WWF: Rainforest deforestation more than doubled under cover of coronavirus

Tropical rainforests shrank by 6,500 square kilometers in March — an area seven times the size of Berlin. Criminal groups are taking advantage of the pandemic and the unemployed are getting desperate, the WWF said.


As the COVID-19 virus was spreading around the world, deforestation in the world's rainforests rose at an alarming rate, the German arm of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said in a study published on Thursday.

The study, which analyzed satellite data of 18 countries compiled by the University of Maryland, found that deforestation rose by 150% this March compared 2017-2019 average for the same calendar month.

Around 6,500 square kilometers (2,510 square miles) of rainforest were felled in March alone — an area seven times the size of Berlin, the WWF said.

"This indicates that we're dealing with a coronavirus effect on the exploding rates of deforestation," Christoph Heinrich, the head of nature conservation with WWF Germany, said in a statement.

Read more: Coronavirus lockdowns keep bees at home and put crops at risk

Indonesia forests hit hardest

The forests most heavily hit by deforestation in March were in Indonesia, with more than 1,300 square kilometers lost.

The Democratic Republic of Congo saw the second-largest forest loss with 1,000 square kilometers followed by Brazil with 950 square kilometers.

The Brazilian non-profit research institute Imazon told news agency DPA that deforestation was up in April as well. The institute recorded a loss of 529 square kilometers in the Amazon in April, a rise of 171% compared to last year.

Read more: How deforestation can lead to more infectious diseases

Tied to COVID-19

The WWF says there's ample evidence to suggest the boom in rainforest deforestation is being fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

With stay-at-home orders and strict lockdowns in place in countries around the world, authorities haven't been able to patrol nature preserves and indigenous territories as often — a situation that criminal organizations and illegal loggers have been using to their advantage.

The virus has also prompted massive job losses in many countries, leaving many newly-unemployed people increasingly desperate for sources of income.

The WWF noted that the legal timber trade is a substantial source of income for several African countries but is virtually on ice amid various coronavirus shutdowns. The broken supply chains have led to concerns that the forests are losing their value and forest conservation efforts are losing their foothold.

Along the Mekong River in southeast Asia, tourists have disappeared and with them a substantial source of income for local merchants selling forest products like honey, nuts or berries. Many have left the cities and returned to their home villages and are cutting down trees for firewood or a source of income.

The WWF said governments providing financial and technological support to locals could help reduce the rise in deforestation.

rs/msh (dpa, epd)

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Germany heading toward drought amid coronavirus crisis: forecaster

A leading meteorologist has warned that if heavy rains don't arrive soon, Germany could face its second drought in two years. Showers are forecast, but they might not be enough to protect much of this year's harvest. (25.04.2020)

Date 21.05.2020
Related Subjects Deforestation, World Wildlife Fund, Coronavirus
Keywords World Wildlife Fund, WWF, rainforest, deforestation, COVID-19, pandemic, illegal logging

Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3caZc

EU presents 'Green Deal' farming plan to half pesticide use

The European Commission has presented ambitious agricultural and biodiversity plans which would improve animal welfare and improve fertilizers. Opponents say the policy is too "hurried" amid the coronavirus pandemic.


The European Commission presented its plans for a more environmentally-friendly European Union agriculture and biodiversity policy on Wednesday. The new plans are part of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's flagship European Green Deal policy.

The Commission, the EU's executive, presented a "farm to fork" strategy to reduce the use of pesticides and antibiotics and improve fertilizers. Animal welfare is also to be improved and the fishing industry to be made more sustainable.

The strategy, made up of 27 key actions, aims "to reconcile our food systems with our planet's health, to ensure food security and meet the aspirations of Europeans for healthy, equitable and eco-friendly food," EU Health and Food Safety Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said.

She wrote on Twitter that the policy aimed to reduce pesticide use by 50%, reduce food waste and fraud and protect animals.

Coronavirus casts doubt

The new agricultural policy has faced opposition from the center-right European People's Party (EPP), the largest in the EU legislature, who say the timing is bad for EU farmers.

"We regret that the European Commission is hurrying its 'farm to fork' strategy now when farmers all over Europe are facing huge insecurity over their future," EPP agriculture spokesman Herbert Dorfmann.

European Green Deal policies have taken a back seat as the bloc grapples with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Experts are expecting unprecedented levels of food waste this year as farms lack sufficient workers to complete harvests.

But the Greens welcomed the moved, calling for the policy to be incorporated fully into EU policy.

The European Green Deal aims to overhaul the EU's economy and prioritise green investments by 2050.

ed/aw (dpa, epd)

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EU votes for more gas infrastructure, angering climate activists

The EU parliament has voted to greenlight up to 55 new fossil gas infrastructure projects. Critics say the vote betrays Europe's Green Deal and its promise of carbon neutrality by 2050. (12.02.2020)

Deadly pesticides in EU produce from Turkey

Ever more pesticides, many illegal, are being used in Turkey, according to a new Greenpeace study. Yet the tainted produce keeps ending up on European dinner tables, setting off alarm bells about serious health risks. (24.01.2020)

Date 20.05.2020
Related Subjects European Union (EU), Environment, Agriculture
Keywords environment, EU, farming, agriculture
Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3cWgt

Pandemic sheds light on importance of biodiversity

The novel coronavirus again shows that deadly illnesses can pass between species. Environmentalists hope that politicians will take urgent action to protect biodiversity and deal with the effects of climate change.

