COP29 chief exec caught promoting fossil fuel deals

Justin Rowlatt
BBC climate editor


 Secret footage shows COP29's chief Elnur Soltanov discussing gas and oil deals

A senior official at COP29 climate change conference in Azerbaijan appears to have used his role to arrange a meeting to discuss potential fossil fuel deals, the BBC can report.

A secret recording shows the chief executive of Azerbaijan's COP29 team, Elnur Soltanov, discussing "investment opportunities" in the state oil and gas company with a man posing as a potential investor.

"We have a lot of gas fields that are to be developed," he says.

A former head of the UN body responsible for the climate talks told the BBC that Soltanov's actions were "completely unacceptable" and a "betrayal" of the COP process.

Reuters
Baku is hosting this year's COP29 United Nations Climate Change Conference


As well as being the chief executive of COP29, Soltanov is also the deputy energy minister of Azerbaijan and is on the board of Socar.

Azerbaijan's COP29 team has not responded to a request for comment.

Oil and gas accounts for about half of Azerbaijan's total economy and more than 90% of its exports, according to US figures.

COP29 will open in Baku on Monday and is the 29th annual UN climate summit, where governments discuss how to limit and prepare for climate change, and raise global ambition to tackle the issue.

However, this is the second year in a row the BBC has revealed alleged wrongdoing by the host government.

The BBC has been shown documents and secret video recordings made by the human rights organisation, Global Witness.

It is understood that one of its representatives approached the COP29 team posing as the head of a fictitious Hong Kong investment firm specialising in energy.

He said this company was interested in sponsoring the COP29 summit but wanted to discuss investment opportunities in Azerbaijan's state energy firm, Socar, in return. An online meeting with Soltanov was arranged.


Azerbaijan has rich oil and natural gas deposits


During the meeting, Soltanov told the potential sponsor that the aim of the conference was "solving the climate crisis" and "transitioning away from hydrocarbons in a just, orderly and equitable manner".

Anyone, he said, including oil and gas companies, "could come with solutions" because Azerbaijan’s "doors are open".

However, he said he was open to discussions about deals too – including on oil and gas.

Initially, Soltanov suggested the potential sponsor might be interested in investing in some of the "green transitioning projects" Socar was involved in - but then spoke of opportunities related to Azerbaijan's plans to increase gas production, including new pipeline infrastructure.

"There are a lot of joint ventures that could be established," Soltanov says on the recording. "Socar is trading oil and gas all over the world, including in Asia."

Soltanov then described natural gas as a "transitional fuel", adding: "We will have a certain amount of oil and natural gas being produced, perhaps forever."

The UN climate science body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, acknowledges there will be a role for some oil and gas up to 2050 and beyond. However, it has been very clear that "developing… new oil and gas fields is incompatible with limiting warming to 1.5C".

It also goes against the agreement the world made at the last global climate summit to transition away from fossil fuels.
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Soltanov appeared eager to help get discussions going, telling the potential sponsor: "I would be happy to create a contact between your team and their team [Socar] so that they can start discussions."

A couple of weeks later the fake Hong Kong investment company received an email - Socar wanted to follow up on the lead.

Attempting to do business deals as part of the COP process appears to be a serious breach of the standards of conduct expected of a COP official.

These events are supposed to be about reducing the world's use of fossil fuels – the main driver of climate change – not selling more.

The standards are set by the UN body responsible for the climate negotiations, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The UN said it could not comment directly on our findings but remarked that "the same rigorous standards" are applied to whoever hosts the conference, and that those standards reflect "the importance of impartiality on the part of all presiding officers".

Its code of conduct for COP officials states they are "expected to act without bias, prejudice, favouritism, caprice, self-interest, preference or deference, strictly based on sound, independent and fair judgement.

"They are also expected to ensure that personal views and convictions do not compromise or appear to compromise their role and functions as a UNFCCC officer."
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Christiana Figueres, who presided over the historic Paris agreement, says doing deals on fossil fuels is a “betrayal” of the COP process


Christiana Figueres, who oversaw the signing of the 2015 Paris agreement to limit global temperature rises to well below 2C, told the BBC that she was shocked anyone in the COP process would use their position to strike oil and gas deals.

She said such behaviour was "contrary and egregious" to the the purpose of COP and "a treason" to the process.

The BBC has also seen emails between the COP29 team and the fake investors.

In one chain, the team discusses a $600,000 (£462,000) sponsorship deal with a fake company in return for the Socar introduction and involvement in an event about "sustainable oil and gas investing" during COP29.

Officials offered five passes with full access to the summit and drafted a contract which initially required the firm to make some commitments to sustainability. Then it pushed back, one requirement was dropped and "corrections" were considered to another.

The BBC asked Azerbaijan's COP29 team and Socar for comment. Neither responded to the requests.

The findings come a year after the BBC obtained leaked documents that revealed plans by the UAE to use its role as host of COP28 to strike oil and gas deals.

COP28 was the first time agreement was reached on the need to transition away from fossil fuels.

