New Caledonia separatists call for boycott of independence referendum

This picture shows voting forms at a polling station in the referendum on independence on the French South Pacific territory of New Caledonia in Noumea on October 4, 2020. 

© Theo Rouby, AFP

Issued on: 21/10/2021 - 

Text by: NEWS WIRES

Separatist leaders in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia called Thursday for a boycott of a December independence referendum, urging the government to focus on the Covid crisis.

Members of the pro-independence FLNKS group issued the statement a day after they called on France's minister for overseas territories Sebastien Lecornu to postpone the poll during his visit there.

The government should prioritise fighting the Covid pandemic in the territory, which has claimed 245 lives since September.

Paris agreed the request from the New Caledonia legislature to hold the consultative referendum under the terms of a decolonisation plan, known as the Noumea Accord, agreed in 1998.

But the FLNKS statement said the government -- with the next year's presidential elections in mind -- was insisting on pressing ahead with the vote so as to meet its obligations under the Noumea Accord.

Given the health crisis, it argued, the referendum could not be held properly.

Lecornu, during his visit, said the health situation was "tense" but under control, and only a situation in which the epidemic was running riot could justify postponement of the referendum.

New Caledonia is due to hold what will be its third referendum on independence on December 12, having already twice rejected the proposal.


The Noumea Accord ended a deadly conflict between the mostly pro-independence indigenous Kanak population and the descendants of European settlers.

It allowed for up to three independence votes by 2022 if requested by at least a third of the local legislature.

In a first referendum in 2018, 57 percent voted to remain part of France. In the second, in October 2020, that share decreased to 53 percent.

An archipelago of around 270,000 inhabitants located about 2,000 kilometres (1,250) miles east of Australia, New Caledonia has been a French territory since 1853.

(AFP)

Chile fishermen protest to demand return to Port of Valparaiso

 

View of smoke as fishermen set tires on fire during a protest in the Port of Valparaiso, Chile Raul ZAMORA ATON CHILE/AFP

Issued on: 21/10/2021 - 

Santiago (AFP)

More than 200 fishermen, in boats of different sizes, protested in the port. They set fire to at least five huge tires hanging on the walls of the pier, according to AFP images.

The tires are there to prevent ships from colliding when they dock.

Uniformed Chilean Navy officers on patrol boats, who are in charge of port security, tried to put out the fires with jets of water from hoses that they also aimed at the fishing boats in an attempt to move them away.


"Naval personnel made use of rubber bullets with compressed air and fired them at the different boats that were in the sector," said Valparaiso's maritime governor Nelson Saavedra.

He said that fishermen responded with "stones, benzine, accelerant, paint bombs and also ran into the Navy boats."

Maritime police shoot tear gas at a fishing boat protesting in the Port of Valparaiso, Chile Raul ZAMORA ATON CHILE/AFP

The protesters said at least three of their numbers were injured. The fishermen are demanding the government fulfill an agreement to build a new dock at the port for their use.

The workers expect to be "compensated for the next four years during which they will be without a cove where they will not be able to work," the fishermen's lawyer, Felipe Olea, told local media.

Eight years ago, the fishermen were removed from an area of the Port of Valparaiso where they operated due to construction being done there.

They were transferred to the coastal town of Quintero, 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Valparaiso.

   

View of smoke as fishermen set tires on fire during a protest in the Port of Valparaiso, Chile 

Sebastián CISTERNAS ATON CHILE/AFP

The Port of Valparaiso, the country's second-largest, moved 9.3 million tons of cargo in 2019, while annually receiving at least 40 cruise ships and 100,000 visitors.

© 2021 AFP

Sudan’s fragile transition to democracy at stake as rival camps flex muscles

Sudanese protesters take part in a rally demanding the dissolution of the country's transitional government in Khartoum on Saturday, October 16, 2021. 

© Marwan Ali, AP
Text by: Benjamin DODMAN

Issued on: 21/10/2021 

Supporters of Sudan’s transitional government have called for mass rallies in Khartoum on Thursday amid fears the military is plotting to withdraw its support for an uneasy power-sharing agreement, more than two years after a popular uprising led to the overthrow of veteran autocrat Omar al-Bashir.

The call to protest sets the stage for a possible showdown between rival camps in the Sudanese capital, where supporters of military rule have held a sit-in outside the presidential palace since Saturday, calling for the dissolution of the country’s embattled transitional government.

The looming confrontation on the streets caps a month of escalating tensions between the military and a coalition of civilian political parties, who have ruled the country under a precarious power-sharing deal following Bashir’s removal in April 2019.

The two camps have repeatedly traded barbs since an apparent coup attempt in late September, with army leaders demanding a cabinet overhaul and politicians accusing the military of plotting a power grab. Civilian officials have blamed both Bashir loyalists and the military for stirring up unrest, including in the east of the country where tribal protesters have been blocking shipping at the crucial Red Sea hub of Port Sudan, exacerbating shortages stemming from the country’s long-running economic crisis.

Pleading for unity last week, Abdallah Hamdok, Sudan’s civilian prime minister, said the attempted coup had “opened the door for discord, and for all the hidden disputes and accusations from all sides". In this way, he added, “we are throwing the future of our country and people and revolution to the wind."

