortable with this fact and have accumulated hate for France, which colonized a large chunk of Africa, he said.

Arpa said that a new colonial order, which is also carried out through economic agreements, still exists in the region.

He recalled that CFA franc, the currency of the former French colonies used in 14 countries in West Africa, was printed at the French central bank.

"Unfortunately, the countries in the region are not yet capable of acting completely independently of France in the context of economic relations," he said.

"We see that France is losing its influence in the region day by day and gradually weakening. Russia is also involved in the vacuum left behind by France with the Wagner forces and projects it has undertaken in the field of energy. This is one of the issues that is making France nervous," Arpa added.

"Türkiye has also recently become one of the countries whose influence and prestige has increased in West Africa and across Africa," he said.

Here’s Why Crimean Tatars Resist the Russian Occupation

Long persecuted by Russia, Crimean Tatars are playing a significant role in preventing Kyiv from being defeated by Moscow.

BY GERALD HUGHES

AUGUST 3, 2023
THE CONVERSATION

The Crimean Tatars are a Turkic ethnic group native to the Crimean peninsula.

A resistance group of Crimean Tatars, an ethnic group native to the Russian-occupied peninsula, is now a prominent player in the Ukraine war.

The Atesh (fire) movement has pledged to wage an unending war on the Russian invaders of Ukraine. Founded in September 2022, Atesh seeks to disrupt logistics, sabotage key targets, and stoke discontent against — and within — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s army.

Atesh’s methods are ruthless, as witnessed by the killing of 30 Russian servicemen in hospitals in Simferopol in November 2022. Their methods are also effective. In February 2023, the group claimed that over 4,000 Russian soldiers had already taken an online course (at the ‘Atesh school’) on how to survive the war by sabotaging their own equipment.

Mustafa Dzhemilev, the Crimean Tatar leader who Russia has barred from Crimea until 2034, recently stated that “Atesh is very deep underground … but they are working inside Crimea … blowing up targets.”

Serhii Kuzan, head of the Kyiv-based thinktank the Ukrainian Center for Security and Cooperation, said that: “The idea is for the occupier to always feel the presence of the partisans and for them never to feel safe.”

Partisans including Atesh are using a variety of methods to undermine the Russians in Crimea and beyond. When Atesh claimed responsibility for “liquidizing” the Russian soldiers in the hospitals in Simferopol it warned: “Check the wards, check the morgues … you can check this fact 300 times but it’s the truth.”

As with so many incidents in this war, and this goes for acts committed by all sides, verifying such claims is an exceedingly difficult task. What we do know is that the partisan forces in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions recently carried out a coordinated sticker and flyer campaign against the so-called Russian world.

In addition, emulating a tactic adopted in previous conflicts, Ukraine has reportedly dropped leaflets on Russian positions with the message: “Russian soldier, if you don’t want to be a Nazi of the 21st century, then leave our land! Otherwise, the fate of Hitler’s soldiers and a Nuremberg tribunal await you!”

The appeal to the past is seductive for Kyiv as partisan warfare played a major part in winning both the Russian civil war (1917-1923) and what Russia remembers as the “great patriotic war” (1941-1945).

The comparison of the current Russian army to the Nazi invaders of the second world war completely contradicts Putin’s version of history. The Kremlin charges that Ukrainian nationalists collaborated and engaged in mass murder during the Nazi occupation. Russian propaganda claims that the current war is designed to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.

Who Are the Tatars?

Those who know the history of Russia, Ukraine, and the Crimean Tatars will not be surprised by the hostility of the latter to the latest manifestation of Muscovite imperialism. Unlike the Slavic Russians, the Crimean Tatars are a Turkic ethnic group native to the Crimean peninsula.

The Crimean Tatar nation formed over four centuries (c.1200-c.1650) and merged with waves of immigrants. Tsarina Catherine the Great annexed Crimea in 1783 and the Russian Empire subsequently sought to “Russianize” the Crimean Tatars, prior to the revolution of 1917.

Under the rule of Joseph Stalin (1924-1953), the Soviet Union engaged in the active repression of the Crimean Tatars. This led to a number of Tatars cooperating with the Germans following the Nazi invasion of June 1941.

Stalin accused the Crimean Tatars of treachery and deported the community en masse to the Gulag. Although some Crimean Tatars served with the Axis powers, rather more served in the Red Army.

