It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
BlackRock's Fink warns on climate change
THE GREENING OF A HEDGE FUND GREEN CAPITALISM
'Watershed moment': BlackRock pledges tough stance on climate
After activists ramp up pressure, world's biggest investment manager moves to reallocate capital away from fossil fuels. by Ben Piven
'We believe that sustainable investing is the strongest foundation for client portfolios going forward,' says Larry Fink, chief executive officer of BlackRock Inc [Alex Kraus/Bloomberg]
BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink has demanded that corporate boards enhance efforts to address the climate crisis, marking a major transition for the globe's largest investment manager.
In his annual letter to CEOs posted on the BlackRock website on Tuesday, Fink describes a "fundamental reshaping of finance" - following years of pressure by activists unhappy about the company's role in bankrolling fossil fuels.
Fink said firms in the United States and beyond should act now or face the wrath of investors angry about how unsustainable business practices could take a bite out of their wealth. He wrote that BlackRock would "be increasingly disposed" to cast critical proxy votes tied to sustainability.
Eli Kasargod-Staub, executive director of the corporate governance watchdog group Majority Action, called the statement a "watershed moment" and said "advocates have for years been calling on BlackRock to improve its transparency on proxy voting".
Collectively with fellow asset managers State Street Corporation and the Vanguard Group, BlackRock holds about 25 percent of shares across the S&P 500, giving these firms the ability to set rules by how they vote.
"Leading investors realise the risks of climate change are being exacerbated by high-emitting companies, through their own capital expenditures, operations and policy," Kasargod-Staub told Al Jazeera.
Calling for corporations to "set targets aligned with the Paris Agreement", Kasargod-Staub said "net-zero carbon emissions" should be embraced through "trade associations, lobbying and political contributions".
"BlackRock needs to draw a clear, bright line for portfolio companies," he added, referring to the energy, electricity and transportation sectors. 'Beginning to crack'
Fink said in a separate letter to clients that the New York-based firm will sell off from its actively managed client portfolios all stakes in companies that derive more than 25 percent of their revenue from thermal coal production, achieving this goal by the summer of 2020.
BlackRock did not give specific details on which companies it would be divesting, or the size of those positions. At BlackRock and other investment firms, asset managers have clients with a wide range of political views and are careful to represent their actions in terms of investment strategy rather than politics.
Climate activists are praising Fink's stronger stances, though some say the asset manager will need to back up the new rhetoric. Protesters eat fake money outside the BlackRock office during an Extinction Rebellion demonstration in London [Henry Nicholls/Reuters]
"BlackRock is beginning to crack, that's an enormous deal," said Pete Sikora, climate and inequality campaigns director at New York Communities for Change.
"They control about $7 trillion in assets - eight to 11 percent of every Fortune 500 company," Sikora told Al Jazeera. "[They are] the single biggest owner of basically every financial asset out there, and that includes fossil fuels."
He hailed BlackRock's shift toward holding every board of directors accountable on climate, but also said the company still should "rearrange their passive indexes so that the defaults exclude oil, gas and coal".
Sikora said Fink's gesture "did not come out of thin air" but was the result of "smart, relentless activism".
"Right now Australia is on fire, there's enormous flooding in Indonesia, and last weekend it was 68 degrees [20 degrees Celsius] in New York," he added. "BlackRock is part of what is torching the world." 'Looking at this very closely'
Top index fund managers rarely challenge company management and generally oppose climate resolutions.
At ExxonMobil's annual meeting on May 29, BlackRock backed all but one of 10 directors up for election - but opposed six of seven shareholder proposals.
Historically, BlackRock has said it engages executives behind the scenes, an approach that critics say does not really move the needle.
Banks also have faced pressure to trim fossil-fuel financing, and activists are challenging insurance companies not to cover projects in sectors with stranded asset risk. Protesters gather outside the ExxonMobil annual shareholder meeting last year to protest the company's climate policies [Jennifer Hiller/Reuters]
Meanwhile, investors have started to put more money into more climate-friendly funds. Investments in sustainable exchange-traded funds grew to $20bn in 2019, nearly four times the previous year's record.
Ben Cushing, a campaign representative at Sierra Club, told Al Jazeera that BlackRock also should address deforestation, "which behind fossil fuels is the second-leading driver of the climate crisis".
He said that "Larry Fink's highly anticipated annual letter in 2019 failed to even mention climate change".
"[BlackRock] peers and competitors are going to be looking at this very closely" in 2020, Cushing added.
"At annual shareholder meetings this spring," said Cushing, "BlackRock has a near-term opportunity to implement these words and put them into action."
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
BlackRock, world's largest asset manager, changing its focus to climate change
'In the near future … there will be a significant reallocation of capital,' CEO says
The Associated Press ·
BlackRock Chairman and CEO Laurence Fink said the world's largest asset manager is making climate change central to its investment decisions going forward. (Mark Lennihan, File/The Associated Press)
Founder and CEO Laurence Fink, who oversees the management of about $7 trillion in funds, said in his influential annual letter to CEOs Tuesday that he believes we are "on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance" because of a warming planet.
Climate change has become the top issue raised by clients, Fink said, and will affect everything from municipal bonds to long-term mortgages for homes.
The New York firm is taking immediate action, exiting investments in coal used to generate power, and will begin asking clients to disclose their climate-related risks.
"Because capital markets pull future risk forward, we will see changes in capital allocation more quickly than we see changes to the climate itself," Fink wrote in the letter. "In the near future — and sooner than most anticipate — there will be a significant reallocation of capital."
That shift is already underway.
Investors poured $20.6 billion into sustainable funds last year, nearly quadrupling the record it had set a year earlier, according to Morningstar. The industry has broadened in recent years, after starting with simple funds that bluntly excluded stocks deemed as harmful, such as gun makers or tobacco stocks.
Fink said in his annual letter to CEOs that energy transition will likely take decades and that governments and the private sector must work together to ensure it is fair and just. (Larry MacDougal/The Canadian Press)
Investors, particularly younger ones, increasingly say they want their money invested with an eye toward sustainability. Fearful of losing out on those dollars — and the fees that they produce — investment companies are rushing to meet the surging demand.
Fund managers increasingly say they consider environmental, social and governance issues in their broad investment strategy. It's known as "ESG" investing in the industry, and it means fund managers measure a company's performance on the environment and other sustainability issues along with its bottom-line financials when choosing which stocks to own.
ESG funds say such an approach can help investors' returns, rather than just their consciences, because it can help avoid risky companies, and the big losses they may have ahead of them in the future. Companies with poor records on the environment are more likely to face big fines, for example.
The European Union plans to dedicate a quarter of its budget to tackling climate change and has set up a scheme to shift 1 trillion euros ($1.4 trillion Cdn) in investment toward making the economy more environmentally friendly over the next 10 years.
The Europe Investment Plan, to be unveiled Tuesday, will be funded by the EU budget and the private sector. It aims to deliver on European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen's Green Deal to make the bloc the world's first carbon-neutral continent by 2050.
The shift by BlackRock is substantial. The firm has long been a target of environmental activists who have staged protests outside of its headquarters in midtown Manhattan. It has been hounded by some members of Congress who believe BlackRock could better address climate change with its vast economic heft.
Because of its size and reach, any shift in focus by BlackRock has the potential for much wider ramifications. The firm has operations in dozens of countries and is often called the world's largest shadow bank.
