Japan orders probe of Vietnamese intern abuse case


Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa said he had instructed 

the immigration agency to 'swiftly deal with' the case 

(AFP/Philip FONG) 

Tomohiro OSAKI
Tue, January 25, 2022, 3:13 AM·2 min read

Japan's justice minister on Tuesday ordered the immigration agency to investigate violent workplace abuse allegedly suffered by a Vietnamese intern in a case that has heightened scrutiny of a state-sponsored training programme.

A video appearing to show the man being punched, kicked and battered with a stick by his co-workers at a construction company sparked outrage after it was released by the 41-year-old's labour union and went viral this month.

The man who came to Japan in 2019 under the internship scheme has spoken out about his nearly two-year ordeal, saying he does not want other Vietnamese trainees in Japan to go through the same.


Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa said he had instructed the immigration agency to "swiftly deal with" the case.

"Human rights violations against foreign technical interns, such as abuse, are absolutely unforgivable," he told reporters.

More than 350,000 trainees live in Japan under the state-sponsored scheme, which has been running for decades.

Its stated aim is to help workers from less developed economies gain skills in industries such as agriculture, construction and food processing.

But critics say some employers use the programme as a cheap source of labour that puts the interns at risk of exploitation and abuse.

The Vietnamese man described the alleged physical assaults as "so aggressive and so brutal" at an online news conference on Tuesday.

His name was withheld at the event, where he spoke through an interpreter alongside Mitsugu Muto, chair of the labour union that now shelters him.

Muto said persistent assaults against the trainee at the company in western Japan once involved his co-workers throwing a piece of equipment at him, resulting in his teeth being knocked out and his lip lacerated.

The trainee also separately suffered a rib fracture after a colleague kicked him with safety boots in the chest, he said, adding that the case is under police investigation.

Muto said the man's case was extreme, but stories of harassment, low wages and verbal abuse are all too common among foreign trainees.

"We believe it's rooted in a lack of human rights awareness... and there's an element of racism as well," he said.

A 2021 report by the US Department of State said foreign-based and domestic traffickers "continued to abuse the government-operated Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) to exploit foreign workers".

Japan's government "did not hold recruiters and employers accountable for abusive labour practices and forced labour crimes", the Trafficking in Persons Report said.

tmo/kaf/je

Cambodia: EU draws criticism over 'inaction' against opposition crackdown

Since the dissolution of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, PM Hun Sen's government has arrested hundreds of opposition activists. Analysts say Brussels has failed to exert pressure on the authoritarian regime.


Opposition leader Kem Sokha faces 30 years in prison if found guilty

Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha returned to the courtroom on January 19 for a politically-motivated trial in which he is accused of treason.

Sokha, 68, was arrested in September 2017, just months before the forced dissolution of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), the country's only viable opposition party which he co-founded and served as president.

Hundreds of CNRP-aligned individuals and activists have been arrested, jailed, or harassed by authorities since 2017. Many more have fled abroad, joining the party's elected politicians who left for exile after being stripped of their positions.

According to Human Rights Watch's estimates, there are currently 68 CNRP-affiliated individuals in prison, while another 90 have been released on bail pending charges, like Sokha. Three have reportedly died in custody.

Several CNRP-linked individuals have also been killed since 2017, including Sin Khon, who was murdered in Phnom Penh last November. The same month, at least 126 CNRP-affiliated individuals were summoned for a series of "politically-motivated mass trials," Amnesty International stated in its 2021 report.
'Fabricated conspiracy theories'

"Severe physical assaults of individuals affiliated with the CNRP continued, with no one arrested or investigated for any of the attacks," the UK-based human rights watchdog added.

Several exiled, senior CNRP leaders — including "acting-president" Sam Rainsy and its vice presidents — were last year sentenced in absentia to more than 20 years in prison for allegedly conspiring to foment a "color revolution."

Watch video 02:43EU mulls end to Cambodia deal

The Supreme Court, which outlawed the CNRP in 2017, claimed the party was plotting a US-backed coup, which US Ambassador to Phnom Penh, W. Patrick Murphy, has called "fabricated conspiracy theories."

Sokha faces 30 years in prison if found guilty. He was released to house arrest before his bail conditions were relaxed in late 2019. His trial began in January 2020, around 28 months after his arrest, but was then delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There is absolutely no possibility of justice for Kem Sokha in Cambodia's highly politicized courts," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch.

Transparency International's latest Corruption Perceptions Index ranks Cambodia the 20th worst country in the world for official graft, just two places ahead of Iraq. All areas of the state, including the judiciary, are now controlled by the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), which has been in power since 1979.

Ky Tech, the government lawyer leading the prosecution against Sokha, is a member of the ruling party's decision-making Central Committee.
Possibility of a political settlement

"I would expect delays [to the trial] because the pattern has been to draw it out and milk it for all it's worth," Sophal Ear, associate dean and associate professor at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, told DW.