Ousting Bashir, and then what?

The escalating tensions in the troubled nation of 40 million have raised alarm bells in the region and beyond – though experts sound unsurprised. If anything, it is remarkable that Sudan’s uneasy transition has made it this far, says Professor Natasha Lindstaedt of the University of Essex, stressing the toxic legacy of three decades under Bashir’s autocratic rule.

“Bashir was a very personalistic dictator who caused institutions around him to decay, leaving behind a weak state and an institutional void,” she explains. “With this type of regime what often follows is complete collapse and chaos, as in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, [Muammar] Gaddafi’s Libya or [Ali Abdullah] Saleh’s Yemen.”

Instead, the “monumental undertaking” of Bashir’s ouster has seen relatively little bloodletting – aside from a bloody June 2019 crackdown on protesters – and, so far, a bumpy but largely peaceful transition, notes Lindstaedt, who has written extensively about attempts to transition from authoritarian to democratic regimes.
Sudan's PM urges restraint as army and civilian divisions deepen

01:26

“It could’ve turned into a civil war, but it didn’t,” she says. “Some feared a Libyan-style plunge into chaos or a military takeover, as in Egypt. In the end, Sudan took a middle way, even though the unity between civilians and the military is largely a façade.”

Civilian leaders remain suspicious of the army’s intentions, while key military figures are fearful of losing privileges acquired during the Bashir era. Some have been unnerved by calls for the extradition of the former strongman and his allies to the International Criminal Court, where they are wanted for alleged war crimes in Darfur.

Other civilian goals include purging Bashir’s allies, seizing assets and putting the military’s extensive economic holdings under civilian control.

The trouble, says Lindstaedt, is that Sudan is largely deprived of the key requirements for a successful democratic transition, such as political parties and functioning state institutions. Moreover, its civilian leaders have struggled to find much common ground beyond their opposition to Bashir, undermining their pitch in a sprawling country scarred by regional conflicts and a biting economic crisis.

“The civilian camp is too weak, too loose a coalition of different groups and interests,” adds Lindstaedt. “It needs a platform, a programme that is not just, ‘We don’t want Bashir’.”

Fake news and real grievances

Divisions within the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) – the umbrella civilian alliance that brought together Bashir’s opponents in 2019 – have presented the military with an opening to portray itself as the one stable entity that is above the fray, says David Kiwuwa, a professor of international studies at the University of Nottingham-Ningbo in China.

“Are they [the military] looking with glee as the civilian camp starts to unravel? Of course they are, because the more the civilians are unable to get their act together, the more they put the military in sharp contrast,” he explains.

Politicians have accused army leaders of exploiting divisions in the civilian camp and fanning popular discontent against the transitional government. They point out that pro-army demonstrators have been bussed into the capital, swelling the ranks of anti-government protesters, and have been left alone by unusually lenient security forces.

Senior military figures, like Mohamed Hamdan “Hemeti” Dagolo, the former head of the notorious Janjaweed militia and current head of the ruling Sovereign Council, have spoken disparagingly of politicians’ self-interest and compared it with the military’s purported selfless dedication to the good of the nation.

The battle for public opinion has also moved online, Reuters reported on Tuesday, noting that Facebook has recently shut down large networks used by Bashir loyalists to spread misinformation and agitate for a military takeover in Khartoum and civil disobedience in the east.

Fears of manipulation are certainly founded, says Michelle Gavin, the Ralph Bunche senior fellow for Africa policy studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, though cautioning that they should not distract from the real concerns and discontent voiced by the Sudanese people.

“While it is very likely that the apparent popular enthusiasm for military government is orchestrated by those in the security services who fear losing access to power, there are genuine grievances they can seize on to bolster their case,” she points out. “There is no question that many Sudanese civilians are impatient with the pace of reform and economic recovery, and dismayed by infighting within the transitional government that distracts from tackling larger social issues.”

Two years after Bashir ouster, protesters in Sudan decry slow political reform

01:36

Only a month ago, civilian officials were celebrating signs that Sudan’s protracted economic crisis was easing following promises of debt relief and international financing. Since then, however, unrest in the east has resulted in Khartoum experiencing acute shortages of bread and imported staples. This in turn has stoked anger at the government and overshadowed its less tangible achievements.

“The transitional government has made some progress, for instance in negotiating peace deals with rebellions, in matters of justice and reconciliation, freedoms in the public space and political prisoners,” says Kiwuwa. “But, at the end of the day, it’s matters of bread and butter that are the real pressing concern.”

Nation building

After precipitating the fall of Bashir back in 2019, will spiralling bread prices – a traditional trigger of popular uprisings – now help the military topple civilian rulers?

According to Kiwuwa, the Sudanese army will be reluctant to attempt the kind of takeover that brought Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to power in neighbouring Egypt, abruptly ending the country’s experiment with democracy.

Sudan’s power-sharing deal “was always going to be an uneasy marriage", he says. “But we haven’t necessarily reached a tipping point. The military is still wary of being seen to shove aside its civilian partner, which would spell the failure of the revolution and trigger widespread anger. It needs civilian help.”

