Julian Assange’s Final Appeal to be held in UK High Court 20-21 February 2024

By Comitati per la Liberazione di Assange

January 10, 2024
Source: Pressenza




The UK High Court has confirmed that a public hearing will take place on 20-21 February 2024. The two-day hearing may be the final chance for Julian Assange to prevent his extradition to the United States. If extradited, Assange faces a sentence of 175 years for exposing war crimes committed by the United States in the Afghan and Iraq wars.

Immediately after the court date was announced, protestors responded by calling for a mass protest at the court on the days of the hearing at 8:30am. They welcome all those who support press freedom to join them in London and around the world.

Assange has been confined in the high-security Belmarsh Prison since he was arrested on a US extradition request on 11 April 2019. This will be his fifth Christmas in Belmarsh.

The upcoming public hearing will be held before a panel of two judges who will review an earlier High Court decision taken by a single judge on 6 June 2023 which refused Mr Assange permission to appeal.

This decisive stage in Mr Assange’s appeals will determine one of two outcomes: whether Mr. Assange will have further opportunities to argue his case before the domestic (UK) courts, or whether he will have exhausted all appeals without a possibility for further appeal in the UK and thus enter the process of extradition. An application before the European Court of Human Rights remains a possibility.

Assange’s campaign for freedom is supported by Amnesty International, the National Union of Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and virtually every civil rights, press freedom, and journalists’ union in the world. More than 70 Australian federal politicians have called on the US to drop the prosecution. In the United States, the Congressional representatives calling for the case to be dropped grows steadily, currently H. Res 934 sponsored by Paul Gosar is gathering signatures from all sides of politics.

John Rees of the Free Assange campaign, said: “The US is attempting to convict Julian Assange under the 1917 Espionage Act. If they get away with it, they will have succeeded in redefining journalism as spying. Every journalist will be intimidated. Every newspaper and broadcaster will look at material critical of the government and feel significant pressure not to publish for fear of prosecution and imprisonment. This is the most important press freedom case of the 21st century and we need to ensure we don’t lose any hard-won freedoms.”

Stella Assange, Julian’s wife, who he married while in prison, and who has been campaigning relentlessly for his freedom, said, “The last four and a half years have taken the most considerable toll on Julian and his family, including our two young sons. His mental health and physical state have deteriorated significantly. With the myriad of evidence that has come to light since the original hearing in 2019, such as the violation of legal privilege and reports that senior US officials were involved in formulating assassination plots against my husband, there is no denying that a fair trial, let alone Julian’s safety on US soil, is an impossibility were he to be extradited. The persecution of this innocent journalist and publisher must end.”

WikiLeaks has also supported their founder throughout this whole process, stressing the importance of this case for press freedom. Kristinn Hrafnsson, Editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, said, “There is no press without the protection to operate freely. Julian’s case is a landmark moment; the UK needs to decide if it wishes to be a haven for free press or if it wishes to be complicit in the degradation of a core value of our democracy. This is the last chance for judges in the UK to halt this un-just extradition of an innocent man.”

For more information about the court hearing and subsequent protest, scheduled to commence at 8.30am, and how to participate, please visit https://freeassange.org/

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Morocco and South Africa Vie For Rights Council Top Role, Exposing Legitimacy Stakes

By Kasmira Jefford

January 11, 2024

Source: Geneva Solutions

UN Geneva Human Rights Council - 24th Session. Flickr.



Countries will vote in a secret ballot for the second time in the human rights body’s history after a deadlock over the selection process.

The Human Rights Council will vote on Wednesday to select its next president after African states reached an impasse over which of the two candidates – Morocco or South Africa – to put forward.

The vote, which will be held through a secret ballot, comes after the 47-member council resumed work this week without a leader for only the second time in its 18-year history.

The presidency rotates each year between five regional groups that usually come to a consensus on which candidate to endorse. However, members of the Africa group could not resolve the deadlock.

Neither country was willing to withdraw after clashing over the procedure for submitting their candidacy, with Morocco understood to have presented its credentials first through the African Union in Addis Ababa, and South Africa via the Africa group in Geneva.