"Over time, companies and countries that do not respond to stakeholders and address sustainability risks will encounter growing skepticism from the markets, and in turn, a higher cost of capital," Fink wrote. "Companies and countries that champion transparency and demonstrate their responsiveness to stakeholders, by contrast, will attract investment more effectively, including higher-quality, more patient capital."
Climate change to drive 'massive' investment shift
14 January 2020
Image copyright GETTY
Concerns about climate change will drive a "fundamental reshaping of finance", one of the world's biggest money managers has said.
Larry Fink, who runs BlackRock, said the shift will happen "sooner than most anticipate".
His company has announced "sustainable" versions of its traditional investment options to meet demand from clients.
It has also said it would push firms to disclose more about a range of issues, including climate commitments.
While markets have been slow to reflect the worries about climate change, Mr Fink said the corporate world is now catching up.
"Awareness is rapidly changing, and I believe we are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance," he wrote in an annual letter to chief executives.
"In the near future - and sooner than most anticipate - there will be a significant reallocation of capital."
In a letter to clients, BlackRock - which manages nearly $7tn in assets - said it was taking a number of steps to respond to the investment risks linked to climate change.
In addition to the sustainable funds, it said its investors would be able to screen their portfolios for certain sectors.
For actively managed funds, the company also plans to sell its holdings of companies that derive more than 25% of their revenue from thermal coal production by mid-2020.
'Seriously consider sustainability'
Even if only 5% of investors opt for sustainable strategies, it will still produce "massive shifts", Mr Fink said.
"The commitments we are making today reflect our conviction that all investors - and particularly the millions of our clients who are saving for long-term goals like retirement - must seriously consider sustainability in their investments," he wrote in the letter to clients.
But, he added: "The choice remains with you".
Image copyright GETTY IMAGES
The Sierra Club, an environmental group, said BlackRock's announcements were a "major step in the right direction" that will put pressure on competitors to take similar steps.
But the fund manager continues to hold sizable investments in coal, oil and gas.
And the Sierra Club said it would be watching to see whether BlackRock flexes its shareholder muscle in upcoming climate-related votes at the companies it invests in.
"It is time to turn off the money pipeline to dirty fossil fuels for good," said Ben Cushing, the organisation's campaign representative.
"BlackRock should expand on its commitments and other financial institutions should follow suit."
Mr Fink's letter puts a spotlight on a growing trend among investors who worry about the industries they are funding.
Investments in some "sustainable" funds jumped to $20bn in 2019, nearly four times the previous year's record, according to data from Morningstar.
In the US, assets managed with sustainable investing strategies now represent more than a quarter of all investment assets under professional management, according to estimates by the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance.
World’s Largest Fund Manager to 'Reshape' Investment Portfolio to Consider Climate Crisis, Sustainability
In response a report by Majority Action, members of New York Communities for Change (NYCC), Mothers Out Front (MOF), Sunrise Movement NYC, Sierra Club and 350Brooklyn gathered for a press conference on Sept. 17, 2019 outside BlackRock offices in New York City. Erik McGregor / LightRocket via Getty Images
BlackRock, an investment fund that manages nearly $7 trillion, will "reshape" its strategy toward investments that support environmental sustainability, according to a letter to investors from its founder and Chief Executive Larry Fink, as The New York Times reported.
In the letter, Fink wrote, "Climate change has become a defining factor in companies' long-term prospects … But awareness is rapidly changing, and I believe we are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance. The evidence on climate risk is compelling investors to reassess core assumptions about modern finance."
BlackRock's assets include massive investments in fossil fuels, including big oil producers such as BP, Shell and ExxonMobil. The investing giant has drawn the ire of environmentalists by routinely dismissing the climate crisis and voting against shareholder actions to direct corporate boards to address the growing climate emergency, as The Guardian reported.
Activists hailed the new declaration that the climate crisis will steer BlackRock's future investments. Bill McKibben, the founder of 350.org, which campaigns for divesting from fossil fuels, wrote on Twitter, "Biggest news in a long time. After a ton of pressure, Blackrock — which owns more fossil fuel stock than anyone on earth — announces it will put 'climate change at the center of its investment strategy.' A huge — if by no means final — win for activists!"
The ton of pressure McKibben referred to reached a fever pitch after BlackRock ranked amongst one of the companies with the worst voting records on climate issues. Last month, British hedge fund manager Christopher Hohn said it was appalling that BlackRock did not require companies to disclose sustainability efforts. Activists had staged protests outside BlackRock's office, and members of congress wrote to Fink to urge more climate-related investing, as The New York Times reported. Last month, in an interview with the Financial Times, former Vice President Al Gore asked if passive managers like BlackRock's would like "to continue to finance the destruction of human civilization, or not?"
"BlackRock remains waist-deep in fossil fuel investments and the world's top backer of companies that destroy the Amazon rainforest and ignore the rights of indigenous people," said Extinction Rebellion, as The Guardian reported.
BlackRock's plans to address the climate crisis will start with abandoning investments that "present a high sustainability-related risk," like coal producers. Fink hopes that BlackRock's lead will encourage every company, not just energy companies, to assess their carbon footprint, as The New York Times reported. BlackRock will also ask the companies it invests in to disclose plans for helping the world adhere to the Paris agreement to keep warming below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times, according to CNN.
The largest impact may be if BlackRock's decision is a watershed moment that triggers a conversation amongst financiers and policymakers about the climate crisis. It will also put pressure on other large financial players to articulate a clear sustainability strategy, as The New York Times reported.
Not only is changing an investment strategy that supports sustainability good for combating the climate crisis, but it can also be profitable. As The New York Times pointed out, "Had Mr. Fink moved a decade ago to pull BlackRock's funds out of companies that contribute to climate change, his clients would have been well served. In the past 10 years, through Friday, companies in the S&P 500 energy sector had gained just 2 percent in total. In the same period, the broader S&P 500 nearly tripled."
BlackRock will also join Climate Action 100+, which bills itself as an investor initiative to to ensure the world's largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters take necessary action on climate change.
While BlackRock's intention to join was welcomed by activists, anger and resentment lingers over the firm's past actions.
"Joining Climate Action 100+ is just a first step in the right direction for BlackRock; it must also respond to the fact that it is the world's biggest investor in deforestation," said Moira Birss, finance campaign director for Amazon Watch, in a press release. "The Amazon fires last fall and the wildfires in Australia today show the immense risk to the climate, forests, and indigenous peoples that deforestation-risk commodities pose. BlackRock must make its engagement with companies public and transparent with clear policies, deadlines, and ambitious timelines for shifting capital out of the worst offenders if they won't change."
After suffering big losses on fossil fuel investments, world's largest investment manager dumps thermal coal investments and issues warning to directors who fail ...
17h ago16:19 Finally, here’s Associated Press’s take on the BlackRock move: BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, will make climate change central to its investment decisions.
Founder and CEO Laurence Fink, who oversees the management of about $7 trillion in funds, said in his influential annual letter to CEOs Tuesday that he believes we are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance because of a warming planet.
Climate change has become the top issue raised by clients, Fink said, and it will affect everything from municipal bonds to long-term mortgages for homes.
The New York firm is taking immediate action, exiting investments in coal used to generate power, and it will begin asking clients to disclose their climate-related risks.
Because capital markets pull future risk forward, we will see changes in capital allocation more quickly than we see changes to the climate itself, Fink wrote in the letter. In the near future and sooner than most anticipate there will be a significant reallocation of capital.
That shift is already underway.