Moreover, Sudan’s powerful military is no match for the Egyptian army with its sophisticated military apparatus and huge economic leverage, he adds.

International pressure is also being brought to bear, with a flurry of high-level officials recently stopping in Khartoum, including World Bank President David Malpass and US Special Envoy Jeffrey Feltman. Washington has warned that any military takeover would result in a return to the sanctions that hobbled the country under Bashir, and a rollback of debt forgiveness and international financing that are among the transition's biggest achievements.

As for the motley coalition that makes up Sudan’s “civilian” camp, it has “no other option than to continue the conversation, hoping to build some form of consensus in the years to come", says Kiwuwa.

“Sudan is facing an existential problem in how to build a Sudan for all the Sudanese,” he adds. “But you need to reach a measure of consensus in the first instance in order to understand what institutions to build.”

FROM MONARCHY TO SINGLE PARTY STATE
Democracy languishes 30 years after Cambodia peace deal

Premier Hun Sen, now in his fourth decade in power, has led a sustained crackdown on dissent 

Manan VATSYAYANA AFP/File

Issued on: 21/10/2021 

Phnom Penh (AFP)

The Paris Peace Agreements, signed on October 23, 1991, brought an end to nearly two decades of savage slaughter that began with the Khmer Rouge's ascent to power in 1975.

The genocidal regime wiped out up to two million Cambodians through murder, starvation and overwork, before a Vietnamese invasion toppled the communist Khmer Rouge but triggered a civil war.

The Paris accords paved the way for Cambodia's first democratic election in 1993 and effectively brought the Cold War in Asia to an end

Aid from the West flowed and Cambodia became the poster child for post-conflict transition to democracy.

But the gains were short-lived and Premier Hun Sen, now in his fourth decade in power, has led a sustained crackdown on dissent.

"We did a great job on bringing peace, but blew it on democracy and human rights," said former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans, one of the architects of the peace deal.
Violence and graft

Evans said it was a mistake to agree to Hun Sen's demands for a power-sharing arrangement after the 1993 election.

"Hun Sen has amassed vast fortunes for his family... while almost 30 percent of Cambodians live barely above the poverty line," he said.

Rights groups say the veteran strongman maintains his iron grip on the country through a mix of violence, politically motivated prosecutions and corruption

 Manan VATSYAYANA AFP

Rights groups say the veteran strongman maintains his iron grip on the country through a mix of violence, politically motivated prosecutions and corruption.

Exiled opposition figurehead Sam Rainsy said the international community lacked the will in 1993 to stand up to Hun Sen, who had been installed as ruler by the Vietnamese in 1985.

"The West had a tendency to wait and see and look for imagined gradual improvements in governance. That clearly did not work," he told AFP.

"Cambodian politicians also have to accept some blame. Too many found it easier to accept a quiet but lucrative life in government than to say what they really thought."

Human Rights Watch said that under Hun Sen, "even the patina of democracy and basic rights" has collapsed in recent years.

In 2017, the Supreme Court dissolved the main opposition, the Cambodia National Rescue Party.

And since the 2018 election -- in which Hun Sen's party won every seat in parliament -- the authorities have arrested scores of former opposition members and rights campaigners.

Around 150 opposition figures and activists are facing a mass trial for treason and incitement charges, while the main opposition leader Kem Sokha is facing a separate treason trial.

Covid-19 has seen more curbs, with over 700 people arrested according to the UN rights body, which has warned that most may not have had a fair trial.

The spokesman for the ruling Cambodian People's Party insisted it was the "will of the people" to have one party in parliament.

"We have peace, we have political stability, it reflects that we correctly implement the principles of democracy, and there is no abuse of human rights either," Sok Eysan told AFP.

Political dynasty

There has been some international censure -- the European Union withdrew preferential trade rates last year over rights abuses -- but the pressure shows little sign of translating into change.

"The reality is Cambodia has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of China, like Laos next door, and that means Hun Sen has been able to comfortably thumb his nose at any potential economic or political pressure from elsewhere," Evans said.

In this file photo taken in 1993, people wait to cast their ballots in the country's first democratic election at a mobile polling station in Phnom Penh Romeo 

GACAD AFP

Speculation has simmered that the 69-year-old Hun Sen is grooming his eldest son Hun Manet -- a four-star general educated in Britain and the United States -- to take over the leadership one day.

But in March, the veteran ruler said he would no longer set a date for his retirement, and activists have little hope that a change in leadership will bring a new direction.

"In Cambodia, we don't have real democracy," Batt Raksmey told AFP.

Her campaigner husband was jailed in May for allegedly inciting unrest after he raised environmental concerns about a lake on the edge of Phnom Penh.

"People have no freedom to speak their opinion," she said. "When they speak out and criticise the government, they are arrested."

© 2021 AFP

IRAQI KURDISTAN

In Iraqi Kurdish city, women gain power without parity

Kwestan Faraj, head of Halabja municipality since 2016, says the drive for gender equality in her city was largely led by the PUK party SAFIN HAMED AFP

Issued on: 21/10/2021 

Halabja (Iraq) (AFP)

Though equality may be a distant reality for many women in Iraq, in Halabja women have reached top levels of local government.