Though research indicates that the novel coronavirus originated in nonhuman animals, scientists remain unsure how exactly it emerged and was first transmitted between species. One theory is that it first appeared at a market where live and freshly killed animals are sold in the city of Wuhan, in China's Hubei province.

As increasingly dense human populations continue to encroach on the habitats of other animals, scientists fear that the risk of deadly viruses being transmitted between species will grow. The number of annual outbreaks of infectious diseases has tripled every year since 1980.
No infectious disease has spread so quickly across the globe as the novel coronavirus, and there is currently much debate about how to prevent rapid worldwide outbreaks of infectious diseases in the future. This pandemic has once again drawn attention to the disastrous decline in biodiversity, and this has been a particularly important subject for politicians and scientists this week. May 22 has been proclaimed International Day for Biological Diversity by the UN.

Read more: Pandemic linked to destruction of wildlife and world's ecosystems

Biodiversity meeting postponed

Originally scheduled to be held in China in the fall, this year's meeting of signatories to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity has been postponed because of the pandemic. Nonetheless, the signatory governments are still discussing ways on how to meet the global commitment agreed to in January to protect at least 30% of the planet's oceans and land by 2030 in order to minimize the decline in biodiversity. The United Nations has also now called for a ban on live animal markets such as the one in Wuhan where the novel coronavirus may have emerged.


German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze, a Social Democrat, has another priority. "China reacted immediately and closed the dangerous markets," she told DW after presenting a report on the state of nature in Germany. "What's important from a European point of view is that the wild animal trade, which is largely illegal, be suppressed. We have to act against the criminals. This is the job of the police and customs officers. We're working on it."

Christoph Thies, the forests and climate campaigner for Greenpeace Germany, had a similar point of view. "We cannot expect people to stop eating meat from wild animals overnight," he told DW. "There are regions where it's an important part of people's food."


'What is needed'

Thies said he hoped that biodiversity would once again receive the attention that it deserves and that the environment and nature would be examined in the context of climate change. At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, where the Convention on Biological Diversity was signed, the subject was considered as important as desertification and climate change. In the following decades, however, climate change became the main talking point. The three topics are intricately interconnected, Thies said: "Restoring forests and other ecosystems can help to contribute to 20-30% of what is needed to meet goals regarding climate change."

Read more: German restaurants reopen with pandemic measures in place

"In many countries, in many governments, the people who deal with biodiversity and protecting nature often have little to do with people dealing with climate change," Thies said.

Read more: What to expect in German air travel after the pandemic

Germany only has about 10% of the number of partridges and lapwings that it had 25 years ago, according to a report published by the Environment Ministry in May. Globally, about 35% of invertebrate pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, face extinction, the United Nations reports.

"There has been some improvement in the beech forests, and with the birds, in cities, in the forests, but the situation regarding agricultural land is really critical " Schulze said. "What we now call insecticide is happening. We say that in our report. More has to be done about this."

Read more: Lufthansa in 'advanced talks' over coronavirus bailout

Antje von Broock from Friends of the Earth Germany told DW that "the protection of insects calls for knowledge and funds" at the national level, but also by the European Union. "We are campaigning to make sure that farmers receive money so that they actually do something for nature and agriculture," she said.

So, if the European Union were to change its agricultural policies, fewer live and freshly killed nonhuman animals were sold at markets globally, and the illegal animal trade were stopped, real progress could be made during the coronavirus pandemic to slow the decline in biodiversity.

"It is becoming increasingly clear that the outbreak of infectious diseases is connected to the destruction of forests and other ecosystems," Thies said. "Apart from the other more traditional reasons for protecting the environment, restoring biodiversity and the forests, there is also that of protecting health and preventing outbreaks of dangerous diseases."

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Date 21.05.2020
Author Jens Thurau
Related Subjects Biodiversity, Environment, Animals, Coronavirus
Keywords pandemics, biodiversity, environment, coronavirus, animals
Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3caWJ

Brazil calls in doctors from Cuba to help battle COVID-19

Brazil has surpassed Britain and now has the third highest number of coronavirus cases in the world. More than a quarter of a million Brazilians have been infected, and nearly 17,000 have died. The government is calling in doctors from Cuba to help.

VIDEO  https://www.dw.com/en/brazil-calls-in-doctors-from-cuba-to-help-battle-covid-19/av-53491223

AFTER HAVING KICKED THEM OUT OF THE COUNTRY

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro says he will sign off on a federal aid scheme for states and cities hit by the coronavirus outbreak "as soon as possible."

However, as a condition, he also asked governors for support to freeze public sector pay increases. Brazil's Congress approved a bill to distribute 60 billion reais ($10.72 billion) in federal money to states and municipalities earlier this month.