Investors poured $20.6 billion into sustainable funds last year, nearly quadrupling the record it had set a year earlier, according to Morningstar. The industry has broadened in recent years, after starting with simple funds that bluntly excluded stocks deemed as harmful, such as gun makers or tobacco stocks.
Investors, particularly younger ones, increasingly say they want their money invested with an eye toward sustainability. Fearful of losing out on those dollars and the fees that they produce investment companies are rushing to meet the surging demand.
Fund managers increasingly say they consider environmental, social and governance issues in their broad investment strategy. It’s known as ESG investing in the industry, and it means fund managers measure a company’s performance on the environment and other sustainability issues along with its bottom-line financials when choosing which stocks to own.
ESG funds say such an approach can help investors returns, rather than just their consciences, because it can help avoid risky companies, and the big losses they may have ahead of them in the future. Companies with poor records on the environment are more likely to face big fines, for example.
If BlackRock really wants to make a difference on the climate emergency, it needs to pile more pressure onto the companies it invests in.
That means voting in favour of climate-friendly motions at AGMs, and voting against directors who don’t take the problem seriously enough.
George Hay of Reuters has a good take on this, here:
Fink’s most eye-catching shift is to change how BlackRock plans to engage with the companies it invests in, whether active or passive. From now on, it will be “increasingly disposed” to vote against directors at companies that are not doing enough. That includes those like Exxon Mobil which lobbyist CDP argues have been slow to explain how their balance sheets would be affected by higher temperatures.
BlackRock itself is evidence of what such a change can achieve. Fink’s greater focus on climate change owes much to the firm’s own clients – such as Japan’s huge Government Pension Investment Fund – shoving it in this direction. If Fink is serious about applying the same pressure on the companies BlackRock invests in, his 2020 letter may be seen as a watershed. Jennifer Ablan(@jennablan)
19h ago14:03 While environmental campaigners want more from BlackRock, investors such as Ross Gerber are applauding Larry Fink: Ross Gerber(@GerberKawasaki)
Larry Fink is a visionary leader and we’re proud of the stance @blackrock is taking on #ClimateChange - we have substantial assets with them. This is one reason why.January 14, 2020
19h ago13:59 Full story: BlackRock says climate crisis will now guide its investments
Here’s our news story on BlackRock’s move into sustainable investing: Guardian Business(@BusinessDesk)
“This is a positive announcement in the move to make financing of thermal coal more costly.
The climate movement will be watching closely to see how BlackRock’s policy of scrutinizing other parts of the thermal coal value chain develops - critically, concerning utilities who continue to plan on new coal generation.” Updated at 1.47pm GMT
20h ago13:23 Financial journalist Anne Ashworth reckons BlackRock has been bounced into action by the Greta effect: Anne Ashworth(@AnneAshworth)
Stat of the day @blackrock (world's largest money manager) to double the number of its sustainability-focused funds to 150. Group had been accused of not using its power to combat #ClimateChangeJanuary 14, 2020 Anne Ashworth(@AnneAshworth)
BlackRock boss acknowledges the impact of #ClimateChange demonstrations last year and expects "significant reallocation of capital." Who would have thought that #GretaThunberg would have had an influence even on ISAs?January 14, 2020
13:06 BlackRock certainly has a lot of catching up to do. As well as holding huge stakes in the fossil fuel industry, BlackRock has also dragged its feet on sustainability in the past, before now seemingly seeing the light.
The New York Times sums up the criticism:
BlackRock itself has come under criticism from both industry and environmental groups for being behind on pushing these issues. Just last month, a British hedge fund manager, Christopher Hohn, said that it was “appalling” of BlackRock not to require companies to disclose their sustainability efforts, and that the firm’s previous efforts had been “full of greenwash.”
Climate activists staged several protests outside BlackRock’s offices last year, and Mr. Fink himself has received letters from members of Congress urging more action on climate-related investing. According to Ceres and FundVotes, a unit of Morningstar, BlackRock had among the worst voting records on climate issues. Rebecca Ungarino(@ungarino)
"According to Ceres and FundVotes, a unit of Morningstar, BlackRock had among the worst voting records on climate issues." https://t.co/Zfrhp4VM2kJanuary 14, 2020
Extinction Rebellion aren’t very impressed by BlackRock’s move.
The activist campaign, whose protests have helped highlight the climate emergency, points out that Larry Fink’s group has endless billions invested in polluting companies.
It’s not always the case that something is better than nothing, particularly if it’s used to distract from the truth. And the truth is that the world’s biggest miners and polluters will not be losing any sleep over this.
BlackRock remains waist-deep in fossil fuel investments and the world’s top backer of companies that destroy the Amazon rainforest and ignore the rights of indigenous people. BlackRock can rest assured that we will continue to pile on the pressure until they act to protect our children and the natural world.
Back in October, The Guardian showed how BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street collectively held $300bn in fossil fuel investments.
Photograph: The Guardian
My colleague Patrick Greenfield also highlighted that the companies had failed to support climate activists (something BlackRock is now pledging to address).
BlackRock and Vanguard opposed or abstained on more than 80% of climate-related motions at FTSE 100 and S&P 500 fossil fuel companies between 2015 and 2019, according to data provided by ProxyInsight.
The big three are among a number of asset managers that offer “climate-friendly” and “sustainable” investment funds that have substantial holdings in fossil fuel companies. 21h ago12:14
Author and journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin says Larry Fink’s move towards sustainable investment is a “watershed” moment: Andrew Ross Sorkin(@andrewrsorkin)
"The evidence on climate risk is compelling investors to reassess core assumptions about modern finance."
More highlights from Larry Fink's annual letter -- which will likely be a watershed in the world of business below👇https://t.co/DeVMMlQvVvJanuary 14, 2020
BUT..... Bloomberg’s Mark Gilbert points out that BlackRock’s index-tracking funds aren’t involved. That means the trillions of dollars used for passive investing won’t be directed towards cleaner investments. He writes: BlackRock Inc., the world’s biggest fund manager with $7 trillion of assets, says it plans to “place sustainability at the center of our investment approach.” As environmental, social and governance issues become more pressing, especially for younger savers, it’s a savvy business move that will pressure its peers to follow suit.
But there’s a problem. With about two-thirds of the money it manages allocated to index-tracking funds, the issue of how to harness the resources in passive products — the bulk of which command fees that are too low to finance costly and time-consuming engagement with company boards — remains unaddressed. 22h ago11:40 Bloomberg’s David Fickling has a good theory about BlackRock’s move towards climate activism.
He reckons some CEOs are as scared about the climate emergency as anyone, but can’t reconcile it with their daily lives. This means they end up taking business decisions that make the crisis worse.
He cites Siemens’ refusal to abandon a contract to provide rail signalling at a new Australian coalmine, despite also pledging to become carbon neutral by 2030.
Adani coalmine: Siemens CEO has ‘empathy’ for environment but refuses to quit contract
But the letter itself keeps nagging at me. I think while it's right to take a cynical view of mere words -- Siemens is still going ahead with the contract, after all -- it's worth listening to the ... *anguish*, really, that comes across in the letter.January 14, 2020 David Fickling(@davidfickling)
From the outside it looks like political and corporate decision-making is the outcome of an ironclad process.
The way these institutions frame their decisions seems calculated to give them a feeling of reasoned inevitability.
I don't think that's how it really works.January 14, 2020 David Fickling(@davidfickling)
I think things like a CEO having a crisis of conscience actually matters.