Mayor, university dean, director of the veterinary department, and health spokesperson are some of the senior posts held by women in the city of around 115,000 inhabitants.

It marks something of a departure for Iraqi Kurdistan, where public affairs have long been dominated by a handful of men.

Tradition and conservative values have meant that women face routine discrimination and are largely confined to the private sphere.

"When you are a woman, climbing the ranks comes with a lot of sacrifices," Faraj, 55, told AFP.

Faraj says there is gender balance in Halabja's administrative posts SAFIN HAMED AFP

A former deputy head of the municipality for 15 years, Faraj launched her political career many years earlier, when as a student she handed out leaflets against Saddam Hussein's regime, which carried out an infamous chemical attack on the city shortly before the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988.

She recalled one day when an armed man arrived demanding that she sign dubious paperwork. She refused.

"I thought he would pull out his gun and shoot," she said.

"He got up and told me: 'If you weren't a woman, I know what I would have done'."

She said that in her city the drive for gender equality was largely led by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of two historical parties in Iraqi Kurdistan. 

THE THIRD PARTY IS THE KURDISH WORKERS PARTY OF OCCLAN THE PKK AND /YJP/YPG IN ROJAVA SYRIA

Yet some residents complain that the advances are largely cosmetic and aimed at masking the shortcomings of public services.

Mahabad Kamil Abdullah, pictured in her office at the University of Halabja, is Kurdistan's first female university dean 

SAFIN HAMED AFP

'Barriers'

A junior partner in the Kurdistan regional government in Arbil, the PUK holds the post of speaker in the regional parliament, which it also awarded to a woman, Rewaz Faiq.

The party "believes in equality between men and women in all domains," Faraj said.

"This has allowed us to achieve gender balance in administrative posts in Halabja," said the head of the municipality, who has held the post since 2016.

Iraqi Kurdish women walk in Halabja, part of the Kurdistan region which has cultivated an image of relative stability and tolerance SAFIN HAMED AFP

Halabja prides itself on having had a woman mayor, Adela Khanum, in the first decades of the 20th century. Now it has another, Nuxsha Nasih.

It also has Kurdistan's first female university dean, Mahabad Kamil Abdullah. "The Islamist parties were among the first to congratulate me when I became the president of Halabja University," she said.

But it is by no means representative of the situation of women in Kurdistan as a whole. A 2018 UN report found that women in the workforce represent barely 15 percent of the women of working age. About three quarters of those work in the public sector.
Cosmetic change

In Iraq's October 10 parliamentary election, more than 90 women were elected according to preliminary results, exceeding the minimum 83-seat quota established for women in the 329-seat chamber.

Many residents are more preoccupied with the failings of public services than with seeking gender equality 

SAFIN HAMED AFP

Though the Kurdistan region has cultivated an image of relative stability and tolerance, women's rights activists say key issues like forced marriage and female genital mutilation have gone unaddressed.

"It is not enough to have women in high posts. There need to be more women in the lower ranks," said Gulistan Ahmed, who heads the governmental commission for human rights in Halabja.

Many residents are more preoccupied with the failings of public services than with seeking gender equality.

"There have been no notable changes in the city under their mandate, whether at the level of public services or with the launch of new projects," complained Wshyar Abdulkarim, a 45-year-old spice merchant.

Female market trader Mujda Ahmed said having women in top jobs had yet to lead to an improvement in services for women.

Gulistan Ahmed, head of the human rights commission in Halabja, says it's not enough to have women in high posts SAFIN HAMED AFP

"I have worked in the market for six years and not a single person has built public toilets for women," she said.

"I have the impression that they are being used by their parties, which simply want to improve their image on the issue of equality, nothing more."

© 2021 AFP

Ecuador's Lasso calls protesters 'putschists', declares state of emergency

The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE) and trade unions are planning protests

A Police officer stands guard during Ecuadorean unions members' march against labor reforms proposed by president Guillermo Lasso in Quito, Ecuador October 20, 2021.

 © Santiago Arcos, Reuters

Text by: NEWS WIRES|

Video by  :Fraser JACKSON


Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso on Wednesday branded indigenous groups and trade unions as "putschists" and "conspirators" over plans to protest against a hike in fuel prices.

It comes just two days after Lasso declared a state of emergency amidst a rise in drug-related violence, although the government vowed to protect the right to assembly and protest.

The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE) and trade unions are planning protests, while a doctors' union has said it will demonstrate on Thursday against a lack of both supplies and employment stability.

"The hand of democratic dialogue will be extended, but if we have to impose the constitution by force to confront putschists, we will do so with decisiveness, with spirit and without fear," Lasso told a crowd of thousands of supporters in the capital Quito.

"The conspirators must let us work to realise the dreams of all Ecuadorans."

In less than three years a gallon of the most popular fuel has risen 69 percent from $1.48 to $2.50.

The government has steadily removed subsidies that kept fuel prices low, although it claims it will provide other benefits to the poor.