A proposal was made to settle the decision with a vote within the group but Morocco is understood to have refused, preferring its chances with a vote among all member states.

The two candidates in the running are Morocco’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Omar Zniber, and the South African ambassador Mxolisi Nkosi.

Wednesday’s vote will be only the second time that the council is forced to hold a secret ballot – the first happening in 2021 when Fiji won the presidency, beating the two other Asia Pacific contenders, Bahrain and Uzbekistan.

Though votes are a rare event – with regional blocks preferring to resolve candidacy issues among themselves – allowing the decision to go to a vote makes for fairer and more transparent elections, Geneva NGOs have pointed out.

“As we have seen in recent years with the defeat of council candidates such as Russia, competitive elections enable electors to make choices based on human rights considerations, among others, rather than having that choice made for them behind closed doors,” Phil Lynch director of the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), told Geneva Solutions.

Observers say it is likely to be a close call, with Morocco likely to win the support of many Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) members as well as western states, while South Africa has significant political clout with countries in the global South.

The winning candidate will succeed Václav Bálek, ambassador to the Czech Republic.
A position of influence

The presidency vote comes at a time of unprecedented challenges to human rights worldwide and amid greater political polarisation, which has permeated an increasingly fractious Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Though the president plays a relatively neutral role compared to the UN’s main rights honcho, the high commissioner for human rights, some say its task of keeping the council in order has become increasingly important amid a tense global landscape.

The fact that two candidates are vying for the post also points to its relevance, added Lynch. “It demonstrates that states consider the Human Rights Council to be important and influential, and the office of the President to be substantive and not merely ceremonial.”

Nkosi, South Africa’s candidate, told Geneva Solutions that the presidency was “more than a matter of national prestige” and chairing meetings. “We want to use the presidency to de-escalate current tensions and build bridges across the existing divides at the council.”

He added that he would also work to restore trust between council members and encourage more interactive dialogue while also using the position to enhance the council’s credibility.

“It’s very important that we enhance the image of credibility of the council as the custodian and as an effective and efficient instrument for the promotion and the protection of human rights,” Nkosi said, claiming South Africa, with its track record in promoting human rights, was the “only legitimate candidate” at this time for the presidency role.
Questionable human rights records

Morocco’s bid for the presidency has sparked strong condemnation among several human rights groups, in particular among rights defenders from Western Sahara, which has been occupied by Morocco since 1975.

Activists supporting Sahrawi self-determination have been the subject of harsh crackdowns by Moroccan authorities, ranging from asset freezes to torture, arbitrary arrests, to expulsion from their homeland.

UN experts have denounced Morocco’s violations against rights defenders and the country is also regularly mentioned in the UN secretary general’s annual report as one of the countries committing acts of intimidation and reprisals against individuals engaging with the UN.

An open letter from Sahrawi civil society and signed by 188 NGOs, which has been circulating ahead of the vote, urges the council to reject Rabat’s candidacy, arguing that a state that obstructs dialogue with the UN and refuses to implement recommendations from UN bodies would “crush the very legitimacy that the Human Rights Council depends on to survive”.

Ghalia Djimi, a Sahrawi human rights activist and one of the coordinators of the campaign, who was disappeared for more than three years in 1987 while preparing to participate in a protest, told Geneva Solutions: “Our main reproach against Morocco, first and foremost, is the violation of article one of the UN charter that states that all peoples have the right to self-determination.”

Occupied by Spain until 1975, Western Sahara is listed by the UN as a non-decolonised territory and therefore a non-self-governing territory.

A UN mission deployed in Western Sahara since 1991 is tasked by the Security Council with organising a referendum on the territory’s future, however, the referendum has never taken place.

Fellow rights activist Aminatou Haidar, who is president and co-founder of the Sahrawi Body Against Moroccan Occupation and whose members she says have been harassed by Moroccan authorities, added that countries that claim to be democratic should not support its candidacy.

“Should Morocco be successful in its candidate becoming president, this will only encourage it to vigorously continue to commit human rights violations,” she told Geneva Solutions.