More CEOs should be having such crises!
And then giving serious thought to what they can do to change outcomes.
If they don't have the crisis, they probably won't make the change.January 14, 2020 David Fickling(@davidfickling)
Since the Paris Agreement we've seen a real shift in corporate thinking on these issues.
I'm very sceptical of Blackrock's latest announcement on climate, but it's hard to imagine anything of this sort happening five years ago: https://t.co/JKbUZlnNnLJanuary 14, 2020
Shaheen Bagh protesters pledge to fight, seek rollback of CAA law
One month on, protesters say they will continue to fight against new citizenship law that discriminates against Muslims.
Women protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act
have occupied a stretch of the main road near
Shaheen Bagh [Nasir Kachroo/Al Jazeera]
New Delhi, India - Bilquis has been on a sit-in protest since mid-December in the Indian capital against a new citizenship law that critics say runs counter to the country's secular constitution.
For the past one month, thousands of protesters - led mostly by hijab and burqa-clad Muslim women, many of them homemakers - have occupied a stretch of a main road near Shaheen Bagh, a working-class Muslim neighbourhood connecting the capital city to the satellite city of Noida. More:
They are protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed last month that aims to fast-track the naturalisation of non-Muslim refugees from three neighbouring countries.
The law will grant Indian citizenship to "persecuted" minorities - Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians - from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan - but blocks naturalisation for Muslims. We are protesting for justice, for our rights and we will not move until this law is revoked
SABA KHATOON, PROTESTER
Many liberal Indians have joined the anti-CAA protests in solidarity, saying the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to divide Indians by making faith as a basis for citizenship. Bilquis, 82, has never taken part in any protest before [Bilal Kuchay/Al Jazeera]
"It's my 29th day here today. I eat here, I pray and sleep here only," Bilquis, 82, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday. "I go home only when I have to change my clothes or take a bath," the octogenarian said.
Born before India's independence in 1947, Bilquis has never taken part in any protest before but today it is different, she says.
As women sit in rows, men stand along the ropes and steel fence of a road divider turning the site into a closed rectangular enclosure.
Together they chant: "Halla bol, CAA pe halla bol" (Raise your voice against CAA); "Hum kya chahte? Azaadi - bhedbhav se azaadi" (We want freedom - freedom from discrimination).
The severe winter of Delhi does not seem to have deterred them.
Bilquis, along with few elderly women, sits close to the makeshift stage behind which a large banner hangs with the photograph of Bhimrao Ambedkar - the architect of India's constitution and a Dalit icon.
She patiently listens to revolutionary poetry and speeches by activists, who visit the sit-in site almost daily, and vigorously answers to the slogans that are shouted from the stage.
"We are on the road to protest against this new law that Modi government has brought. It is to target Muslims and send our children to detention camps," she said as a group of women sitting close to her nod their heads in agreement.
"We are protesting for justice, for our rights and we will not move until this law is revoked," says another elderly woman, Saba Khatoon. What triggered the Shaheen Bagh protests?
The peaceful sit-in at Shaheen Bagh began on December 16 after Delhi police stormed the campus of nearby Jamia Millia Islamia university and assaulted students who took out a protest march against CAA. This protest doesn't belong to Muslims only but to all those people who believe in the Indian constitution and want to protect it SHYAMA KHAN, PROTESTER After the protest turned violent, police entered the university campus, fired tear gas shells and thrashed unarmed students. Videos of police brutality shared on social media caused a public outcry.
The new law coupled with a proposed nationwide counting of citizenship (National Register of Citizens or NRC) has India's Muslims, who number nearly 200 million, worried.
Huge protests have been held across India in the past one month. At least 28 people, mostly Muslims, have been killed in the police crackdown. The northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state ruled by Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has reported most deaths.
The protest at Shaheen Bagh began with a small group of men and women but soon swelled as people from other parts of Delhi also joined in solidarity. The Shaheen Bagh protest venue has been compared with Jantar Mantar - a site close to Indian parliament that hosts protests round the year.
Sheeza Fatima, 44, a resident of Aligarh - about 100km from New Delhi - had come to a relative's place in Shaheen Bagh when the sit-in began. She joined soon and now visits daily.
"I thought it's better to join these women who are out for a cause rather than go back home," she told Al Jazeera. Huge protests have been held across India in the past
one month [Nasir Kachroo/Al Jazeera] Solidarity protests
Every day hundreds of people from different faiths come and join the demonstrators in what they call a movement to "save the country and its constitution".
Behind the demarcated site for women, young men and children in groups shout slogans against CAA and government. Many take selfies near the replica of India Gate - the iconic war memorial in New Delhi - installed by the protesters last week which has names of protesters killed in the past one month written on it.
Nearby, a patch of the road has been designed in colourful graffiti with anti-CAA slogans like "Reject CAA, Reject NRC" and calls for unity. "Strength through unity, unity through faith" the graffiti reads.
The demonstrators often shout "Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isaai - aapas mein hain bhaai bhaai" (Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians are brothers).
Placards and posters of religious symbols belonging to different faiths are on a display while an interfaith ceremony was held at the site on Sunday.
Demonstrators also read out the preamble of the Indian constitution and took an oath to preserve its "socialist, secular" values.
"This protest doesn't belong to Muslims only but to all those people who believe in the Indian constitution and want to protect it," said Shyama Khan, 24.
The protest has led to the closure of dozens of shops, but traders say they do not mind it.
"The protest has definitely affected our business but we support the protest and as long as the protest continues here, we will not open our shops," said Zakir, who runs a mobile shop and gave only his first name.
"We are ready to bear the financial losses but this protest is important. It's about our identity and dignity," he said. Replica of India Gate installed by the protesters last week
which has names of protesters killed in the past one month
written on it [Nasir Kachroo/Al Jazeera]
Similar protests
The Shaheen Bagh protest, which has made headlines in national media, has inspired similar protests in cities across India.
"We all are happy that our protest has inspired people across the country," said 75-year-old Sarwari, who gave only one name.
"This government is saying we won't move back an inch on this law but it has to roll-back. The BJP tried to divide us on religious lines but it has united us all," she said.
Media reported that police will try and persuade protesters at Shaheen Bagh to call off their sit-in, which has forced commuters to take different routes every day for the last one month.
Despite repeated attempts, Delhi police officials could not be reached for comment.
But BJP spokesman GVL Narasimha Rao said "opposition's criticism of CAA is a motivated propaganda of lies and prompted by political considerations".
Rao, however, declined to comment on why the governing party officials have not reached out to the Shaheen Bagh protesters.
Ruheena Khan, 35, a mother of two daughters has been part of the protest since December 18. Every day at about 10am, she comes to the protest site along with her five-month-old daughter and stays till midnight.
"If not today, then when. Will we begin protests when they [government] start putting us in detention centres," she asked.
"We are fighting together for everyone. For those who are Indians but can't prove their citizenship because they are poor and don't have any documents."
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS
New video shows Ukrainian plane struck by two Iranian missiles
Security camera footage shows two missiles being fired 30 seconds apart causing the plane to crash killing 176 people.
15 Jan 2020
Iran announced its first arrests over the accidental shooting on Tuesday, without naming who or how many people had been detained [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo]
A new video has surfaced showing the moment two missiles hit a Ukrainian passenger plane over Iran's capital, Tehran, killing all 176 passengers and crew on board.