Lasso also called on his supporters to "protect" the capital Quito, seemingly a reference to violence and vandalism that marked indigenous-led protests in October 2019 that left 11 dead and considerable damage to the city.

"We need to be alert to protect our capital, so that no-one damages Quito with rocks, smashes windows, burns buildings, kidnaps police, kidnaps soldiers, kidnaps journalists," said Lasso.

The CONAIE took part in social revolts that overthrew three governments between 1997 and 2005, and led the 2019 protests against the proposed removal of fuel subsidies, forcing then-president Lenin Moreno to back down.

(AFP)

Ecuador's president Lasso refuses to testify over Pandora Papers leak

Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso gestures to supporters outside Carondelet presidential palace in Quito, on October 20, 2021. 

© Rodrigo Buendia, AFP

Issued on: 21/10/2021 
Text by:NEWS WIRES


Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso on Wednesday refused to testify to a parliamentary committee that is investigating revelations about the 65-year-old in the Pandora Papers leaks.

The committee was convened by the opposition-dominated congress to investigate ex-banker Lasso's activities in tax havens.

Earlier this month, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) leaked a trove of documents exposing the secret offshore accounts of a host of world leaders, including Lasso.

The leaks claimed Lasso, who assumed office in May, controlled 14 offshore companies, mostly in Panama, and closed them after former leftist president Rafael Correa (2007-17) barred presidential hopefuls from owning firms in tax havens.

Out of 137 lawmakers, 105 had voted in favor of an investigation to "clarify" whether or not Lasso had broken Ecuadoran law or committed an "ethical" offense.

Lasso issued a statement saying he would not go to parliament but was available to speak to lawmakers at the seat of government "once all the programed testimonies have been given."

The president claimed he had "every right" to know what other evidence has been given before testifying himself.

His wife and one of his sons also declined to appear before the committee.

"Neither when submitting my candidacy, nor since then until now, have I violated the aforementioned prohibition," said Lasso.

He claimed he had made "legitimate investments in other countries" that he got rid of to allow him to stand in the election.

In response to Lasso's refusal to appear, committee president Jose Cabascango closed the parliamentary session by summoning the president "for a second time and in a mandatory manner" to appear Friday before the National Assembly.

In Latin America, the presidents of Chile, Sebastian Pinera, and the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, also appeared in the Pandora Papers.

Pinera is the subject of a criminal investigation over the sale of a mine and faces the threat of an impeachment procedure launched by the opposition.

(AFP)

TSAR PUTIN

The quiet war being waged against 'foreign agents' in Russia

Russia is in the midst of the largest crackdown on the free press and political dissent since the Soviet era.


The quiet war being waged against 'foreign agents' in Russia


Matthew Bodner
Sun, October 17, 2021

MOSCOW — Russia is in the midst of the largest crackdown on the free press and political dissent since the Soviet era.

The trends driving it are numerous, and they have been in place for years. But in the last 18 months, the state has increased its pressure on journalism extraordinarily.

Instead of overt brutality, the campaign is being waged quietly with a vague legal tool: a law regulating the activities of so-called foreign agents.

It was first used against a media outlet in 2017, when several U.S.-government funded outlets, such as the Voice of America, were declared foreign agents. But, last year, the state began to deploy it against independent Russian journalists.

“It is not about receiving money from abroad,” said Sonya Groisman, 27, a reporter who was added to the foreign agent list after her outlet, Proekt, was disbanded after having been labeled “undesirable.”

“It is a law to silence all independent voices,” she said.

The first targets in the assault on independent, critical journalism in Russia were legal entities — i.e., entire newsrooms. But recently, the state has taken to applying the label to individual journalists, too. Groisman was one of them. And the list is public, often serving as the initial notification affected parties get from authorities informing them of their new reality.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee recognized the challenges Russian journalists face on Oct. 8, when Dmitry Muratov — an editor at the independent news outlet Novaya Gazeta — was jointly awarded this year’s peace prize for his “efforts to safeguard freedom of expression” in Russia.

Muratov dedicated the award to his “deceased colleagues,” a direct reference to the price independent journalists in Russia have paid over the years. Novaya Gazeta, in particular, has taken a heavy hit. Muratov was award the Nobel Prize one day after the 15th anniversary of the murder of its most famous reporter, Anna Politkovskaya.

The Kremlin press office said that those who are labeled foreign agents are not legally limited from working as journalists by law and that they have the right to appeal the designation in court.

A Glimpse Into Life In Russia Today (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

The foreign agent law was signed in 2012. Before its first use against the media in 2017, it was used against nongovernmental organizations and civil society groups — often those that focus on human rights — that had received foreign grant money.

“I don’t think there has ever been a worse time for Russian civic society and media in general,” said Alexey Kovalev, an editor at the independent news site Meduza. “And I think we have not even hit rock bottom yet, because this machine doesn’t really have a reverse gear. It is actually getting worse.”

The way it works is simple: Every Friday, the Justice Ministry updates a public list of “foreign agents” published on its website. About 90 organizations and people are on the list, which has nearly doubled over the past month, now featuring almost every major independent outlet.