This deportation of at least 180,000 persons to central Asia in 1944 was one of the most painful chapters in Tatar history, (remembered as Sürgün (the exile). In the 1960s, research by Tatar activists estimated that approximately 100,000 of these people died (and even Soviet records show that 30,000 Crimean Tatars died less than two years after the deportations).

Only in September 1967 did the Supreme Soviet — the highest legislative body in the USSR — acknowledge that the charge of treason against the entire Crimean Tatar nation had been “unreasonable.” Thirteen years earlier, the Supreme Soviet had voted to transfer Crimea to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

This was not that controversial at the time, given that both entities were then constituent parts of the Soviet Union. The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 changed all of that.

Most of the Tatars were only allowed to return to Crimea in 1989, under the reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. The Tatars did not receive any compensation for their losses, and their return home prompted tensions with ethnic Russians and Ukrainians, many of whom had moved to the peninsula after 1944.

Once Ukraine became independent in 1991, Tatar leaders claimed that authorities in Kyiv deliberately prevented their people from obtaining government jobs, while secretly allowing “land grabs.” Gradually, however, the common enemy pushed the Crimean Tatars and Ukraine together.

Crimean Tatars became ardent supporters of the new Ukrainian state, and were sometimes dubbed “the greatest Ukrainians in Crimea.”

In 1897 native Crimean Tatars made up 34.1 percent of the population of Crimea. Despite the reversal of Stalin’s ethnic cleansing, by 2001 Russians made up 58 percent of the Crimean population while the indigenous Tatars represented only 12 percent.

The invasion of Crimea by Russia in 2014 was a disastrous return to the past for the Crimean Tatars. The Russians immediately embarked upon a program of systematic tyranny. These persecutions persist to this day.

The Crimean Tatar self-governing assembly, the Mejlis, of which Mustafa Dzhemilev was chair, was banned, as were public references to the Stalinist deportations. After 2014, thousands of Tatars left Russian-occupied Crimea for Ukraine. Tatar activist and politician Ilmi Umerov told the Russian Federal Security Service that “I do not consider Crimea part of the Russian Federation.” He was sent to a psychiatric hospital.

Demonstrating Ukrainian-Tatar solidarity, in November 2015, the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) passed a motion denouncing the 1944 deportations as “genocide.” (A precedent that encouraged Latvia, Lithuania, and Canada to follow suit in 2019.) In 2021 the Verkhovna Rada passed a law that recognized the Crimean Tatars as one of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine.

As long as the current war continues, and given the significant military contribution of the Crimean Tatars, Kyiv will look ever more favorably on the question of self-determination for the Crimean Tatar nation.

Ukrainian studies academic Rory Finnin argues that the future of the Crimea is central to any settlement that may follow the current war. Ukraine lost control of Crimea in 2014, but the exertions of the Crimean Tatars in the present conflict are contributing significantly to Kyiv’s ability to avoid defeat by Russia.

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

Relief is Finally Coming for “Citizens of Nowhere” Living in the United States

Harvard Graduate Daiana Lilo can’t get a law school loan because she is stateless. 

Credit: United Stateless via Instagram

Mark Leon Goldberg August 3, 2023

By Karina Ambartsoumian-Clough

We hold no passports. No country recognizes us as citizens. And for too long, stateless people have been invisible to the U.S. immigration system.

That changed this week.

On August 1, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) finally recognized stateless people. The announcement by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas marks a significant milestone that could end the legal limbo for as many as 200,000 people in the United States whom no country will claim as a citizen.

Until now, the lack of legal recognition and protection has stateless people in the United States trapped in uncertainty. I know because I am one of them. I was born in Soviet Ukraine in 1988. Soviet-era rules prevented me from obtaining a passport as a young child, and I did not meet the criteria for citizenship under newly independent Ukraine. In 1996 my family fled to the United States. Years later, our asylum claim was rejected and we were told to self-deport. But where? I am a citizen of nowhere.

The lack of legal recognition and protection of stateless people in the United States has broad implications for our lives, and for American society. We fall in love and get married to Americans, but can’t get citizenship or a green card ourselves. We are entrepreneurs, but can’t start a business. Some of us even fled the horrors of the Nazis during the Holocaust. Others of us have come here from the former Soviet Union and the war in Ukraine.

One of us was just 15 when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) came to her house at 6 a.m., handcuffing her and putting her in a truck. She was about to go to school. Instead she ended up being strip-searched and put in ICE detention for six months. They only released her because there was nowhere to deport her to. Another of our members managed to graduate from Harvard. Now she’s unable to get student loans to go to law school. Women are also more likely than men to be stateless because many countries still only pass on citizenship to men, and only the fathers can pass citizenship on to their children.

