Wednesday, April 24, 2024

 

Big change to small print: US bans 'noncompete' clauses.

The Federal Trade Commission building is seen in Washington on March 4, 2012.

The Federal Trade Commission building is seen in Washington on March 4, 2012.

 REUTERS/Gary Cameron

Looking for another job at a firm that does something similar to what you do now? Now could be your chance to jump ship.

The US Federal Trade Commission, the country’s top competition regulator, voted Tuesday to ban “noncompete clauses.”

What are those? They’re small-print stipulations in employment contracts that forbid you from working for a competitor or starting your own business, typically for a certain period of time after you leave your current job.

Supporters of noncompete clauses say they prevent intellectual property theft and bolster employers’ incentives to invest in their workforces.

But opponents say they stifle new business formation and suppress innovation, trapping employees in jobs regulated by clauses that they are rarely given a chance to negotiate directly.

Several US states, including California (AKA the world’s fifth-largest economy), have all-but-banned noncompetes for years. The FTC ruling brings that nationwide.

Competition could bring benefits. The FTC says banning noncompetes will create more than 8,000 new businesses annually, boost average wages by more than $500 per year, and lower health care costs by nearly $200 billion over the next decade. It’s hard to compete with that!

Australia: Withdraw Punitive Migration Bill

Proposed Law Increases Risks to Lives, Safety of Asylum Seekers, Refugees



Demonstrators march on behalf of refugees and asylum seekers in Melbourne, Australia, April 19, 2021. © 2021 Diego Fedele/Getty Images

(Sydney) – The Australian government should withdraw a proposed law that would allow the authorities to seek prison terms for asylum seekers for exercising their right not to be sent to a country where they fear being persecuted, Human Rights Watch said in a submission to the Australian parliament. The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee is currently considering the Migration Amendment (Removal and Other Measures) Bill 2024 for enactment.

The bill would introduce prison sentences from one to five years for previously recognized refugees who have been stripped of their refugee status, and rejected asylum seekers who fail to cooperate with the authorities in deporting them from Australia. Actions that could result in criminal punishment for essentially administrative violations include failing to apply for a passport or travel document, not signing documents to facilitate travel, or not showing up for interviews and appointments.

“The Australian government is disregarding its international legal obligations and doubling down on earlier legislation that undermines the very principles on which refugee protection is based,” said Annabel Hennessy, Australia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “This proposed law effectively treats administrative violations as criminal offenses carrying hefty prison terms.”

The proposed law also expands the Australian immigration minister’s existing powers to reverse findings of a person’s need for protection and to strip them of their refugee status.

Under a controversial provision of existing Australian law – Subsection 197D of the Migration Act – the minister for immigration can strip refugee status from an “unlawful non-citizen” who has previously been found to be entitled to protection. This bill expands 197D to apply not only to those deemed “unlawful non-citizens,” but also to “lawful non-citizens” on certain bridging visas to facilitate their removal. The United Nations Refugee Agency and the Australian Human Rights Commission have previously warned that 197D does not comply with Australia’s international obligations.

“Instead of heeding warnings from the UN and the Australian Human Rights Commission, the government is seeking authority that would put the lives and safety of refugees and asylum seekers at greater risk,” Hennessy said.

Sri Lanka summons Canadian envoy to express outrage over genocide memorial



The proposed Tamil Genocide Memorial to be built in Brampton, Canada.



The Sri Lankan government reportedly summoned the Canadian High Commissioner in Colombo over plans to construct a monument to victims of the Tamil genocide, thousands of miles away in the Canadian city of Brampton.

The final design for the Tamil Genocide Memorial was approved by the Brampton City Council earlier this year and pays tribute to the tens of thousands of Tamils killed by the Sri Lankan state. The inspiration behind constructing the memorial in Brampton came after the Mullivaikkal memorial at Jaffna University, which was erected to honour the Tamil lives lost in the genocide, was bulldozed by Sri Lankan authorities in 2021.

News of a monument to victims of the genocide has angered Sri Lankan authorities, with the Sunday Times reporting that foreign minister Ali Sabry wrote to his counterpart in Canada and summoned Ottawa’s envoy in Colombo to convey Sri Lanka’s “serious concern”.