At COP16 Biodiversity Summit, Canada Pushes for High Seas Treaty To Protect Marine Environments

Country:
CANADA
Author:

Jenn Thornhill Verma
ORN FELLOW

GLOBE AND MAIL

NOVEMBER 2, 2024

As the COP16 biodiversity conference comes to a close, Canada and other countries are stressing the urgent need to ratify a legally binding treaty for high seas marine protected areas, aiming for enforcement by 2025.

“In Canada, being bordered by three oceans, we know and understand the importance of ocean protection,” said Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault in a phone interview, adding that Canada’s commitment is visible in the government’s achievements since 2015.

“Canada wasn’t even protecting 1 per cent of its oceans and coastline, and now we’re close to 16 per cent,” he said. “Chances are, by the end of the year, we could be closer to 17 or 18 per cent, so we’re showing that it can be done.”




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While commendable, that still falls short of the “30x30″ commitment to conserve 30 per cent of land and ocean habitats by 2030, the target adopted under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) at COP15 in Montreal within the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

With six years remaining, reaching that goal is possible. But a new report, On track or off course? – Assessing progress toward the 30x30 target for the ocean, found that only 14 of the 196 parties to the CBD have protected more than 30 per cent of their country’s waters.

Only about 1 per cent of the high seas – outside national waters – is effectively protected, the report says. That figure is projected to rise to just 9.7 per cent by 2030, as progress has been slow since the adoption of the GBF in 2022.

The High Seas Treaty, formally known as the agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction, was finalized at an intergovernmental conference at the United Nations in March last year. Ratifying it will close a major gap in high seas governance and create a legal framework for protecting waters and assessing environmental impacts beyond national jurisdictions.

The oceans face numerous threats — from overfishing and illegal fishing to habitat destruction, plastic and noise pollution, climate change and emerging industries such as deep-sea mining for minerals and collecting marine genetic information for biotechnology, medicine and cosmetics.

With 105 countries, including Canada, having signed the treaty, ratification is the next crucial step.

“The pressure at COP16 for countries to ratify the High Seas Treaty is significant because we cannot reach 30x30 without 50 per cent of the planet. Our challenge is going to be whether we can stay the course on that promise,” said Susanna Fuller, vice-president of Oceans North, at COP16. Next week, the Canadian marine conservation charity will host a gathering in Ottawa to celebrate Canada’s progress toward ratifying the treaty.

Rebecca Hubbard, the director of the High Seas Alliance, welcomes that step. The treaty can only enter into force 120 days after ratification by 60 countries. Fourteen have followed through, including at least one from every continent — except North America.

“Canada, the U.S. and Mexico have signed the treaty, and I know that Canada is working on ratifying, so we hope very much to see that ratification before June,” Ms. Hubbard said.

For ratification, the federal cabinet must first approve it, then introduce new legislation for it to take effect. The goal is to secure the necessary ratifications by the UN Ocean Conference in June, 2025, two years after the treaty’s formal adoption.

With fewer than 220 days left, will 46 countries, including Canada, succeed in the race to ratification?

“I’m doing as much as I can from abroad. The situation in the House is a bit crazy,” Mr. Guilbeault said, referring to his absence from COP16. As a key architect of the GBF, he believes the formula used in Montreal was partly responsible for the treaty’s adoption.

Now, as part of the “first movers” group led by Chile and supported by the U.S. and other countries, Canada is hoping to fast-track the first wave of eight marine protected areas (MPAs) in the high seas as soon as the new treaty becomes law.

Canada’s leadership was evident in the first major agreement at COP16 to conserve marine areas in international waters too. The agreement supports Indigenous and local communities working with scientists to identify and define ecologically and biologically significant areas in the high seas. The EBSA process, said the CBD secretariat’s Joseph Appiott via e-mail, was largely inspired by a process undertaken by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Andreas Hansen, the global ocean policy director at the Nature Conservancy, says the identification of EBSAs (Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas) are important for describing the ocean. “By knowing the ocean, decision-makers can then make good, balanced decisions about where protections and sustainable-use measures like fisheries management are placed.”

Enacting the treaty will unify the various regulatory bodies overseeing high seas protections, from deep-seabed mining under the International Seabed Authority to fish stock conservation by regional fisheries management organizations and species protections under the Convention on Migratory Species.

The treaty is especially important to developing, coastal and small-island countries hoping to safeguard the equitable sharing of digital sequence information (DSI) benefits. “The treaty balances the playground for access to marine genetic resources and sharing the benefits more equitably amongst global citizens,” Ms. Hubbard said.

Both the treaty and the CBD advocate for a global fund to support DSI use benefit-sharing. With potential earnings estimated in the trillions of dollars, developing countries are seeking a fair share to reinvest in conservation. Wealthy countries, especially those with pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, are debating whether the fund should be voluntary or mandatory.