Ole von Uexkull, executive director of Right Livelihood, a Swedish foundation with offices in Geneva that lobbies on behalf of rights defenders, added: “As a country with an appalling human rights record, which militarily occupies the territory of Western Sahara and violently represses its people every day, Morocco blatantly fails to meet the minimum criteria required to uphold the institutional integrity of the council and its work.”

However, others have noted Morocco’s otherwise proactive engagement with the council. “Morocco has always had this cloud hanging over them (Editor’s note: referring to Western Sahara) but historically it has been the most active of the two at the Human Rights Council until this current South African ambassador,” noted one observer, who asked not to be named.

Ambassadors serve in a personal capacity and in this regard, “both are very active and both very committed to the council,” the person added.

The diplomatic mission for Morocco mission has not yet responded to Geneva Solutions’ requests for comment.
Stepping up to the plate

Ahead of the vote, 19 NGOs, including ISHR, have signed an appeal to states to make sure the presidency goes to a member “that upholds the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights”, particularly on the issue of reprisals and intimidation of defenders.

According to a scorecard created by ISHR, both South Africa and Morocco fail to meet all the standards set by the Human Rights Council. For example, neither has ratified all nine core international human rights treaties and their related optional protocols.

Nkosi said that South Africa was in the process of ratifying outstanding protocols and treaties, for example, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which he said would be deposited soon. “All the provisions of these protocols fall far below the standards that we set domestically,” he argued.

Nicolas Agostini, Geneva representative for the African NGO DefendDefenders, also one of the signatories, said: “From a civil society perspective, the key criteria for the HRC presidency are integrity, impartiality, and an ability to defend civil society space.”

“The president’s country should be able to demonstrate a decent human rights record, and its reputation should not be stained by reprisals committed against human rights defenders,” he told Geneva Solutions.


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Kasmira Jefford is editor-in-chief of Geneva Solutions and editor of Sustainable Business & Finance. She was previously a producer and reporter for CNNMoney Switzerland and spent 10 years in London working for publications including City AM, CoStar News and The Sunday Times.

 

Why I am obsessed with an ancient story about giant frogs

Yes, they are a metaphor for the challenges of our time.

Gerard Jollain’s 1670 etching, “The Plague of the Frogs.” Etching by Gerard Jollain, via Wikimedia/Creative Commons

January 9, 2024

By 

Jeffrey Salkin

(RNS) — If you are Jewish — and, frankly, even if you are not — think about the last time you attended a Passover Seder.

You will recall that moment in the Seder when it’s time to recite the plagues that fell upon the land of Egypt. Many Jews know the list by heart: dam, blood; tzfardea, frogs; kinim, locusts …

So it goes. We recite each plague, and as we do so, we spill a drop of wine on our plates to symbolize the lessening of our joy at the downfall of our enemies.

But wait a moment.

We always translate tzfardea as “frogs,” but that’s not exactly right.

The verse from Exodus that comes right out of our Torah portion for this Shabbat reads as follows: Va-taal ha-tzfardea vatkas et eretz Mitzrayim — literally, “And the frog arose and it covered the whole land of Egypt.”

Should it not have said tzfardayim — frogs — as in many frogs? Isn’t that the way we have always imagined it, and the way we have always pictured it? Wasn’t it a plague of frogs?

No. It was not “frogs,” but “frog.”

Let me bring in an ancient rabbinic interpretation, that is either delightful or monstrous.

“Rabbi Elazar said: At first, it was one frog, and it spawned and filled the entire land of Egypt with frogs.” (Talmud, Sanhedrin 67b).

Let me walk you through how a modern American rabbi interpreted this interpretation — this one frog that produced many frogs.

One of the greatest rabbis in modern American history was Rabbi Israel H. Levinthal.

He was the spiritual leader of the Brooklyn Jewish Center during the 1930s and 1940s. Those were golden times for the Brooklyn Jewish Center. Its majestic building was located on the equally majestic Eastern Parkway. Worshipping at the Brooklyn Jewish Center in those days must have been an awe-inspiring experience, because in the 1940s the cantor happened to be the great opera singer Richard Tucker.