“The authorities have become smart and sophisticated,” said Gulnoza Said, the director for Europe and Central Asia for the Committee to Protect Journalists. “They don’t use the targeted killings of journalists as 20 years ago. They use legislation to legitimize the crackdown.”

By labeling journalists or media outlets as foreign agents, the state is thrusting two significant legal burdens upon them: The first is a disclaimer, prescribed by law, that must accompany everything they post online; the second is a quarterly report about all of their financial activities. Any misstep in either could lead to criminal prosecution, fines or both.

Kovalev said: “It is not the Russian state that drives you out of business. You have to kill your own business yourself. You have to hire a lawyer to deal with the paperwork, an accountant to deal with the financial filings. And now, when you have individual people declared foreign agents, you see how devastating this actually is.”

President Vladimir Putin addressed the law at a forum in Moscow on Wednesday, defending the foreign agent list as a routine act of bureaucracy, akin to the Foreign Agent Registration Act in the U.S. The U.S. law requires think tanks, lobbyists and foreign state-funded media outlets to report financial ties to foreign governments, but it is less aggressive than the Russian law.

“This law was adopted in the United States in the 1930s, and it is still in use today, applied to Russian media outlets, among other things,” Putin said. “Both there and in our country this is done with one purpose: to protect internal political processes from outside influence. Foreign agents are not prohibited from political or any professional activities. They just have to register.”

A Glimpse Into Life In Russia Today (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

Said of the Committee to Protect Journalists said the organization warned against the U.S.'s using its foreign agent registration law against the Russian state-funded outlets Russia Today and Sputnik in 2017, arguing that the Russian government would engage in a tit-for-tat response. That is what happened to the Voice of America in Russia, he said.

The Committee to Protect Journalists also warned that Russia would take it one step further and use its version of the registration act against independent media outlets. That, too, has happened, he said.

Russian journalists hit with the label point out that there is no trial and no burden on the state to provide evidence that an organization or a person who is added to the registry ever received money from abroad.

For those who find themselves on the list, it feels permanent.

“The only cases in which someone was able to get off the list are organizations that destroyed themselves, but I cannot destroy myself,” Groisman said. “So there are only two options: The first option is that some officials ask the Ministry of Justice to remove you from the list.

“The second option is my death,” she said. “Maybe that is more realistic.”

Egypt dissidents revive rich prison writing tradition

Egyptian activist and blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah, seen here with family in 2019, has spent the better part of a decade behind bars

 Khaled DESOUKI AFP/File


Issued on: 21/10/2021 

Cairo (AFP)

Egypt has a long history of political prisoners turning to writing to capture their experiences in confinement.

An icon of the 2011 revolt that toppled longtime president Hosni Mubarak, Abdel Fattah wrote prolifically over the years, becoming one of the best-known voices of the protest movement.

His writings have now been anthologised into a book published this week, titled: "You Have Not Yet Been Defeated".

With a foreword by Canadian author Naomi Klein, the title of the nearly 450-page book released by a British publisher is a nod to Abdel Fattah's continued public engagement, even while in solitary confinement.

"He has different voices with his writing, from the technical to the passionate and poetic," his mother, veteran activist Laila Soueif, told AFP.

"The form of expression may differ but at its fundamental core, his writing is attached to justice," she added.

On Monday, Abdel Fattah was brought before a security court yet again on charges of "broadcasting false news" for a tweet.

He was last arrested in September 2019, having been released just months earlier on probation, in the wake of rare protests calling for the removal of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Soueif said her son, 39, had been excited about the publication of his work, despite knowing that he cannot celebrate his latest literary achievement.

Laila Soueif says her son has been excited about the publication of his work in English translation

 MOHAMED EL-SHAHED AFP/File

"For me his letters from jail were just letters mimicking our conversations. We've always talked about everything together, from science fiction to capitalism," the award-winning mathematics professor said.
'Understanding Egypt through its prisons'

"You can't understand Egypt without understanding what's happening in its prisons," said Elliott Colla, an Arabic literature professor at Georgetown University.

He noted that jail conditions have worsened compared to decades ago under the reign of Gamal Abdel Nasser, based on his reading of prominent writers such as Sonallah Ibrahim and Gamal al-Ghitani.

"As scary as Nasser's prisons were, people felt like they could organise solidarity openly with prisoners in terms of book, food and clothing campaigns... That's a big difference between Sisi and Nasser," he said.

Colla has also translated the poems of another prominent activist, Ahmed Douma, 36, who has been in jail since 2013. He has spent six of those years in solitary confinement.

He published a book of poetry, "Curly", that was displayed at this year's Cairo International Book Fair in July but was quickly pulled for "security reasons".

Douma's brother Mohamed sent him a physical copy but does not know if prison authorities allowed him to receive it.

"We were happy because he was happy and was focused on it as a project. But he was quickly saddened because it got pulled from the Cairo book fair," he told AFP.

"From the start of his jail sentence, Ahmed would give his lawyers a poem here or there each time he'd see them in court for trial."