Brian O’Donnell, the director of the Campaign for Nature, cautions that reliance on voluntary contributions is problematic. “Safeguarding the world’s biodiversity, and all of our lives, on the goodwill of corporations whose mission is to make a profit, not to save nature, is a dangerous proposition.”

At COP16, the philanthropic sector pledged US$51.7-million, the largest private commitment to high seas conservation aimed at developing marine-protected areas. While Mr. O’Donnell applauds that contribution, he emphasizes that governments must take the lead. “Governments currently pay for 85 per cent of biodiversity conservation, so the idea that the philanthropic sector or corporate sector is somehow going to replace that is unlikely.”

High seas are vital for migratory species such as sea birds and whales, which face increasing threats along their routes and in critical habitats.

“We have no economies and no planet and no human health without biodiversity,” said Sue Lieberman, vice-president of the Wildlife Conservation Society. “That’s why the treaty is so important, because it establishes mechanisms to declare protected areas on the high seas.”

Protesters in France call for cancellation of gala featuring Israeli minister

French politicians, anti-Zionist Jewish civil society groups and rabbis join demonstration

Esra Taskin |08.11.2024 -TRT/AA

Protest in Paris against a pro-Israel gala featuring Bezalel Smotric

PARIS

Supporters of Palestine in France called on authorities Thursday to cancel a gala scheduled for Nov. 13 in Paris, where Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is set to appear.

They gathered at Trocadero Square near the Eiffel Tower in the capital, demanding that French authorities block the gala organized by the Israel Forever Foundation.

The demonstrators chanted slogans including "No gala in Paris for Smotrich and his associates" and "Long live Palestinian resistance" in protest of the event.

The protest featured Palestinian and Lebanese flags along with banners that said "The West is responsible for the genocide in Gaza" and "Murderer Smotrich."

French politicians, anti-Zionist Jewish civil society groups and rabbis also joined the demonstration.

A Jewish rabbi held a banner saying "True rabbis have always opposed Zionism and the state of Israel."

Last month, Thomas Portes, a lawmaker from the opposition France Unbowed party, submitted an official request to the Paris Police Department to cancel Smotrich's participation in the gala.

On Nov. 4, six organizations including the French Human Rights League issued a joint statement calling for the event to be canceled.

*Writing by Alperen Aktas from Istanbul

Israeli Officials Condemn Reports of Protesters Clashing With Israeli Soccer Fans in Europe

Supporters of Maccabi Tel Aviv hold flags at Dam square ahead of the Europa League soccer match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv, in Amsterdam on Nov. 7, 2024.Jeroen Jumelet—ANP/AFP/Getty Images

By Associated Press
November 8, 2024 

AMSTERDAM — Supporters of Maccabi Tel Aviv clashed with apparent pro-Palestinian protesters before and after a Europa League soccer match between their team and Ajax outside the Dutch team’s home stadium in Amsterdam on Thursday night, media and officials said.

The clashes reportedly erupted despite a ban on a pro-Palestinian demonstration imposed by Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, who had feared that clashes would break out between protesters and supporters of the Israeli soccer club.

Details of the incidents remained unclear, but Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called his Dutch counterpart about them.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, also condemned the violence in a post on the social media platform X.

There were no immediate reports of arrests or injuries from the clashes outside the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, the city’s main arena and Ajax’s home stadium. Ajax won the Europa League match 5-0 after leading 3-0 at halftime.

Rushdie’s ‘Satanic Verses’ can be imported in India after court told 1988 ban order is untraceable


08 November 2024

 By Shivam Patel and Arpan Chaturvedi

In August 2022 author Salman Rushdie was stabbed on stage during a lecture in New York, which left him blind in one eye and affected the use of one of his hands. File photo.
Image: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters


India's three-decade ban on importing author Salman Rushdie's controversial The Satanic Verses book has effectively been lifted after a court said the government was unable to produce the original notification that imposed the ban.


The India-born British author's novel was banned by India in 1988 after some Muslims viewed it as blasphemous. The Delhi high court was hearing a 2019 case challenging the import ban in India.


According to a November 5 court order, India's government told the Delhi high court = the import ban order "was untraceable and therefore could not be produced".


As a result, the court said it had "no other option except to presume no such notification exists".

"The ban has been lifted as of November 5 because there is no notification," said Uddyam Mukherjee, lawyer for petitioner Sandipan Khan.

India's interior and finance ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Khan's plea said he approached the court after being told at book stores the novel could not be sold or imported in India and when he searched, he could not find the official import ban order on government websites.

Even in court the government has been unable to produce the order, he said.

"None of the respondents could produce the said notification. The purported author of the said notification has also shown his helplessness in producing a copy," the November 5 order noted, referring to the customs department official who drafted the order.

Rushdie's fourth fictional novel ran into a global controversy shortly after its publication in September 1988 as some Muslims considered passages about Prophet Muhammad to be blasphemous.

It sparked violent demonstrations and book burnings across the Muslim world, including in India, which has the world's third largest Muslim population.

In 1989, Iran's then supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or religious edict, calling on Muslims to assassinate Rushdie, sending the Booker Prize-winning author into hiding for six years.


