US sanctions Belarus Red Cross chief over Ukraine child deportations

Washington (AFP) – The United States unveiled sanctions on Tuesday against the head of the Belarus Red Cross, accusing him of being complicit in the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.


Issued on: 05/12/2023
T

SERGEY BOBOK / AFP

Since its invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, Russia has been accused of forcibly deporting thousands of Ukrainian children -- with Belarus's support -- from schools, hospitals and orphanages in parts of the country controlled by its forces.

Moscow has not denied transferring thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia, but claims it did so for their own protection.

The US Treasury Department said in a statement that the head of the Belarus Red Cross, Dzmitry Shautsou, had been sanctioned for assisting the Russian president's Children's Rights Commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, who has been accused of enacting the deportations.

Lvova-Belova is the subject of a recent arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for "the war crime" of the unlawful deportation and transfer of children from Ukraine to Russia.

Belarus Red Cross suspended

In July, Shautsou received fierce international criticism when he claimed that the Belarus Red Cross had been involved in bringing Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied areas of the country to Belarus.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies called on the Belarus Red Cross to sack Shautsou, and suspended the chapter as a member when it failed to do so.

Shautsou was among the 11 entities and eight individuals sanctioned by the US Treasury Department on Tuesday in a bid to ramp up the pressure on the Belarusian President, Alexander Lukashenko.

The Treasury's actions reaffirm its efforts to hold Lukashenko, "his family, and his regime accountable for their anti-democratic actions and human rights abuses, both in Belarus and around the world," the Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brian Nelson, said in a statement.

© 2023 AFP

US facing growing Middle East crisis tied to Israel-Hamas war

Washington (AFP) – Washington is facing an increasingly complex and dangerous crisis resulting from the Israel-Hamas war, which has sparked repeated militant attacks and drawn US military attention and assets back to the Middle East.


Issued on: 06/12/2023 -

A handout picture courtesy of the US Navy shows the guided missile destroyer USS Carney firing on missiles and drones launched from Yemen on October 19, 2023 

© Aaron Lau / US NAVY/AFP/File

The United States has deployed two aircraft carriers and other forces in a bid to deter a devastating region-wide conflict. But the current violence in the Middle East -- while not rising to that level -- still carries significant danger.

Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen raised the stakes over the weekend by striking commercial vessels in the Red Sea, while a US Navy destroyer shot down several inbound drones as it operated in the area and responded to distress calls.

"Without question there's been escalation," but all parties, especially the United States, "are trying to manage these clashes in ways that do not explode into a regional war," said Jeffrey Feltman, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and former US assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs.

However, "I think we should be deeply, deeply worried that step-by-step escalation, while perhaps no party intends it to turn into a regional conflagration, could lead us there," he said.

'Have their cake'

The Huthis said they targeted two of the three ships that were hit in the Red Sea on Sunday, claiming they were Israeli vessels and that such attacks would continue "until the Israeli aggression against our steadfast brothers in the Gaza Strip stops."

The US Navy shot down three drones launched from Yemen the same day -- the targets of which were unclear -- and others as well as missiles during the past six weeks, while the Huthis downed an American drone last month.

Feltman said the Huthis and Lebanon's Hezbollah, which has repeatedly traded fire with Israel since the outbreak of the war with Hamas on October 7, "are basically trying to have their cake and eat it too."

"They're trying to say that they are part of the resistance, that they are standing in solidarity with the beleaguered Palestinian population in Gaza," but "they're doing it in a way, I think, that they believe will prevent a full-scale war," he said.

The latest round of conflict between Israel and Hamas began when the Palestinian militant group carried out a shock cross-border attack that Israeli officials say killed 1,200 people.

Israel responded with a relentless land and air campaign that the Hamas-run government in Gaza says has left more than 16,200 people dead.

In addition to the attacks launched from Yemen and Lebanon, US troops in Iraq and Syria have been targeted by rockets and drones on dozens of occasions since mid-October, with the militants who claimed responsibility repeatedly citing the situation in Gaza.

Washington has blamed Iran-backed groups for the attacks and has carried out multiple strikes against those forces as well as sites in the region it said were linked to Tehran.

'Testing limits'

The US military fought a bloody war in Iraq from 2003 to 2011, later provided support to local forces in that country and Syria as they battled the Islamic State jihadist group, and has carried out numerous raids and strikes against militants in the region over the years.