The Sri Lankan foreign ministry reportedly went on to express its “strongest concern” over the proposed monument.

An official was quoted by the Daily Mirror as stating “Sri Lanka had been unable to thwart the efforts by the Brampton city council to construct the monument”.

Sri Lanka continues to crack down on efforts to commemorate Tamils massacred by the state, particularly on May 18, which Tamils mark as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day.


THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S HUMAN RIGHTS

Amnesty International’s Annual Report 2023/24

READ THE REPORT

April 24, 2024

Amnesty International sounds alarm on a watershed moment for international law amid flagrant rule-breaking by governments and corporate actors
Powerful governments cast humanity into an era devoid of effective international rule of law, with civilians in conflicts paying the highest price
Rapidly changing artificial intelligence is left to create fertile ground for racism, discrimination and division in landmark year for public elections
Standing against these abuses, people the world over mobilized in unprecedented numbers, demanding human rights protection and respect for our common humanity

The world is reaping a harvest of terrifying consequences from escalating conflict and the near breakdown of international law, said Amnesty International as it launched its annual The State of the World’s Human Rights report today, delivering an assessment of human rights in 155 countries.

Amnesty International also warned that the breakdown of the rule of law is likely to accelerate with rapid advancement in artificial intelligence (AI) which, coupled with the dominance of Big Tech, risks a “supercharging” of human rights violations if regulation continues to lag behind advances.

“Amnesty International’s report paints a dismal picture of alarming human rights repression and prolific international rule-breaking, all in the midst of deepening global inequality, superpowers vying for supremacy and an escalating climate crisis,” said Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard.

“Israel’s flagrant disregard for international law is compounded by the failures of its allies to stop the indescribable civilian bloodshed meted out in Gaza. Many of those allies were the very architects of that post-World War Two system of law. Alongside Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine, the growing number of armed conflicts, and massive human rights violations witnessed, for example, in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar – the global rule-based order is at risk of decimation.”

Lawlessness, discrimination and impunity in conflicts and elsewhere have been enabled by unchecked use of new and familiar technologies which are now routinely weaponized by military, political and corporate actors. Big Tech’s platforms have stoked conflict. Spyware and mass surveillance tools are used to encroach on fundamental rights and freedoms, while governments are deploying automated tools targeting the most marginalized groups in society.

“In an increasingly precarious world, unregulated proliferation and deployment of technologies such as generative AI, facial recognition and spyware are poised to be a pernicious foe – scaling up and supercharging violations of international law and human rights to exceptional levels,” said Agnès Callamard.

“During a landmark year of elections and in the face of the increasingly powerful anti-regulation lobby driven and financed by Big Tech actors, these rogue and unregulated technological advances pose an enormous threat to us all. They can be weaponized to discriminate, disinform and divide.”

Read more about Amnesty researchers’ biggest human rights concerns for 2023/24.

Amnesty International’s report paints a dismal picture of alarming human rights repression and prolific international rule-breaking, all in the midst of deepening global inequality, superpowers vying for supremacy and an escalating climate crisis.Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard


Civilians in conflict pay ultimate price as states flout international law

Amnesty International’s report presents a stark assessment of the betrayal of human rights principles by today’s leaders and institutions. In the face of multiplying conflicts, the actions of many powerful states have further damaged the credibility of multilateralism and undermined the global rules-based order first established in 1945.

In a conflict that defined 2023 and shows no sign of abating, evidence of war crimes continues to mount as the Israeli government makes a mockery of international law in Gaza. Following the horrific attacks by Hamas and other armed groups on 7 October, Israeli authorities responded with unrelenting air strikes on populated civilian areas often wiping out entire families, forcibly displacing nearly 1.9 million Palestinians and restricting the access of desperately needed humanitarian aid despite growing famine in Gaza.

The report points to the USA’s brazen use of its veto to paralyse the UN Security Council for months on a much-needed resolution for a ceasefire, as it continues to arm Israel with munitions that have been used to commit what likely amounts to war crimes. It also highlights the grotesque double standards of European countries such as the UK and Germany, given their well-founded protestations about war crimes by Russia and Hamas, while they simultaneously bolster the actions of Israeli and US authorities in this conflict.