Slightly more than 80 years ago, Rabbi Levinthal preached about how that one frog became many frogs.

These are his words:

No one in America, or in England, except discredited, outlawed charlatans and racketeers, would have dared a few years ago openly to advocate the overthrow of democracy and liberty. They would have dreaded the reaction of public opinion. How shall we explain the sudden appearance in many quarters of men and women, high in social and public life, who would betray the ideals of democracy? Their hatred of democracy and all liberal thought was there before, but it had been repressed, it had been kept hidden; the bearers of the hate feared the shame that would have been heaped upon them … But the one frog appeared, and he croaked his venomous message, and lo and behold, from out of the dark hiding places, they suddenly arose to echo the call that came from that one poisonous throat.

It should be manifestly clear to whom Rabbi Levinthal was referring. The sprouting of many frogs was a metaphor for the sprouting of fascism and Nazism.

If Rabbi Levinthal were alive today, he could have easily been preaching about the potential for tyranny in this country — dangers that historian Timothy Snyder has enumerated in his New York Times bestseller, “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century.”

Snyder compares the notions of patriotism and nationalism. His words ring true today:

It is not patriotic to try to sabotage an American election, nor to claim victory after defeat. It is not patriotic to try to end democracy. A nationalist might do all these things, but a nationalist is not a patriot … Nationalism is relativist, since the only truth is the resentment we feel when we contemplate others. As the novelist Danilo Kiš put it, nationalism “has no universal values, aesthetic or ethical.” A patriot, by contrast, wants the nation to live up to its ideals, which means asking us to be our best selves.

Democracy failed in Europe in the 1920s, ’30s, and ’40s, and it is failing not only in much of Europe but in many parts of the world today. It is that history and experience that reveals to us the dark range of our possible futures. A nationalist will say that “it can’t happen here,” which is the first step toward disaster. A patriot says that it could happen here, but that we will stop it.

But I find myself turning to yet another interpretation of tzfardea — that one frog.

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya (not to be confused with the previous Rabbi Elazar) said, “It was one frog; it whistled to the other frogs, and they all came after it.” (Talmud, Sanhedrin 67b)

It was not a large, deafening croak from a gargantuan frog. Rather, it was a simple, quiet whistle. Even, perhaps, a dog whistle.

The hidden frogs have appeared and they have covered all the land. The whistles are clear, and often they do not even appear as dog whistles. I am referring, of course, to the almost daily occurrences of antisemitism in this country.

Antisemitism has gone viral, for it is, in fact, a virus that spreads into the body politic particularly when a society’s immune system has broken down.

What is the response to a virus?

Another kind of virus.

A word that also begins with the letters V-I-R.

A virus of virtue, of personal responsibility, of communal responsibility, and of bearing moral witness.

As of today, COVID-19 is still quite present among us. Almost three years later, it has not receded, though in many cases its severity has diminished. It is as if we have gone from a biological virus to a social virus — Jew-hatred — with not a moment of respite. 

During the early days of COVID-19, there was an Israeli popular song, written by the great Chava Alberstein: “Rikma Enoshit Achat,” “One Human Tapestry.”

All of us are one human tapestry,

and if one of us dies, something within all of us dies,

and yet something of each person remains within us.

If only we knew how to calm the hatred…

In Hebrew the word rikma is “tapestry” or “embroidery.”

But rikma is also a word for human tissue.

Spiritually and physically, we are all part of the same human body.

As we approach what would have been the 95th birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., let us review these words from his “Letter from Birmingham Jail“: 

“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly … ”

Because the lessons of history are abundantly clear.

Yes, one frog can produce many frogs.

And, yes: A single frog can whistle, and that whistling will coax the other frogs out of their hiding places.

Please enjoy my new book — the first book to outline what a post-Oct. 7 American Judaism will look like — and how we can restore communal obligation to liberal Jewish life. “Tikkun Ha’Am/ Repairing Our People: Israel and the Crisis of Liberal Judaism.”