Government spokesman Phay Siphan has repeatedly told local media in recent weeks that no politician can intervene in the trial proceedings, but he noted a political resolution could be found afterwards.

Ou Virak, president of the Phnom Penh-based Future Forum think tank, reckons the Phnom Penh Municipal Court could give Sokha a suspended sentence, sparing him a prison sentence even if he is convicted of treason.

Alternatively, he said, Prime Minister Hun Sen could arrange for Sokha to be given a royal pardon, which would also spare the opposition leader a prison term, but that would only come after "political negotiation" between Sokha and the Cambodian premier.
The end of opposition politics?

It is widely suspected that Hun Sen, one of the world's longest-ruling heads of government, wants to cajole Sokha into either resigning from politics or agreeing to lead a greatly defanged opposition party.

His goal, analysts told DW, is to cement a split between Sokha and Rainsy, who has been in exile in France since 2015.

Watch video 01:11 Road trip through Cambodia

Sokha co-founded the CNRP in 2012 after merging his political party, the Human Rights Party, with Rainsy's eponymous group.

The opposition pair has a tempestuous relationship, but their public shows of unity made the CNRP an electoral possibility. It won just 4% points less than the CPP in the 2013 general election.

Sokha and Rainsy maintained their public solidarity after their party's ban in 2017 but a spat began in late November last year when Sokha bemoaned Rainsy for using his name. Sokha's daughters, who play a leading role in his faction of the banned party, also accused Rainsy of "racism" and "sexism."

However, analysts say there is no indication yet that Sokha is prepared to agree to Hun Sen's demands, which could lead to a protracted court trial.

After the CNRP was dissolved, the ruling CPP went on to win all 125 seats in the National Assembly in the following year's general election.

Despite controlling a near monopoly of political offices in the country, the ruling party's authority still isn't absolute. Hun Sen last month solidified plans to hand over power to his eldest son, the de facto military leader Hun Manet, who was named the ruling party's next prime minister candidate.

A dynastic handover is expected sometime between the next two general elections, in 2023 and 2028, and it would run much more smoothly if there is no real opposition threat to contend with.
'Inefficient' EU response

Cambodia also faced a considerable backlash from the West because of its democratic deterioration.

The United States last month ordered a review of Cambodia's place in its preferential GSP scheme over human rights and political conditions in the country. In August 2020, the EU removed around a fifth of Cambodia's trade privileges, re-imposing tariffs on exports, for similar reasons.

Watch video 06:17 The EU and Cambodia -- free trade at risk

Cambodia's economy contracted by around 3% in 2020 and only grew by 2.2% last year, compared with highs of around 7% during the 2010s. Any further trade sanctions by the US or the EU, its main export markets, would severely hamper economic recovery efforts.

Cindy Cao, associate researcher at the European Institute for Asian Studies, described the EU's response to the deteriorating situation in Cambodia since 2017 as "unethical and inefficient."

The bloc's "economic coercion did not have any of the positive impacts Brussels publicly declared to aim for," she told DW, noting that Sokha has not been released nor the CNRP reinstated.

On top of that, the EU trade sanctions have exacerbated economic difficulties in the garment industry, affecting vulnerable workers, especially during the COVID pandemic.

Peter Stano, an EU spokesperson, says Brussels has been "closely monitoring" the trial of Kem Sokha and the resumption of court proceedings. He didn't respond to questions about possibly removing even more of Cambodia's trade privileges, adding that "these preferences could be fully restored if there is a substantial improvement on the issues of concern."

Edited by: Shamil Shams

Australia buys copyright to Aboriginal flag

The flag, designed by artist Harold Thomas, is now free to fly for Australians without permission or payment of fees. 

The deal ends a long-running dispute about the flag's public use.



The artist had given licenses to some companies to use the flag on their products.

The Australian government has acquired the copyright to the Aboriginal flag for US$14 million (€12.3 million), making it free to fly without the threat of legal action.

This marks the end to a long-term dispute which had restricted sporting teams and Aboriginal communities from reproducing the image.

The Aboriginal flag has been recognized as an official flag of Australia since 1995, flown from government buildings and embraced by sporting clubs.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government had "freed the Aboriginal flag for Australians." He added it could now be used in apparel, on sports grounds, and in other medium "without having to ask for permission or pay a fee."

"Now that the Commonwealth holds the copyright, it belongs to everyone, and no one can take it away," said Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt in a statement.

The announcement came on the eve of Australia Day, a national holiday.
Why was the Aboriginal flag disputed?

The flag was designed by Aboriginal artist Harold Thomas, and had become a symbol of demonstration and protest for Australia's Aboriginal people.

"I hope that this arrangement provides comfort to all Aboriginal people and Australians to use the flag, unaltered, proudly and without restrictions," said Thomas.

In the last 50 years, there had been intense debate about the flag's use after Thomas had given rights to companies to use the flag on their products. One of these companies, WAM Clothing, sent cease and desist letters to organizations such as the Australian Football League, for using the Aboriginal flag on clothing.