The president is yet to sign off on the program amid pressure from Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, an avid free-marketeer who has been calling more fiscal austerity.

Bolsonaro is under increasing pressure over how he has dealt with the outbreak, which threatens to destroy the Brazilian economy and harm his hopes of re-election.

Brazil looks set to have the second-highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases after the United States in the coming days.

Almost 19,000 Brazilians have died from the pandemic so far, with 291,579 confirmed cases of COVID-19. It's thought that the true number of infections and deaths could be much higher as Brazil has not carried out widespread testing.

Bolsonaro's relationship with governors and mayors has deteriorated significantly amid the pandemic, with the president angry over the introduction of shutdowns, arguing that avoiding harm to the economy is more important. He has chewed through two health ministers in a matter of weeks, with the crucial post currently filled only on an interim basis

Nicaragua's Ortega watches as coronavirus pandemic rages

The government of Daniel Ortega has admitted for the first time that the number of new COVID-19 infections is rising. The president disappeared for weeks early in the pandemic, but allowed parties and sports to continue.


Nicaragua is a country where the president disappeared completely from view for five weeks in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, where parties, football games and even boxing matches are allowed without any restrictions, and where the dead are carried from the hospitals directly to the cemetery in a fast-track burial procedure. But now there is at least a small glimmer of hope: The government of Daniel Ortega has admitted for the first time that the number of new COVID-19 infections is rising.


Officials acknowledge a handful of COVID-19 deaths, but "express" burials are common

On Tuesday, Health Minister Martha Reyes announced that the number of confirmed and probable infections had grown tenfold, from 25 to 254, over the past week. The official toll is already enough to provoke concern, but many experts say it does not reflect the true extent of the pandemic in Nicaragua. Nor do the government statistics match with the disturbing pictures from the Hospital Aleman (pictured) — which was opened as the Hospital Carlos Marx with the support of East Germany in 1985 — in the capital, Managua, where workers said the morgue had "collapsed" with so many people dying of COVID-19.

The coronavirus pandemic has hit Nicaragua, one of the poorest countries in Latin America, with full force. The pandemic could, paradoxically, succeed where months of violent protests have failed: It could bring an end to Ortega's presidency, which began in 2007.

Nicaragua's exceptionalist strategy

The past two months have shown that there are multiple strategies for fighting the coronavirus pandemic. China, Italy, Spain and other countries implemented strict lock-ins and stay-at-home orders. Germany, the United States and other countries encouraged social distancing. Nicaragua's government, like the regimes in Brazil and Belarus, downplayed the virus and attempted to sit out the pandemic.

"Daniel Ortega's strategy is simply to do nothing and to pretend everything is normal so that the economy is not endangered at any price," said Juan Sebastian Chamorro, the leader of the Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy, an opposition group that formed in 2018.

Chamorro, who compares the government with a sultanate that controls all three branches of power and the media, said many people in Nicaragua were simply tired out — and all the more so because of the pandemic. "If there were fair and transparent elections here," he said, "Ortega wouldn't even get 20% of votes."

But, like his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro, Ortega has been written off again and again, and yet maintains a loyal base of supporters. These are people who believe Ortega when he says public life can continue in Nicaragua because the health system is excellent — unlike in the United States.

The ANPDH, an opposition group that began in 1986 and was supported by US President Ronald Reagan as a counter to the Sandinistas, who by that point had overthrown the dictatorship, has called on the World Health Organization to intervene, accusing Ortega of acting irresponsibly by failing to take measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus. It calls what is happening in Nicaragua at the moment a "viral genocide."

Date 21.05.2020
Author Oliver Pieper
Related Subjects Nicaragua, Coronavirus
Keywords Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, coronavirus, pandemics
Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3canH

Rwandan genocide: The long wait for justice

Human rights defenders are celebrating the arrest of a key perpetrator of the Rwandan genocide. But many other suspected perpetrators are still at large. Experts say the mills of justice are turning too slowly.


More than a quarter of a century after the Rwandan genocide, one of the main suspects has been caught: 85-year-old Felicien Kabuga was arrested in Paris on May 16. The entrepreneur had been on the run for more than two decades and living under a false name. He is accused of bankrolling the genocide and was considered one of the most wanted men in the world.

"Kabuga is, of course, the top one," says DW Rwanda expert Fred Muvunyi. There were similar reactions in the small town of Muniga, Kabuga's birthplace.

"He was the one who founded the RTLM radio station, which fueled the hatred between the Rwandan ethnic groups," says one resident who wishes to remain anonymous. "He imported and distributed masses of machetes, which killed hundreds of thousands of Rwandans. We are pleased that Kabuga has been arrested. We would prefer he was sent to Rwanda and put on trial here."


Felician Kabuga's trial will be closely watched around the world

Read also: Opinion: Rwandan genocide arrest offers solace to survivors

Where will justice take place?

Rwanda's Minister of Justice, Johnston Busingye, has confirmed that the government is keen to have Kabuga tried in Rwanda. But the most important thing at the moment is that the French police have finally caught him.