The New York Times said it had verified the security camera footage, which showed two missiles being fired 30 seconds apart, neither of which brought the plane down immediately. More:
An earlier video released on Friday also showed that the plane was hit by a missile was also published.
The video, first reported by the New York Times newspaper and CNN, is consistent with statements made by Canadian, US and UK officials, who said intelligence indicated that an Iranian missile brought down the plane, a conclusion initially dismissed by Iran.
Then on Saturday, Revolutionary Guards aerospace commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh acknowledged a missile operator had mistaken the plane for a cruise missile and opened fire.
The second blurry footage shows the plane on fire and circling back to Tehran's airport, the Times said. Minutes later, it exploded and crashed.
The footage was shot from a rooftop in Bidkaneh, a village four miles from an Iranian military site, the Times said.
Angry protesters, most of them students, have taken to the streets in the wake of the tragedy, chanting slogans against Iran's leaders and demanding accountability.
Iran's judiciary on Tuesday announced the first arrests over the accidental shooting, without naming who or how many people had been detained.
Fars news agency has also been quoted as saying that the person who took the first video was also arrested by authorities.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
Sadr calls for 'million-man march' against US presence in Iraq
Shia cleric and political leader calls on Iraqis to unite for 'peaceful march' against presence of US troops. by Arwa Ibrahim
Muqtada al-Sadr called on Iraqis to hold unified demonstrations to condemn the United States presence and its violations [File: Alaa al-Marjani/Reuters]
Iraq's populist Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr has called for a "million-man march" against the presence of United States troops in Iraq just days after the country's parliament voted to expel foreign troops from Iraq.
"The skies, land and sovereignty of Iraq are being violated every day by occupying forces," Sadr, who also leads the Sairoon political bloc, wrote on Twitter.
He told Iraqis to hold "a million-man, peaceful, unified demonstration to condemn the American presence and its violations", without specifying a date or location for the march.
On January 5, Iraq's parliament passed a resolution that called on the government to expel foreign troops and cancel its request for assistance from the US-led coalition that had been working with Baghdad to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) group.
Around 5,000 US troops are left in Iraq - most of them soldiers who came to Iraq in an advisory capacity to help the Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi), an umbrella group of mostly Iran-backed Shia paramilitary groups, from 2014 to 2017 in their fight against ISIL.
The parliament vote came after US air strikes killed Iran's General Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis just outside Baghdad International Airport in a move ordered by US President Donald Trump.
Sadr condemned parliament's resolution as a "weak response", saying the move fell short of an appropriate reaction to recent developments in Iraq and calling on armed groups in Iraq to unite.
In a letter to parliament read out by a supporter at the time, Sadr listed a number of demands, including the immediate cancellation of the security agreement with the US, closure of the US embassy, expulsion of US troops in a "humiliating manner", and the criminalisation of communication with the US government.
On Monday, Sadr held a meeting with leaders of several armed groups within the PMF in the Iranian city of Qom.
The meeting was also attended by Kataib Hezbollah, the Iraqi armed group whose 25 fighters were killed when the US launched air strikes against it on December 30, 2019, in response to the killing of a US civilian contractor two days earlier.
It also included Asaib Ahl al-Haq, the Shia armed group led by Qais al-Khazali, who was blacklisted by the US over his alleged role in killings of demonstrators in Iraq.
Nasser al-Shammari, deputy secretary-general of the Hezbollah al-Naujabaa Brigades, another group that attended the meeting in Qom, said in a statement that discussions revolved around the creation of a "united resistance" and ways to dislodge US and other foreign troops from Iraq. 'To all Iraqis'
Commenting on the call, Amir al-Kanani, a leader within the Sadrist Movement, which was founded by Sadr, said the proposed march aims to push the government towards taking a quick action following the parliament vote.
"After the parliament voted to expel foreign troops, a timeline for them to move should be set," Kanani told Al Jazeera. "The call for a march is aimed at all Iraqis in order to increase the pressure on the Iraqi government."
According to Kanani and a media representative within the PMF, the march may be held this Friday, but details of the demonstration are yet to be confirmed.
"Coordination committees across Iraq will be responsible for finalising when and where the march will be held," said Kanani. "It might be just in Baghdad or across several major cities." Shia groups' support
Mohamed Mohi, spokesman for Kataib Hezbollah, confirmed with Al Jazeera that the group supported Sadr's calls, adding that the march might be held in Baghdad's Tahrir Square due its "symbolic significance".
Also adding another voice to the call, Jawad al-Talabawi, spokesman for Asaib Ahl al-Haq armed group, told Al Jazeera that the group march aims to bring together all Iraqis to condemn US presence in Iraq.
Naeem al-Aboudi, a member of the Sadiqoon parliamentary bloc, the political arm of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, called on Iraqis to "unite" and join the march, writing on Twitter.
"This is in support of the million-man march which Sayid Muqtada al-Sadr has called for. We call on our people, who reject humiliation and subjugation, to take part [in the march] raising the moto 'No to US presence', and standing united under the Iraqi flag," Kaabi wrote on Twitter.
Protesters reject call
But in Baghdad's Tahrir Square, the hub of the protest movement in the capital, demonstrators rejected Sadr's calls on Tuesday, saying they want escalating tensions between Iran and the US to be moved out of the country.
"We reject these calls [for the march] because they have nothing to do with our demands," a 20-year-old university student, Jaber al-Khalili, told Al Jazeera from the protests' roundabout.
"We are not interested in Sadr's calls or those of any other political leader. We want them [political leaders] all gone."
Ali Khraybit, a 27-year-old filmmaker and protester, agreed.
"This call is specific to supporters and member of the Shia armed and political groups. These calls have nothing to do with our demands as protesters," said Khraybit.
"The Sadrists among us might join the march, but the protest movement as a whole won't. We just want Iran and the US to take their battle away from here [Iraq]," he added. Protests in Baghdad and in Iraq's mainly Shia south have continued since last October to demand a complete overhaul of the political system, which demonstrators see as corrupt, sectarian and denying Iraqis their basic rights.
Since the recent escalations between the US and Iran, the protest movement has been adamant about staying away from tensions unfolding on Iraqi soil, with recent chants calling for Iraq to be spared from the conflict between Iran and the US.
Iraq has been in political deadlock since the resignation of embattled Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi in November and since parliamentary blocs are unable to agree on a candidate to form a new government.
At least 470 people were killed and 20,000 injured in a heavy-handed crackdown on protesters by security forces.
Activists and journalists have also been targeted, with many reporting a campaign of intimidation, abductions and killings.
With additional reporting by Abdallah al-Salam in Baghdad
The most active volcano in Mexico erupted on Thursday in a stunning visual display of fiery lava and drifting ash that rose nearly 20,000 feet in the air.
NPR reports that no one was injured by the blast from the stratovolcano, which occurred a little over 40 miles southeast of Mexico City. But CENAPRED set the warning level at "yellow phase 2," meaning there's no imminent danger but people should stay away from the volcano and its crater.
The ash plume could be spotted from miles away, including in nearby cities and towns, like Puebla, Mexico. The towering column of ash and smoke was photographed drifting above the city.
