Why Pacific Islanders are staying put even as rising seas flood their homes and crops

By Merewalesi Yee, Annah Piggott-McKellar, Celia McMichael and Karen E McNamara
The Conversation

16 February 2023

Serua Island residents are choosing to stay put even as rising seas flood their homes and crops as their decision is based on ‘Vanua’, which binds local communities to their land

Climate change is forcing people around the world to abandon their homes. In the Pacific Islands, rising sea levels are leaving communities facing tough decisions about relocation. Some are choosing to stay in high-risk areas.

Our research investigated this phenomenon, known as “voluntary immobility”.

The government of Fiji has identified around 800 communities that may have to relocate due to climate change impacts (six have already been moved). One of these is the village on Serua Island, which was the focus of our study.

Coastal erosion and flooding have severely damaged the village over the past two decades. Homes have been submerged, seawater has spoiled food crops and the seawall has been destroyed. Despite this, almost all of Serua Island’s residents are choosing to stay.

We found their decision is based on “Vanua”, an Indigenous Fijian word that refers to the interconnectedness of the natural environment, social bonds, ways of being, spirituality and stewardship of place. Vanua binds local communities to their land.


A house on Serua Island is submerged by seawater.

Residents feel an obligation to stay

Serua Island has historical importance. It is the traditional residence of the paramount chief of Serua province.

The island’s residents choose to remain because of their deep-rooted connections, to act as guardians and to meet their customary obligations to sustain a place of profound cultural importance. As one resident explained:

“Our forefathers chose to live and remain on the island just so they could be close to our chief.”


Sau Tabu is the burial site of the paramount chiefs of Serua.

The link to ancestors is a vital part of life on Serua Island. Every family has a foundation stone upon which their ancestors built their house. One resident told us:

“In the past, when a foundation of a home is created, they name it, and that is where our ancestors were buried as well. Their bones, sweat, tears, hard work [are] all buried in the foundation.”

Many believe the disturbance of the foundation stone will bring misfortune to their relatives or to other members of their village.

The ocean that separates Serua Island from Fiji’s main island, Viti Levu, is also part of the identity of men and women of Serua. One man said:

“When you have walked to the island, that means you have finally stepped foot on Serua. Visitors to the island may find this a challenging way to get there. However, for us, travelling this body of water daily is the essence of a being Serua Islander.”

The ocean is a source of food and income, and a place of belonging. One woman said:

“The ocean is part of me and sustains me – we gauge when to go and when to return according to the tide.”


The sea crossing that separates Serua Island from Viti Levu is part of the islanders’ identity.

Serua Islanders are concerned that relocating to Viti Levu would disrupt the bond they have with their chief, sacred sites and the ocean. They fear relocation would lead to loss of their identity, cultural practices and place attachment. As one villager said:

“It may be difficult for an outsider to understand this process because it entails much more than simply giving up material possessions.”

If residents had to relocate due to climate change, it would be a last resort. Residents are keenly aware it would mean disrupting – or losing – not just material assets such as foundation stones, but sacred sites, a way of life and Indigenous knowledge.

Voluntary immobility is a global phenomenon

As climate tipping points are reached and harms escalate, humans must adapt. Yet even in places where relocation is proposed as a last resort, people may prefer to remain.

Voluntary immobility is not unique to Fiji. Around the world, households and communities are choosing to stay where climate risks are increasing or already high. Reasons include access to livelihoods, place-based connections, social bonds and differing risk perceptions.

As Australia faces climate-related hazards and disasters, such as floods and bushfires, people living in places of risk will need to consider whether to remain or move. This decision raises complex legal, financial and logistical issues. As with residents of Serua Island, it also raises important questions about the value that people ascribe to their connections to place.

A decision for communities to make themselves

Relocation and retreat are not a panacea for climate risk in vulnerable locations. In many cases, people prefer to adapt in place and protect at-risk areas.

No climate adaptation policy should be decided without the full and direct participation of the affected local people and communities. Relocation programmes should be culturally appropriate and align with local needs and proceed only with the consent of residents.

In places where residents are unwilling to relocate, it is crucial to acknowledge and, where feasible, support their decision to stay. And people require relevant information on the risks and potential consequences of both staying and relocating.

This can help develop more appropriate adaptation strategies for communities in Fiji and beyond as people move home, but also resist relocation, in a warming world.

This opinion was written by Merewalesi Yee, Annah Piggott-McKellar, Celia McMichael, Karen E McNamara, originally published at The Conversation on 10 January 2023, reposted via PACNEWS.