What we saw in 2023 confirms that many powerful states are abandoning the founding values of humanity and universality enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.Agnès Callamard

“The confounding failure of the international community to protect thousands of civilians – a horrifically high percentage of them children – from being killed in the occupied Gaza Strip makes patently clear that the very institutions set up to protect civilians and uphold human rights are no longer fit for purpose. What we saw in 2023 confirms that many powerful states are abandoning the founding values of humanity and universality enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” said Agnès Callamard.

The report also documents flagrant rule-breaking by Russian forces during their continued full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It highlights indiscriminate attacks on densely populated civilian areas, as well as energy and grain export infrastructure; and the use of torture or other ill-treatment against prisoners of war. This is in addition to vast environmental contamination through acts including the apparently deliberate destruction of the Kakhovka dam which is widely believed to have been committed by Russian forces.

Myanmar’s military and associated militias also conducted attacks against civilians resulting in over 1,000 civilian deaths in 2023 alone. Neither the Myanmar military nor the Russian authorities have committed to investigating reports of glaring violations. Both have received financial and military support from China.

In Sudan, both warring parties, the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, have demonstrated little concern for international humanitarian law as they carried out targeted and indiscriminate attacks that have killed and injured civilians, and launched explosive weapons from densely populated neighbourhoods killing 12,000 people in 2023. This has triggered the largest displacement crisis in the world with more than 8 million people forced to flee. With no end to the conflict in sight, the hunger crisis that has gripped Sudan for months is now dangerously close to turning into famine.


© MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images
Palestinians evacuate the area following an Israeli airstrike on the Sousi mosque in Gaza City on 9 October, 2023.


© GENYA SAVILOV/AFP via Getty Images
Servicemen of the National Guard of Ukraine deliver food to the residents of a flooded area in Kherson on 8 June, 2023, following damages sustained at Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam. Ukraine and Russia accused each other of shelling in the flood-hit Kherson region even as rescuers raced to save people stranded after the destruction of a Russian-held dam unleashed a torrent of water.


© Amnesty International
Sudanese refugees queuing up to fetch water in Adre, Eastern Chad, 26 June 2023.

Tech wielded to stoke hate, division and discrimination poses threat in landmark year of elections

Amnesty International found that political actors in many parts of the world are ramping up their attacks on women, LGBTI people and marginalized communities who have historically been scapegoated for political or electoral gains. New and existing technologies have increasingly been weaponized to aid and abet these repressive political forces to spread disinformation, pit communities against each other and attack minorities.

The report also points to the expansive use of existing technologies to entrench discriminatory policies. States including Argentina, Brazil, India and the UK have increasingly turned to facial recognition technologies to police public protests and sporting events and discriminate against marginalized communities – particularly migrants and refugees. For example, in response to legal action by Amnesty International, the New York Police Department revealed in 2023 how it used the technology to subject Black Lives Matter protests in the city to surveillance.

The nefarious use of facial recognition was no more pervasive than in the West Bank of the Occupied Palestinian Territories where it was used by Israel to reinforce restrictions on freedom of movement and help maintain the system of apartheid.

In Serbia, the introduction of a semi-automated social welfare system resulted in thousands of people losing access to vital social assistance. This particularly affected Roma communities and people with disabilities, demonstrating how unchecked automation can exacerbate inequality.

With millions fleeing conflicts around the world, the report notes how abusive technologies were relied upon for migration governance and border enforcement, including through use of digital alternatives to detention, border externalization technologies, data software, biometrics and algorithmic decision-making systems. The proliferation of these technologies perpetuates and reinforces discrimination, racism, and disproportionate and unlawful surveillance against racialized people.

Meanwhile, spyware has remained largely unregulated, despite the long-term evidence of the human rights violations it drives, with activists-in-exile, journalists and human rights defenders usually among those targeted. In 2023, Amnesty International uncovered the use of Pegasus spyware against journalists and civil society activists in countries including Armenia, the Dominican Republic, India and Serbia, while EU-based and regulated spyware was freely sold to states the world over.



Big Tech’s surveillance business model is pouring fuel on this fire of hate, enabling those with malintent to hound, dehumanize and amplify dangerous narratives to consolidate power or polling.Agnès Callamard

Over the past year the rapid trajectory of generative AI, has transformed the scale of the threat posed by the gamut of technologies already in existence – from spyware to state automation and social media’s run-away algorithms.