In August 2022, about 33 years after the fatwa, Rushdie was stabbed on stage during a lecture in New York, which left him blind in one eye and affected the use of one of his hands.

Reuters

WE HAVE WINNERS!

‘We have won’: Russians envision new global system with Trump victory

Francesca Ebel and Catherine Belton | The Washington Post
Nov 8, 2024 

MOSCOW - Donald Trump’s stunning political comeback has created an opening for Russia to shatter Western unity on Ukraine and redraw the global power map, according to several influential members of the Russian elite.

In Moscow’s corridors of power, the win for Trump’s populist argument that America should focus on domestic woes over aiding countries like Ukraine was hailed as a potential victory for Russia’s efforts to carve out its own sphere of influence in the world.

In broader terms, it was seen as a victory for conservative, isolationist forces supported by Russia against a liberal, Western-dominated global order that the Kremlin and its allies have been seeking to undermine.

‘Irrevocably disappearing’

In his first remarks since the election, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the West’s post-Cold War monopoly on global power was “irrevocably disappearing” before praising Trump for behaving “courageously” during an attempt on his life this summer.

“His words about his desire to restore relations with the Russian Federation and to help resolve the Ukrainian crisis, in my opinion, deserve attention,” he said during his annual speech at the Valdai Forum in Sochi.

Members of Russia’s elite were more blunt in their response to Trump’s victory.

“We have won,” said Alexander Dugin, the Russian ideologue who has long pushed an imperialist agenda for Moscow and supported disinformation efforts against Kamala Harris’s campaign. “The world will be never ever like before. Globalists have lost their final combat,” he wrote on X.

The deputy speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament, Konstantin Kosachev, said on his Telegram channel: “The victory of the right in the so-called ‘free world’ will be a blow to the left-liberal forces that dominate it. It is not by chance that Europe was so openly ‘rooting’ for Harris, who would, in fact, preserve the rule of the Obama-Clinton ‘clan.’”

Konstantin Malofeyev, the Russian Orthodox billionaire who has funded a conservative agenda promoting traditional Christian values on the far right and far left across the West, said on Telegram that it would be possible to negotiate with Trump “both about the division of Europe and the division of the world. After our victory on the battlefield.”


In more immediate terms, Trump’s election victory was expected to have a dramatic impact on Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to Leonid Slutsky, head of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee.

‘Matter of months, if not days’

“Judging by the pre-election rhetoric … the Republican team is not going to send more and more American taxpayer money into the furnace of the proxy war against Russia,” he said. “Once the West stops propping up [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky’s neo-Nazi regime, its downfall will happen in a matter of months, if not days.”

But others were more circumspect, and some warned that Trump’s presidency could lead to a more unpredictable era. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would wait to see if Trump’s campaign rhetoric, criticizing support for Ukraine and calling for an end to the war, translated into “concrete actions.” Peskov declared that the United States remains “an unfriendly country that directly and indirectly is involved in a war against our state.”

Russian lawmaker Maria Butina, who served 15 months in a U.S. federal prison after being convicted of operating as an unregistered foreign agent, told The Washington Post that this was “a good chance for U.S.-Russian relations to improve.” She added, “Hopefully this time … Trump will keep his promise to truly be a peacemaker.”

In the weeks before the election, Russian officials had sought to downplay their interest in the vote, but that public stance was belied by what U.S. officials said were intensifying Kremlin-directed disinformation operations seeking to stoke chaos and target Harris. The operations built on earlier efforts to stoke isolationist sentiments, according to documents previously reported on by The Post.


In the end, Russian efforts to interfere in the 2024 election were “pretty marginal to the overall trend of voter sentiment,” said Eric Ciaramella, a former White House official now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, especially compared with 2016, when U.S. intelligence officials concluded that a Russian hack-and-leak operation had helped change the narrative in support of Trump.

Changed the mainstream political debate

But analysts also noted that more than a decade of Russian propaganda operations amplifying anti-establishment, isolationist voices through increasingly sophisticated social media operations, including on X, had changed the mainstream political debate in a way that would never have been possible via traditional media.

“On a digital platform, your ability to do these things works,” said Clint Watts, the head of Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center. After the vote, X owner Elon Musk hailed the result as cementing the power of his platform to provide alternative views over “legacy media.”

Russia’s business community also could not hide its sense of optimism that Trump’s victory would change things for the better, in the Russian view.

Shares on the Moscow stock exchange surged nearly 3% in early trading as the election results came in, amid widespread speculation that Trump could lift sanctions against Russia in return for an end to its military action.

“Trump is someone who is used to doing deals,” said one Moscow businessman, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. “The expectation is that under Trump, decisions will be reached faster to end the conflict and ease sanctions.”

“For big business, Trump’s election is a hopeful factor,” he added. “Sanctions are strangling the economy, and costs are soaring.”