"According to our information, despite an international arrest warrant, Kabuga has traveled freely between several countries in Europe over the past 25 years," says Busingye. "He was not arrested in any of those countries. We appeal to all countries who are hiding suspects to arrest these people, as France has finally done, so we can bring them to justice."

Fred Muvunyi says Kabanga is unlikely to be extradited to Rwanda, however. Instead, he will probably appear before the United Nations (UN) International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (MICT). The MICT is a successor to the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which was dissolved five years ago.

"It is not yet clear whether Kabuga's trial will take place at the MICT headquarters in The Hague in the Netherlands, or at the branch in Arusha, Tanzania," says Muvunyi. At this stage, though, Arusha would appear to be the obvious choice — after all, it's much easier to summon witnesses from Rwanda to Tanzania than to the Netherlands.

According to the current UN protocol, the MICT is responsible for those who organized, supported, or executed the genocide in Rwanda, explains Muvunyi:

"Felicien Kabuga is undoubtedly part of this high-profile group of perpetrators. But so are people like Augustin Bizimana, the defense minister during the genocide, as well as the then-security chief of the president, Protais Mpiranya."

Over 1,000 active arrest warrants

According to the Rwandan government, seven high-profile genocide perpetrators are still at large — including Augustin Bizimana and Protais Mpiranya. There are also thousands of other lesser-known suspected perpetrators currently hiding abroad. Rwanda's prosecutors have issued over 1,000 arrest warrants against suspects in 33 countries over the past few decades.

"There is a special police search unit in Rwanda that searches for suspected perpetrators who still roam freely in different countries around the world," explains Muvunyi. "Many of them are believed to be in Uganda or the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while others have fled to Malawi, Cameroon, and Zimbabwe. An even bigger number is believed to be in Europe, especially in Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Belgium."


According to the UN Security Council more than a million Tutsis were killed

More arrests on the horizon?

But how is it possible that these suspects can go into hiding for so long?

"They are usually very rich and have connections to high government circles in the countries where they're hiding," explains Muvunyi. "We know that, for example, they were very closely linked to Robert Mugabe's regime [in Zimbabwe]."

In Europe, too, the police and the judiciary have been accused of turning a blind eye in the past and not cooperating with Rwandan investigators. Rwanda has already issued around 30 international arrest warrants for suspects living in France, but they rarely get support from local authorities, says Justice Minister Busingye. These included Agathe Habyarimana, the widow of the former president Juvenal Habyarimana, and the former Minister of Public Works, Hyacinthe Nsengiyumva Rafiki.

Read also:Belgium: Rwandan official found guilty of genocide

The trial of Felician Kabuga will provide valuable clues that could lead to the arrest of other suspected perpetrators and accomplices, says Patrick Baudouin, the honorary president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

"This case could reinforce international arrest warrants issued by the MICT, and the principle of universal jurisdiction could be revived," he told DW. In France alone, there are currently several active investigations against 28 alleged co-conspirators of the Rwandan genocide.

Muvunyi says at least one thing is clear: "An overwhelming majority of Rwandans want the suspected perpetrators to be arrested and, if found guilty, punished, no matter where or by whom. Nobody wants their crimes to be swept under the rug."
Genocide Sylvanus Karemera and Eric Topona contributed to this article.

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Rwanda genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga appears in court

Investigators have requested the extradition of Rwandan genocide suspect for his alleged role in financing the country’s 1994 genocide. Felicien Kabuga was arrested after police tracked him down through his children. (20.05.2020)

25 years on, Rwandan genocide still reverberates throughout the region

The mass slaughter of 800,000 Tutsi by the Hutu majority in 1994 has had far-reaching consequences not only for Rwanda itself but also for the country’s relationship with its neighbors. (01.04.2019)

Date 21.05.2020
Author Antonio Cascais
Keywords Felicein Kabuga, Rwanda genocide, courts, justice, Rwanda

Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3caXy

Imprisoned Uighur professor's release shows how Beijing forces loyalty

After disappearing for three years into a Xinjiang prison, Uighur professor Iminjan Seydin has been suddenly released. Now, he is denouncing his daughter's search for answers as "anti-China."



The last time Samira Imin saw her father, Iminjan Seydin, was three years ago before he was shipped off to a work program in China's northwestern Xinjiang region as part of a government "deradicalization program."

Seydin, a former professor of Chinese history at the Xinjiang Islamic Institute, had been sentenced to 15 years in jail for "inciting radical ideologies." Apart from being a history professor for over 30 years, Seydin had also started his own publishing house in 2012, and published more than 50 books on technology, education, psychology and women's issues.

According to Imin, her father wasn't particularly religious and has generally adhered to the Chinese government's guidelines on religious observance.

Read more: Exclusive: China's systematic tracking, arrests of Uighurs exposed in new Xinjiang leak

Living as a student in the United States, Imin has been trying to raise awareness about his disappearance through online activism.

Hundreds of Uyghur intellectuals are among the thousands of people who have been imprisoned or put into Xinjiang's re-education camps by the Chinese government over the past three years.