In the face of rapacious advancements, regulation has largely remained stagnant. However, in a sign that European policymakers are beginning to act, a landmark EU-wide Digital Services Act came into force in February 2024. While imperfect and incomplete, it has nevertheless triggered a much-needed global debate on AI regulation.

“There is a vast chasm between the risks posed by the unchecked advancement of technologies, and where we need to be in terms of regulation and protection. It’s our future foretold and will only worsen unless the rampant proliferation of unregulated technology is curtailed,” said Agnès Callamard.

Amnesty International exposed how Facebook’s algorithms contributed to ethnic violence in Ethiopia in the context of armed conflict. This is a prime example of how technology is weaponized to pit communities against each other, particularly in times of instability.

The human rights organization forecasts that these problems will escalate in a landmark election year, with the surveillance-based business model underpinning major social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube acting as a catalyst for human rights violations in the context of elections.

“We’ve seen how hate, discrimination and disinformation are amplified and spread by social media algorithms optimized to maximize ‘engagement’ above all else. They create an endless and dangerous feedback loop, particularly at times of heightened political sensitivity. Tools can generate synthetic images, audio and video in seconds, as well as target specific audience groups at scale, but electoral regulation has yet to catch up with this threat. To date we’ve seen too much talk with too little action,” said Agnès Callamard.

In November, the US presidential election will take place in the face of increasing discrimination, harassment and abuse on social media platforms towards marginalized communities including LGBTI people. Threatening and intimidating anti-abortion content has also become rife.

About a billion people are voting in India’s election this year against a backdrop of attacks on peaceful protesters and systematic discrimination against religious minorities. In 2023 Amnesty International revealed that invasive spyware had been used to target prominent Indian journalists, and more broadly tech platforms have become political battlefields.

“Politicians have long used manipulation of ‘us vs. them’ narratives to win votes and outmanoeuvre legitimate questions about economic and security fears. We’ve seen how unregulated technologies, such as facial recognition, have been used to entrench discrimination. Coupled with this, Big Tech’s surveillance business model is pouring fuel on this fire of hate, enabling those with malintent to hound, dehumanize and amplify dangerous narratives to consolidate power or polling. It’s a chilling spectre of what’s to come as technological advances rapaciously outpace accountability,” said Agnès Callamard.


Unregulated tech: supercharges human rights violations

1. EXACERBATING INEQUALITIES

Governments are using technology to reinforce discriminatory policies that exacerbate racial and other inequalities.

2. UNDERMINING THE RIGHT TO PEACEFUL PROTEST

Governments are deploying mass video surveillance, secretly using biometric and facial recognition software and intercepting private communications to curtail peaceful protest.

3. FUELLING ONLINE HATE

Major social media platforms operate surveillance-based business models which can act as a catalyst for human rights violations in contexts such as elections.

LAWMAKERS MUST PRIORITISE HUMAN RIGHTS IN TECH REGULATION

Governments should take robust legislative and regulatory steps to address the risks and harms caused by misuse of technology.
Unprecedented global mobilization


“We’ve seen the actions of powerful state and non-state actors cast us deeper into the chaos of a world without effective rules, where ruthless profit-making from revolutionary technologies without effective governance has become the norm. But where many governments have failed to abide by international law, we have also seen others calling on international institutions to implement the rule of law. And where leaders the world over have failed to stand up for human rights, we have seen people galvanized to march, protest and petition for a more hopeful future,” said Agnès Callamard.

The Israel-Hamas conflict sparked hundreds of protests worldwide. People demanded a ceasefire to end the staggering suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, as well as the release of all hostages taken by Hamas and other armed groups, long before many governments did. Elsewhere, people took to the streets of the USA, El Salvador and Poland to demand the right to abortion as the backlash against gender justice took hold. Across the globe thousands joined youth-led movement Fridays For Future to call for the fair and fast phase-out of fossil fuels.

Tireless campaigning also led to a number of significant human rights wins in 2023. Following advocacy by Taiwan’s #MeToo movement and other civil society organizations to end online sexual violence, the government passed an amendment to Taiwan’s “Sexual Assault Crime Prevention Act”.