 Opinion

Miscarriage should not be a crime

The story of a 33-year-old Ohio woman shows why compassion must shape our abortion laws.

Demonstrators march and gather near the Texas state Capitol in Austin after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022. A federal judge in Texas issued a ruling on Aug. 23, 2022, temporarily blocking the federal government from enforcing guidance against the state that requires hospitals to provide abortion services if the life of the mother is at risk. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

January 10, 2024

By 

Liz Charlotte Grant

(RNS) — The justice system finds itself in a new world when it comes to abortion and the rights of women. Last month in Texas, Kate Cox, pregnant with a nonviable fetus that threatened her future fertility, sued the government to gain a medical exception to the state’s near total ban on abortions. After the Texas Supreme Court barred her access to an abortion, she fled to obtain the medical procedure across state lines.

Yet the story that haunts me most is that of 33-year-old Black Ohio woman, Brittany Watts. 

Watts miscarried at 21 weeks and five days of pregnancy into her home toilet. Earlier that week, a doctor had informed her that due to her preterm labor, the fetus would not survive. She miscarried at home. Then she flushed both the fetus and the afterbirth. But she kept bleeding, even after keeping an appointment with her hairdresser, so she went to an emergency room at a nearby Catholic hospital. That’s when a nurse called the police, suspecting she’d performed an illegal abortion. Police charged Watts with “abuse of corpse,” a felony that could result in a year of prison time. An Ohio grand jury will decide her case this month.

Miscarriage is an agonizing experience even without a litigious system peering over your shoulder. A pro-life Christian, a mother of two myself and a former birth doula, I believe that God creates each baby that exists and that God knows each zygote from before its conception. Yet I am also flummoxed about the lack of compassion and empathy shown by pro-life activists and policymakers toward women put in such precarious circumstances that affect both them and their offspring.

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RELATED: In wake of Ohio abortion victory, some clergy rejoice, others mourn

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Whatever the circumstances, a late-term abortion due to a life-threatening pregnancy complication is a last resort, the worst possible option for every woman I know, whether pro-life or pro-choice. A woman must undergo all the suffering of pregnancy, labor and postpartum without the reward of a child to make the pain worth it. She must then additionally grieve the loss of her child.

The “choice” is agonizing: Will she choose her own life or her child’s? In the case of miscarriage, the loss of control exacerbates the situation. Often women feel as if their own bodies have betrayed them. The grief is profound, and the physical suffering is worse for it. 

At the time Watts miscarried, more than halfway through pregnancy, a fetus of that gestation would be big enough to induce real childbirth, with the hallmark lengthening contractions, hormones, impossible pain and exhaustion. Watts’ health records show she experienced days of labor symptoms without pain medication. When she finally passed the baby, she must have felt relief, terror and grief.

But the case hinges on what happened after the miscarriage: Watts flushed. And then she continued with her day, going to a hair appointment … until she could no longer ignore the bleeding. A nurse, who had encountered Watts in her previous hospital visits, asked what had happened, and Watts answered truthfully, apparently adding that she had tried to dispose of the fetus herself. (Unsuccessfully: Police later discovered fetal remains lodged in her pipes.) 

The nurse assumed the worst: a live abortion. But even after a forensic pathologist’s autopsy determined that the fetus had died before labor, having experienced no injury during or after labor, Watts was charged.

Watts’ lawyer, Traci Timko, insists that though Watt’s actions sound callous, she had done what most women do when they miscarry at home. What else would you do with a miscarried fetus?

Since Watts’ intentions seem to be on trial, it’s worth noting she has said that though her pregnancy was unintended and she hadn’t informed her family of it, she planned to keep her baby. She had also made multiple trips to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Warren, Ohio, not to get an abortion, but to save her baby. Her miscarriage proceeded without the oversight of the medical practitioners only because, according to her lawyer, hospital staff had deemed her case too legally risky to take on.

For this, Watts faces criminal charges, even though Ohio law does not clearly define the “abuse of corpse” statute and current laws do not define how a miscarrying person should dispose of remains. As Timko has pointed out, “Women miscarry into toilets every day. If the state of Ohio expects these women to fish those remains from the toilet and deliver them to a hospital, funeral home or crematorium, the laws need [to be] changed.”