In 2017, Seydin was sent to join a work group organized by Xinjiang's Bureau of Religious Affairs in Hotan prefecture. After returning to the regional capital, Urumqi, in May 2017, the Xinjiang government detained Seydin without informing his family.

Read more: China's Uighur — what you need to know

Imin said her father was convicted in a secret trial in 2019 for publishing books about Arabic grammar for a colleague at the Xinjiang Islamic Institute. The book has some references to Islam.

"My father was sentenced to 15 years in jail for 'inciting radical ideologies' in February 2019," Imin told DW.

"He has always been an open-minded person who doesn't talk about politics at home. When I learned about his sentence, I was very sad and angry, because I couldn't believe how the Chinese government could treat an innocent citizen like this."

Chinese Uighurs – imprisoned for their faith and culture

Forced loyalty to Beijing

On May 4, Imin was tipped off by friends that her father had appeared in a video published by the Communist Party mouthpiece China Daily. It was the first time she had heard anything from him since he disappeared in 2017.

"I felt like the whole thing was surreal, and I wanted to cry but couldn't really cry," said Imin. "I wasn't sure if I should be happy, because I didn't know what my dad was going to tell me in the video."

When she finally gained the courage to click on the Twitter link, she saw that her dad was a lot skinnier and had a shaved head.

"Of course, I was happy to see that he's still alive, but I was also wondering how he lost so much weight over the past three years," Imin explained. "He had shrunken for at least two sizes and the clothes that he wore in the video was too big for him."

Read more: DW interview: Uyghur woman remains 'unfree' despite release from re-education camp

It appeared that her father had been freed from prison. However, his message in the video sounded bizarre.

"Recently some overseas anti-China forces deceived my daughter into claiming that I was under illegal detention," Seydin said in the video. "This is deception and nonsense. I'm very well, healthy and free."

Seydin asked Imin not to trust the "deceptive rumors" and stop spreading false information about "his detention" abroad.

He emphasized that without the party and the government, he would never had been a professor or had a rewarding life, adding Imin also had the party to thank for studying abroad.

"All these things would have been impossible without the care of the party and the government to our family," Seydin said.

"I used to believe you thought the same, and I was heartbroken upon hearing what you said. How could my daughter say something like this? I want to tell you, don't be deceived by overseas anti-China forces again and stop saying those things."

Seydin went on to say that he missed Imin and wanted her to finish her studying in the US so she can return to China. "Our family will be happier," he said.

Read more: China's treatment of Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang: 'I had the chills'

Is he truly free?

After watching the video, Imin wanted to personally confirm if her father had really been released from prison.

She sent three voice messages to her dad's WeChat account on May 5, but he didn't immediately respond. Then her mother called with a video link and her dad was there.

"During the call, my dad kept repeating how great China and the Chinese Communist Party was," Imin said. "He said if it were not because of them, he would not have such a comfortable life. He told me he didn't want me to be anti-China, because he thought the CCP was treating him well."

When Imin tried to ask him about why he disappeared for three years and why his head was shaved, Seydin claimed that he decided to shave his head and beard because it was too dusty in Hotan.

And when Imin tried to tell her dad that she had been working in the US, he simply told her to finish her studies and returned to Shanghai or Beijing for work.

"He kept reminding me not to engage in activism, and he also wanted me not to listen to anything some 'bad guys' said," Imin explained.

Even though her father had been released from prison, Imin still worries about whether he has been absolutely freed from any form of detention.

She said that since her dad has been released, she wants the Chinese government to drop all charges against him and return all the fines that he had previously paid.

"Since he claimed to have already been freed in the video, I want to always see my dad being healthy and free from now on," Imin said.

Read more: Uighur persecution: German politicians condemn China's 'modern slave exploitation machine'

China's 'hostage diplomacy'

This is not the first time that Beijing has tries to discredit overseas Uighurs by releasing video testimonies of their family members in Xinjiang.

Last November, the state-run tabloid Global Times released a four-minute video of interviews with family members of three prominent overseas Uighurs, who not only praised the Chinese government, but also accused their family members abroad of spreading rumors.

According to Peter Irwin, a senior program officer at the Uyghur Human Rights Project, it is clear that Beijing wants to use the video as an open threat to Imin.

"The Chinese government has been asking people in Xinjiang to call their family members abroad and tell them to go back to China," Irwin told DW. "Additionally, China is trying to tie all overseas Uighurs who have been speaking up for their family to groups like the World Uighur Congress and Uighur Human Rights Project."

"They are using these particular cases to threaten other overseas Uighurs to stop speaking up," said Irwin. "This is basically hostage diplomacy, and it’s not just directed at a particular individual. They are sending a message: 'we might release these people, but you need to stop speaking up.'"

The expert added that Beijing's narrative is under pressure by Uighur activists abroad.

"Seydin claimed in the video that his daughter had been deceived by overseas anti-China groups, but in fact, she has been speaking out as an individual. She has no direct ties to any group, and I think that scares the CCP."

"The case proves that international pressure does work to a certain extent," Irwin explained. "Overseas Uyghurs need to believe in the truth they see, and speak up with courage."