People have made it abundantly clear that they want human rights; the onus is on governments to show that they are listening. Agnès Callamard

Despite falling short of what was needed, COP28 agreed to “transition away” from fossil fuels marking the first time that fossil fuels had been mentioned in a COP decision. In the wake of years of campaigning, four human rights defenders in the Buyukada case – Taner Kılıç, İdil Eser, Özlem Dalkıran and Günal Kurşun, who were convicted in July 2020 on baseless charges – were finally acquitted in Turkey.

In one of many examples, Afghan education activist Matiullah Wesa was released last October after months of campaigning. He spent nearly seven months in prison for promoting girls’ right to education and criticizing the Taliban’s policy banning girls from seeking secondary education.

“The right to protest is critical to shining a light on abuses and on leaders’ responsibilities. People have made it abundantly clear that they want human rights; the onus is on governments to show that they are listening,” said Agnès Callamard.

“Given the grim global state-of-play, urgent measures are required to revitalize and renew the international institutions intended to safeguard humanity. Steps must be taken to reform the UN Security Council so that permanent members cannot wield their veto power unchecked to prevent the protection of civilians and bolster their geopolitical alliances. Governments must also take robust legislative and regulatory steps to address the risks and harms caused by AI technologies and reign in Big Tech.”

 SAMOA

Dengue cases expected to rise with climate change - medical advisor

Reported cases of dengue fever in Samoa, November 12, 2023 to April 14, 2024.

Reported cases of dengue fever in Samoa, November 12, 2023 to April 14, 2024. Photo: Samoa Ministry of Health

A medical advisor from New Zealand's Immunisation Advisory Centre says dengue is expected to increase with climate change and urbanisation.

In its report for the period of 1-14 April, Samoa's Ministry of Health the country had 216 laboratory-confirmed cases from November last year to the end of that two-week reporting period.

There were 82 new cases were reported in the two weeks to 14 April.

Dr Joan Ingram said cases of dengue have increased over six-fold since 2000.

"It is expected that cases will continue to increase with climate change and urbanisation," she said.

"Between 2012 and 2021 there were 69 outbreaks of dengue fever among the Pacific Islands."

She said after an infected mosquito bite there is an incubation period of 5 to 7 days (maximum 10).

Dengue infection may be unnoticed, or a mild illness or significant illness with fever, pain behind the eyes, bone, joint and muscle pain, and sometimes rash, vomiting and diarrhea.

"In up to 5 percent of infections - most often after a second infection - serious complications such as bleeding or shock can arise.

"There are four different dengue viruses, and infection with one gives long-term protection from that virus, but may make the illness following one of the other three dengue viruses more serious."

World Mosquito Programme director of global delivery Cameron Simmons said Samoa, like most other countries in the Western Pacific, has a long history of being impacted by dengue outbreaks.

He advocated for the Wolbachia method, developed by his organisation, which gives mosquitoes the bacteria to reduce their ability to transmit dengue, Zika and other viruses.

"We know that insecticides and environmental clean-up campaigns can help a little to control the outbreak, but they are short-lived interventions that will not stop future outbreaks in Samoa.

"This most recent surge in dengue case numbers is troubling because the case numbers will inevitably increase, stressing the health system and hurting the wellbeing of patients and their families."

Health advice

Samoa's Ministry of Health recommends cleaning up stagnant water sources, wearing clothing to minimise mosquito bites, and using mosquito nets and repellants.

Half a day this Friday will be dedicated to the dengue-related clean-up of public spaces and government buildings.

The ministry's acting director general Dr Glenn Fatupaito said the clean-up is an effort to eradicate mosquito breeding grounds.

"The idea is the different ministries surrounding the areas just clean up areas and waterways, any place that holds water, potential breeding grounds and such," he said.

He also said pot plants can be a breeding ground for mosquitoes, as certain plants hold water.

"It's one thing that was also discussed - people love Bromeliads, especially in Samoa.

"If you're going to plant such plants, keep it at least 100 yards from your household to reduce potential breeding grounds for mosquitoes."

The health ministry is also urging households to look out for their high-risk family members.