 

SPOTLIGHT

Reuters team wins 2023 Selden Ring Award for ‘Nightmare in Nigeria’

FEBRUARY 15, 2023 

Athena Fleming

 

Updated February 15, 2023 11:44 a.m.

The content of this article includes sensitive topics, including sexual violence, that may be difficult for some people to confront. Some individuals may choose to not proceed.

In 2019, Reuters correspondent Paul Carsten was speaking with a human rights contact about military abuses against civilians in Nigeria’s northeast site of a brutal war against Islamist insurgents. He wondered aloud about the women who had been liberated by the army after being abducted, sexually enslaved and impregnated by insurgents.

“What did the soldiers do with these women,” thought Carsten, “perform abortions?” What happened to their children?

Carsten hit upon what would prove to be an extraordinary story: The army for years had been running a mass, secret abortion program, forcing the termination of at least 10,000 pregnancies among women and girls, many of whom had been abducted and raped by militants.

Carsten — joined by reporters David Lewis, Reade Levinson and Libby George — painstakingly assembled evidence of other horrifying abuses: Children as young as a few months old were being targeted for death. Suspected of being relatives or allies of Boko Haram, minors were regularly murdered by the military — shot, smothered, poisoned — sometimes in front of their mothers.

For their resulting four-part series, “Nightmare in Nigeria,” the Reuters team has won the 2023 Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting. The annual award, one of the foremost honors in investigative journalism, has been presented by the USC Annenberg School of Journalism for 34 years. The $50,000 prize honors investigative journalism that informs the public about major problems and corruption and yields concrete results.

“The imperative for ethical, intellectually rigorous, intrepid reporting that surfaces injustice and holds those in power accountable has never been greater,” USC Annenberg Dean Willow Bay said. “We are deeply proud to have partnered with the Ring Foundation to once again recognize the very best in investigative journalism.” 

From left to right: Paul Carsten, David Lewis, Reade Levinson and Libby George (Photos courtesy of Reuters).

Carsten, Lewis, Levinson and George’s reporting was undertaken at great risk, requiring months and, in some cases years, of trust-building with 33 women and girls who survived abuse, as well as clandestine conversations with healthcare workers, soldiers and armed guards who turned over military documents and hospital records. These witnesses shared their stories despite credible threats of incarceration or violence from the military, profound trauma and practical obstacles such as the need to travel long distances for their meetings. Most will never be recognized for their courage; they felt they could not risk being named.

Drawing on more than 40 witness interviews, satellite imagery and documentation from security-force members, the Reuters team meticulously documented six incidents in which at least 60 children died. The series’ print pieces and videos created a definitive public record of atrocities that might otherwise have gone unacknowledged. 

The coverage also interrogated the role of the international community in facilitating these abuses, particularly the U.S. and U.K. governments, which have provided considerable financial backing to the Nigerian military. The Reuters series’ impact has been profound, generating calls for investigation from the U.S., British and German governments and the U.N. Secretary-General. 

“A prestigious award like the Selden Ring is a great personal honor for our reporters, but it’s also a vehicle to bring attention to their work and amplify its reach and impact,” said Julie Marquis, an investigative editor who co-edited the series. “Calling attention to investigative journalism serves as a reminder to people in power that they can’t assume they can escape scrutiny for their actions, in any corner of the world.”  

The judges commended the series for “creating a space where the voices of families who endured grave harms – perpetrated secretly and systemically by their own government – could be heard.” 

“The judges had a very challenging task and we are beyond grateful for their hard work as they narrowed down a highly competitive collection of 86 entries, representing the very best of investigative journalism over the past year," said Gordon Stables, director of USC Annenberg’s School of Journalism. “Not only are members of the panel accomplished journalists who have made a substantial public impact in their own communities, they are dedicated professionals who continue to demonstrate a commitment to elevating the work of their peers."

Since 1989, the Ring Foundation has partnered with the USC Annenberg School of Journalism to present the Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting. The $50,000 annual award was established with the support of Southern California businessman and philanthropist Selden Ring. It underscores the critical importance of investigative journalism in today’s society. 

This year’s judging panel included: 2013 winner Alexandra Zayas, Deputy Managing Editor, ProPublica; returning judges Sewell Chan, Editor in Chief, The Texas Tribune and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Wesley Lowery; with first-time judges, Astead Herndon, National Political Reporter, The New York Times; Sarah Stillman, staff writer, The New Yorker; Manny Garcia, Executive Editor, the Austin American-Statesman; and Harriet Ryan, investigative reporter, The Los Angeles Times.

In addition to naming the winner, the panel of judges also recognized the work of two finalists.