The government has now paid to terminate the licences held by the companies.

As part of the deal, a scholarship has been set up for Indigenous students for $100,000 in Thomas' name.


THE CONTROVERSY OVER AUSTRALIA DAY
January 26
January 26 is Australia's national day. It marks the arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson in Sydney in 1788. The Australian government describes Australia Day as a day to "celebrate all the things we love about Australia." But for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, January 26 marks the beginning of the loss of their culture, people and land.
12345

tg/rt (AFP, Reuters)

Free for all: Copyright for Aboriginal flag transferred to Australian public in $21m deal

Rob Harris08:41, Jan 25 2022

KATE GERAGHTY/SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
A man sits on a bench in front of a mural of the Aboriginal flag in Newtown, Sydney, New South Wales.

The Aboriginal flag will be transferred to public hands for the first time, freeing its use for Indigenous community groups and sporting codes after the Australian government reached a historic deal with its creator to permanently acquire copyright more than 50 years after it was first flown.

The A$20 million (NZ$21.3m) taxpayer-funded settlement will end a long-running legal controversy surrounding its use by allowing the ensign to be painted on sports grounds, used on apparel such as sports jerseys and shirts, on websites, in paintings and other artworks, digitally and in any other medium without having to ask for permission or pay a fee.

The flag – its upper black half representing the Aboriginal people, the lower red half the red ochre earth and its yellow circle the land and sun – had been entangled in a legal stoush between its designer and copyright holder, its licensees and dozens of community and sporting organisations. They had received cease-and-desist letters from a non-Indigenous company WAM Clothing, which was granted exclusive use by Luritja artist Harold Thomas in 2018.

Thomas said the flag was a deeply personal piece of artwork that was never intended to be a political platform.

“In the future, the flag will remain, not as a symbol of struggle but as a symbol of pride and unity,” he said.

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the finalisation of more than two years of delicate and sensitive negotiations between the Commonwealth and Thomas would free the Aboriginal flag for all Australians.

“Throughout the negotiations, we have sought to protect the integrity of the Aboriginal flag, in line with Harold Thomas’ wishes,” he said. “I thank everyone involved for reaching this outcome, putting the flag in public hands.”

More than two decades after Sydney Olympic golden girl Cathy Freeman wrapped herself in the emblem that had become symbolic of her people’s struggle, Morrison said the flag would now be managed in the same manner as the Australian flag, where its use is free but must be presented in a respectful and dignified way.

ALEX ELLINGHAUSEN/SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
The Australian flag, the Aboriginal flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag flying in Canberra.

The multi-million dollar settlement includes a payment to Thomas for the copyright and extinguishes the existing licences. As part of the transfer, Thomas will retain his moral rights over the flag and the Commonwealth has also agreed that all future royalties will be put towards the ongoing work of the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC).

The government will also provide an annual scholarship in Thomas’ honour worth A$100,000 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders students to further the development of Indigenous governance and leadership.

The National Indigenous Australians Agency will also create an online history and education portal for the flag. An original painting by Thomas recognising the flag’s 50th anniversary and the historic transfer of copyright will be donated to the Australian public and displayed in a prominent location.

Thomas, based in Alice Springs, will use A$2 million to establish an Australian Aboriginal Flag Legacy not-for-profit to make periodic disbursements aligned with the interests of Aboriginal Australians and the flag.

Now in his 70s, the man credited as the first Aboriginal person to graduate from an Australian art school has kept a low public profile since the largely social media-driven movement gained momentum in 2020.

DAVID HANCOCK/SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
The artist who created the flag Harold Thomas signing the Aboriginal flag agreement.

“I hope that this arrangement provides comfort to all Aboriginal people and Australians to use the flag, unaltered, proudly and without restriction,” Thomas said. “I am grateful that my art is appreciated by so many, and that it has come to represent something so powerful to so many.

“The flag represents the timeless history of our land and our people’s time on it. It is an introspection and appreciation of who we are. It draws from the history of our ancestors, our land, and our identity and will honour these well into the future.”

The AFL, one of the country’s most influential sporting organisations, became a main player in the “Free the Flag” campaign after it would not enter a commercial agreement to paint the flag on its playing arenas nor feature its design on its Indigenous-themed jumpers during its annual Sir Doug Nicholls round.

The code said at the time its own players did do not want the competition to pay to paint the flag on the ground or print it on club jumpers if other Indigenous Australians and groups were denied the opportunity because of the commercial terms sought by the licensee.

KATE GERAGHTY/SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
People walk past a mural with the Aboriginal flag that welcomes people to the Block on Eveleigh Street in Redfern, Sydney.

Several prominent Indigenous athletes, including Olympian Nova Peris and AFL greats Lance Franklin and Michael Long also gave voice to the campaign to free the flag for community use.

Spark Health, an Aboriginal-owned and run social enterprise that makes merchandise with the tagline ‘Clothing the Gap’, was among the first groups served with a cease and desist notice in 2019.