But Washington is seeking to move on from the counterinsurgency-centric "War on Terror" conflicts in the Middle East and Afghanistan to put greater focus on countering China, which it has identified as its most consequential challenge.

The United States has shifted significant military assets to the Middle East since October 7, but that does not necessarily undermine efforts in the Asia-Pacific region.

"While a long-term focus on the Middle East would detract from readiness in East Asia, near-term responses are unlikely to provoke a near-term crisis in East Asia," said Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Additionally, "the demonstrated ability to deploy quickly to defend allies and interests is watched carefully in Asia, among allies and adversaries alike," he said.

Alterman said the situation in the Middle East could potentially "go in a bad direction," but that he does not see the conflict as being out of control at this point.

"The United States remains the preponderant power," he said, while America's adversaries are "carefully testing limits."

© 2023 AFP

In rare Israel rebuke, US restricts visas on extremist settlers

Washington (AFP) – The United States said Tuesday it would refuse visas for extremist Israeli settlers behind a wave of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, as it also asked Israel to do more to spare civilians in Gaza.


Issued on: 05/12/2023

A relative of Palestinian Bilal Saleh, who was shot in the chest while picking olives, points at an Israeli settlement near the village of As-Sawiyah in the occupied West Bank in on November 

© Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP/File

The visa measures amount to a rare concrete repercussion by the United States against Israelis in the nearly two-month-old war, in which President Joe Biden has nudged the US ally privately but also promised strong support.

"We have underscored to the Israeli government the need to do more to hold accountable extremist settlers who have committed violent attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

"As President Biden has repeatedly said, those attacks are unacceptable," he said.

Blinken said the United States would refuse entry to anyone involved in "undermining peace, security or stability in the West Bank" or who takes actions that "unduly restrict civilians' access to essential services and basic necessities."

"Instability in the West Bank both harms the Israeli and Palestinian people and threatens Israel's national security interests. Those responsible for it must be held accountable," Blinken said.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that dozens of settlers, who were not publicly named, would be affected. The visa ban also applies to their immediate family members.

Restrictions on entering the United States will not apply to extremist settlers who are US citizens.

Wave of violence

Hamas militants stormed out of Gaza into Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials.

In response, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and has carried out air strikes and a ground offensive that have killed around 15,900 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meet in Ramallah on November 30, 2023 

© SAUL LOEB / POOL/AFP/File

Even though Hamas does not control the West Bank, some 250 Palestinians have been killed there by Israeli soldiers and settlers since October 7, according to a Palestinian government tally.

The Palestinian Authority holds limited autonomy in the West Bank where Palestinians have complained of impunity over attacks and harassment carried out by settlers, some of whom have been serving in the Israeli military as forces are shifted to Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in a coalition with far-right parties that strongly support Jewish settlement of lands seized in 1967, construction that is considered illegal under international law.

Blinken visited both Israel and the West Bank last week just as a pause ended between Hamas and Israel.

The State Department said that Israel has shown "improvement" in targeting its strikes in Gaza as it voiced concern about a repeat of the widespread bombing at the start of the war.

"We will continue to monitor what's happening and will continue to press them to do everything they can to minimize civilian harm," said Miller, the State Department spokesman.

The United States has also promised more than $100 million in humanitarian aid to the Palestinians but has faced strong criticism in much of the Arab world for its diplomatic and military support of Israel.

J Street, the left-leaning pro-Israel US group that is frequently critical of Netanyahu, praised the visa restrictions as an "important first step."

It said that the Biden administration should specifically restrict two far-right ministers in Netanyahu's cabinet, Minister for National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Before entering politics, Ben-Gvir hung a portrait in his living room of Baruch Goldstein, the US-born settler who killed 29 Palestinian worshippers at a mosque in the West Bank city of Hebron.

The Biden administration has returned to the traditional US and international position of opposing settlements, although until now its stance has largely been rhetorical.

Previous president Donald Trump switched course, with Blinken's predecessor Mike Pompeo dropping objections to settlements and visiting one late in his term.