Risks remain high

But share prices later settled, and some analysts said risks remain high that relations could run aground and that the standoff could worsen under Trump. Alexei Venediktov, the well-connected longtime editor of the Echo of Moscow radio station, said the possible Republican capture of both houses of Congress would break the longstanding deadlock in the U.S. political system, letting the government reach decisions at far greater speed and creating new risks.

The Republican majority “is the threat from the Kremlin’s point of view, because there are no internal contradictions, no internal chaos,” Venediktov said. “It was important for the Kremlin that the winning candidate was Mr. or Mrs. Chaos.”

A clear sign of the lack of Kremlin trust in President-elect Trump, Venediktov said, was Putin’s decision not to immediately congratulate him as other leaders had. “This is actually an insult,” he said. “It’s a signal.”

Putin waited until the third hour of his annual speech Thursday to congratulate Trump, first discussing inequality, artificial intelligence and climate change.

But others said Putin’s move was, in fact, a sign of the Kremlin’s growing confidence. Sergei Markov, a Kremlin-connected political analyst, said the expectation is that Trump will eventually, though not immediately, call Zelensky and Putin and propose a cease-fire deal along the lines of one already floated by his running mate, JD Vance, which appears to hand Russia the Ukrainian territory it already controls.


Under this proposal, a cease-fire would be reached along the current front line, together with the creation of a large demilitarized buffer zone, with new borders to be ratified under later referendums. “If everything goes okay, then Trump will lift sanctions” to pull Moscow out of China’s orbit, Markov said.

Putin unlikely to agree

But Markov and other analysts said Putin is unlikely to agree to any deal that does not include the complete demilitarization of Ukraine, which even Trump might reject. “Putin wants what no one can give him,” said Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.

One possibility, though, would be an agreement in which Moscow and Kyiv halt strikes on energy and power infrastructure, Markov suggested, an arrangement that was under discussion this summer, until Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. “This would be a colossal victory for Trump,” Markov said.

Thomas Gomart, director of the French Institute for International Relations, said other far-right and far-left political forces in Europe - many of which have been supported by Moscow - could be boosted by Trump’s win.

They could call for a U.S. rapprochement with Russia, potentially ushering in a new era in which politics would be dominated by autocrats and in which the winning coalition of Trump, Vance and Musk would introduce a new disruptive ideology. “In a sense, it could be a new realignment in Europe,” Gomart said.

“This is a very good moment against the globalist deep state,” said Jean-Luc Schaffhauser, a far-right French politician and former member of the European Parliament who once facilitated a 9.4 million euro ($10.1 million) loan from a Russian bank to the presidential campaign of the French far right’s Marine Le Pen. “It’s a moment for Europe to make a bridge with conservative America” and align with Russia, he said.

“It can be a new era,” Schaffhauser said.

Boeing will eliminate 17,000 jobs

Boeing repays furloughed workers and presses on with job cuts

ByMudit Dube

Nov 08, 2024

What's the story

Boeing's CEO Kelly Ortberg has confirmed that the company will pay its furloughed workers for their lost wages during a recent seven-week strike.However, despite the decision, Boeing will go ahead with its previously announced plan of cutting down about 10% of its global workforce.The strike was launched by factory workers in September and resulted in a temporary production halt of Boeing's top-selling 737 MAX aircraft.

Job cuts

Boeing's workforce reduction plan and employee morale

Initially, Boeing had put thousands of salaried employees on unpaid leave during the strike, which was led by 33,000 union machinists.However, the company later rescinded the decision after announcing plans to eliminate 17,000 jobs.As Ortberg said in an email to staff members, "We will continue forward with our previously announced actions to reduce our workforce levels to align with our financial reality and a more focused and streamlined set of priorities."

Contract approval

Boeing's contract ratification and production plans

On Monday, Boeing won approval for a contract that guarantees its machinists a 38% salary hike over four years and a $12,000 bonus.The deal practically ended the strike with workers likely to return by November 12.However, despite this, the company hasn't yet revealed when it plans to resume the production of the 737 MAX aircraft.

You're 66% through

Financial hurdles

Boeing's financial challenges and future plans

Boeing has suffered nearly $8 billion in losses this year amid persistent quality issues, including a mid-air panel blowout incident in January.To strengthen its finances, the company raised $24 billion in new capital last month.As part of its restructuring efforts, Boeing may look to sell off some assets while downsizing its workforce to focus on its primary civil planemaking and core defense units.

Done!

'DIPSHITS"

Dem senator lashes out at Green Party constituents after colleague booted in tight race

Daniel Hampton
November 7, 2024

John Fetterman rallies for a packed crowd of supporters at Montgomery County Community College in 2022. (Shutterstock.com)

Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman took to X on Thursday evening to lash out at thousands of his own constituents who voted for the Green Party candidate in the state's tight Senate race.

The race between incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) and Republican challenger Dave McCormick was called Thursday in favor of McCormick, though Casey has said he will wait to concede until every vote is counted. McCormick was leading by about 34,000 votes.

The narrow margin was not lost on Fetterman, who took to X to publicly air out his grievance.