New York Times, “How Hasidic Schools Reap Millions But Fail Students”

The judges praised the “high degree of difficulty” in this investigation of abject educational failures at taxpayer-funded schools run by the insular and politically powerful Hasidic community in New York State. The series revealed that instruction for the 50,000 students was so lacking — meager English and math, almost no science or social studies — that 99% of those who took state standard tests failed them. Despite these screaming deficiencies, public money — more than $1 billion in the past four years — continued to pour into these institutions. Jurors saw great courage in the decision to tackle a religious and culturally fraught topic on behalf of children when many in the community and government refused to do so. As one judge remarked, “If the New York Times hadn’t done this story, it wouldn’t have been done.”

Los Angeles Times, “Legal Weed, Broken Promises”

Of all of the states that could have served as a testing ground for the legalization of marijuana, California, with progressive business practices and a record of regulatory guardrails, might have seemed the safest of bets. And for years, its transition to legal weed was perceived to be a national success. The Los Angeles Times, in a wide-ranging investigation, shattered this fiction from every angle, using technology, lucid writing, and courageous reporting to lay bare a netherworld of off-the-grid grow operations and black market storefronts. Instead of rectifying the ills of the war on drugs and lifting up entrepreneurs, the new system was a boon to corrupt politicians and organized criminals. Honest farmers lived in fear of their outlaw competitors. Dozens of vulnerable workers died. The investigation’s impact was swift and profound: tens of thousands of people who had languished with old marijuana convictions will have their records cleared; regulators intend to crack down on illegal operations with a focus on labor exploitation and human trafficking. Judges commented that the many states that have followed California down the path to legal weed will benefit from this cautionary tale.

 

IMPERIALISM SPREADS ITS TENTACLES

NATO’s opportunity in the Indo-Pacific

Given the tensions in the Indo-Pacific, a co-operation between South Korea, Japan and NATO sends a message of deterrence and shared liberal values

FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY

 06.01.2023 | Taehun Lim

The year 2022 was pivotal for the West and the NATO military alliance. Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's mounting military threats against Taiwan forced NATO to recalibrate its risk analysis.

The NATO summit in Madrid in June was, therefore, remarkable in that two far-eastern states, South Korea and Japan, were invited. While Japan already has the status of a Western actor within the framework of the G7, the invitation to South Korea to attend the summit was particularly surprising. Although Seoul has been a global partner of NATO since 2006, co-operation to date has been essentially diplomatic. South Korea had already been invited to NATO meetings of foreign ministers several times before, but this had not led to any geopolitical commitment on its part to NATO or Europe. But circumstances have changed. The invitation to the summit was driven by NATO's most important member by far – the US, an ally of South Korea. Does this mean that Japan and South Korea will now take on new significance for Europe and the Far East in terms of security policy?

There was immediate praise for the Indo-Pacific strategy from Washington.

On 28 December, the South Korean government under new President Yoon Suk-yeol published a strategy for the Indo-Pacific region for the first time. It stated that the country's focus should be on promoting freedom, peace and prosperity through the creation of a rules-based order and co-operation on the rule of law and human rights. The 43-page document includes only one paragraph on China, Seoul's largest trading partner and the rival of its most important ally, the US. On taking office in May, Yoon announced a hard line towards China and since then has intensified the security co-operation with the US.

The Indo-Pacific strategy indirectly addresses fears of military action by China against Taiwan and calls for a resumption of the summit meetings between South Korea, Japan and China, the last of which took place in 2019. It states that co-operation with Japan is essential for promoting co-operation and solidarity between like-minded nations in the Indo-Pacific region – a clear indication that Yoon wants to improve relations between these neighbouring countries. Seoul also wants to expand co-operation with the Quad – the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue between Australia, India, Japan and the US – which is seen as a counterweight to China's ambitions in the region. There was immediate praise for the Indo-Pacific strategy from Washington.

Advantages of closer co-operation for NATO

Closer ties between South Korea and Japan and a security partnership with the two East Asian states would have strategic advantages for NATO. With South Korea, it can benefit immediately from the strength of the country’s armed forces, not least in light of China's military build-up in the Indo-Pacific. The South Korean military is well-equipped and combat-ready because of constant North Korean military provocations. Moreover, South Korea holds large-scale joint military exercises with the US every year. Secondly, South Korea can contribute to NATO through co-operation on armaments, and can supply high-quality weapons. The competitiveness of its arms industry is demonstrated, for example, by Poland's purchase of South Korean tanks and howitzers in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Third, as a leader in digital technology, South Korea can strengthen NATO's cybersecurity against Russia and China (and North Korea). Fourth, as a globally important microchip manufacturer, South Korea – along with Japan and Taiwan – is seen by the US as part of a microchip alliance whose task is to isolate China completely from the microchip supply chain. Conversely, South Korea thus serves as a reliable partner in the microchip supply chain for NATO countries.