Under the negotiated agreement, Carroll and Richardson Flagworld will remain the exclusive licensed manufacturer and provider of Aboriginal flags and bunting to ensure the flags continue to be manufactured in Australia. While the ongoing arrangement covers commercial production, Flagworld will not restrict individuals from making their own flag for personal use.

Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, said securing the free use of the Aboriginal Flag was profoundly important for all Australians.

“Over the last 50 years we made Harold Thomas’ artwork our own – we marched under the Aboriginal flag, stood behind it, and flew it high as a point of pride,” he said.

“Now that the Commonwealth holds the copyright, it belongs to everyone, and no one can take it away.”

Sydney Morning Herald

Transparency International: Corruption watchdog says Germany has work to do

Transparency International's latest Corruption Perceptions Index has both good and bad news in the struggle against public sector corruption. Germany hasn't budged on the list.


Transparency International annually ranks all countries according to how corrupt they are perceived to be

Germany is consistent: For the fourth year running, the country's public sector has scored the same in Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).

With a score of 80 out of 100, Germany ranks 10th on the 2021 index, which was released today by the global NGO. Denmark, New Zealand, and Finland once again took the top spots as the countries perceived as the least corrupt, each with a score of 88. Syria, Sudan, and Somalia are at the bottom of the list, as the countries are perceived as the most corrupt.

See the full report here.

The authors note the score is a more important indicator than the rank, which can fluctuate simply based on how many countries and territories get evaluated. For 2021, 180 governments made the list.

What's in a score?

Germany's score suggests a fairly "clean" perception of corruption in its public sector, which covers elected officials, civil servants, and the extent to which laws and enforcement successfully combat corrupt acts like abuse of power, bribery and theft of public resources.

That is not unexpected for a major, established democracy with robust public institutions and a track record upholding the rule of law. Sixteen of the index's "cleanest" 25 countries are western democracies like Germany, which falls behind Scandinavian states but ahead of its French and Austrian neighbors.

With a score of 67, the United States ranks 27 on the list — behind Hong Kong, Uruguay, and the United Arab Emirates.

While staying put towards the top of the list is better than slipping — Australia dropped by four points since last year — it is also a sign that Germany has not made progress in addressing its weaker points.

"It shows that we haven't come very far in combatting corruption," Hartmut Bäumer, the chairman of Transparency Deutschland, said in a statement. "There are still massive deficits in all aspects of society."

TI's Germany chapter cited last year's so-called mask affair as a prime example of the kind of corruption that Germany remains vulnerable to. Two conservative lawmakers resigned after it was revealed they used their political connections to earn about two million euros ($2.3 million) in a public deal buying masks for the pandemic.

In November, a court in Munich found both not guilty, ruling that the accusations against them did not meet Germany's legal standard for corruption. The former MPs said the payments were the fee they earned as lawyers helping negotiate the deal.

"The law against graft for elected officials remains practically ineffective and is in urgent need of strengthening," Bäumer said. "It isn't OK that the current rules for civil servants are stronger than those for elected officials."

Transparency Deutschland also criticized the German public sector for a culture of secrecy, a lack of clear rules governing corporate criminal liability, and insufficient protections for whistleblowers.

New government's new pledges

In a statement to DW, a spokesperson for Germany's Justice Ministry said many of Germany's laws governing public corruption — including the one unsuccessfully applied to the MPs in the mask scandal — have been strengthened in the last several years, partially in response to demands from Transparency Deutschland.

Germany's new government, led by the Social Democrats with the support of the Greens and business-oriented Free Democrats, has made further promises to boost transparency and crack down on graft.

"The coalition agreement pledges to more effectively develop the criminal offense of bribery and corruption of elected officials. Within the coalition, we will discuss how we implement this agreement," Justice Ministry spokesperson, Rabea Bönnighausen, told DW.

Members of the government are facing recent transparency issues of their own. Last week, the state prosecutor in Berlin announced it wasinvestigating the Greens national board for "initial suspicion" of embezzlement. The party board members, which includes Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck, received payments in 2020 for pandemic-related costs that the party's own auditor said exceeded internal limits.

A Greens spokesperson confirmed the investigation and told German media that the payments had already been returned.

Limits of the Index

The CPI is a snapshot of how much a country is perceived as corrupt, not necessarily how corrupt it actually is, which the report's authors say is difficult to objectively measure. It also only takes the public sector into account, leaving out the black market and corporate malfeasance.

Major financial scandals like cum-ex tax evasion and the Wirecard probe (which has found Germany's former finance minister and current Chancellor Olaf Scholz at fault) have revealed that Germany's state and federal anti-corruption authorities are understaffed and poorly funded, which have made for spotty oversight and enforcement. They have been slow to react to corruption allegations and in some cases investigated accusers rather than those accused.

The CPI does not cover criminal acts like tax fraud and money laundering. In a 2020 ranking of financial secrecy by the Tax Justice Network, Germany placed 14th. That was an improvement over its 7th spot in 2018, but the network still considered Germany "moderately secretive" and a "large" market for offshore financial services that attract illegal behavior.

