“Determination, unity and leadership” is the message, European Council President Charles Michel said, sent by the EU with its latest decisions on Ukraine to open accession talks and endorse a new financial aid package for the country. The EU will “not be intimidated by Russia”, and will support Ukraine for “as long as necessary”, he added. Michel repeated the EU’s promise to provide the country with more ammunition and said “each euro mobilised for Ukraine is an investment in our own security, prosperity and stability”.
On the Middle East, President Michel said the EU must do its utmost to prevent a regional escalation of the conflict, address the humanitarian emergency and continue advocating for the two-state solution. Restating that respect for international law is in the EU’s DNA, he strongly rejected applying “double standards” when assessing this conflict. Michel expressed understanding about the discontent and complaints of Europe’s farmers and urged dialogue to be able to offer them a convincing response.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the agreement on a €50 billion aid package for Ukraine provides strong predictability for the country over the coming four years. “This is what it means to stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes.” On the first ever revision of the EU’s long-term budget, she stressed the EU now has the financial resources to tackle some of the challenges it faces in this decade.
Referring to the farmers’ protests, President von der Leyen said “our EU food production system is unique and our farmers produce the highest quality food in the world, and they must be paid fairly”. She announced that the Commission will withdraw its proposal on pesticides reduction and that by late summer a report based on the outcomes of the strategic dialogue on the future of agriculture in the EU will present options for possible future reforms.
MEPs representing a majority in Parliament reiterated that Ukraine’s defence is Europe’s defence. They expressed their unwavering support for the country and noted that the delivery of weapons and ammunition must accelerate. Some MEPs raised the idea of using frozen Russian assets and the worrying political developments in the USA, while others raised the alarm about the threat of the war spreading beyond Ukraine and warned that the ongoing arms race is not sustainable.
On the recent farmer demonstrations, most speakers said a new approach is needed for the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy and any upcoming legislation for the green transition, and highlighted the dual policy goal of ensuring livelihoods for farmers and securing the EU’s food production. Most MEPs raised the need to find solutions to address these issues simultaneously, with many warning against populist voices seeking to politicise this complex problem. Some called for more direct financial support for farmers or for restrictions on the import of agricultural products.
Police in India have released a pigeon that was held for eight months on suspicion of spying for China, Sky News reported.
Police suspect the pigeon, which was seized near the Mumbai port in May last year, was involved in espionage as it had two rings on its feet with writing that “looked Chinese”.
Police released the pigeon this week and released it back into the wild, Indian media reported.
The pigeon spent eight months in captivity at an animal hospital in Mumbai before it was found that the bird had flown to India from Taiwan.
Pigeons have been used for spying throughout history, and British forces in World War I and World War II used these birds to carry messages.
Police in India have detained pigeons before.
In 2020, a Pakistani fisherman’s pigeon was caught in Kashmir, and investigation revealed that the bird was not intended for espionage, but simply flew across the border between the two countries.
In 2016, Indian police detained another pigeon after it was allegedly found with a note threatening Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Illustrative Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-and-white-flying-bird-on-blue-sky-36715/
EU-MOLDOVA – The founder and head of a media outlet under EU sanctions and Moldovan sanctions for pro-Russian propaganda and disinformation creates “Stop Media Ban” and campaigns against Moldova in the European Parliament in Strasbourg and in Brussels.
By Dr Evgeniia Gidulianova with Willy Fautré
On 10 January, the ECR political group (European Conservatives and Reformists) at the European Parliament organized a conference in Brussels about Press Freedom at the European international level, in which “Stop Media Ban” in Moldova was represented by its president, Ludmila Belcencova. Her message was that Moldova, which is a candidate to the European Union, unduly represses media freedom.
According to the information of the publication “BLOKNOT Moldova” Ludmila Belcencova was born on July 5, 1972, in the city of Vinnytsia, Chernivtsi region of Ukraine. She studied to be a history teacher. For many years, she worked as a TV presenter on the NIT channel, which was called the mouthpiece of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM). She was a member of the party and as such, an elected member of the Moldovan Parliament.
The “Aquarelle magazine,” in its column “Club of Career Women,” indicates that Belcencova began her work on television back in 1997. At first, she worked as a reporter in a news program on the NIT channel. Afterwards, she became the editor of the journalistic program MAXIMA on NIT before becoming later its creator and presenter. In 2004, she worked for some time at the Embassy of the Republic of Moldova in Russia(*).
According to the media outlet KP in Moldova, (Komsomolskaya Pravda), Belcencova made a career in political journalism, mainly promoting the point of view of the extreme-left wing of the Communist Party. In 2009, she was on the list of the Communist Party for the elections and later became a Member of the Moldovan Parliament as a Communist. However, soon after receiving her mandate, she left the extreme-left faction of the Party of Communists (PCRM), together with a group of MPs, and joined the Moldovan Unită Party. She became the spokesperson of this party, but later withdrew from political life and went back to journalism.