"The pressure forces China to change its approach, because they are afraid that their narrative is not strong enough to fight back against all of these people."

Read more: Top brands 'using forced Uighur labor' in China: report


Date 21.05.2020
Author William Yang (Taipei)
Related Subjects Asia, People's Republic of China
Keywords Asia, China, Uighurs, Xinjiang, reeducation camps

 https://p.dw.com/p/3caFE

100 years ago: Premiere of 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'

In the form of Robert Wiene's "Caligari," German cinema changed film history. Historians are still arguing about how to interpret the groundbreaking expressionist movie.


Strong black and white contrasts, a world of shadows and blackness. Angular studio buildings and monstrous signs on the wall. Oblique angles and perspectives. The world has gone off the rails. Performers flinch through the rooms, panic stricken, driven by visible and imagined horrors. This is the film "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari," first shown 100 years ago, on February 27, 1920, in the Berlin movie theater "Marmorhaus."

It must have been a disturbing premiere. A silent film flickered across the screen of a kind that had never been seen before: frightening and surreal, dark and seemingly hopeless. It was a noteworthy event — also because this German silent film changed many things. "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" turned out to be one of the most influential films ever made.


Sharp edges and contours: "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari"

Director Robert Wiene's work is considered the early high point of expressionism in film today. Expressionism had already gained a foothold in the visual arts a few years earlier, and many German painters and graphic artists such as Ernst-Ludwig Kirchner and Max Pechstein influenced the style. Expressionist art was a counter-art: against naturalism, against impressionism, against soft lines. There were also expressionist developments in literature and music, theater and dance during that time.

Read more: How German film foreshadowed Hitler

Expressionist film puts Germany on the map

Film and cinema from Germany set standards, and the 1920s became the heyday of expressionism in movie theaters. Besides "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari," works such as "Nosferatu - A Symphony of Horror," "The Golem and How He Came Into the World" and "Dr. Mabuse" became all-time classics. Fritz Lang, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau and comedy director Ernst Lubitsch were the most famous German filmmakers who catapulted local cinema to world fame, influencing European and especially Hollywood films. Like many other German artists, the three directors later went on to Hollywood.


A current exhibition in Berlin shows success and influence of the famous film

Director Robert Wiene may not have become quite as famous, but "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" had a lasting impact on fantastic cinema, horror films and film noir, and its influence is felt even today. In the 1960s the material was re-filmed in the US, and later-generation American directors such as David Lynch and Tim Burton were influenced by "Caligari."

Caligari's film aesthetic influenced Hollywood

How can that be explained? It was the merging of form and content: Sharp contrasts, jagged lines and buildings that continue into the sub-titles reflected the protagonists' state of mind. Dramatic-looking film buildings could be seen as psychograms of the characters. The film medium could not tell a better story in those days. It didn't even need language and sound, just images and music.

As for its content, "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" is complex; the framework story has to do with Dr. Caligari, a scientist who exhibits a sleepwalker at fairs, "controls" him through mysterious channels and has him murder people.

Read more: Venice Film Festival premiere: Did cinema predict Hitler's rise to power?

Fairground turbulence in the film

In the end the question arises: Who is insane here?

Two young men and a woman watch the goings-on. One is killed by the sleepwalker. Police and doctors try to catch Caligari, who turns out to be the director of a lunatic asylum. Are the others insane? Or is it Caligari, who perfidiously disregards reason and rationality and manipulates the world for his own gain?

Even today one can watch "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" as often as one likes without quite getting to the bottom of it, which makes the film so appealing. Critics and experts often grit their teeth over Robert Wiene's work, and countless meanings and interpretations have been advanced by the most famous publicists and film historians.


In the end the question arises: Who belongs in the straitjacket?

How much Hitler is in Caligari?

"From Caligari to Hitler" was the title of probably the most famous and sometimes influential German film book of the first half of the 20th century. Written by Siegfried Kracauer, it first appeared in English in 1947. Kracauer's thesis: In the early 1920s, Wiene and his screenwriters had anticipated the rise of the National Socialists. Films like "Caligari" laid out Nazi characters and methodology. Unconsciously, other directors and scriptwriters had also designed characters similar to those that became grim reality after 1933. Parts of this thesis were later contradicted.


The Caligari exhibition in Berlin shows influence in cinema, art and culture

It is nonetheless impossible to overlook how German cinema in particular filled the screen with figures of horror and terror in those years and how murderers and tyrants in movies incited others to violence and destruction. One can still debate whether Dr. Caligari's features are recognizable in Adolf Hitler and how his sleepwalker symbolizes the German people, steered within a few years towards mass murder.

The Caligari film also indisputably influenced works by later directors. An exhibition that opened its doors shortly before the beginning of the 70th Berlinale also examines that. "You Have to be a Caligari! - The Virtual Cabinet" is on view until 20 April at the Deutsche Kinemathek/Museum für Film und Fernsehen.