"Pennsylvania is going to count every last vote," he said. "That’s not controversial—that’s the law. Also, Green dips---s’ votes helping elect the GOP."

Attached to his post was a screenshot of Green Party candidate Leila Hazou taking just under 1 percent of the vote with about 64,000 ballots cast for her.

The post garnered responses from numerous right-wing blue-check accounts, including X owner Elon Musk, who took the opportunity to jab the senator.

"Calling Green voters 'dips---s' is not a great way to win them over," replied Musk.

First artwork by humanoid robot sells for $1.3m

THE COMMODITY  CREATES A COMMODITY FETISH


By AFP
November 7, 2024

Ultra-realistic AI robot Ai-Da is designed to resemble a human woman with a face, large eyes and a brown wig - Copyright AFP/File Ben Stansall

A portrait of English mathematician Alan Turing became the first artwork by a humanoid robot to be sold at auction, fetching $1,320,000 on Thursday.

The 2.2 metre (7.5 feet) portrait “A.I. God” by “Ai-Da”, the world’s first ultra-realistic robot artist, smashed pre-sale expectations of $180,000 when it went under the hammer at London auction house Sotheby’s Digital Art Sale.

“Today’s record-breaking sale price for the first artwork by a humanoid robot artist to go up for auction marks a moment in the history of modern and contemporary art and reflects the growing intersection between A.I. technology and the global art market,” said the auction house.

Ai-Da Robot, which uses AI to speak, said: “The key value of my work is its capacity to serve as a catalyst for dialogue about emerging technologies.”

Ai-Da added that a “portrait of pioneer Alan Turing invites viewers to reflect on the god-like nature of AI and computing while considering the ethical and societal implications of these advancements.”

The ultra-realistic robot, one of the most advanced in the world, is designed to resemble a human woman with a face, large eyes and a brown wig.

Ai-Da is named after Ada Lovelace, the world’s first computer programmer and was devised by Aidan Meller, a specialist in modern and contemporary art.

“The greatest artists in history grappled with their period of time, and both celebrated and questioned society’s shifts,” said Meller.

“Ai-Da Robot as technology, is the perfect artist today to discuss the current developments with technology and its unfolding legacy,” he added.

Ai-Da generates ideas through conversations with members of the studio, and suggested creating an image of Turing during a discussion about “A.I. for good”.

The robot was then asked what style, colour, content, tone and texture to use, before using cameras in its eyes to look at a picture of Turing and create the painting.

Meller led the team that created Ai-Da with artificial intelligence specialists at the universities of Oxford and Birmingham in England.

Meller said Turing, who made his name as a World War II codebreaker, mathematician and early computer scientist, had raised concerns about the use of AI in the 1950s.

The artwork’s “muted tones and broken facial planes” seemingly suggested “the struggles Turing warned we will face when it comes to managing AI”, he said.

Ai-Da’s works were “ethereal and haunting” and “continue to question where the power of AI will take us, and the global race to harness its power”, he added.

The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility

by Walter Benjamin

Publication date 1939

Topics Art and society., Photography in art., Art and technology., Art -- Reproduction.

Benjamin’s famous “Work of Art” essay sets out his boldest thoughts—on
media and on culture in general—in their most realized form, while
retaining an edge that gets under the skin of everyone who reads it. In
this essay the visual arts of the machine age morph into literature and
theory and then back again to images, gestures, and thought.

SOCIETY: HOW TO KILL THE STAGED ENCOUNTER

PAKISTAN BLASPHEMY LAW

Mahar Murrawat Hussain 

Published November 3, 2024

DAWN

illustration by Sarah Durrani

The accused was killed [or injured] in a shoot-out with his accomplices who, after the incident, fled the scene, with teams dispatched to apprehend them.’ Without fail, we come across this police statement after almost every alleged shoot-out.

While circumstances may change and the area may differ, the official story remains the same. It is consistent in the sense that neither the wording nor the structure of the sentence is altered.

This template was also used in the recent killing of Dr Shahnawaz Kambhar, a blasphemy accused, with the police saying he was “killed by his own accomplices” during a shoot-out in Mirpurkhas, Sindh. However, once the incident came under media scrutiny, the police story was torn apart within a matter of hours. As word of the ‘staged encounter’ spread and condemnations began to pour in, the Sindh government swung into action.


What followed is already in the public domain, but one fact worth mentioning is that the inquiry, ordered by the Sindh home minister, revealed it was a staged encounter.

WHAT IS A STAGED ENCOUNTER?

Before going into the reasons and the modus operandi employed by the police to carry out such extrajudicial killings, we need to develop an understanding of what makes a police encounter a staged encounter.


Police in Pakistan follow a set template when it comes to staging fake ‘encounters’, as shown in the recent case of blasphemy accused Dr Shahnawaz Kumbhar. A serving policeman tries to explain what drives this practice, why ‘encounter specialists’ get away with what they do and how to change this pernicious culture…

A staged encounter is one in which law enforcement agencies, particularly police, orchestrate a scenario that appears to be a legitimate encounter or shoot-out, but is, in fact, pre-planned and undertaken to kill individuals without due process. In this premeditated act, an illusion of self-defence is set up to get through the ensuing legal challenges, such as invoking the police’s right-to-self-defence, as enshrined in the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860.