"We're mindful of our very old, our very young, our pregnant women as well," Dr Fatupaito said.

"We don't want any complications, and if you're sick: the supportive treatment, bedrest, lots of fluids, paracetemol, and come see a doctor if things are getting worse."

He said with numbers expected to rise, the Ministry will release weekly online updates starting on Friday.

New Zealand's Safe Travel website is suggesting anyone travelling to, or living in, Samoa should have comprehensive medical and travel insurance policies.

The first glow-in-the-dark animals may have been ancient corals deep in the ocean



This image provided by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in April 2024 shows bioluminescence in the sea whip coral Funiculina sp. observed under red light in a laboratory. Most animals that light up are found in the depths of the ocean and they might have been doing it longer than thought. In a study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, scientists report that the first animals that glowed may have been coral that lived 540 million years ago. “Light signaling is one of the earliest forms of communication that we know of _ it’s very important in deep waters,” said Andrea Quattrini, a co-author of the study. (Manabu Bessho-Uehara/MBARI via AP)Read More


This image from video provided by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in April 2024 shows bioluminescence in the shaggy bamboo coral Isidella tentaculum filmed in the ocean by a remotely operated vehicle. Most animals that light up are found in the depths of the ocean and they might have been doing it longer than thought. In a study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, scientists report that the first animals that glowed may have been coral that lived 540 million years ago. “Light signaling is one of the earliest forms of communication that we know of _ it’s very important in deep waters,” said Andrea Quattrini, a co-author of the study. (Doc Ricketts/MBARI via AP)


WASHINGTON (AP) — Many animals can glow in the dark. Fireflies famously blink on summer evenings. But most animals that light up are found in the depths of the ocean.

In a new study, scientists report that deep-sea corals that lived 540 million years ago may have been the first animals to glow, far earlier than previously thought.

“Light signaling is one of the earliest forms of communication that we know of — it’s very important in deep waters,” said Andrea Quattrini, a co-author of the study published Tuesday in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Today, marine creatures that glimmer include some fish, squid, octopuses, jellyfish, even sharks — all the result of chemical reactions.

Some use light to startle predators, “like a burglar alarm,” and others use it to lure prey, as anglerfish do, said Quattrini, who is curator of corals at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Still other animals use light as a beacon to find mates.

Many deep-sea soft coral species light up briefly when bumped — or when stroked with a paintbrush. That’s what scientists used, attached to a remote-controlled underwater rover, to identify and study luminous species, said Steven Haddock, a study co-author and marine biologist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

Soft coral may look like waving reeds, skeleton fingers or stalks of bamboo — and glow pink, orange, white, blue and purple under the researchers’ spotlight, he said.

“For some species, the whole body glows — for others, only parts of their branches will glow,” said Danielle DeLeo, a study co-author and evolutionary marine biologist at the Smithsonian.

For corals, scientists aren’t sure if this luminous reaction is meant to attract or repel other organisms, or perhaps both. But its frequency suggests that it serves a crucial function in many coral species, she said.

But how long have some coral species had the ability to glow?

To answer this question, the researchers used genetic data from 185 species of luminous coral to construct a detailed evolutionary tree. They found that the common ancestor of all soft corals today lived 540 million years ago and very likely could glow — or bioluminescence.

That date is around 270 million years before the previously earliest known example: a glowing prehistoric shrimp. It also places the origin of light production to around the time of the Cambrian explosion, when life on Earth evolved and diversified rapidly — giving rise to many major animal groups that exist today.

“If an animal had a novel trait that made it really special and helped it survive, its descendants were more likely to endure and pass it down,” said Stuart Sandin, a marine biologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who was not involved in the study.
___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Saudi Arabia appointed chair of UN Women’s Rights Forum: Analyzing the absurdity of the decision

Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)
23 April 2024

Activist Manahil Al-Otaibi on a street in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2 September 2019; she was a victim of enforced disappearance and imprisoned because of her support for women’s rights on social media platforms. 
FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

For years, the Kingdom has arrested women’s rights activists who campaigned to end the male guardianship system.

This statement was originally published on adhrb.org on 19 April 2024.