The current Japanese government under Fumio Kishida wants to raise the country's military spending to two per cent of GDP by 2027 and to acquire 500 Tomahawk cruise missiles. Such an enhancement of Japan's military capabilities would provide NATO with further strategic options in the face of China's military build-up in the Indo-Pacific.

Advantages for South Korea and Japan

From a Far Eastern perspective, a strategic partnership with NATO would help in managing the Chinese military threat. As a first step, joint military exercises involving NATO and East Asian countries could be held in the Indo-Pacific (where the US, France, the UK and Germany already have a military presence) or in Europe, in order to enable, for instance, the defence of free and unfettered trade flows in the South China Sea. As a second step, the Far Eastern countries and NATO could perhaps establish an intelligence alliance comparable to the ‘Five Eyes’ of the Anglo-Saxon powers. This would enable the two sides of the alliance to exchange military intelligence and facilitate the formulation of joint strategies towards China and Russia. As a third step, NATO and the Far Eastern countries could establish an informal military alliance similar to the Quad, which would strengthen collective security on both sides.

Co-operation between South Korea and NATO not only sends a clear message about deterrence but also represents a commitment to the defence across the world of the liberal values that both sides share.

For a successful strategic partnership between NATO and the Far East to develop, relations between South Korea and Japan must improve significantly. The smouldering conflict over how to address the issue of Japan's colonial history stands in the way of close co-operation. The enforced prostitution of Korean women during the colonial period, the visits of Japanese politicians to the Yasukuni Shrine, where Japanese war criminals are buried, and the border dispute over the Liancourt rocks (Dokdo in Korean, Takeshima in Japanese) are some of the unresolved historically controversial issues. This is compounded by the Japanese trade sanctions imposed on South Korea in 2019, which aim to impede the further rise of the South Korean industry. Fortunately, the current South Korean government under Yoon Suk-yeol is keen on significantly improving relations with its neighbour in order to boost a security co-operation between the two sides vis-à-vis China and North Korea. The Japanese government will now have to respond to the signals from Seoul, if necessary also involving the US as a mediator.

NATO's decision in August to accept South Korea's request to designate an embassy to represent the country in dealings with the military alliance bodes well for the development of a close strategic partnership. Given the rising military tensions in the Indo-Pacific and China's military threats against Taiwan, co-operation between South Korea and NATO not only sends a clear message about deterrence (and thus the prevention of war) but also represents a commitment to the defence across the world of the liberal values that both sides share.

Reuters/ Jonathan ErnstPresident Joe Biden, South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meet during a NATO summit in Madrid.

Joint Statement

Issued on the occasion of the meeting between H.E. Mr Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General and H.E. Mr Kishida Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan

• 31 Jan. 2023 -
• |
• Last updated: 01 Feb. 2023 11:31

Prime Minister of Japan, KISHIDA Fumio, and Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Jens STOLTENBERG, met in Tokyo on 31 January, 2023. Building on Prime Minister Kishida's historical participation in the NATO Summit in 2022 for the first time as Japanese Prime Minister, the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to deepen cooperation between Japan and NATO, as reliable and natural partners, who share common values of freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, as well as strategic interests.

Challenging strategic environment at a historical inflection point
The international community is facing changes defining an era. The free and open international order based on the rule of law is at stake, and we are witnessing changes in power balances and intensifying geopolitical competition. The world is at a historical inflection point in the most severe and complex security environment since the end of World War II.

Russia's aggression against Ukraine has shattered peace and shaken the foundation of the rules-based international order. It has gravely altered the security environment in the Euro-Atlantic and beyond. The balance of power is also rapidly shifting in the Indo-Pacific, and we share the view that unilateral change of the status quo by force or coercion is not acceptable anywhere in the world.

We recognise that the security of the Euro-Atlantic and of the Indo- Pacific is closely connected and stress the necessity of further strengthening cooperation between Japan and NATO, in order to respond to the changing strategic environment. Japan welcomes NATO ' s determination to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with partners in the Indo-Pacific. We welcome Japan's vision for realising a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" (FOIP). We reaffirm our resolve to uphold and strengthen the free and open international order based on the rule of law.

Complex strategic challenges facing the international community
We condemn, in the strongest terms, the unprovoked and unjustifiable war of aggression by Russia against Ukraine. We reiterate our unwavering support for Ukraine ' s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders extending to its territorial waters. We underscore that Russia's irresponsible nuclear rhetoric is unacceptable and that any use of nuclear weapons would meet with unequivocal international condemnation and severe consequences. We reaffirm our unwavering support for and solidarity with Ukraine in the face of the ongoing Russian war of aggression. We highlight with concern Russia's growing military cooperation with China, including through joint operations and drills in the vicinity of Japan.

We strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion in the East China Sea.We express serious concern about reports ofmilitarisation, coercion and intimidation in the South China Sea. With regard to China's rapid strengthening of its military capabilities and expansion of military activities, we strongly encourage China to improve transparency and to cooperate constructively with international efforts for arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation. Our basic positions on Taiwan remain unchanged, and we emphasize the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element in security and prosperity in the international community. We encourage a peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues.

We strongly condemn North Korea's ongoing development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles including ballistic missile launches over the past year with unprecedented frequency and in an unprecedented manner, and urge North Korea to fully comply with all relevant UN Security Council resolutions and to abandon its nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs, and any other weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner. We call on all member states of the United Nations to fully implement relevant UN Security Council resolutions. Furthermore, we also express serious concern on North Korea ' s flagrant violation of human rights and, in particular, strongly urge North Korea to immediately resolve the abductions issue.

Japan-NATO cooperation in the new strategic environment
Japan welcomes the adoption of NATO's 2022 Strategic Concept, which refers to the importance of the Indo-Pacific. We also welcome the adoption of Japan's National Security Strategy, including fundamental reinforcement of its defence capabilities, and its continuous support to Ukraine. In addition, we welcome progress towards the new framework cooperation document between Japan and NATO, the Individually Tailored Partnership Programme (ITPP), in order to elevate current Japan-NATO cooperation to new heights that reflect the challenges of a new era.

We welcome developments in Japan-NATO cooperation in tackling traditional security challenges such as maritime security and arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation. In addition, given the severe international security environment and new security challenges, we reaffirm the importance of cooperation in areas such as cyberspace, outer space, disinformation and strategic communications, countering hybrid challenges, resilience, critical and emerging technologies, and innovation to bolster our capacity to address emerging challenges in new domains. Furthermore, we are exploring expanding cooperation to areas such as defence science and technology including activities with the NATO Science and Technology Organization (STO).

This new cooperation between Japan and NATO will effectively help address emerging threats in new domains such as cyberspace, outer space, cutting edge science and technology, and supply chains, and enhance our resilience to hybrid threats accordingly.We will also reinforce our efforts to promote our fundamental values including through cooperation on gender and human security.

Upgrading Japan-NATO cooperation in a new era
In this context, we are enhancing our strategic coordination on Japan-NATO cooperation, utilizing appropriate frameworks, for the purpose of taking stock of the progress made so far and considering way forward on Japan-NATO cooperation.

We welcome NATO's observation of the Japan-U.S. Joint Field Training Exercise in 2022 (Keen Sword 23) as symbolic cooperation with partners in the Indo-Pacific and a further strengthening of such cooperation.

We are accelerating our efforts to enhance information sharing between Japan and NATO. In addition, we welcome Japan's intention to participate in the North Atlantic Council (NAC) and the NATO Chiefs of Defense meetings on a regular basis.

We are convinced that Japan-NATO cooperationwill demonstrate its value under this severe and complex security environment. Through our staunch partnership, we are determined to contribute to upholding and strengthening the free and open international order based on the rule of law.

UN votes unanimously to extend sanctions on Yemen's Houthis

By Associated Press
February 15, 2023

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Wednesday to extend the arms embargo on Yemen’s Houthi rebels and an asset freeze and travel ban on Houthi leaders and top officials until Nov. 15.

The British-drafted resolution also extends the mandate of the U.N. panel of experts monitoring the sanctions until Dec. 15.

In February 2022, the Security Council expanded an arms embargo on Houthi leaders to include all Houthis, saying they have threatened the peace, security and stability of the war-torn country.

After Wednesday’s vote, the council met behind closed doors to hear briefings by Hans Grundberg, the U.N. special envoy for Yemen, and Joyce Msuya, the assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs.

Yemen, the Arab world’s most impoverished country with a population of 26 million, plunged into civil war in 2014 after the Iranian-backed Houthis took over the capital of Sanaa. The internationally recognized government fled and sought support from neighboring Gulf countries.

In March 2015, a Saudi-led military coalition began what turned into a devastating war to restore the government that has killed more than 10,000 people, displaced 2 million and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters. The war has deteriorated largely into a stalemate.

A U.N.-backed truce took effect last April and raised hopes for a longer pause in fighting, but it ended Oct. 2 after just six months.