Germany's recent improvements on this front are partly due to new requirements by the European Union to combat money laundering, with which Germany has had to align. Still, Transparency Deutschland is looking for more from the government led by Olaf Scholz, a former finance minister who has faced questions about his role in recent scandals.

"Precisely in the areas of economy and finance we would have hoped for more," Adrian Nennich, a spokesperson for Transparency Deutschland, told DW.

Edited by Rina Goldenberg

Deniz Yücel: European court rules Turkey violated journalist's human rights

The Turkish-German writer and publisher was arrested and detained in Turkey for a year on trumped-up terrorism charges. The European Court of Human Rights said the pre-trial detention violated Yücel's rights.



Deniz Yücel spent a year in pre-trial detention in Turkey

Nearly three years after German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yücel was released from prison in Istanbul, the European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday ruled that Turkey had violated his human rights.

The court ruled that Yücel's pre-trial detention violated his rights in three cases, including his right to liberty and security, right to compensation for unlawful detention, as well as freedom of expression.

Regarding a fourth accusation that Yücel's lawyers had brought of not being allowed to view all the evidence against him, the ECHR decided that the journalist's rights had not been violated.

In their judgement, the justices also found that the €3,700 ($4,179) compensation offer to Yücel was "manifestly insufficient in the light of the circumstances of the case."
What happened to Yücel?

Yücel, at the time a correspondent for German daily Die Welt, was imprisoned from 2017 to 2018. Prosecutors accused him of supporting terrorism and had sought an 18-year sentence.

Turkey: Journalists in Danger

Rights observers and activists pointed out, however, that Yücel was likely being targeted for his critical reporting of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. After a failed coup attempt in 2016, tens of thousands of academics, writers, and government critics were arrested and held in prisons across Turkey, often without charges.

Yücel has said he was tortured while in Istanbul's infamous Silivri prison.

Following an international outcry, Yücel was released in 2018 and in 2019 the Constitutional Court of Turkey declared that his detention had been unlawful.

Erdogan's government continued to pursue charges against Yücel in absentia, and in July 2020 he was found guilty of supporting the banned Kurdish group the PKK and sentenced to two years and ten months in prison.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

es/rs (dpa, KNA)

Abortion films offer stark warning at Sundance festival
  

Actress Sigourney Weaver hopes "Call Jane" can engage the

 younger generation who have always had abortion rights in the

 United States (AFP/Frazer Harrison)

Andrew MARSZAL
Mon, January 24, 2022

With abortion rights under historic threat in the United States, directors brought three films to the Sundance festival that spotlight the grave dangers women face by undergoing or organizing illegal backstreet procedures.

Star-studded feature "Call Jane" and documentary "The Janes" portray the 1960s Chicago collective who helped connect pregnant women with underground doctors, while award-winning drama "Happening" follows a young woman who risked everything to procure an abortion in 1960s France.

"Having lived through that time -- believe me, we do not want to go back to that," said Sigourney Weaver, who stars in "Call Jane."

"I hope that we can engage the younger generation who have always had this and may have taken it for granted. Put the focus back on the woman herself," she added.

The festival has fallen on the 49th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling establishing abortion rights in the US.

That constitutional right has come under steady attack as laws in a number of Republican-led states have made it increasingly difficult for women to obtain abortions.

Abortion rights advocates fear that the current Supreme Court, including three conservative justices named by former president Donald Trump, will further restrict or even eliminate that right.

Phyllis Nagy, director of "Call Jane," said she was "struck by the need to tell a story about women that gave women agency, that could do it with humor, with a light touch, and with some urgency."

"I think there are a number of films, because it is an important topic... These things are extremely necessary in order for our cherished right to choose not to disappear entirely," she said.

- 'We thought we won' -

The "Jane" collective emerged in the late 1960s, with roots in the civil rights and anti-war movements, and operated until abortion was legalized in 1973.

Volunteers -- mainly women -- set up telephone hotlines, offered up their apartments as makeshift clinics, drove their family cars to collect pregnant women before their procedures, and helped find money for those who could not afford to pay for illegal operations.

Some of the "Janes" even learned to carry out the procedure themselves.

"These are women without whom I wouldn't have had the freedoms that I have enjoyed for my entire life," said "Call Jane" star Elizabeth Banks.

More than a dozen members of the group are interviewed in documentary "The Janes" -- which premieres Monday, and will show on HBO and HBO Max later this year.

These include Heather Booth, who started the collective by finding a doctor for a friend's sister who was suffering suicidal thoughts after becoming pregnant.

"Even talking about performing an abortion was a conspiracy to commit a felony," recalls Booth.

By the time Roe v. Wade made their work redundant, several of the group had been arrested and charged.

"We were thrilled, and we thought it was over. Who knew what would follow? But we thought we won," said another member, named only as "Jeanne."