© 2023 AFP

'We're now witnessing an open-ended Israeli war upon Hamas but also upon civilians in Gaza'

Issued on: 05/12/2023 - 

 The situation in the Gaza Strip is getting worse all the time and approaching humanity's "darkest hour", the World Health Organization said Tuesday. Israel declared war on Hamas after the militant group's October 7 attacks that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and which saw around 240 hostages taken back to Gaza, according to Israeli authorities. Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas and secure the release of all the hostages. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says the war has killed nearly 15,900 people in the territory. As Gaza reaches 'humanity's darkest hour', according to the WHO, FRANCE 24 is joined by Scott Lucas, Political Analyst and Professor of International Politics at the Clinton Institute, University College Dublin.

Released Palestinians allege mistreatment in Israeli prisons

Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Released under a prisoner-hostage exchange between Israel and Hamas, former Palestinian detainees have described beatings, deprivation and a radical deterioration in conditions in Israeli jails following Hamas's bloody October 7 attacks.

Issued on: 05/12/2023 -

Rouba Assi, released last week, says conditions in Israeli jail severely deteriorated after October 7

 © Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP

On that day, Hamas fighters streamed across the Gaza Strip's militarised border into Israel, kidnapping around 240 people and killing 1,200 others, most of them civilians, Israeli officials say.

In response, the Israeli military launched a campaign to eradicate Hamas that has since killed nearly 15,900 people, most of them women and minors, according to Gaza's Hamas-run government.

The only respite in fighting was a seven-day truce that ended Friday and saw scores of Israeli hostages freed by Hamas in exchange for more than 200 Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails.

One of those prisoners, 23-year-old activist Rouba Assi, told reporters after her release last week that Israeli prison authorities "took everything away" from Palestinian detainees.

Since October 7, they had been subject to a "state of emergency" announced by prison officials.

For detained Palestinians, there would be no more leaving their cell -- and therefore no more visits -- no more buying food from the canteen, no more power in their electrical outlets, and more frequent surprise searches, authorities said in a statement.

- Red Cross visits 'stopped'-

The Palestinian Prisoners' Club, an advocacy group that keeps a tally of detainees from the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, has said visits from representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also stopped.

Under its guidelines on confidentiality, the ICRC has not commented on that claim.

Assi is uniquely placed to compare life on the inside before and during the war.

Between 2020 and 2022 she was jailed for 21 months on charges of throwing stones and belonging to an illegal organisation, the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

She was arrested again after the start of the current war, along with 3,580 other Palestinians detained so far, according to the Prisoners' Club.

There are around 7,800 Palestinians prisoners in Israeli jails, the Club says.

Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners during the truce last week in exchange for dozens of hostages held in Gaza 

© Fadel SENNA / AFP

During her latest stint, Assi found things were very different.

"In Damon prison (in northeast Israel) seven of us slept in a cell designed for three detainees, on the bare floor, without a mattress or a cover, despite the cold and regardless of one's age," she said.

"We often went to bed without having eaten, and the portions we received were meagre," she continued. "All the gains made over the years of struggle by Palestinian prisoners were wiped out in a single stroke."

In a statement earlier this month, Amnesty International regional director Heba Morayef said: "Testimonies and video evidence also point to numerous incidents of torture and other ill-treatment by Israeli forces including severe beatings and deliberate humiliation of Palestinians who are detained in dire conditions."
'Beat us day and night'

Ramzi Abbasi, a Palestinian activist from east Jerusalem, was freed under the Israel-Hamas deal from Ketziot prison in the Negev desert, where he was serving time after being sentenced in April for inciting violence.

"They beat us day and night," the 36-year-old told AFP. "Some prisoners had their legs or arms broken after October 7 and received no care."

Ketziot, he said, is "a cemetery for the living. The inmates there live without food, without clean clothes -- they're neglected."

Approached several times by AFP, Israeli prison authorities declined to comment on the allegations.

Amnesty said it had received an account from a Palestinian from east Jerusalem who was subjected to "severe beatings which left him with bruises and three broken ribs".

The unnamed detainee said police ordered prisoners to "praise Israel and curse Hamas", but even after they did, the "beating and humiliation did not stop".

In an letter to the ICRC delivered from prison by one the recently released detainees, inmates denounced the "revenge" allegedly meted out by Israeli authorities.

The message said six prisoners had died in Israeli jails since the start of the war.

The Israeli prisons administration responded that the inmates underwent autopsies and were found to have died due to health issues unrelated to the conditions of their detention.

The prisoner-hostage exchange deal has brought the long-simmering question of Palestinian detainees back to the fore, with Hamas and its allies -- who have hundreds of militants in Israeli prisons -- saying those kidnapped on October 7 will be used as bargaining chips to "empty" Israeli prisons.