Grundberg told the council in January that despite the end of the truce, “the overall military situation in Yemen has remained stable.” He said he was encouraged by intensified regional and international diplomatic activity to end the country’s eight-year conflict, and he reportedly followed up on those efforts during Wednesday’s closed council meeting.

How Bosnia’s Rocky Terrain Aided Wartime Massacre Cover-Ups – Analysis

Site of the Korićani Cliffs massacre on Mount Vlašić in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. Photo by Yahadzija, Wikipedia Commons.

 February 16, 2023

By Balkan Insight

Dozens of pits and ravines and in mountainous Bosnia and Herzegovina were used to hide bodies of massacre victims and conceal crimes from outsiders during the 1992-95 war – as they were also used during World War II.

By Hikmet Karcic*

In mid-June 1992, as the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina began in earnest, Bosniak civilians in the town of Visegrad boarded buses in a convoy organised by the local Red Cross. Forced out of their homes by the Bosnian Serb army, they were told that they would be transported to territory controlled by the Bosnian government, where they would be safe.

Several buses, carrying almost 500 civilians in total, passed through the town and headed towards Sarajevo. The Bosniak civilians, who were of all ages, male and female, accepted the offer of transport because it had been organised by their Serb neighbours, who they trusted.

The buses stopped in the town of Sokolac. The Serb soldiers accompanying the convoy started to divide the men from the women. The men, 49 of them, were placed on another bus, whilst the others continued towards Bosnian government-controlled areas.

The men were tied to each other in pairs, their hands bound with wire, and taken into a forest in front of a ravine. Serb soldiers, mainly from Visegrad, started ordering the men, two at time, to the edge of the ravine, where they were shot and fell into the ravine as the next victims looked on.

Too shocked to understand what was happening to them, the victims acted robotically. Their executioners were their former high school classmates, co-workers and friends.

Ferid Spahic, being the last of the captives, the 49th victim in line for execution – an odd number – was not tied to anyone else.

At some point during the massacre, Spahic realised that he could try and escape, since he was not bound to anyone. He used a moment when the guards were not looking and started to run.

The guards fired shots in his direction. The bullets missed him, but Spahic tripped and fell as if hit. The guards thought they had shot him, and left him to lie on the ground.

For the next few hours, Spahic played dead, listening to the executions happening a few hundred metres behind him. The soldiers drank beer, laughed and joked, and to finish everything off, tossed hand grenades into the ravine.

Spahic waited for nightfall and then continued through the forest, searching for help with his hands still bound. He hurried through the woods for a few hours until he came across a Bosniak village where an elderly woman took care of him and from there he managed to get to Bosnian government-held territory.

The usage of the many deep pits and ravines across Bosnia and Herzegovina as places of execution, burial and ultimately concealment is not unique to this tragic incident. In this mountainous country, these natural phenomena are plentiful, and the opportunities to use them have sadly been frequent. However, their use as mass grave sites is under-researched.

Crimes of the past

During the 1990s war, it is estimated that at least 35 pits and ravines were used to conceal massacres. Sites such as the pit in Hrastova Glavica, where there was a massacre on August 5, 1992. The remains of 121 victims were identified; 119 of them came from the Keraterm and Omarska detention camps.

Similar stories can be told from pits throughout the country in places such as Radaca, Lisac and Golubnjaca. Details about these places can be found on BIRN’s Bitter Land database of mass graves.

But hiding bodies in pits and ravines was not unique to this most recent war. During World War II, they were also used to conceal massacres committed against civilians. This was particularly the case with the WWII Croatian Nazi-allied force, the Ustasa, who made extensive ‘use’ of pits high in the karst mountains above the Croatian coast and in the Herzegovina region.

Survivor Slavko Goldstein, a journalist and member of the Yugoslav Partisans, recounts in his book, 1941: The Year That Keeps Returning, how the Ustasa filled these pits with human remains and simply left them to rot. One cave was estimated by the Italians to hold the remains of over 2,000 people, mainly Serbs and Jews of all ages and sexes.

One witness quoted in Goldstein’s book noted how the victims were led to the edge of the pit in twos, bound together by wire.

The World War II crimes against the Serbs contributed to creating an ideology which served as a mobilising factor for nationalists in 1990. Aside from other factors, Serb nationalists came to power on the back of a toxic reanimation of the fears and grievances created by the perceived impunity for World War II crimes.

They also had never had the chance to rebury their dead. One of the leading initiatives by Serb political and religious leaders during the 1980s was to exhume the skeletal remains of victims from ravines throughout Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The most notable example was the 1990 exhumation of the Golubinka pit near the village of Surmanci, in western Herzegovina, wherein some 500 Serbs, mostly women and children, were killed by the Ustasa.