The UN’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) unanimously appointed Saudi Arabia to chair its 69th session in 2025. Abdulaziz Alwasil, the Saudi ambassador to the UN, was elected on March 27 to represent his country. Being chair of the CSW means that Saudi Arabia pivots the political, economic, civil, and social prerogatives of women inside the Commission. In addition, they are the leading actor with the role of highlighting pressing issues for women and girls during conflict. Various human rights advocates have criticized the controversial decision. In particular, the Amnesty International Deputy Director deemed it abysmal. Human Rights Watch (HRW) also warned the UN on its decision to appoint a country that systematically discriminates against women and persecutes rights activists. Unfortunately, it is not the first time that, at the UN level, countries with poor human rights records have been appointed to chair forums promoting social rights.

The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women aims to include, in its agenda, global policy documents of countries around the world on gender equality and empowerment. According to official statements, the government is in line with these goals, after what it describes as important achievements that have been achieved to empower women’s rights. In particular, authorities hail the 2022 Personal Status Law as a milestone for progress and equality for women.

However, Saudi Arabia systematically promotes well-established gender discrimination laws and portrays them as progressive. For example, the 2022 Personal Status Law has been criticized for perpetuating the male guardianship system and codifying discrimination against women. The law fails to provide adequate protection for women from domestic violence and makes them vulnerable to psychological abuse. Men often have the right to limit financial support to their wives if disputes arise. Therefore, the law codifies (and protects) men’s guardianship powers in Saudi Arabia. Male guardianship is a system in which women depend on a man who has the authority to make a range of crucial decisions.

However, this is not the only critical aspect of women’s discrimination in Saudi Arabia. For years, the Kingdom has arrested women’s rights activists who campaigned to end of the male guardianship system. One of the famous cases is that of Manahil Al-Otaibi, who was a victim of enforced disappearance and was imprisoned because of her support for women’s rights on social media platforms. However, women demanding human rights reforms and others who were imprisoned, are facing travel bans and are unable to speak freely.

In conclusion, ADHRB condemns the United Nations and the voting countries for allowing such ridiculous decisions. Such choices damage the reputation of the United Nations and show that Member States are using biopolitical considerations that go beyond the overall goals of the organization. For this reason, ADHRB asks: How can human rights bodies have credibility when allowing such controversial decisions?
3,400-year-old statue portraying the head of King Ramses II returned to Egypt
April 23, 2024

The fragment of a statue of the pharaoh Ramesses II
Photo credit: Swiss Info/Federal Office of Culture

Egypt’s antiquities ministry announced the return of a 3,400-year-old statue portraying the head of King Ramses II, which had been stolen and smuggled out of the country over thirty years ago.

The statue is now housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, pending restoration, according to the ministry’s statement.

The stolen statue is believed to have been taken from the Ramses II temple in the ancient city of Abydos in Southern Egypt over thirty years ago. While the exact date of the theft remains uncertain, Shaaban Abdel Gawad, the head of Egypt’s antiquities repatriation department, estimates it to have occurred in the late 1980s or early 1990s, according to Reuters.

Egyptian authorities detected the stolen artifact being offered for sale at an exhibition in London back in 2013. Following this sighting, the statue reportedly passed through several other countries before eventually reaching Switzerland, as revealed by the antiquities ministry.

“This head is part of a group of statues depicting King Ramses II seated alongside a number of Egyptian deities,” Gawad said.

Ramses II is widely recognized as one of ancient Egypt’s most powerful pharaohs and is also referred to as Ramses the Great. He reigned as the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty from 1279 to 1213 BCE.

Egypt worked in collaboration with Swiss authorities to establish the rightful ownership of the statue. Last year, Switzerland handed over the artifact to the Egyptian embassy in Bern. However, it was only recently that Egypt completed the process to bring the statue back to its home country.
'Lost' Gustav Klimt painting to be auctioned

By Bethany Bell,
BBC News, Vienna
AFPThe painting is thought to depict a daughter of either Adolf or Justus Lieser

A painting by the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt that was believed lost for the past 100 years, is to be auctioned in Vienna.

There are many unanswered questions about the unfinished painting, Portrait of Fraulein Lieser, which Klimt began in 1917 - a year before his death.

There are also debates about who the woman in the picture is, and what happened to the painting during the Nazi era.

The painting's value is estimated at up to €50m ($53m; £42m), although it may fetch a higher price.