What is law in Ohio is the right to abortion, a right Ohio citizens recently voted into their state constitution. 

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RELATED: US Catholic leaders looks ahead after election defeats for abortion opponents

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According to The Associated Press, studies show that Black women seeking prenatal care at hospitals were 10 times more likely than white women to have their cases referred to the authorities.

The callousness of our legal system toward women like Brittany Watts is astonishing. What does our country gain by dragging these women into court? What precedent will Ohio set by putting Watts into prison? And how many other women will receive delayed treatment — or be denied treatment outright — while hospital administrators debate liability risks?

Whether we believe in the right to abortion or not, Christians, who are in the forefront of pushing for abortion bans, must allow for exceptions in situations of miscarriage, rape and sexual assault and life-threatening circumstances for both mother and fetus. 

We must seek to understand the situations of those forced to make the most agonizing decisions of their lives. And we must extend empathy to the grieving. If we do not, we will find ourselves guilty of the judgment of Ezekiel 34:4: “You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. … You have ruled them harshly and brutally.” Let those of us with power instead govern with mercy.

(Liz Charlotte Grant, author of the forthcoming book “Knock at the Sky: Seeking God in the Sky, the Earth, and the Book of Genesis,” is an award-winning essayist who writes a weekly newsletter, The Empathy List. From 2015 to 2017 she was certified as a birth doula. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)

US prosecutors say plots to assassinate Sikh leaders were part of a campaign of planned killings

The attack plans were foiled, prosecutors said, because the hitman was actually an undercover U.S. agent.

Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is pictured in his office on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

December 1, 2023

By 

Larry Neumeister

NEW YORK (AP) — A foiled plot to assassinate a prominent Sikh separatist leader in New York, just days after another activist’s killing, was meant to precede a string of other politically motivated murders in the United States and Canada, according to U.S. prosecutors.

In electronic communications and audio and video calls secretly recorded or obtained by U.S. law enforcement, organizers of the plot talked last spring about plans to kill someone in California and at least three other people in Canada, in addition to the victim in New York, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday.

The goal was to kill at least four people in the two countries by June 29, and then more after that, prosecutors contend.

After Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh activist who had been exiled from India, was shot and killed outside a cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, one of the men charged with orchestrating the planned assassinations told a person he had hired as a hitman that he should act urgently to kill another activist, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

“We have so many targets,” Nikhil Gupta said in a recorded audio call, according to the indictment. “We have so many targets. But the good news is this, the good news is this: Now no need to wait.”

He urged the hitman to act quickly because Pannun, a U.S. citizen living in New York, would likely be more cautious after Nijjar’s slaying.

“We got the go-ahead to go anytime, even today, tomorrow — as early as possible,” he told a go-between as he instructed the hitman to kill Pannun even if there were other people with him. “Put everyone down,” he said, according to the indictment.

The attack plans were foiled, prosecutors said, because the hitman was actually an undercover U.S. agent.

The U.S. attorney in Manhattan announced charges Wednesday against Gupta, and said in court papers that the plot to kill Pannun was directed by an official in the Indian government. That government official was not charged in the indictment or identified by name, but the court filing described him as a “senior field officer” with responsibilities in security management and intelligence.

Indian officials have denied any complicity in Nijjar’s slaying. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said Wednesday that the Indian government had set up a high-level inquiry after U.S. authorities raised concerns about the plot to kill Pannun.

Court filings revealed that even before Nijjar’s killing in Canada, U.S. law enforcement officials had become aware of a plot against activists who were advocating for the secession from India of the northern Punjab state, where Sikhs are a majority.

U.S. officials said they began investigating when Gupta, in his search for a hitman, contacted a narcotics trafficker who turned out to be a Drug Enforcement Administration informant.

Over the ensuing weeks, the pair communicated by phone, video and text messages, eventually looping in their hired assassin — the undercover agent.