The poetry of Egyptian activist Ahmed Douma, seen here during a trial hearing in January 2019, was briefly exhibited at this year's Cairo book fair before being pulled - AFP/File

Douma asked the lawyers to collate the poems to be published in a book, his brother added.
'Smiling behind glass'

Mohamed Douma said his brother was eligible for conditional release earlier this month after serving half of his sentence.

The family was informed that they would have to pay a fine of six million Egyptian pounds ($380,000) for the prison authority to consider his release.

But for the jailed activist, who has contracted Covid-19 twice since the start of the pandemic, his joyful spirit has not been dampened.

"During court sessions, we're the only ones smiling and laughing to each other from behind the thick glass and everyone else is crying. We're very similar in personality," his brother recounted.

In one of his poems composed in solitary confinement, Ahmed Douma writes: "There's no time for depression, no opportunity for sadness, the flood is raging."

Colla situates Abdel Fattah's and Douma's words within the tradition of Egyptian writers coming of age in jail.

"Prison literature is not a minor genre in modern Arabic literature. In fact, you can say in some places (in the Arab world) it's the dominant genre of the best literary production," he said.

Soueif says she hopes her son's book "will give a complete picture of Alaa".

© 2021 AFP

First wave of pandemic novels hits Frankfurt Book fair

Margaret Atwood: 'We members of the human race have been through a very difficult time here on planet Earth, and it's not over yet'

Frankfurt (AFP)

Some of the best-known authors have pandemic tales on the way, with Jodi Picoult finding inspiration in a tourist stranded abroad, while Margaret Atwood is teaming up with the likes of Dave Eggers and John Grisham on a "collaborative novel" about Manhattan residents thrown together by lockdown.

"We members of the human race have been through a very difficult time here on planet Earth, and it's not over yet," Atwood told the Frankfurt fair via video link on Tuesday.

"Already the writers have begun to bear witness," said the Canadian author, who is editing the novel "Fourteen Days: An Unauthorised Gathering", scheduled for release in 2022.

The newest title by Picoult, whose international bestsellers include "The Pact" and "My Sister's Keeper", comes out next month, and will be one of the first pandemic books by a major novelist to hit stores.

Picoult said she wrote "Wish You Were Here" as a way "to make sense of 2020".

"Artists are meant to find meaning in the things that we don't understand and a worldwide pandemic qualifies," the US writer told AFP by email.

Although fewer international publishers and authors are attending the fair this year because of the pandemic, German author John von Dueffel will be in Frankfurt on Friday to tell audiences about his Covid-inspired novel.

Visitors peruse the booths at the Frankfurt Book Fair DANIEL ROLAND AFP

In "The Angry and The Guilty", a woman has to go into quarantine just as the family patriarch is dying.
'Sceptical'

Not everyone is convinced readers will embrace these early pandemic-themed novels.

Renowned German literary critic Denis Scheck warned against "rushing out" these stories, saying it takes very skilled authors to meaningfully capture historic events in real time.

In the past, some of the best writing on major tragedies only emerged years or even decades after the fact, he said, as has been the case for example with 9/11 fiction.

Scheck noted that many readers have instead been turning to classics like Albert Camus' "The Plague", which has taken on new relevance in the Covid era.

"Literature can teach us how to die," Scheck said.

He praised German author Juli Zeh's recent novel "Ueber Menschen" (About People) as an example of a coronavirus novel done well.

Books about the pandemic are starting to appear on the shelves DANIEL ROLAND AFP

It chronicles the tale of a woman who escapes the city for rural life, leaving behind a partner who becomes ever more controlling in step with the tightening coronavirus restrictions.

"She's an author who responds very quickly to current events and does it well," Scheck said.

But overall, "I'm sceptical," he added. "I think we'll have to wait another 10 or 20 years."
Processing grief

For American author Hilma Wolitzer, mother of acclaimed novelist Meg Wolitzer, waiting was not an option.

The 91-year-old lost her husband to Covid-19 last year, and was hospitalised with the virus herself.

Putting pen to paper "was a way of dealing with grief, when all the usual rituals of mourning, such as a funeral and the company of family and friends, were denied to me," she told AFP by email.

The resulting story is the closing chapter in her newest book "Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket", a collection of stories featuring recurring characters, some of which were first published in the 1960s.

American Author Jodi Picoult: 'We need to process what we learned about ourselves in the past 18 months' Jamie McCarthy 

"My story is really about a long marriage -- its many joys and struggles -- that ends with the pandemic, so I hope people will read it for both pleasure and consolation, as they would any work of fiction," she said.

Picoult said readers "will need to decide for themselves when they are ready to read about Covid in fiction."

"We need to process what we learned about ourselves in the past 18 months," she said.

"If my book can do that for even one person, I'll consider it a success."

© 2021 AFP

KIWI NEWS

New Zealand's first indigenous governor-general takes office

For the first time, New Zealand will have a Maori woman as its governor-general. She pledged to strengthen communities to meet modern-day challenges.


Dame Cindy Kiro previously served as New Zealand's children's commissioner and has held leadership roles at several universities

Dame Cindy Kiro was sworn in as New Zealand's governor-general in parliament in Wellington on Thursday, becoming the first indigenous Maori woman to serve in the largely ceremonial role.