Secretary Mayorkas and USCIS Director Ur Jaddou have announced a monumental shift. With the move, USCIS adopts the international definition of statelessness and provides a clear framework for USCIS agents to identify statelessness. USCIS staff will also be able to consider it as a primary factor in discretionary decisions; for example, deferred action or parole in place requests. The move makes the assessment process fairer for stateless people. And it opens up new possibilities for parole, asylum, and other forms of immigration relief.

The next step is to pass legislation to solidify the rights of stateless people in America. The Stateless Protection Act (SPA) is a much-needed measure. It was first introduced by Senator Ben Cardin, a Democrat from Maryland. It would offer protected status, green card eligibility, and a pathway to citizenship to stateless people in the United States. There are signs that the SPA could garner bipartisan support. In late 2022, Alaska’s two Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan passed a law to give citizenship for one stateless person, Rebecca Trimble. She came to the U.S. as an infant, only to discover later in life that there was an administrative error in her adoption papers. Her story captured the attention of her elected representatives, but it’s a waste of government resources to resolve the status of people like Ms. Trimble by passing a federal law for each one.

Of course, this is only the beginning. Many stateless people in the U.S. do not even realize they are stateless. Often they have received bad legal advice and they feel resigned to living in a perpetual legal limbo. But the recognition of statelessness by USCIS now gives us some hope that we can pursue more meaningful futures in the United States. This is a major step towards a world that respects everyone’s human right to nationality.

—Karina Ambartsoumian-Clough is Executive Director of United Stateless, a U.S.-based nonprofit that supports stateless people in the United States. 

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When the dissident is a woman: Xi Jinping's repression of women activists is growing in China


A recent report by Chinese Human Rights Defenders highlights the rise in gender-based violence by the Chinese government. Unauthorised strip searches have become routine, while courts are increasingly obstructing defence lawyers’ work. Here are the stories of a few unjustly jailed human rights advocates.

Beijing (AsiaNews) – Women human rights activists have faced greater risks and rising pressures since Chinese President Xi Jinping came to power some 10 years ago.

Although the Communist Party of China professes to support gender equality, in reality it victimises women dissidents and feminists, this according to a recent report released by Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD).

The study examined various forms of gender-based violence by Chinese authorities against feminists and women dissidents. The most common is strip searches at police stations and detention facilities without a proper mandate.

Witnesses who spoke to CHRD said that women activists are routinely subjected to this practice while in custody; in addition, they also are the object of verbal abuse and torture. Any attempt to bring the perpetrators to justice is usually thwarted.

He Fangmei is one of these women. When her now seven-year-old daughter was disabled after taking a faulty vaccine, she became a health rights advocate in Henan province, focused on Chinese vaccines.

Because of this, she was seized but no one was informed of her fate. She was eventually released, only to be detained again, this time on bigamy charges and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”. For the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), her detention is “arbitrary.

She is not allowed to communicate with her husband (who is serving a five-year sentence) or their three children. Their two daughters have been confined to a psychiatric facility while their son is in foster care. He is currently held at the Xinxiang Detention Centre awaiting a verdict.

Huang Xueqin played a key role in launching the #MeToo movement in China in early 2018. She was detained in September 2021 and later charged with “inciting subversion”. She is currently held incommunicado in Guangzhou, subjected to torture (sleep deprivation).

Feminist activist Li Qiaochu was also accused of "inciting subversion”. In prison, she is suffering from the side effects of improper drug treatment and has been denied the medical care she needs.

According to the United Nations, Chinese authorities jailed her for communicating with two WGAD officials investigating enforced disappearances, and sharing details about the torture inflicted on her partner, Xu Zhiyong, and her colleague, lawyer Ding Jiaxi.

Li was only able to meet her lawyer in person this year, two years after she was detained. A few weeks ago, her trial was suspended because her lawyers challenged the court's obstruction of their ability to defend their client.

Kamile Wayit, a 19-year-old Uyghur student, was convicted last March for "advocating extremism". Her crime? Sharing a blank paper protest video.

Chen Jianfang, an activist from Shanghai, was sentenced to four-and-a-half-years for "subversion". Her charge sheet includes calling on Chinese civil society groups to push China to respect UN human rights mechanisms, protesting against the Communist Party’s authoritarian rule, and supporting constitutional democracy. Victim of enforced disappearance in 2019, she was put on trial in March 2021.