- 'Duty' -

"Happening," from French former journalist Audrey Diwan, shot to prominence at last year's Venice festival, where it won the top Golden Lion prize.

Based on Annie Ernaux's autobiographical novel, it captures not only the danger of arrest or even death for those risking illegal abortions, but also the rejection, loneliness and shame suffered by young pregnant girls at the time.

"My expectation is not only to show the movie to people who do agree with me, but to people that don't, and to see 'how do you react?'" Diwan told AFP.

"It is one thing to say 'I'm against abortion' -- but do you agree that a human would have to go through that whole journey?"

The film is playing at Sundance before its US release this spring by IFC Films.

"In the 60s in France, the law was really hard. Even trying to help someone get an abortion, you could end up in jail," said Diwan.

"And I mention it because I know unfortunately it's also the case nowadays in other countries."


Anamaria Vartolomei, the movie's star, said she "felt a certain duty I had because I'm a 22-year-old girl with rights, with freedom."

"It's meant to open discussion, so I hope it will... I'm glad to see where the discussion will be brought on this topic in the United States."

Sundance runs until January 30.

amz/hg/st

Success of US transgender woman swimmer sparks controversy


1/5
Success of US transgender woman swimmer sparks controversy
Lia Thomas, a transgender woman who swims for the University of Pennsylvania, has found herself at the center of a firestorm about her presence on the team (AFP/Joseph Prezioso)

2/5
Success of US transgender woman swimmer sparks controversy
Transgender woman swimmer Lia Thomas has said she initially put off her transition because she was unsure how it would affect her ability to swim competitively (AFP/Joseph Prezioso)

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Success of US transgender woman swimmer sparks controversy
Former president Donald Trump hit out at transgender woman athletes during a political rally in Arizona (AFP/Robyn Beck)


4/5

Success of US transgender woman swimmer sparks controversy
Lia Thomas swam for the University of Pennsylvania's men's team before her transition; she now competes on the women's squad (AFP/Joseph Prezioso)

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Success of US transgender woman swimmer sparks controversy
University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas (C) warms up before a meet against Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts (AFP/Joseph Prezioso)

Joseph Prezioso, with Andrea Bambino in New York
Mon, January 24, 2022

Lia Thomas has made a splash in US collegiate women's swimming with her dominant performances for the University of Pennsylvania. But just a few years ago, she competed on the men's team.

The 22-year-old's runaway success in the pool this season has reignited debate about inclusivity in sports and the competition requirements for transgender athletes.

Thomas' case has already prompted the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to amend its policies, and USA Swimming, which governs the sport at the elite level, is considering changes as well.

The debate has been complicated by an avalanche of right-wing outrage.

"Did you see the swimmer that's breaking records, like by 30 seconds?" former president Donald Trump said at a political rally in Arizona this month.

"We will ban men from participating in women's sports," he said, without naming Thomas, who joined UPenn's women's swim team in September 2021.

- 'Overperforming' or simply better? -

In one of only a few interviews given since the controversy ignited, Thomas said she realized she was transgender in the summer of 2018, but initially still wanted to compete on the men's team because of the uncertainty that awaited her with her transition.

"I didn't know what I would be able to do or (if I would) be able to keep swimming," she told SwimSwam magazine's podcast.

"That caused a lot of distress to me. I was struggling. (…) I wasn't able to focus on swimming or school or friendships as much as I wanted to."

Thomas said she began her transition in May 2019 with hormone replacement therapy -- a combination of estrogen and testosterone suppressants.

In her first season on the women's swim team, she is putting her opponents on notice.

In early December at a meet in Ohio, she notched the best times of the year in the 200m and 500m freestyle. Last weekend at a meet against Harvard, she won the 100m and 200m freestyle.

The NCAA already required transgender women to take testosterone suppressants for a year before becoming eligible to compete on women's teams, which Thomas did.

But now, transgender women are expected to be asked to meet certain testosterone thresholds set for each sport.

At issue is how testosterone, which helps young men develop muscle mass through puberty, affects athletic performance. Some say because Thomas went through puberty before transitioning, her muscular build gives her an unfair advantage.

"Lia is overperforming in women's events," the Women's Sports Policy Working Group -- an advocacy organization made up of former elite athletes and sports administrators -- said in a letter to the NCAA.

The group said while all transgender women including Thomas should be allowed to compete head-to-head in women's events, they should demonstrate that they have "rolled back the sport advantages that result from male puberty."

The group -- which counts US Olympic gold medal swimmers Nancy Hogshead-Makar and Donna De Varona as members -- cited a preliminary study showing that Thomas's results are "too close to her pre-transition bests in men's events."

- Discrimination -

But Thomas's backers say such analysis is not scientifically sound and only serves to perpetuate discrimination suffered by transgender athletes.

"Thomas is simply an athlete who loves her sport, trains hard, and followed all requirements to participate in swimming; Still, she has been the focus of violent and abusive rhetoric," advocacy group Athlete Ally said after the NCAA rule changes.