But during the same week of exchanges that saw 240 Palestinian prisoners released in return for 80 Israeli hostages, 240 other Palestinians were incarcerated, according to the Prisoners' Club.

© 2023 AFP

US senators square off at Ukraine briefing after Zelensky pulls out

Washington (AFP) – Several Republican senators walked out of a classified briefing on Ukraine Tuesday as it descended into a row over the border crisis, after President Volodymyr Zelensky unexpectedly canceled a videolink appearance to appeal for continued US funding.

"Ukraine is just running out of money," Yellen said.

Issued on: 05/12/2023 -

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Zelensky was to appear during a classified US Senate briefing, a day before it takes the first procedural vote on an emergency aid package

 © TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP/File

Zelensky had been due to update the senators on the latest developments in the conflict with Russia and press for them to support a procedural vote expected Wednesday on an emergency aid package that includes more than $60 billion for Kyiv.

The cash has been held up for weeks by a dispute in Congress, as the White House has warned that existing funds will run out by the end of the year and that Russia's President Vladimir Putin could win the war if lawmakers fail to act.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that Zelensky had been prevented from taking part by a "last minute" hiccup, but he pressed ahead with the briefing anyway -- only for the proceedings to turn into a war of words.

Utah's Mitt Romney left early, confirming that "a number" of his Republican colleagues had followed suit, angry that they heard nothing on their demand that Ukraine aid be coupled with action on the migrant crisis at the US-Mexico border.

"The briefers were saying things we've all known, we can read about in any newspaper, had been said publicly," Romney told reporters.

"There's nothing new in what they're describing, and Republicans are saying that there's support for Ukraine, but there has to be security of our border."

Congress is more divided over backing for Ukraine than it has been at any time during the nearly two-year conflict, with the country fast exhausting the military aid provided by the United States so far.

Senate Republicans are making their support for extra Ukraine funding contingent on President Joe Biden's Democrats accepting reforms of the asylum system and tightened border security -- measures the Democrats have already rejected.

"Republicans are just walking out of the briefing because the people there are not willing to actually discuss what it takes to get a deal done," Romney said.

As day turned to evening, Biden voiced deepening frustration.

"The failure to support Ukraine is just absolutely crazy. It's against US interests," Biden said. "It's just wrong."

'Everything has been said'

Schumer was quoted by Fox News as saying the briefing had been "immediately hijacked" by Republicans choosing to make a speech on border security rather than asking questions about Ukraine.

One member was "screaming" an admonishment at briefers about not having visited the border, Schumer reportedly said.

The Democrat has teed up a vote Wednesday on clearing the first procedural hurdle for addressing Biden's $106 billion aid request for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

But it needs 60 votes in the 100-member Senate, and the 49-strong Republican minority looks likely to defeat the package as it leaves out their immigration reforms.

"The number one most immediate threat to our national security is an open border," Kansas Republican Roger Marshall said outside the briefing room.

"Look, everything has been said about Ukraine that can be said. And what's not being said is what's so critical here."

Even if the two sides manage to hammer out a deal in the Senate, it will be a much tougher sell for the Republican-led House, where conservatives have been more skeptical about funding Ukraine, and just as keen to leverage the issue to secure border reforms.

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (R) said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, pictured (C) during a Washington visit in September 2023, had been prevented from taking part in the briefing by a "last minute" hiccup

 © PEDRO UGARTE / AFP/File

House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed publicly for the first time in a letter to the White House Tuesday that his party will not pass Ukraine aid unless Congress enacts "transformative change to our nation's border security laws."

But Democrats reacted angrily to what they see as an attempt by Republicans to leverage the conflict to secure domestic priorities.

"I have lots of domestic issues I care about too. I'm not holding Ukraine hostage to the resolution of health care or gun violence," Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut told reporters.

"They made a choice to put Ukraine funding in jeopardy and they will all have to live with that choice when Vladimir Putin marches into Kyiv and through into Europe."

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the situation in Ukraine is indeed dire.

"We can hold ourselves responsible for Ukraine's defeat if we don't manage to get this funding to Ukraine," she said Tuesday as she began a three-day trip to Mexico.

"Ukraine is just running out of money," Yellen said.