It is believed to depict one of the daughters of either Adolf or Justus Lieser, who were brothers from a wealthy family of Jewish industrialists.


Art historians Thomas Natter and Alfred Weidinger say the painting is of Margarethe Constance Lieser, the daughter of Adolf Lieser.

But the im Kinsky auction house in Vienna, which is auctioning the artwork, suggests the painting could also depict one of the two daughters of Justus Lieser and his wife Henriette.

Henriette, who was known as Lilly, was a patron of modern art. She was deported by the Nazis and died in the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust.

Her daughters, Helene and Annie, both survived the Second World War.

The auction house said in a statement that the exact fate of the painting after 1925 was "unclear".

"What is know is that it was acquired by a legal predecessor of the consignor in the 1960s and went to the current owner through three successive inheritances."

The identity of the current Austrian owners has not been made public.

The painting is being sold on behalf of these owners and the legal successors of Adolf and Henriette Lieser, based on the Washington Principles - an international agreement to return Nazi-looted art to the descendants of the people the pieces were taken from.

Ernst Ploil from im Kinsky told the BBC: "We have an an agreement, according to the Washington principles, with the whole family".

The im Kinsky catalogue described this agreement as "a fair and just solution".

However Erika Jakubovits, the executive director of the Presidency of the Austrian Jewish Community, said there were still "many unanswered questions".

She has called for the case to be researched by "an independent party".

"Art restitution is a very sensitive issue, all research must be carried out accurately and in detail, and the result must be comprehensible and transparent," Ms Jakubovits said.

"It must be ensured that there is also a state-of-the-art procedure for future private restitutions."

Klimt's art has fetched huge sums at auction in the past.

His Lady with a Fan piece sold for £85.3m at Sotheby's in June 2023, making it the most valuable work of art ever sold at auction in Europe.
Investigations launched into Chinese supermarket’s alleged refusal to serve Nigerian customers
April 23, 2024
The Royal Choice Chinese restaurant is accused of refusing to sell to Nigerians -- Photo: The Cable

The owners of a Chinese supermarket in Nigeria have been summoned by the West African nation’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) after the establishment was accused of barring Nigerians from entering the store and patronizing their products.

According to local news outlet The Cable, the Chinese supermarket in question, Royal Choice, is located in the capital Abuja. The facility, which sells Chinese foods and beverages, is situated on the China General Chamber of Commerce premises.

Royal Choice is said to have come under scrutiny over the weekend after many people registered their displeasure over the supermarket’s alleged policy of serving only Chinese customers.


The FCCPC has since instructed the owner to attend an investigative hearing “to testify, make dispositions and present evidence with respect to the commission’s ongoing investigation/inquiry”.

The agency has also instructed the supermarket to present its Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) status report revealing information about its directors and “any and all lease agreement.”

“Take notice that you are required to attend in person in compliance Summons. You are further required to produce and provide the above on or before Wednesday, April 24, 2024,” the FCCPC stated.

“Take further notice that failure to comply with this Summons to offence under Section 33 (3) of the FCCPA, and subject to penalties Million Naira (N20,000,000.00 [$15,000]), or a term of imprisonment up to three years, or to both penalties and imprisonment.”

A resident on April 21 shared a viral video where he claimed the supermarket wasn’t allowing Nigerians to enter and patronize their services, The Cable reported.

“There is this Chinese restaurant I saw online. They have food, ramen and other things. So, I wanted to check it out and when I got there the security guard told me the supermarket is strictly for Chinese people. If you are a Nigerian, you can’t go in and can’t buy anything,” the person said.

Boladale Adeyinka, who is the Director of Surveillance and Enforcement for the FCCPC, said the supermarket was locked when they arrived to issue the summons.

“Enquiries have shown that as at this morning, this supermarket was opened and people were here,” Adeyinka said. “CCTV footage also showed that at about 8.29 am, two vehicles departed from this premises, allegedly containing the owner of this supermarket.”

This recent incident adds to other previous reports of Chinese businesses allegedly denying services to African customers. In 2020, Face2Face Africa reported that authorities in Zambia closed down a Chinese restaurant in the capital, Lusaka for allegedly refusing to serve locals.