The Indian government official told Gupta that he had a target in New York and a target in California, the indictment said. They ultimately settled on a $100,000 price and by June 3, Gupta was urging his criminal contact in America to “finish him brother, finish him, don’t take too much time …. push these guys, push these guys … finish the job.”

During a June 9 call, Gupta told the narcotics trafficker that the murder of Pannun would change the hitman’s life because “we will give more bigger job more, more job every month, every month 2-3 job,” according to the indictment.

It was unclear from the indictment whether U.S. authorities had learned anything about the specific plan to kill Nijjar before his ambush on June 18.

The indictment portrayed Gupta as boasting that he and his associates in India were behind both the Canadian and New York assassination plots. He allegedly told the Drug Enforcement Administration informant on June 12 that there was a “big target” in Canada and on June 16 told him: “We are doing their job, brother. We are doing their New York (and) Canada (job),” referring to individuals directing the plots from India.

After Nijjar was killed, Gupta told the informant that Nijjar was the target he had mentioned as the potential Canadian “job” and added: “We didn’t give to (the undercover agent) this job, so some other guy did this job … in Canada.”

On June 30, Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic at the request of the United States after arriving there on a trip from India. Federal authorities have not said when he might be brought to the United States to face murder-for-hire and conspiracy charges. It was unclear who would provide legal representation if he arrives in the U.S.

Pannun told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday that he will continue his work.

“They will kill me. But I don’t fear the death,” he said.

He mocked India’s claim that it is conducting its own investigation into the assassination plots.

“The only thing, I think, (the) Indian government is going to investigate (is) why their hitman could not kill one person. That’s what they will be investigating,” he said.

Pannun said he rejects the Indian government’s decision to label him a terrorist.

“We are the one who are fighting India’s violence with the words. We are the one who are fighting India’s bullets with the ballot,” he said. “They are giving money, hundreds of thousands, to kill me. Let the world decide who is terrorist and who is not a terrorist.”

Some international affairs experts told the AP that it was unlikely the incidents would seriously damage the relationship between the U.S. and India.

”In most cases, if Washington accuses a foreign government of staging an assassination on its soil, U.S. relations with that government would plunge into deep crisis,” said Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Centre’s South Asia institute. “But the relationship with India is a special case. Trust and goodwill are baked into the relationship, thanks to rapidly expanding cooperation and increasingly convergent interests.”

Derek Grossman, Indo-Pacific analyst at the Rand Corp., said the Biden administration has demonstrated that it is prioritizing the need to leverage India as part of its strategy to counter Chinese power.

“I think publicizing the details of the thwarted plot will have very little, if any, impact on the deepening U.S.-India strategic partnership,” he said.

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Associated Press writers Krutika Pathi in New Delhi and Ted Shaffrey in New York contributed to this report.

The makers of the unconventional superhero film ‘American Sikh’

Sikh Captain America — a turbaned version of the Marvel comic book hero — hits the big screen.

A still from “American Sikh” depicting Vishavjit Singh as his Captain America persona. Courtesy image

January 9, 2024

By 

Simran Jeet Singh

(RNS) — Once the idea for Sikh Captain America — a turbaned, bearded version of the Marvel comic hero — was born, it took more than a year for him to appear on the streets of his native New York City.

The creation of Vishavjit Singh, a writer and illustrator in Harlem, and the photographer Fiona Aboud, who was working on a photo project, “Sikhs: An American Portrait,” the character is a social experiment about what it means to be American, and to be Sikh in America. Now, it is also a short animated film by Singh and Ryan Westra that recently premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. 

The film tells the true story of Singh, 52, who, besides inventing Sikhtoons.com in the face of anti-Sikh bigotry after 9/11, is a performance artist and diversity speaker. After a lifetime of facing prejudice, self-doubt and violence, his animated self, as in life, finally finds acceptance in a superhero costume. He first drew Captain America in a turban and beard in 2011, but it took almost a year after Aboud discovered the character to convince Singh to step out as Sikh Captain America on the streets, where his mission is to tackle bias and intolerance, powered by his humor, turban, beard and storytelling prowess.