The governor-general carries out a number of constitutional duties in the former British colony, including officially signing bills into law and presiding over many public ceremonies.

They act as a representative of the British monarch — who remains New Zealand's official head of state.

After taking her oath of office in English and Te Reo Maori, Kiro spoke of her mixed Maori and British heritage and vowed to reach out to migrants and marginalized citizens.

"Communities develop resilience when people feel connected, have a sense of belonging, and have a place to stand," she said in a speech at the swearing-in ceremony.

"I will connect to new migrants and former refugees, and celebrate the many diverse cultures and religions gifted to our nation by those who have chosen to make New Zealand their home," Kiro said.
A champion of the indigenous language

In her speech, she also vowed to be a champion of the Te Reo Maori language.

"In my lifetime, I've also seen a remarkable shift in attitudes towards Te Reo Maori," she said.

"It's a joy to see so many New Zealanders eager to learn the language, as it is by far the best portal to an understanding of Te Ao Maori — and I will continue to try and champion it," Kiro said.

Te Reo Maori became an official language of New Zealand in 1987, alongside English.

The Maoris are the country's largest ethnic minority, representing 16.5% of the population. They remain both economically and socially disadvantaged.


What did the PM say?

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern welcomed the new governor-general in her speech.

"I know as the first Maori woman to hold this role you are mindful that your opportunity here also provides inspiration that reaches far and wide for many from all walks of life," she said.

"Hopefully when others follow your footsteps they won't be quite as surprised as you were when I offered you the role," Ardern said, news website Stuff reported.
What more do we know about Cindy Kiro?

Kiro previously served as chief executive of the Royal Society, a nonprofit group that advocates for research.

She has also been the New Zealand's Children's Commissioner and has held leadership roles at several universities.

She holds a Ph.D. in social policy and an MBA from the University of Auckland and Massey University and was the first in her family to achieve a university qualification.

Kiro succeeds Patsy Reddy, who had also been given the honorific "Dame" for her services to the community.

adi/sri (Reuters, AP)

Britain, New Zealand agree trade deal, including haka clause

The haka is best known as the spectacular pre-match challenge issued by the All Blacks, but it's also a revered cultural tradition among New Zealand's Maori 

CHARLY TRIBALLEAU AFP/File

London (AFP)

The in-principle deal was sealed in a video call between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern, following  16  months of talks.

Johnson said it was a "big moment" that strengthened Britain's friendship with New Zealand and cemented London's ties in the Indo-Pacific.

He likened negotiations for Britain's latest post-Brexit trade deal to a rugby match.

"I'm absolutely thrilled that we seem to have driven for the line, we've scrummed down, we've packed tight and together we've got the ball over the line," he said.

Ardern continued the sporting analogy, saying Thursday that "unlike a rugby match, I think we can literally both come off the field feeling like winners".

Tariffs on New Zealand goods such as wine, kiwifruit and meat, will be axed under the dea

l NEIL SANDS AFP/File

London said the deal ends tariffs on British exports such as clothing, footwear, ships and bulldozers. It estimated that trade between the two countries last year was worth £2.3 billion ($3.2 billion, 2.7 billion euros).

Tariffs on goods coming the other way, such as wine, kiwifruit and meat, will also be axed.

"It's one of our best deals ever and secured at a crucial time in our Covid recovery," Ardern said.

The New Zealand leader praised provisions in the agreement aimed at promoting Maori participation in trade and addressing indigenous concerns.

They include a commitment by both countries to "identify appropriate ways to advance recognition and protection of the haka Ka Mate".

The haka is best known as the spectacular pre-match challenge issued by the All Blacks, but it is also a revered cultural tradition among New Zealand's Maori.

Indigenous communities -- particularly the Ngati Toa iwi (tribe) where Ka mate originated -- have long resented the foot-stomping, eye-rolling challenge being mocked or exploited for profit.

Over the years, haka parodies have been used in Britain to sell everything from menswear to alcopops -- all without permission and without a cent being paid to the ritual's traditional owners.

The deal will encourage more cultural sensitivity, with London agreeing to formally recognise Ngati Toa's guardianship of the Ka Mate haka.

New Zealand Rugby and Ngati Toa have been approached for comment.

© 2021 AFP

New Zealand to make banks report climate impact

New Zealand's farm-reliant economy means agricultural emissions account for around half of its greenhouse gases

 NEIL SANDS AFP/File

Issued on: 21/10/2021 

Wellington (AFP)

Climate Change Minister James Shaw said the law meant banks, insurance companies and investment firms would make mandatory disclosures about their portfolios' global warming record from next year.

Shaw, who will head to Glasgow later this month for crunch climate talks hosted by the United Nations, said the disclosures would outline the real-world consequences of investment choices.

"It will encourage entities to become more sustainable by factoring the short, medium, and long-term effects of climate change into their business decisions," he said in a statement.

"New Zealand is a world leader in this area and the first country in the world to introduce mandatory climate-related reporting for the financial sector," he added.

© 2021 AFP