Locations kept secret

There is something to learn from the usage of caves, pits and ravines as massacre sites. Firstly, it shows a desire to hide the crime, thus suggesting a certain sense of guilt or at least, a desire to prevent discovery.

Secondly, most of the pits mentioned here are small and only locally known. Ferid Spahic’s captors were locals, and knew both their victims and the best places to hide their bodies.

It was only Spahic’s survival that led to the discovery of the mass grave. The close relationships between members of groups that committed such crimes usually meant that the sites were very difficult to uncover, as these secrets were rarely shared.

Therefore in most cases, the sites were mainly discovered due to the fact that someone managed to either survive or witness the executions from a near distance. As such a long time has now passed since the end of the war, many of the sites that have been discovered in recent years were found because of due to investigative work and insider knowledge from members of the organised criminal group that was responsible for the killings.

The pit from which Spahic managed to escape is called Paklenik. The etymology of the word suggests a connection to the word for ‘hell’ (pakao) in the Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian languages. Spahic’s testimony confirms the aptness of the site’s name for the crime that took place there. It was the final destination for dozens of husbands, fathers, brothers and sons. Some victims who weren’t killed immediately by the bullets lay on the cold stone and bled out in the hours to come.

WWII partisan and poet, the Croat Ivan Goran Kovacic, penned his most famous work ‘Jama’ (‘Pit’) in response to the Ustasa’s massacres of Jews, Serbs, Roma and others at pits in the area around Jadovno and Glina in WWII. Kovacic was killed by Serb nationalist Chetniks in 1943.

His poem’s gruesome first-person depiction of experiencing an Ustasa massacre, being thrown into a pit with the dead and then subsequently fighting his way up and out through the bodies, is possibly one of the only ways that people can start to even begin to comprehend what massacre survivors like Spahic suffered.

*Hikmet Karcic is a genocide scholar at the Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law at the University of Sarajevo.

For detailed information about mass grave sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina and other former Yugoslav states, see BIRN’s database, Bitter Land.

The Balkan Insight (fornerkt the Balkin Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN) is a close group of editors and trainers that enables journalists in the region to produce in-depth analytical and investigative journalism on complex political, economic and social themes. BIRN emerged from the Balkan programme of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, IWPR, in 2005. The original IWPR Balkans team was mandated to localise that programme and make it sustainable, in light of changing realities in the region and the maturity of the IWPR intervention. Since then, its work in publishing, media training and public debate activities has become synonymous with quality, reliability and impartiality. A fully-independent and local network, it is now developing as an efficient and self-sustainable regional institution to enhance the capacity for journalism that pushes for public debate on European-oriented political and economic reform.

Israel approves law to strip Arab attackers of their citizenship

A masked Palestinian sits during a support rally for the Palestinian prisoners, outside Ofer, an Israeli military prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah,(Majdi Mohammed/AP)

 
 
 
 
 
 

Josef Federman, AP

16 February, 2023 00:08

Israel’s parliament overwhelmingly approved a law to strip Arabs convicted in nationalistic attacks or who give money to prisoners of their Israeli citizenship or residency.

The decision, which could potentially affect hundreds of Palestinian citizens and residents of Israel, was condemned as racist by Arab politicians as well as Palestinian officials in the occupied West Bank.

The internationally recognised Palestinian Authority (PA) has long provided cash to the families of Palestinians killed or imprisoned for attacks on Israelis.

Prisoners are widely seen as heroes in Palestinian society, and the PA considers these payments as a form of welfare to needy families.

But Israel says they reward violence and serve as an incentive for others to carry out attacks.

About 4,700 Palestinians are imprisoned by Israel for alleged security offences, according to Israeli rights group HaMoked.

Of those, 360 are Israeli citizens or residents of east Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel in the 1967 war and subsequently annexed.

Though Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its undivided capital, its annexation of the eastern part of the city is not internationally recognised.

Most Palestinians in Jerusalem have Israeli residency rights, which allow them to work and travel freely and provide access to Israeli social services, but not full citizenship, which would allow them to vote.

On Wednesday, parliament voted 94-10 in favor of the law, which gives authorities the right to strip people of their citizenship or residency and deport them to either the West Bank or Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Authority has limited autonomy in parts of the West Bank, where Israel wields overall control.

The Gaza Strip, meanwhile, is controlled by the Hamas militant group and largely closed by an Israeli-Egyptian blockade.

“It is inconceivable that Israeli citizens and residents who have not only betrayed the state and Israeli society, but have also agreed to receive payment from the PA as wages for committing the act of terrorism and continue to benefit from it – will continue to hold Israeli citizenship or residency status,” says an explanatory note to the bill.