I had the opportunity to speak with Singh and Westra to discuss the what, why and how of “American Sikh.” This interview has been adapted for clarity and concision.

How did this film come together?

RW: In 2014, as my very last student project in film school, I happened to be assigned to do a live action documentary about Vishavjit’s work as Sikh Captain America. While shooting that project (“Red, White, and Beard”), I was so impressed by Vishavjit’s ability to inspire people to open up about their stereotypes and biases in a positive way. Yet as we wrapped the shoot, I watched a stranger on the street call Vishavjit “Osama bin Laden,” moments after changing out of his superhero costume.

It was a shocking juxtaposition to witness, and it made Vishavjit’s work even more impactful to me. Ever since then, I had been interested in working with Vishavjit again on a more in-depth and ambitious project. In 2019, I reached out with the idea of doing an animated short about his life and, more broadly, the struggles that the Sikh community has gone through.

What do you hope the film will accomplish?

RW: In a recent interview, our incredible executive producer, Vikas Khanna, had a beautiful answer to this question. He said, “I believe that the answer to hate cannot be hate.” With the difficult times we are facing right now around the world, I think now, more than ever, is a perfect time for us to gain greater understanding, empathy and compassion for those around us.

 

Vishavjit Singh in his Captain America outfit. Image via Kickstarter

VS: I’ve spent years traveling around the nation visiting schools, companies and government agencies to share my story and create a space for conversations about identity, bias, vulnerability and transformative power of art. I hope in amplifying this message via an animated film, we can encourage others to do the same with their story. 

 

I hope this film opens doors for the most underrepresented and misrepresented stories to be shared across American media, cultural and entertainment landscape.

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RW: Unfortunately, especially since 9/11, turbans and beards have been villainized and portrayed as un-American in the media. Sikh Captain America challenges those stereotypes in a lighthearted, creative and familiar way. Our hope is that this image sticks with people, and they are able to walk away with a greater empathy for all Americans who, as Vishavjit says, “look a little different.”

What’s been most gratifying so far now that audiences have seen the movie? 

VS: Hearing feedback from people from varying backgrounds about connections they find with my story.

RW: It’s extremely exciting to be working with Vishavjit on such a historic project. Never has an American Sikh story reached this level of prominence. With so little representation in the media, it’s exciting that we have the privilege of introducing Vishavjit’s beautiful religion and work to so many for the first time. 

How does this film depict Sikh characters differently than other media?

VS: Much of the Sikh media I’ve seen has been created by Sikhs for Sikhs. This film is meant for people who maybe have had little to no experience with Sikhs. It’s created with a national audience in mind and tells a story that is relatable to many Americans, not just Sikhs. 

A still from “American Sikh” depicting Vishavjit Singh as his Captain America persona. Image via Kickstarter

What were some of the biggest challenges to pulling this story together?

VS: With animation being extremely expensive, we had a lot of back and forth narrowing down the few key chapters of my life to tell the most compelling and concise story. There were 30 different cuts of the film that we user-tested on Ryan’s friends and family who knew nothing about me or Sikhism at all. This helped us pick the most impactful moments. But there are a few poignant moments and experiences that did not make it into the final version of the film that I typically include in my life story.

Did you ever doubt that animation was the right medium?

VS: We knew there are two major tragedies that are part of this story — the 1984 genocidal massacre of Sikhs in India, which I survived, and the post-9/11 hate/bias crime wave, which targeted many Sikhs, including me. One of the main reasons we chose animation was it allowed us to showcase these tragedies without overwhelming the viewer.

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RW: We didn’t want the tone to focus too much on tragedy, but rather leave the audience feeling inspired and encouraged at the end. 

Where do you go from here?

VS: The “American Sikh” has had an amazing journey on the film festival circuit. We always wanted this film to be accessible to American and global audiences. Ryan and I are also writing pitches for full-length films and series. We would love to tell a more comprehensive American story with a Sikh lead character. 

RW: We are interested in working together again on a longer and more ambitious project featuring a Sikh lead character. We want to make Sikh characters a part of the bigger cultural landscape we see in all media — not just exclusively Sikh stories.