Finally, the report also cites the case of Zhang Zhan, a lawyer and journalist. In February 2020, she travelled to Wuhan to document the imprisonment of independent journalists trying to probe Chinese responsibility in the COVID-19 pandemic.

For her troubles, she was tried, convicted, and sentenced to four years in prison for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”. Because of her repeated hunger strikes, prison authorities have resorted to force-feeding her; as a result, her health has deteriorated dramatically.

China proposes drastic measures to curb internet addiction in children

 Comment

Anugraha SundaraveluThursday 3 Aug 2023 

Children between the ages of 16 and 18 would only be able to use the internet for two hours a day (Picture: Unsplash)

China’s internet watchdog has laid out regulations to curb the amount of time children spend on their smartphones.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) published the draft guidelines on its site, stating that minors would not be allowed to use most internet services on mobile devices from 10pm to 6am.

Children between the ages of 16 and 18 would only be able to use the internet for two hours a day.

Children between the ages of eight and 15 would be allowed only an hour a day, while those under eight would only be allowed 40 minutes.

Only certain services, such as apps or platforms that are deemed suitable to the physical and mental development of minors, will be exempted.

The CAC did not specify which internet services would be allowed exemptions.

China’s internet watchdog has laid out regulations to curb the amount of time children spend on their smartphones (Picture:Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The restrictions are Beijing’s latest efforts to attempt to limit internet addiction, a problem it views as widespread among its youth.

In 2019, Beijing limited children’s daily online game time to 90 minutes a day and tightened those restrictions in 2021, allowing children only an hour a day of online game play on Fridays, weekends and public holidays.

Short-video and online video platforms such as Douyin, Bilibili and Kuaishou have offered youth modes that restrict the type of content shown to minors and the length of time they can use the service.

Children are also pushed educational content, such as science experiments.

The move comes as the latest blow to Chinese social media owners like TikTok-owner ByteDance and Tencent.

Firms in China are often responsible for enforcing regulations.

‘To effectively strengthen the online protection of minors, the CAC has in recent years pushed for the establishment of a youth mode on internet platforms, expanding its coverage, optimising its functions and enriching it with age-appropriate content,’ said the CAC.

‘Since the mode was launched, there has been a positive impact in reducing youth internet addiction and the impact of undesirable information,’ it added.

The CAC said draft guidelines were open to public feedback until September 2. It did not say when the new rules would come into effect.

ICYMI

Here Is Your Reminder That Donald Trump Is Nuts

Trump is not a regular person. He is someone who would burn everything to the ground to get what he wants.

President Donald J. Trump speaking with supporters at a rally at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, AZ.

 Photo credit: Adapted by WhoWhatWhy from Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 2.0) and Boston Harborfest / Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

KLAUS MARRE 08/03/23

In an effort to appear balanced, journalists often do not tell their readers apparent truths. They call lies “misstatements” or make people who act in bad faith appear to be well-meaning stakeholders. One such truth is that former President Donald Trump is mentally ill. At the very least, he is a compulsive liar and a malignant narcissist. He did not choose to be that way, of course, and, if he were just a regular person, we would feel sorry for him and just hope he gets treatment (which he should in any case).

Sadly, Trump is not a regular person. He is someone who would burn everything to the ground to get what he wants. That’s not out of the ordinary behavior for a malignant narcissist, but what is unusual is the scope in which Trump can exercise his narcissistic behavior. We just saw this laid out in his latest indictment: Given the opportunity, he will tear the Constitution and US democracy to shreds if that means he isn’t a “loser,” which is one of his favorite words.

Obviously, a lot of this has been pointed out already, but we tend to forget these things, so here is a reminder: Trump is not well. He is not a normal person.

To figure this out, just browse his account on Truth Social, a website that was built for the simple reason to create a social media platform on which rules don’t apply to the former President and he can get the adulation he craves.

Usually in all caps, he lashes out at his enemies, calls them names and responds to any real or perceived slight or challenge to him. Here is one from this week:

MAR-A-LAGO SECURITY TAPES WERE NOT DELETED. THEY WERE VOLUNTARILY HANDED OVER TO THE THUGS, HEADED UP BY DERANGED JACK SMITH. WE DID NOT EVEN GO TO COURT TO STOP THEM FROM GETTING THESE TAPES. I NEVER TOLD ANYBODY TO DELETE THEM. PROSECUTORIAL FICTION & MISCONDUCT! ELECTION INTERFERENCE!