The modus operandi employed by the police to carry out extrajudicial killings is usually the same everywhere. The victim is first arrested and kept in illegal detention for weeks. Then, in the middle of the night, he is transported to a deserted place — often deserted graveyards, agricultural fields or riverine areas — where a volley of bullets is discharged at him.

An official statement typically follows, containing the usual platitudes, claiming that ‘A’ was being taken for ‘recovery’ of weapons or other material when, en route, his accomplices attacked the police to secure his release; the police “retaliated”, but ‘A’ was “caught in the crossfire”, resulting in his death or injury, while the attackers fled under the “cover of darkness.”

Now, take any case of extrajudicial killing that ever took place in any province, region or district. You will find this same pattern — without even a single alteration of a word, full stop or comma. Troublingly, it seems to matter not one bit that the overuse of the current template has rendered it doubtful.

‘FULL FRY’ AND ‘HALF FRY’

The culture of staged encounters permeates the police forces across Pakistan. In fact, it is the shared belief and value amongst all ranks. There are a multitude of reasons for it being a ‘favourite sport’ of law-enforcers.

The phrase ‘favourite sport’ may sound insensitive to some, but this is how extrajudicial killings are viewed by members of the police force. Such is the height of insensitivity that the term “full fry” is used to refer to such killings internally, while “half fry” describes the act of shooting the victim in the kneecap, in one or both legs, so as to leave them crippled for the rest of their life.

Sometimes it can go wrong, too, as it did recently in Punjab. The police caught an alleged bandit and decided to ‘half fry’ him, but the task reportedly fell to a novice, who failed to hit the bullet at the intended part of the victim’s body. Instead, the bullet allegedly pierced through the lower belly, leaving the victim critically wounded, with blood flowing from the wound. Reportedly, he was not shifted to a hospital for quite some time and remained groaning and contorting until he breathed his last.

Such phoney encounters also allow the police to gloss over their own shortcomings. Poor investigations, coupled with equally poor prosecutions, result in a dismal conviction rate. But instead of focusing on their own investigative practices and procedures, the prevalent perception among police officers is that the judicial system is the reason for their failure to get a conviction.

This perception provides them with the justification to take on the role of judge, jury and executioner, and to instantly dispense ‘justice’ via ‘full fry’ or ‘half fry.’

THE DETERRENT THAT ISN’T
Adeela Suleman's art installation Killing Fields of Karachi, which was displayed at the Frere Hall in Karachi on October 27, 2019, commemorated the 444 victims of alleged extrajudicial killings by policeman Rao Anwar: despite the uproar, Anwar continues to get acquitted in cases and remains a free man | Nazish Brohi

There is a strong belief among the members of the police force that only violence can be an effective response to the violence. Staged encounters are one of the tools the police use to spread ‘official violence’ in an attempt to deter criminals and control the crime rate. Thus, we see the number of police shoot-outs remain consistently high.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), a staggering 3,296 police encounters occurred in Sindh alone in 2023 and a total of 618 people were mowed down in the country in police encounters in one year.

There were 2,544 police shootouts in Sindh during 2022, while this number rose to 3,296 the following year, indicating an uptick of 30 percent. It underscores the police’s ever-increasing proclivity towards violence. Ironically, as the HRCP report notes, despite the increase in encounters, the crime rate in Sindh also witnessed a rise in 2023, with street crime going up by 11 percent.

This debunks the myth about the efficacy of such killings in arresting the crime rate.

‘ENCOUNTER SPECIALISTS’

Cutting down people in a hail of bullets is considered a badge of honour for the perpetrators. Police officers, among themselves and in off-the-record conversations, often proudly recount such encounters and boast about the number of people they have gunned down.

The phrase ‘encounter specialist’ is used to refer to the men who have expertise in killing people in staged encounters. These so-called ‘encounter specialists’ are given lucrative postings and are granted carte blanche to kill people. Rao Anwar, a former senior superintendent of police, according to police records, was involved in ‘encounters’ that claimed the lives of 444 people.

I once had the opportunity to sit down with one such ‘encounter specialist.’ The man, twirling his moustache and wearing a smile on his face, admitted in no uncertain terms that he had sent at least 20 people to the hereafter in fake encounters. Upon my question about how he managed to get away with it each time, he smugly replied: “Killing people in fake encounters is an art, but covering up those killings by tampering records takes even more skill.”

Despite this grim reality, one struggles to find a single precedent where perpetrators of such staged encounters have been put in the dock. More often than not, such encounters hardly create any headlines. In situations where the matter does come into the limelight, cases are promptly registered and the accused are removed from their postings, but only temporarily, to placate the media.