© 2023 AFP

Taliban rule 'made girlhood illegal', says Malala

Johannesburg (AFP) – Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai said Tuesday that Taliban rule in Afghanistan has made "girlhood illegal", as she called for gender apartheid to be made a crime against humanity.

Issued on: 05/12/2023 - 

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai delivers the 21st Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture at the Johannesburg Theatre 

© Roberta Ciuccio / AFP

In a speech marking the 10th anniversary of the death of South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, the Pakistani activist said: "The Taliban have made girlhood illegal, and it is taking a toll."

She highlighted how Afghan girls frozen out of school are "experiencing depression", "turning to narcotics" and "attempting suicide".

Malala was the keynote speaker at an annual event held by the Mandela Foundation to commemorate the anti-apartheid icon and fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner.

After slamming what she called the "unjust bombardment of Gaza" by Israel since the unprecedented October 7 attacks by Hamas, she said crises in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan had diverted attention from the treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan.

"Our first imperative is to call the regime in Afghanistan what it really is. It is a gender apartheid," said Malala who was 15 when a Pakistani group shot her in the head over her campaign for girls' education.

Access to education and work for girls and women has been severely restricted since the Taliban leaders took back power in August 2021.

Nelson Mandela’s widow Graca Machel listens to Malala give her lecture 

© PHILL MAGAKOE / AFP

Teenage girls and women are barred from schools and universities. Thousands of women have lost their government jobs -- or are being paid to stay home.

Girls and women are also prohibited from entering parks, funfairs or gyms.

"South Africans fought for racial apartheid to be recognised and criminalised at the international level. In the process, they drew more of the world's attention to the horrors of apartheid," Malala told a packed Johannesburg theatre.

"We have an opportunity to do that right now," she added, calling for the definition to be inserted in a new UN treaty that is currently being debated.

Malala, former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and other leading activists are campaigning for UN member states to amend a draft crimes against humanity treaty to include gender apartheid.

© 2023 AFP

FRIENDLY FIRE
Drone strike accidently kills 85 civilians in Nigeria

A Nigerian army drone strike accidently killed at least 85 civilians in a village in northwest Kaduna State, officials said, in one of the country's deadliest military bombing mishaps.


Issued on: 05/12/2023 - 

Victims of the bombing in a hospital, in Kaduna State, Nigeria, on 3 December 2023. 

© Daily Trust

By: Melissa Chemam with RFI

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday ordered an investigation after the army acknowledged one of its drones aimed at armed groups had accidently struck the Tudun Biri village as residents were celebrating a religious holiday.

The army did not give any casualty figures, but local residents said at least 85 people were killed on Sunday, many of them women, children, and elderly, who had been feasting for the Muslim festival of Maulud.

The attack left civilians dead and injured in Tudun Biri, a locality in Kaduna State.

"Rescue and relief operations continue," the local minister of information, Samuel Aruwan, told RFI. "And dozens of injured people were evacuated to hospital by the authorities."

Dozens of families in mourning

"I was at home when I heard a sound," Ashiru Ibrahim, a local, told RFI's correspondent in Kaduna, Aminu Sado. 

"I came out quickly and saw an explosion with many dead bodies lying on the ground," he added. "We took those that were still alive and rushed them to a nearby hospital in Buruku. Before reaching [it], the second explosion occurred. Those who came to assist the injured ones, also died in the second explosion."

Ibrahim lost his daughter, Aisha, in the strikes, including his two children, his uncle and many other family members.

"We were able to count eighty dead bodies," he said. "The funeral is  ongoing as we speak. We are here in the hospital with about forty-eight injured persons, including Firdausi and Sadiya Ashiru, my biological daughters."

Another victim, Hauwa Yakubu, told RFI, "We were having a Maulud celebration, when we heard a sound of an aeroplane. Before we  realised what was happening, a bomb was dropped from the air. Many people died , instantly. We were injured but managed to run for our lives, some youth came out to rescue those that were injured but unfortunately they all died in the second explosion."

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) added that another 66 people are receiving treatment in hospital.

"The Northwest Zonal Office has received details from the local authorities that 85 dead bodies have so far been buried while search is still ongoing," NEMA said in a statement.

Emergency officials say they are still negotiating with community leaders to calm tensions so they can reach the village.