If you met a guy on the street who is ranting about anything the way Trump rants about everything, you’d cross the street. If it’s an uncle at Thanksgiving, you’d look at each other uncomfortably and hope dinner is over soon. And, if he hadn’t been born with a gold spoon in his mouth, it seems likely that Trump would be spending his days yelling at tourists in Times Square and telling them that someone is after him.

One failure of journalism is to not spell this out repeatedly. That’s not bias, that’s truth-telling. It’s no different from covering the NBA draft and pointing out that a player is really tall. That’s just how it is.

Now, especially if you are part of Trump’s cult, you might be saying: “That mean journalist just doesn’t like my orange-faced Messiah.”

If you belong to that group of people, judge for yourself. Here are some of the signs that someone might be a malignant narcissist:

Individuals suffering from this mental disorder are preoccupied with fantasies about beauty, brilliance, success, and power. For example, they might tell you that they are a stable genius or talk incessantly about being a great businessman even though they managed to run various businesses into the ground.

Malignant narcissists are unable to handle criticism and have a tendency to lash out if they feel slighted (here we could link to the video of any Trump rally).

They also try to take advantage of others to get what they want, for example that could mean pressuring a vice president to try to overturn an election. Conversely, they blame others for their own bad behavior.

In addition, people suffering from this disorder are very concerned about their appearance. This might cause them to slather bronzing cream all over their face or be obsessed about not appearing physically unfit or not well endowed.

Malignant narcissists want to be treated as superior and lack empathy for others. They also monopolize conversations and/or mistreat people they view as inferior.

Many of these traits are the result of hidden insecurity.

They also display an inflated sense of self and lack the ability to self-regulate. This could apply to a person who has lied in public 30,000 times over a four-year span.

Furthermore, they don’t show remorse for hurting other and do not apologize to people they have hurt unless there is an implicit benefit (just Google “Trump apologizes” and judge for yourself).

People suffering from this disorder believe they deserve the best of everything, like a golden toilet or a chandelier in the bathroom where they keep classified documents.

Malignant narcissists tend to view the world in black and white. You are either their friend or their enemy. They want to win at all costs and don’t care that that means for everybody else.

Finally, they do whatever it takes to protect themselves from loss, or even inconvenience.

In order to be deemed to be suffering from narcissistic personality disorder, individuals have to meet five of these criteria. Not all of them, five.

True to form, because he has to be the best, Trump meets all of them. He is a posterchild of malignant narcissism.

And it’s important that we keep saying that.

Author
Klaus Marre  is a writer, editor, former congressional reporter, and director of the WhoWhatWhy Mentor Apprentice Program. Follow him on Twitter @KlausMarre.

US Supreme Court Approval Rating Drops to Record-Low 40%


 The approval rating of the US Supreme Court has dropped to a record-low 40%, according to a Gallup poll published on Wednesday.

"The current rating ties the court’s record-low job score first recorded in September 2021, which ticked up to 43% in July 2022 before dropping back to 40%," the poll said, RIA Novosti reported.

Since 2000, the level of confidence in the top court in the country has decreased by 22 percentage points. In the last three years, it has dropped by 18 percentage points, according to the pollster.

The overturning of abortion rights appears to be a major reason for such a decline. The rating plunged to 40% for the first time in September 2021 after the court allowed a Texas abortion law to stand, the polltaker reported.

"That ruling was a precursor to its June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision overturning Roe v. Wade; now, more than a dozen states have near-total bans on abortions," it added.

Republicans look much more supportive of the court (62%), than Democrats (17%). The 45-percentage-point party gap is the third largest in the last two decades.

A 61-point gap (74% among Republicans, 13% among Democrats) was registered in 2022, after the court overturned Roe v. Wade. In 2015, when the court legalized same-sex marriage and supported Barack Obama’s healthcare law, the gap was 58 points (76% among Democrats, 18% among Republicans).

At the same time, 43% of Americans approve of Chief Justice John Roberts' job performance, while 30% express the opposite opinion. Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, the longest-serving member of the court, got the support of 39%, while 42% view him negatively, the poll mentioned.

"Americans continue to be critical of the Supreme Court, largely because of strongly negative views from Democrats and more negative than positive opinions from independents, which offset Republicans’ generally positive opinions," the survey concluded.

The poll was conducted from July 3-27 via telephone interviews of 1,015 adults in all 50 US states and the District of Columbia.