The Popocatepetl Volcano spews ash and smoke as seen from Puebla, central Mexico, on January 9, 2020. Photo by Carlos SANCHEZ/AFP
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also captured the volcano and its staggering ash plume with satellites that detected sulfur dioxide and isolated the cloud on video for a stunning visual. —NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) January 9, 2020
China is global threat to individual freedoms, says new Human Rights Watch report Group’s executive director had been scheduled to unveil the report in Hong Kong but was barred from entering at the airport on Sunday Other governments, including the US and UK, are criticised for not finding ‘a common voice’ on China’s repression Jodi Xu Klein in New York Published:15 Jan, 2020 Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, introduces the group’s 2020 World Report at UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday. Photo: AFP The Chinese government fears “people’s desire for democracy” and its repression of human rights is “an existential threat to the world”, the investigative and advocacy group Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday at the launch of its World Report 2020 in New York. The release of the annual report had already made headlines when immigration officials at the Hong Kong airport turned away the group’s executive director, Kenneth Roth, without explanation on Sunday. He had been scheduled to unveil the report in the city on Wednesday. “We’d hoped to hold this event in Hong Kong, but Chinese government had a different idea,” Roth said on Tuesday at the United Nations headquarters. “Beijing claimed the report had instigated the Hong Kong people’s movement for democracy,” Roth said. “The stance by Beijing is insulting to Hong Kong. It shows Chinese government’s fear of people’s desire for democracy.”
The Chinese government has long suppressed human rights at home. Now it is trying to suppress global efforts to defend human rights. The rights of everyone, and our future, are at stake. That's the theme of this years's @HRW World Report. https://t.co/9ahp2wVt2h pic.twitter.com/KPybJyg0mY — Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) January 14, 2020This year’s report, a 652-page review of human rights practices in nearly 100 countries, focused on the Chinese government’s role in the world.
The global system for protecting human rights is under threat from China under President Xi Jinping, the group said. “It seems the Chinese government sees human rights as an existential threat. But their stance against human rights is an existential threat to the world,” Roth said. The report cited China’s continued forced detention of some 1 million Uygurs and other Muslims in the far western autonomous region of Xinjiang.
The Chinese authorities have further expanded their assault on freedom of expression, including arresting journalists and prosecuting activists, Roth said. He also said that without proper defences, the world could be threatened by “a dystopian future in which no one is beyond the reach of Chinese censors”. China has embarked on a global promotional campaign to blunt criticism of its human rights record and has received the support of governments in Russia, Syria, North Korea, Myanmar, Belarus and Saudi Arabia. More concerning, said the report, is that “several important governments have been missing in action”. “That included the US and the European Union, which has been diverted by Brexit, and find it difficult to find a common voice in human rights.” Hong Kong immigration denies entry to Human Rights Watch executive director “Others, like Pakistan, are simply bought off. When the prime minister of Pakistan visited Beijing, he had nothing to say regarding Xinjiang.” “The Trump administration has at times stood up to China, including imposing sanctions against China in October,” said Roth. “But more often, [US President Donald] Trump has praised Xi Jinping.” China is also silencing business communities by threatening their access to the massive Chinese market, which accounts for about 16 per cent of the global GDP, Roth said. The government has also targeted academic freedom worldwide, the report said. In Australia, Canada, the UK and the US, pro-Beijing students have sought to shut down controversial debates about China.
Tuesday’s news conference at the United Nations Correspondents Association was interrupted by a Chinese official who told Roth “the report is full of prejudices and has ignored facts”. “I completely reject the content in the report,” said Xing Jisheng, a Chinese mission representative at the UN. “Any report talking about Chinese human rights fails to be balanced and neutral.” Roth asked for specifics about what the report got wrong. Xing said China was a great success story because it had freed its people from poverty, to which Sophie Richardson, the China director at Human Rights Watch, responded: “The Chinese people got themselves out of poverty after the government took the boot off of their neck.” Rally in Hong Kong to thank US for supporting the Human Rights and Democracy Act Beijing has made the UN a primary target as it has routinely worked against proposed measures and the global human rights framework, the report said. “The Chinese government’s attacks on human rights systems must be stopped,” Roth said. “The ascent of a global threat to rights is not unstoppable. The governments should band together.” Roth, an American citizen, returned to the United States after being barred from entering Hong Kong at the city’s international airport on Sunday. On December 2, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the government would impose sanctions against Human Rights Watch and four other US-based non-profit groups that “played an egregious role” in the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Those remarks came after Trump signed into law the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which could pave the way for diplomatic action and economic sanctions against the city’s government. Jodi Xu Klein is an award-winning business journalist with 20 years of experience. She joined the Post in 2017, after a decade based in the US reporting for The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. She was part of the Time Magazine team that won the Henry R. Luce Award, breaking the China SARS story Human Rights Watch chief Kenneth Roth says barring him from Hong Kong is ‘sad and troubling’ reflection of Beijing pressure
The group’s executive director said immigration officials at the airport refused him entry to Hong Kong without explanation
Roth plans to unveil human rights report, which is highly critical of China, in New York instead, as city officials refuse to comment on case
Lilian Cheng andDanny Mok 12 Jan, 2020 Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth had visited Hong Kong multiple times in the past. Photo: Sam Tsang
The head of Human Rights Watch who was barred from entering Hong Kong said on Monday he was saddened at how the city had deteriorated under pressure from Beijing, as he vowed to unveil his report in New York instead.
Kenneth Roth, the group’s executive director and an American citizen, returned to the United States after Hong Kong immigration authorities turned him away at the city's international airport on Sunday without explanation, according to the organisation.
He had planned to visit the city to launch the New York-based group’s “World Report 2020”, which includes a lead essay on the Chinese government’s “assault” on the international human rights system.
Hong Kong immigration denies entry to Human Rights Watch executive director
An Immigration Department spokeswoman said it would not comment on individual cases.
She added that when handling cases, the department would, in accordance with the laws and immigration policies, fully consider all relevant factors and circumstances of the case before deciding whether the entry should be allowed or not.
Roth said: “I had hoped to spotlight Beijing’s deepening assault on international efforts to uphold human rights. The refusal to let me enter Hong Kong vividly illustrates the problem.”
Roth, who had flown in from New York, later wrote on Twitter: “Despite my probing, the Hong Kong immigration authorities would say only (and repeatedly) that they were barring me for ‘immigration reasons’. They wouldn’t even own up to the real reason.”
“It's sad and troubling how quickly things have deteriorated under pressure from Beijing,” he added.
“Trying to silence the human rights messenger shows a determination to flout, not uphold, human rights standards.”
The group was expected to release its 652-page report at a news conference in Hong Kong on Wednesday. The report reviews human rights practices in nearly 100 countries.
Roth’s essay says the Chinese government is undermining the global system for enforcing human rights.
Kenneth Roth had planned to release the group’s report on Wednesday. Photo: Sam Tsang
On his return to the US on Monday, Roth revealed he would launch the report at a news conference at the United Nations in New York on Tuesday “given that the authorities blocked me from entering Hong Kong.”
On December 2, Beijing’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the Chinese government would impose sanctions against Human Rights Watch and four other US-based non-profit groups that “played an egregious role” in the disturbances in Hong Kong, in its response to Washington’s endorsement of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act , which could pave the way for diplomatic action and economic sanctions against the city’s government.
The other groups were the National Endowment for Democracy, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the International Republican Institute and Freedom House.
The next day Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said her government would follow up on the sanctions announcement.
Roth has visited Hong Kong several times, including to release a report on gender discrimination in the Chinese job market in April 2018.
The group also listed a number of other visitors who had been denied entry by Hong Kong immigration authorities, including a US photographer [Matthew Connors] who documented Hong Kong protests in January, US academic Dan Garrett last September, and United Kingdom-based founder of Hong Kong Watch Benedict Rogers in October 2017.