Jewish politicians, including the opposition, voted in favor of the bill, while Arab representatives voted against it.

Arab politician Ahmad Tibi said the bill was racist because it only applies to Palestinians convicted of violence.

“An Arab who commits an offence is a conditional citizen,” he said. “If a Jew commits the same offence or a more serious one, they don’t even think of revoking his citizenship.”

Kadoura Fares, the head of the Palestinian prisoners’ club, a West Bank group that represents prisoners and their families, said the law was a “very dangerous decision that aims to transfer Palestinians from their cities and villages under the pretext of getting social assistance from the PA”.

HaMoked said 140 Arab citizens and 211 Jerusalem residents could be affected by the law.

It said the Jerusalem residents are especially vulnerable since they have fewer legal protections to fight the order.

The group also says that because east Jerusalem is considered occupied territory, transferring the population would violate international humanitarian law.

“It’s shameful that this law passed, and with an overwhelming majority of support from the opposition as well,” said Jessica Montell, HaMoked’s executive director.

“Revoking citizenship is an extreme measure – and revoking the residency of east Jerusalem Palestinians and deporting them would be a war crime.”

TO ZIONISTS ALL PALESTINIANS ARE TERRORISTS

Israel extends law to strip 'terror' convicts of citizenship

Law will also tackle payments from Palestinian Authority to families of prisoners or detainees

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. 

AFP
Soraya Ebrahimi
Feb 15, 2023

The Israeli parliament expanded legislation on Wednesday that will introduce a policy of stripping citizenship over “terrorism” offences, aimed at those who receive funds from the Palestinian Authority.

The bill received 94 votes in favour and 10 against in the Knesset and paves the way for Israel to expel people from the country or annexed East Jerusalem.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed it on Twitter as “our answer to terrorism”, while a rights group said the move was “in violation of international law”.
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A statement from parliament said politicians had approved “the revocation of citizenship or residency of a terrorist operative who receives compensation [from the Palestinian Authority] for committing an act of terrorism”.

The Palestinian Authority gives stipends to numerous families of prisoners, or detainees themselves, including those convicted of killing Israelis.

Israel says making payments to the families of attackers encourages further violence, but for some Palestinians, such payments are a key source of income.

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Adalah, an organisation that advocates Palestinians' rights in Israel, said the law “not only creates an additional avenue for the revocation of the citizenship of residency of Palestinians … under the Israeli regime, but also facilitates their expulsion”.

“The law explicitly and exclusively targets Palestinians as part of Israel's entrenchment of two separate legal systems based on Jewish supremacy,” the group charged in a statement.

The law may affect hundreds of East Jerusalem Palestinians and dozens of Israeli citizens, according to Dani Shenhar, head of the legal department at Israeli rights group HaMoked.

“The threshold is very low, so we're very worried about it, especially the effect on East Jerusalem,” he told AFP when the bill was tabled last month.

The text approved by politicians lays out a judicial procedure for denying legal status following a request by the interior minister.

Most Palestinians living in East Jerusalem hold Israeli residency permits rather than citizenship.

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A Palestinian worker in Jabalia on the northern Gaza Strip prepares plastic for processing to extract fuel. All photos AFP

The new legislation allows deportation “to the territories of the Palestinian Authority [in the occupied West Bank] or the Gaza Strip”.

Gaza, controlled by Hamas, has been under an Israeli-led blockade since 2007.

Israel has occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the 1967 war.

Ahmad Tibi, an Arab opposition lawmaker, denounced the law as discriminatory.

“When an Arab commits a crime, they are a conditional citizen, whereas when a Jew commits even a more serious crime, revoking their citizenship is unheard of,” he said during Wednesday's debate in parliament.

Politicians on Wednesday also approved in a preliminary vote a bill to allow the deportation of family members of those convicted of “terrorism”, in cases in which they are found to have supported the crime or known about it and failed to report it to the authorities.

Israel has previously stripped residency and citizenship, including that of French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hamouri, who was deported in December.

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Palestinians carry a wounded man after Israeli troops raided the Nur Shams refugee camp, near Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank. AFP

The Jerusalem resident had been arrested and jailed on several occasions by Israel, which revoked his residency permit citing ties the outlawed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

In 2017, an Israeli court revoked an Arab citizen's nationality over an attack against Israelis.

That was the first time an amendment passed in 2008 had been used to revoke citizenship.

Also in 2017, Israel announced it was stripping 20 people of citizenship after they allegedly joined ISIS.

Human Rights Watch said Israel has stripped 15,000 East Jerusalem Palestinians of their right to residency since 1967, warning the practice may constitute a “war crime”.