Several conservative-led US states, including Texas and Florida, have adopted laws barring transgender girls from competing in high school sports.

Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard made Olympic history at the Tokyo Games last year as the first transgender woman to compete, but the debate over inclusion rages on.

In November, the International Olympic Committee sent the ball back into the courts of each sport's governing body, saying there was "no scientific consensus on how testosterone affects performance across all sports."

And now the NCAA is planning to adopt a similar approach.

Since 2019, World Athletics has imposed testosterone limits by discipline, which is why transgender hurdles competitor CeCe Telfer was deemed ineligible last year to vie for a spot on the US Olympic team for Tokyo.

For its part, the University of Pennsylvania has voiced support for Thomas, in the run-up to the NCAA championships in March.

If Thomas qualifies, she could find herself competing against Izzi Henig, a transgender man who swims for Yale but decided not to begin hormone replacement therapy in order to remain on the women's team.

Earlier this month, in a head-to-head battle, Henig defeated Thomas.

arb/sst/rcw

US LGBT community draws on AIDS experience to fight Covid


David Perruzza, owner of the Washington gay bar Pitchers, stands behind signs requiring proof of patrons' Covid-19 vaccination (AFP/Stefani Reynolds)


Tori OTTEN
Mon, January 24, 2022, 8:10 PM


From the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, as fear and isolation spread, Dave Perruzza had one thought -- he had seen it before.

"For me, it was thinking about the AIDS epidemic all over again, how nobody took it seriously," said Perruzza, who owns two LGBT bars in Washington, the US capital.

"We were like, 'Well, we're going to take this seriously.'"

With the Omicron variant fueling fresh restrictions around the world, some older members of the LGBT community say their shared experience of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s put them ahead of the curve throughout the pandemic.

Perruzza has for months been requiring customers show Covid vaccination cards to enter his bars -- popular gay spot Pitchers and neighboring lesbian venue A League of Her Own, in the Adams Morgan district of the city.

He implemented his vaccine rules in July, one of the first in Washington to do so -- and months before the local government began this month to do the same.

"I think my age bracket is the last bracket that saw people that actually died of AIDS," Perruzza, 43, who lost his first boyfriend to the disease, told AFP.

"I'm not going to let history repeat itself."

The HIV/AIDS crisis in the United States raged for two decades after the first US case was discovered in 1981, and still claims lives today.

It primarily affected gay and bisexual men, Black and Latino men and trans women.

Then-president Ronald Reagan didn't declare AIDS research a federal priority until 1985, and the first treatment was developed in 1987.

By the end of 2000, at least 450,000 people had died of AIDS in the United States, according to government data.

- Same 'hysteria and lies' -

The pandemic has also brought back painful memories for Eric Sawyer, a founding member of the AIDS advocacy group ACT UP, who also lost his partner to the disease.

"The misinformation, the hysteria, the spread of just absolute lies (and) the attempts by individuals to address it being part of the problem," said Sawyer, who also worked with the UN's HIV/AIDS program.

"The stigma and discrimination that people who had Covid face... completely parallel the HIV response."

But some lessons may have been learned between the two health crises.

"The HIV epidemic taught us that education, testing and access to prevention methodologies" can be effective, said Sawyer.

HIV activists have also advocated for better distribution of supplies, as well as vaccine access for poor communities, communities of color and homeless people.

Even as these activists worked to combat Covid-19, however, the pandemic took a toll on the ongoing fight against HIV.

Studies by the Global Fund and UNAIDS found that the pandemic worldwide caused an 11 percent drop in prevention and treatment and a 22 percent drop in testing in 2020.

UNAIDS attributed the decrease to lockdowns that forced people into isolation, shuttered health services and disrupted HIV/AIDS programs.

- 'You have to care' -

"Because of our community's now-four decades of experience with HIV, we understand chemical trials, we understand antivirals," Chris Beyrer, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told AFP. "We're not afraid of science."

"As a community, we have a lot of solidarity," he added, pointing out that many of those living with HIV are immunocompromised and need extra support.

LGBT activists rallied early in the pandemic to organize financial aid and safe housing for HIV-positive people. They also set up Covid testing at sexual health centers and Pride events.

Gay bars across the country began requiring proof of vaccination at the door, months before some US states followed suit. Almost half the states still reject any such requirements.

"LGBTQ bars are different... more like community centers," said Ed Bailey, who co-owns Washington gay bars Trade and Number 9, pointing out that gay bars have distributed HIV literature and condoms for decades.

"Our bars are sometimes the only place some of the people that patronize us are able to go and be comfortable enough to be who they are," said Bailey, 55. "That creates an entirely different level of responsibility."

"You have to care about your community."

to/bgs

China gives 'Fight Club' new ending where authorities win


China has some of the world's most restrictive censorship rules with authorities only approving a handful of foreign films for release each year (AFP/STR) (STR)

Beiyi SEOW
Mon, January 24, 2022, 9:08 PM·2 min read

The first rule of Fight Club in China? Don't mention the original ending. The second rule of Fight Club in China? Change it so the police win.