Once the news fades from public view, not only are the accused given a free pass, thanks to the lopsided investigations in such cases conducted by their ‘uniform brothers’, but they also often get posted to more lucrative positions.

In some cases, where judicial enquiries are ordered, the police still manage to influence the outcome, either through record-tampering or by effecting a settlement with the heirs of the victims, either through coercion or inducement.

One legal avenue against this barbarity is the filing of a private complaint in a magistrate’s court, as laid down under Section 190 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1898. However, this process is often lengthy, costly and ineffective. Furthermore, even if the family of the victim daringly takes this route, the courts ironically seek reports in the matter from the same police force that is being put in the dock by the complainant.

Even more comical is the fact that courts tend to mechanically dispose of such complaints in light of the reports furnished by the police. Consequently, convictions in the cases of staged encounters are exceedingly rare.

The case of Rao Anwar serves as an example to show the impunity enjoyed by these ‘encounter specialists.’ He was able to walk free from the case of the cold-blooded murder of an innocent young man, Naqeebullah Mehsud, despite much uproar in the media and civil society.

INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION COMMISSIONS

So can anything be done to reform the situation?

The perpetrators of extrajudicial killings often get away with their crime because investigations into such cases are carried out by their colleagues in the police. This mechanism is inherently flawed and against the principles of natural justice. There needs to be an independent investigation commission to investigate every such act of killing, whether or not it is reported by the victim’s heirs.

We can draw lessons from South Africa, which has such a mechanism in place. It established the Independent Police Investigation Directorate (IPID) in 2011, through an act of parliament. The public can file complaints against transgressions committed by the officers of the South African police. In case of custodial torture, death in custody and extrajudicial killings, the station commander, an officer equivalent to the rank of assistant/deputy superintendent of police in Pakistan, is required to promptly report it to the commission.

If the investigation substantiates the allegations against any member of the force, the commission recommends action to the police leadership, which is under obligation to take action in accordance with its recommendations.

Such a mechanism is desperately needed in Pakistan to hold police officials accountable for human rights violations in general, and particularly for extrajudicial killings. There needs to be a commission in each province, comprising elected members of the provincial assembly concerned as well as members of civil society. Then, in every region, the commission can set up sub-committees to take up the matter of extrajudicial killings.

The commission so established should be empowered not only to conduct inquiries in such killings, but also to recommend both criminal and disciplinary proceedings against those found culpable.

REFINING INVESTIGATIONS, CHANGING MINDSETS

It is imperative for the police to move away from the typical investigation approach, which revolves around practices from the 19th century, as poor investigation inevitably leads to acquittals. As pointed out earlier, this is then used by the police to justify the alternatives to ‘make society crime-free’, resulting in fake encounters as a ‘policy prescription’ to circumvent due process.

To address this, upskilling of investigation officers is essential. Investigation officers should not only be equipped with modern investigation methods prevalent worldwide, such as forensic science, digital forensics and behaviour analysis, but also made well-versed in the use of technology. What is crucial is the provision of access to such modern facilities at the level of the police station. It is equally important for officers to understand data analytics to optimise the resources at their disposal.

In addition to these skills, investigation officers must have a solid understanding of substantive, procedural and evidentiary law, which a wide majority within the police currently lack. As a result, they struggle to grasp what evidence is admissible under the law, what it means to maintain the sanctity of the evidence, how to produce it in court and how to testify during trial. To this end, regular workshops for investigative officers can be arranged, engaging serving and retired judicial officers, prosecutors and eminent lawyers.

To rein in this killing spree, the police need to also undergo a thorough purge. Officers with dubious human rights records, particularly the ones who boldly and shamelessly take pride in being ‘encounter specialists’, should be shunted out of the department, or at least be sidelined forthwith. Field postings must not be assigned to them until they undergo targeted training and commit to upholding the inherent sanctity of human rights.

There is also a need to uproot the perception that these so-called ‘encounter specialists’ are in any way ‘brave’ or ‘special’, not only within the ranks of the police, but also in society. This term, which unfortunately commands a sense of vigilante machismo, needs to be made synonymous with an expletive; this perceived ‘badge of honour’ must systematically be turned into a ‘badge of shame.’

A TIME TO ACT

This is an opportune moment for policymakers to act, as the cold-blooded murder of Dr Kumbhar has resulted in a rallying cry, reminiscent of the outrage that followed the killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud in Karachi and the tragic slaying of a family in front of children in Sahiwal in 2019. The public’s support for such measures will be readily attainable.

This is the time to act; as a nation, we can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to these violations of basic human rights. We must confront the issues that have devastated countless families. The emotional pain and psychological trauma endured by these bereaved families cannot be adequately measured or articulated.

While we cannot bring back the loved ones lost to this ‘police mania’, we have the power to save many other sons, brothers and husbands. Let’s take action for the sake of humanity.

The writer is a sub-inspector in the police and is currently serving in a specialised unit. He has a law degree from the University of Punjab. He can be reached at maharmurrawat240@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, EOS, November 3rd, 2024