DW RECOMMENDS


German Expressionist cinema revival at the Berlinale

Screening 1920s Expressionist masterpieces "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and "Waxworks," and an adaptation of legendary Weimar novel, "Berlin Alexanderplatz," the Berlinale refocuses the cultural highs of the Weimar era. (25.02.2020)

Date 27.02.2020
Author Jochen Kürten
Keywords Caligari, Robert Wiene, silent film, film, expressionism, film history

https://p.dw.com/p/3YTpX



https://archive.org/details/TheHorrorOfAccumulationAndTheCommodificationOfHumanity

FILM
Tracing conspiracy theories in film

Oliver Stone's 1991 movie about the Kennedy assassination was a masterpiece of the genre. While many of these films come from Hollywood, there’s also a history of conspiracy films in Germany.

ALL MADE UP? CONSPIRACY THEORIES IN MOVIES
'JFK' (1991)
US director Oliver Stone has often dealt with conspiracies in his films. His 1991 movie "JFK" looks into the alleged cover-up of President John F. Kennedy's assassination. Prosecutor Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) does not believe that a lone gunman killed JFK; his theory is that a widespread network, the "deep state," is behind the assassination.

Presumably, no one has ever postulated the following theory: that the coronavirus was brought into the world by the powerful lobby surrounding streaming giants Netflix, Amazon and others as a way to bring their competitors — the movie theaters — to their knees.

This is, of course, absolute nonsense. And yet, nobody can rule out that there's someone in the world would actually make such an absurd claim. No conspiracy theory seems to be crazy enough that it would not be written down on paper or spread indiscriminately on the internet.

Read more: Opinion: Conspiracy theories on the rise

Conspiracy theories are not theories at all - but irrational mind games

In these times, when conspiracy theories are running rampant in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, it is worth taking a look back at film history. But before we do that, we have to take note that the term "conspiracy theory" in itself is nonsensical. After all, we are not talking about actual theories, but instead about "myths," "narratives," and even "fairy tales." Those terms seem more appropriate because conspiracy theories usually have less to do with "theory" than with what they're actually directed at.

The Vietnam trauma encouraged conspiracy theories in the US: Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway in the paranoia thriller "The Three Days of Condor"

The assassination of US President John F. Kennedy in Dallas in 1963 led to a whole flood of conspiracy theories. At times, people claimed it was the CIA who had conducted the assassination; sometimes it was the Soviet Union, sometimes the Cubans or Cuban exiles. Then there is the theory that members of the mafia perpetrated the assassination; another theory is the later Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson or George Bush Senior were behind it.

And these are just some of the more "serious" theories — if you can use that adjective in this context at all. Some of the more bizarre "theories" claim that homosexuals or UFOs played a major role in the murder.

Popular films revolving around political-economic conspiracies: JFK

At some point, of course, the film industry began tapping into such notions. Since the murder of Kennedy still doesn't seem to be completely solved, authors, producers and directors have had plenty of freedom in concocting their own stories.

Where facts remain hidden, it's easy to speculate. Oliver Stone's 1991 film JFK (see article image) is still the most popular film about the Kennedy murder today. Kevin Costner, who starred in the film, was at the height of his career at the time, as was US director Oliver Stone.

For all its cinematic brilliance, Stone's film fueled further speculations about the masterminds behind the assassination. Director Stone's focus was mainly on the arms industry. The idea was that arms producers were allegedly behind the assassination, as Kennedy aimed to end the Cold War.

The logic was that, with no threat of war and no arms race, fewer weapons would be purchased, resulting in declining revenue for the industry. According to the thesis expressed in the film, the person responsible for this development — President Kennedy — had to be eliminated.

Cinema and conspiracy theories — populist, entertaining, critical

Cinema has always enjoyed taking up conspiracy theories; as popular subjects they either reveal true conspiracies or only deal in speculation.

Some films have fueled conspiracy theories, with the anti-Semitic propaganda movies of Nazi Germany being a particularly grave example. Films that critically question conspiracy theories also exist.

Read more: Conspiracies are always 'theories of power'

Many films on the subject have been created in Hollywood, perhaps due to the powerful film industry there with all its creative possibilities and imaginative minds. But there are probably other reasons as well: In the current heated atmosphere in the US, where the president in particular deals in fringe theories, the climate for conspiracy theories appears to be flourishing.

Perhaps it also has to do with the size of the US, the relative independence of the states, the citizens' love of freedom and the physical distance to the capital, Washington DC, from most parts of the country. A lack of education always fosters conspiracy theories — an issue which may also apply to parts of the US.
A German silent movie with a conspiracy theme: Fritz Lang's "The Testament Of Dr. Mabuse"

But German cinema has also contributed a great deal to the subject. Even during the heyday of Weimar cinema, when people acted in silent movies, the topic of conspiracies was repeatedly addressed, such as in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Fritz Lang's Mabuse films, as well as his masterpiece Metropolis, — all of which look atconspiracies in one way or another.

It's also easy to imagine that in just a few years, there will be a whole new wave of conspiracy film thrillers dealing with the subject of the coronavirus.