China has some of the world's most restrictive censorship rules with authorities only approving a handful of foreign films for release each year -- sometimes with major cuts.

Among the latest movies to undergo such treatment is David Fincher's 1999 cult classic "Fight Club" starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton.


Film fans in China noticed over the weekend that a version of the movie newly available on streaming platform Tencent Video was given a makeover that transforms the anarchist, anti-capitalist message that made the film a global hit.

In the closing scenes of the original, Norton's character The Narrator, kills off his imaginary alter ego Tyler Durden -- played by Pitt -- and then watches multiple buildings explode, suggesting his character's plan to bring down modern civilisation is underway.

But the new version in China has a very different take.

The Narrator still proceeds with killing off Durden, but the exploding building scene is replaced with a black screen and a coda: "The police rapidly figured out the whole plan and arrested all criminals, successfully preventing the bomb from exploding".

It then adds that Tyler -- a figment of The Narrator's imagination -- was sent to a "lunatic asylum" for psychological treatment and was later discharged.

-'Too outrageous' -

The new ending in which the state triumphs sparked head scratching and outrage among many Chinese viewers -- many of whom would likely have seen pirated versions of the unadulterated version film.

"This is too outrageous," one viewer commented on Tencent Video.

"'Fight Club' on Tencent Video tells us that they don't just delete scenes, but add to the plot too," a user wrote on the Twitter-like Weibo platform.

It is not currently clear if government censors ordered the alternative ending or if the original movie's producers made the changes.

Tencent did not comment on the matter.

Hollywood studios often release alternative cuts in the hopes of clearing Beijing's censorship hurdles and getting lucrative access to millions of Chinese consumers.

In 2019, multiple scenes in the film "Bohemian Rhapsody" referencing iconic musician Freddie Mercury's sexuality –- a pivotal part of his biography -– were dropped in its China release.

Under President Xi Jinping, Chinese authorities have pushed to purge society of elements deemed unhealthy, including within movies, television, computer games.

They have also launched sweeping state crackdowns on tax evasion and perceived immoral behaviour in the entertainment industry, a tightening that has already targeted some of the country's biggest celebrities.

On Tuesday, the Cyberspace Administration of China announced it was launching a month-long "clean" web campaign to create a "civilised and healthy" atmosphere online over the Lunar New Year holiday.

bys/jta/lb

Covid outbreak on ship threatens Tonga aid efforts


Mango island residents fled to Tonga's capital following the volcano eruption (AFP/Eleanor GEE)

Mon, January 24, 2022,

A Covid-19 outbreak on an Australian warship threatened to disrupt Tonga eruption aid efforts Tuesday, as survivors of the deadly volcanic blast described how they fled with only the clothes on their backs.

The January 15 eruption generated huge tsunami waves and blanketed the Pacific kingdom in toxic ash when it obliterated an uninhabited island with explosive forces more powerful than a nuclear bomb.

Australia has led international relief efforts, rushing to get water and humanitarian supplies to the nation of 100,000.

But officials in Canberra said 23 Covid-19 cases had been detected among the crew of the warship HMAS Adelaide, which is steaming towards the capital Nuku'alofa laden with aid.

Tonga is one of the few places in the world that remains Covid-free and Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton said the relief effort would not be allowed to jeopardise that status.

Dutton said the ship would remain at sea while discussions were held with Tongan authorities to decide whether the crew would attempt "contactless" delivery of the much-needed supplies.

"We're not going to put the Tongan population at risk, but at the same time we want to deliver aid as quickly as possible," he told Sky News Australia.

New Zealand, France, Japan and China have also contributed to relief efforts in the wake of an event the Tonga government has described as an "unprecedented disaster".

- 'We all ran' -

One of the worst-hit areas was Mango island, the closest inhabited land to the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, which lies about 65 kilometres (41 miles) north of Nuku'alofa.

A local man was among three known fatalities from the disaster and Mango's entire remaining population of 62 has been relocated to the main island of Tongatapu after tsunami waves washed away their homes.

Kalisi Levani, 81, said the whole island shook and the sky turned black as she heard "explosions like shooting sounds".

"We all ran and we didn't take anything," she said.

Levani said families fled to a small hill, the island's only high ground, and she only made it over the rugged terrain with help from her son-in-law.

"I told him to put me down, because if I don't die from the tsunami, I'll die from being exhausted," she said.

Community leader Reverend Kisina Toetu'u said the islanders prayed through the night as ash rained down on them, with women and children sheltering under a woven mat as men remained exposed to the elements.

"It was only the next morning that some men, as a search party, went down to look for our missing person and saw the devastation, and that nothing was left," he said.

Asked if the community would return to Mango, Toetu’u said: "not in the near future".

"Everything is gone there, our homes, so we are here for now and then we will see what steps to take," he said.

str-ns/arb/dva