“This disappointing action is yet another sign that Beijing is tightening its oppressive grip on Hong Kong and further restricting the limited freedom Hong Kong people enjoy under ‘one country, two systems,’” Roth said, referring to the principle under which Hong Kong is governed.
Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch co-wrote an open letter to Lam, urging her to set up an independent commission of inquiry to investigate alleged excessive use of force by police in the more than seven months of anti-government protests in Hong Kong.
“An independent commission of inquiry is the first step to addressing the serious human rights violations against protesters since June,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. The European Union also weighed in on the controversy. In a statement, European Commission spokeswoman Virginie Battu-Henriksson said denying entry to Roth “raises serious questions over Hong Kong’s traditions of openness and respect for fundamental rights and freedoms, including freedom of expression”.
“These principles are enshrined in the Basic Law and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights,” Battu-Henriksson said. “These principles are an integral part of Hong Kong's continuing success and we expect them to be upheld.”
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Barring me is sad and troubling, US rights leader says
Lilian Cheng Lilian joined the Post in 2019 as senior reporter covering Hong Kong’s housing, land and development policies. She started her career at Ming Pao in 2010 and was then a principal reporter at i-Cable News. She has won awards for her reporting on a major discovery of Sung relics near the planned To Kwa Wan railway station.
Hong Kong / Law and Crime Hong Kong protests: High Court test for warrants that let police search phones
Photographer whose unlawful assembly charges were dropped in November applies for judicial review
Writ states the documents effectively allowed ‘any police officer to search and seize the entire digital contents of [his] mobile phone’
Ng Kang-chung Published: 11:30pm, 13 Jan, 2020 Protesters and police have repeatedly clashed on Hong Kong
streets since June. Photo: Sam Tsang
A photographer who briefly faced charges over an anti-government protest has sought to challenge the legality of two court-issued warrants which allowed Hong Kong police to access his mobile phone and other digital devices.
Lee Wing-ho, 22, applied for a judicial review seeking that the High Court declare magistrates acted unlawfully in granting the warrants, and breached his constitutional right to freedom and privacy of communication.
In a writ filed on Monday, Lee claimed the warrants were too general, effectively authorising “any police officer to search and seize the entire digital contents of [his] mobile phone … without any limitation or conditions whatsoever imposed”.
“The magistrates have … failed to carry out the judicial gatekeeping function,” his writ read, adding that the subsequent police action to access the contents of his devices was an “oppressive, arbitrary or unconstitutional action”. The writ was filed at the High Court on Monday. Photo: Roy Issa
Lee was arrested for unlawful assembly on Nathan Road during an anti-government protest in Mong Kok on August 3 last year. Upon his arrest, officers seized property including his mobile phone and some digital storage cards. He did not find out warrants had been issued for police to access his devices until October 23, when his case was about to go to court.
He also found out that the warrants would authorise police to enter an office at the force’s headquarters in Wan Chai where his devices were stored, along with about 50 phones and devices seized from other arrestees.
In his writ, Lee argued: “This is a chilling threat at a very fundamental level. A search warrant obtained by the police to access objects inside a police building is an abuse of process, an artifice.”
“The police officers were given unchecked power to sift, copy, save, and retain any information they wished throughout that period, including new messages and communications.”
Phone-related privacy concerns were raised last month after pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung, who was arrested in August over a protest in June, questioned whether police had abused their power to “hack” his password-protected phone after the prosecution in his case admitted instant messaging records as evidence. Wong said he had not given police the password.
Police later clarified that the procedure was conducted under a magistrate-issued search warrant.
Anti-government protests have rocked Hong Kong for more than seven months. Initially sparked by an extradition bill, which has since been withdrawn, the movement has broadened into a push for greater democracy and police accountability. Protesters and police have repeatedly clashed violently on city streets, and thousands have been arrested.
Dozens detained by police after march against parallel traders in Hong Kong’s Sheung Shui
During last week’s Legislative Council meeting, Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu disclosed that police had seized more than 3,700 mobile phones used by protesters in the last several months of protests.
Lee maintained a “digital forensic examination” of the devices would only be conducted after getting a search warrant from the court.
“From June to November 2019, police processed 1,429 cases that involved mobile phones as evidence,” Lee told legislators at the meeting. “Among those cases, 3,721 mobile phones belonging to arrested persons or suspects were involved, and the relevant cases were all processed with search warrants issued by the court.”
Neither the police nor the judiciary replied to requests for comment.
Hong Kong / Politics Hong Kong protesters have been receiving training from foreign forces, city’s security chief says, while also revealing more than 3,700 phones were seized and broken into
John Lee said no evidence linked recent seizures of weapons and bombs to overseas terrorist organisations, but suggested some protesters were not acting alone Opposition legislators said making such claims without providing proof was irresponsible
“We don’t believe that a handful of unorganised rioters could orchestrate such events,” said John Lee. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
Hong Kong’s security chief raised concerns on Wednesday that some anti-government protesters received training from “non-local” individuals to fuel the social unrest plaguing the city for seven months.
John Lee Ka-chiu became the first top official to go beyond speculation about the involvement of foreign forces to cite intelligence and the well-planned nature of the protests in making the allegation.
He said there was no evidence linking a recent, protest-related spate of weapon and bomb seizures by police to overseas terrorist organisations, but suggested some protesters were not acting on their own.
Lee also revealed police had seized 3,721 mobile phones from protesters in the first five months of unrest and had them broken into to read the contents. John Lee said police would only access protesters’ phones after getting a court-ordered warrant. Photo: Edward Wong
Responding to a pro-establishment lawmaker’s question in the Legislative Council on Wednesday, the secretary for security said: “Based on the rioters’ acts, we definitely believe they received training.”
He did not name any organisation or individual, but said the assessment was based on the government’s investigation and intelligence concerning “how [protesters] were organised” and “the different versions and angles of promotional materials they have”.
“It seems that in every operation or incident, they will plan in advance with a deliberate plot in a syndicated manner,” Lee said. “In terms of resources and mobilisation, we don’t believe that a handful of unorganised rioters could orchestrate such events.”
Nobody should believe Lee’s empty accusation until he can prove his claimsAlvin Yeung, Civic Party leader
Lee added that online news had also indicated overseas groups were training individuals to join the movement.
Civic Party leader Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu said it was extremely irresponsible for Lee to make such accusations without proof.
He said the official was no different from former city leader Leung Chun-ying, who claimed foreign interference was behind the 2014 Occupy movement, but “at the end of the day proved nothing”.
“Nobody should believe Lee’s empty accusation until he can prove his claims,” Yeung said.
Pro-democracy lawmaker Kenneth Leung, of the Professionals Guild, accused Lee of making “irresponsible and serious accusations” without evidence.
“I can’t see why creativity demonstrated by protesters has to be linked to overseas training,” he said.
But pro-Beijing lawmaker Wong Kwok-kin, who is also an adviser to the city’s leader in the Executive Council, backed Lee.
Wong said he was convinced it would be impossible for protests to roll on for months without foreign manipulation.
Lee revealed in the same meeting that police had processed mobile phones belonging to arrested protesters from June to November with search warrants issued by the courts. Kenneth Leung criticised Lee’s “irresponsible and serious accusations”. Photo: Winson Wong
“Police will only conduct a digital forensic examination on mobile phones after obtaining court warrants,” he said, dismissing concerns about abuse of power.
Activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung – who was arrested in August in connection with a protest in June – had questioned whether police abused their power by hacking into his mobile phone. He found that some instant messaging records from his locked phone had been admitted as evidence by the prosecution.
Wong said in December he had not given up his password during his arrest. Police clarified that it was conducted under a magistrate-issued search warrant.
Opposition lawmaker Charles Mok called for more guidelines to prevent possible abuse.
“We are talking about [a lot of] phones,” Mok said. “You break into the phones and read the contents, all contents, whether they are related to the cases being investigated or not. And no one can know if the phones will have spyware installed after being seized.”
Icarus Wong Ho-yin, a spokesman for Civil Rights Observer, a concern group, agreed.
“It seems it has now become a casual procedure that officers will seize an arrestee’s phone and check its contents,” he said.
Dozens detained by police after march against parallel traders in Hong Kong’s Sheung Shui
He added the risk of possible abuse was getting higher as police had resorted to making mass arrests recently.
“We have heard of cases of officers threatening people stopped on the street for questioning to hand over and unlock their phones for officers to check the contents, risking arrest if they do not comply,” Wong said.
Meanwhile, the government rejected a suggestion by the pro-Beijing camp to introduce legislation to stop demonstrators from “disguising themselves as online media workers” to make it easier for them to carry out illegal acts.
Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah said that, despite suspected cases of protesters impersonating reporters and participating in illegal and violent acts, the government would not define what constituted a media worker with legislation and had no intention of screening journalists’ qualifications to report.
Meanwhile, riot police applied pepper spray to disperse protesters after a vigil in Sheung Tak Estate in Tseung Kwan O to mark the two-month anniversary of the death of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) student Chow Tsz-lok.
A dozen black-clad protesters laid bricks and other large items on the road outside a car park in the estate where the vigil took place. Officers rushed in to warn participants to leave the illegal assembly, while tear gas warnings were raised.
Several protesters were later subdued on the ground at about 10.40pm and officers fired pepper spray to stop others from getting closer.
Chow fell from the car park near a police operation on November 4 and died on November 8. The circumstances of the death have not been explained. This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Top official suggests outsiders helped train some protesters
Sum Lok-kei Sum Lok-kei joined the Post in 2018. He is a reporter on the Hong Kong desk.
Hong Kong / Law and Crime Hong Kong police seized more than 3,700 mobile phones from protesters in space of five months and had devices broken into to read contents, security chief reveals
Secretary for Security John Lee dismisses concerns about potential abuse of power, maintaining the cases all satisfied court for issuing of search warrants Lee would not comment on whether police used spyware to unlock suspects’ phones Ng Kang-chung Published: 8 Jan, 2020 Police processed 1,429 cases involving mobile phones as evidence from June to November, it was revealed. Photo: EPA
Hong Kong police seized more than 3,700 mobile phones from anti-government protesters in the first five months of the ongoing civil unrest and had the devices broken into to read the contents, the city’s security chief has revealed.
Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu dismissed concerns about a possible abuse of power, maintaining the cases all satisfied the court for the issuing of search warrants.
Lee made the disclosure on Wednesday when responding to lawmakers’ questions on the police’s power to access the contents of mobile phones without the owners’ consent or knowledge.
“From June to November 2019, police processed 1,429 cases that involved mobile phones as evidence,” Lee told the Legislative Council meeting. John Lee dismissed concerns about a possible abuse of power. Photo: May Tse
“Among those cases, 3,721 mobile phones belonging to arrested persons or suspects were involved, and the relevant cases were all processed with search warrants issued by the court.”
Lee said the seizure of phones was usual practice and not meant only to tackle those arrested during the social unrest, which broke out last June.
“While carrying out their responsibilities, [law enforcement agencies] may exercise the search and seizure powers conferred by relevant legislation, and seize and examine various objects of the suspected offence, including mobile phones and other similar devices,” he said.
“Police will only conduct digital forensic examination on mobile phones after obtaining court warrants. The examination and the evidence obtained will be adduced in the relevant open trials.”
Concerns were raised last month after pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung, who was arrested in August in connection with a protest in June, questioned whether police had abused their power to hack into his password-protected mobile phone after the prosecution admitted as evidence some instant messaging records. Hong Kong has been in the grip of protests since June. Photo: Edmond So
Wong said he had not disclosed the phone’s password to police.
Police later clarified that the procedure was conducted under a magistrate-issued search warrant.
At Wednesday’s Legco meeting, Lee would not comment on whether police used spyware to unlock suspects’ phones.
“As the critical technologies used in the examinations are confidential, disclosing such information may reveal to criminals details of operations, thus allowing them to take advantage by undermining [law enforcement agencies’] capabilities in combating serious crimes and maintaining public safety.”
Lee also cited a 2017 case in which the court ruled that under the Police Force Ordinance, officers may seize mobile phones found on an apprehended person, but would need a warrant to examine the contents in a non-emergency situation.
The case stemmed from the arrest of a truck driver for the Civil Human Rights Front, who was held for not following police orders when he was leading the annual July 1 march in 2014. Joshua Wong says he never gave his phone password to police. Photo: May Tse
Opposition lawmaker Charles Mok said he was shocked by Lee’s disclosure and called for more guidelines to prevent possible abuse.
“We are talking about 3,700-odd phones. That is a very big number. So far, police have arrested 6,000-odd people [in connection with the protests],” Mok said.
“You break into the phones and read the contents, all contents, whether they are related to the cases being investigated or not. And no one will even know if the phones will be installed with spyware after being seized by officers.”
Mok’s views, meanwhile, were echoed by Icarus Wong Ho-yin, spokesman for concern group Civil Rights Observer.
“It seems to me that it has now become a casual procedure that officers will seize an arrestee’s phone and check the contents,” Wong said, adding that the risk of possible abuse was rising as police had recently resorted to making mass arrests.
“We have heard of cases where officers threatened a person who was stopped on the street for questioning to hand over and unlock his phone to check the contents, or else risk being arrested. Usually, the person will give in.”
MANILA, Philippines – A series of shallow earthquakes hit the towns of Agoncillo and Laurel in Batangas on Wednesday morning, the Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.
Phivolcs said in its monitoring website that the strongest of the recent quakes was a Magnitude 3.6 tremor in Agoncillo at 1:32 a.m., at a depth of 10 kilometers. Instrumental Intensity II was felt in Tagaytay City, and was still caused by the Taal Volcano’s activities.
Another quake, this time a Magnitude 2.6, was recorded seven kilometers southeast of Laurel 11 minutes after. Instrumental Intensity II was also experienced in Tagaytay.
Since the Magnitude 3.6 temblor in Agoncillo, four other minor earthquakes were also recorded. No tsunami warnings have been raised as of now.
Hundreds of earthquakes have been recorded in Batangas and Cavite towns surrounding Taal Volcano, after it erupted last Sunday afternoon. Alert Level 4 has been raised by Phivolcs, which means that residents within the 17-kilometer danger zone should be evacuated.
INQUIRER CALLS FOR SUPPORT FOR THE VICTIMS OF TAAL VOLCANO ERUPTION Responding to appeals for help, the Inquirer is extending its relief to the families affected by the recent eruption of Taal volcano. Cash donations may be deposited in the Inquirer Foundation Corp. Banco De Oro (BDO) Current Account No: 007960018860. Inquiries may be addressed and emailed to Inquirer’s Corporate Affairs office through foundation@inquirer.com.ph.
Plants and wildlife in Taal island are already dead following the volcano's release of ash and lava, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said.