DW RECOMMENDS


WhatsApp restricts spread of coronavirus misinformation

The messaging app WhatsApp has moved to limit the increasing spread of misinformation through its platform. The WHO has identified an "infodemic" of false medical advice and conspiracy theories around COVID-19 online. (07.04.2020)

'Pandemic populism': Germany sees rise in conspiracy theories

With the COVID-19 crisis sparking uncertainty, conspiracy theories are booming in Germany. Right-wing activists in particular are trying to stir up hatred against politicians and the democratic system, a new study warns. (26.04.2020)

Coronavirus: How do I recognize a conspiracy theory?

Conspiracy theories are coming in hard and fast during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of them even sound plausible. So it's important to know: what makes a conspiracy theory? And why are they so popular? (19.05.2020)

All made up? Conspiracy theories in movies

Against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, Germany abounds with conspiracy theories. Movies have for decades been devoted to all kinds of conspiracies — including those that actually exist. (19.05.2020)


Date 19.05.2020
Author Jochen Kürten (als)
Related Subjects Fritz Lang, Oliver Stone
Keywords conspiracy theories, film, movies, Oliver Stone, Fritz Lang, John F. Kennedy

Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3cTeY

Viktor Orban expands Hungary's anti-LGBTQ+ measures

Under Viktor Orban, Hungary's government has further limited rights of transgender and intersex people with a new law. It is the latest example of Orban's extreme intolerance of people who do not fit his worldview.

 

With a two-thirds majority in parliament, this week Hungary's governing coalition passed a law that prohibits transgender and intersex people from changing the gender was registered in their birth certificates. According to the law, identity is now determined forever "by primary sex characteristics and chromosomes."

At the end of March — in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic — Hungary's nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, had announced that his government would abolish the possibility of changing one's gender on identity documents. Protests by opposition politicians who pointed out the serious consequences for those concerned were ignored. In April, Imre Vejkey, a parliamentarian from the Christian Democratic People's Party, a partner in Orban's coalition, said "the opinion of those affected plays no role."

Rights groups have sharply criticized the law. David Vig, the director of the Hungarian branch of Amnesty International, said the decision "pushes Hungary back towards the Dark Ages."

Read more: Is the Eurovision Song Contest too 'gay' for Hungary?

'Extremely problematic' law

Tamas Dobos, from the LGBTQ+ organization the Hatter Society, told DW that the law was "extremely problematic." Dobos said it means, among other things, that trans people would now have to reveal their transgender identity every time they conduct official business.

The law has also triggered massive criticism internationally. The Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Dunja Mijatovic described it as a "blow to the human dignity of trans people." She said it contradicted the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The United Nations, the European Union and LGBTQ+ organizations across the world have also condemned the law. On social media, opponents of the law launched a protest campaign under the hashtag #drop33 — a symbolic dropping into the wastebasket of this amendment to Article 33 in Hungarian law.

Arduous legal action

As the law is consistent neither with the Hungarian constitution nor with European human rights standards, it will be combated "with every means," Dobos said. The Hatter Society has called on Hungary's president not to sign the bill into law and to submit it to the Constitutional Court for review. But the president and the judges at the court are all loyal to Orban and, as a rule, do not oppose the government in its legislation. 

Another option would be to lodge a complaint with the ECHR in Strasbourg, Dobos said. But he is not optimistic: "A final decision will take years, whether in Hungary or Strasbourg. Until then, transsexuals will not have the chance to have their gender legally recognized, which will expose them to discrimination and possibly even violence."

Opposing Orban's worldview

In the past few years, officials in Hungary have shown increasing antipathy toward LGBTQ+ people. The parliamentary speaker, Laszlo Kover, compared the adoption of children by homosexual couples with pedophilia. Not long afterward, Istvan Boldog, the deputy chairman of the parliamentary party of Orban's Fidesz, called for the abolition of Budapest Pride. And the pro-government journalist Zsolt Bayer even proudly announced: "Yes, we are homophobic."

Dobos said the government made such statements to appeal to voters after seeing how well official homophobia has performed as an elections strategy for the government in Poland. In Hungary, as in Poland, LGBTQ+ people do not fit in with the conservative Christian worldview of the government. Orban has emphasized several times that in his eyes, Hungary is an illiberal state, i.e., a state in which people are not meant to be able to live the way they want to live.

Shortly after taking office 10 years ago, Orban had the constitution changed to fit his views. Now, it reads: "Hungary protects the institution of marriage as a union of man and woman … and the family as the basis for the survival of the nation."

Orban has found a battle cry for everything that does not keep with his view of the world: gender. Hungary's government has denied proposals for research in the field and has forbidden gender studies as a university course.

Hungary'ss government has refused to ratify the Council of Europe's 2011 Istanbul Convention to combat violence against women and domestic violence, charging in a statement that it promotes "destructive gender ideologies": "We have the right to defend our country, our culture, our laws, traditions and national values, which should not be threatened by ... gender theory that goes against the beliefs of the majority of the population."

• Date 21.05.2020
• Author Felix Schlagwein
• Related Subjects LGBT rights, Hungary, Viktor Orban, Budapest
• Keywords Viktor Orban, Hungary, LGBT+
• Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3caoD