Map of Nigeria locating Kaduna state AFP

   (with AFP) 

Niger coup leader repeals law aimed at slowing migration to Europe

The head of Niger's military regime has repealed a law criminalising the trafficking of migrants. The country is a hub for those seeking to reach Europe via neighbouring Libya and Algeria.


Issued on: 28/11/2023 -

A crowd of migrants gather in Assamaka, Niger, on March 29, 2023. 

AFP - STANISLAS POYET

By:Melissa Chemam with RFI

General Abdourahamane Tiani signed an order repealing the 2015 law relating to the illegal trafficking of migrants on Saturday, a government statement said.

This law was in "flagrant contradiction" with local rules and "did not take into account the interests of Niger and its citizens," Tiani said.

The order also says that convictions handed down under the 2015 law are to be erased.

Since the law came into force, surveillance has been stepped up in the desert in the northern Agadez region, a major transit point for thousands of West African nationals seeking to emigrate to Europe via Algeria or Libya, with financial support from the European Union.

Dozens of people working in illegal migration networks have consequently been arrested and imprisoned, and many vehicles used to transport migrants have been confiscated.

But migrants have instead taken alternative, more dangerous routes through the desert along new tracks with no water points or landmarks and no chance of being rescued if they get into trouble.

Many migrants from West Africa gather in Agadez, where networks of smugglers are based.

Welcome news

Some in the region have already welcomed the news, including smugglers.

Andre Chani, who used to earn thousands of dollars a month driving migrants through the desert before police impounded his trucks in 2016, told Reuters he plans to restart his "business" once he has the money.

""We are very happy," he said via text message from Agadez.

Among the media, many reacted positively, notably the daily newspaper L'Événement, which denounced the law as a form of “externalisation of European borders”.

The Regional Council of Agadez also welcomed the decision, as a good move for the local economy, linked to travels in and around the city.

Local expert Azizou Chehou, president of the group Nigerien Youth for Sustainable Development, told RFI that the influx of travellers around Agadez brought work to young Nigeriens and made the area "safer".

However the European Commission said on Tuesday it is "very concerned" by the repeal of this law.

Diplomatic tensions

General Tiani has ruled Niger since 26 July, following a coup that overthrew president Mohamed Bazoum, who is still sequestered in his residence in Niamey.

The military regime has distanced itself from Niger's close European partners, notably France. Instead, it has drawn closer to its nearest neighbours, Mali and Burkina Faso, which are also run by military juntas.

Western and European countries have since suspended aid to Niger for health, security and infrastructure.EU agrees on framework for Niger sanctions

Niger, as one of the least industrialised nations in the world, relies heavily on foreign support.

The sanctions have resulted in economic hardship for Nigeriens and emboldened the junta, which has set up a transitional government that could remain in power for up to three years.

(with newswires)

European rights court probes France over protester losing eye

Europe's top rights court is investigating France for alleged "torture" and "inhumane and degrading treatment" after a French union activist lost an eye at a protest in 2016, his lawyers and the court have said.

Issued on: 05/12/2023 - 

Protestors wearing yellow vests ("gilets jaunes"), clash with French riot police during a demonstration against rising costs of living they blame on high taxes in Mondeville near Caen, northwestern France, on December 8, 2018. 

© CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP

By: RFI

Laurent Theron, then aged 46, lost the use of his right eye after being struck by a rubber-ball grenade shot by police during a demonstration against labour reforms on 15 September 2016.

His lawyers argued the policeman who fired it was not under any threat at the time, but a French court acquitted the officer last year for having acted in "legitimate defence".

"After a seven-year legal battle, the Theron case has taken an unprecedented turn with the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) launching legal proceedings against the French state," his lawyers Celine Moreau, Olivier Peter and Lucie Simon said in a statement on Monday.

Significant legal repercussions

Their petition to the ECHR invoked article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits "torture" and "inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment", according to another statement from the court.

Theron's lawyers said the proceedings could have significant repercussions in other cases of injured protesters in France, including during the 2018-2019 "Yellow Vest" movement against President Emmanuel Macron's policies during his first term.'Macron forced me to become more political': a tale of two Yellow Vests
5 ways Yellow Vest protests shook up Paris and France

The case "raises vital questions on the responsibility of the French state in the protection of protesters' rights, especially with regards to excessive use of force", they said.

The Yellow Vest protests left 2,500 demonstrators injured in a year, 23 of whom lost an eye. Around 1,800 officers were also injured.

(with AFP)