On 16 December 2022, Moldova imposed sanctions and suspended the license of the “Primul în Moldova” channel, which was in fact the Romanian-Moldovan version of the Russian Pervyi Kanal. Belcencova was then its General Producer. Pervyi Kanal (Primul in Moldova) also fell under the EU sanctions(**).
On 31 May 2023, Belcencova created and headed the “Stop Media Ban” platform, specifically targeting Moldova.
Ludmila Belcencova was General Producer of the “Primul in Moldova TV” channel (alias Pervyi Kanal) – Pervyi Kanal/ Primul in Moldova under EU and Moldovan sanctions. Currently President of STOP MEDIA BAN. Photo at “Freedom of Press Conference” in Brussels.
In short, Ludmila Belcencova’s ideological and political agenda is in line with the extremist left wing of the Communist Party of Moldova (PCRM), which has become an insignificant party and tool in Moldova in the last few years, and jumps from the political arena to the media arena to push forward ‘her’ agenda. During the Q & A of the conference organized by the ECR political group of the European Parliament, she failed twice to answer questions asked by the director of Human Rights Without Frontiers: “What is the name of your banned media and is the reason of the ban your alleged support to Putin’s views”? In her answer, she purposefully failed twice to give the name of her media (!) and to confirm or deny having expressed alleged pro-Russian views (!)
She now heads the “Stop Media Ban” platform, another at first sight sympathetic arena, through which she can move forward a political agenda hostile to Moldova.
When you google her name written with the Latin alphabet, there is no information about her but it is not at all the case with her name in Russian: Людмила Бельченкова.
On her Facebook page in Russian, she posted her photo with her accreditation badge for the European Parliament on the name of the NGO “Stop Media Ban” (SMB) that she had got on 8 January, two days before the conference.
What is “Stop Media Ban in Moldova”?
On 31 May 2023, Liudmila Belcencova, General Producer of the “Primul in Moldova TV” channel (alias Pervyi Kanal), under Moldovan and EU sanctions, held a press conference at the news agency IPN and announced for the first time the creation of the platform «Stop Media Ban». The purpose of this initiative was said to protect the rights of all journalists in Moldova. “Stop Media Ban” positions itself as a non-governmental and non-profit organization dedicated to the struggle for freedom of the press and calling for an end to the ban on a number of media outlets in Moldova, throughout Europe and beyond.
On 5 October 2023, journalists from “Stop Media Ban” called on the European Parliament in Strasbourg, to vote to support Moldova’s accession to the European Union. However, they pointed out that it is essential to ensure that the Government of the Republic of Moldova implements the necessary reforms for accession to the European Union. Liudmila Belcencova, president and spokesperson of “Stop Media Ban”, said:
“Achieving the goal requires a determined effort. The European Union was founded on democratic ideals. Moldova will become an EU member state when its government shares European values and respects all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including those that are now at high risk. For example, freedom of the press, there can be no interference in the work of journalists or censorship, such as banning independent media or spreading disinformation.”
“The European Parliament should take steps to comply with European rules on media freedom in Moldova as a candidate country. This action will ensure the missing media pluralism in the country and protect the independence of the media from state, political or economic influence,” Belcencova concluded. Having the ban on Pervyi Kanal(Primul in Moldova) lifted is obviously her priority objective.
The “Stop Media Ban” website publishes a universal call for signatures on its homepage Petition against the ban by the Moldovan government on certain media outlets issued a week before the local elections in the country. The basis for the petition was the order of 30 October 2023, by which the Commission for Exceptional Situations of Moldova closed six private channels and 31 online media platforms. Prior to that, in December 2022, six more TV channels were closed on charges of spreading disinformation and undermining the country’s security.
In its World Press Index including 180 countries, Reporters Without Borders, ranked Moldova in the following positions in the last three years: 89 in 2021, 40 in 2022 and 28 in 2023. Quite a positive trajectory.
EU sanctions
It must be recalled that quite a number of the channels sanctioned in Moldova were also included by the European Union in the 10th and 11th sanctions packages as state-owned and pro-Kremlin disinformation media, playing an important and decisive role in supporting Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The EU has pointed out that they pose a serious threat to public order and the security of the EU and are used for disinformation and manipulation of information. Therefore, the EU decided to suspend their broadcasting and distribution, as well as to suspend their licenses.
EU: Vigilance is needed
On the eve of the European election, the European Parliament suspects a number of MEPs and staff in its ranks to be pro-Russia ‘influencers’. MEPs and political groups should be vigilant and well-advised to also look at promoters in Brussels of an anti-EU agenda concerning Moldova.
Strangely enough, on 20 December last, another personality from Moldova/Gagauzia, Yevgenia Gutsul, came to Brussels for holding a press conference at the Press Club in Brussels. On this occasion, she gave a very negative picture of the rule of law in Moldova. In EU Today, she was quoted as saying:
“In a 2014 referendum a total of 96 percent of those who voted said that if Moldova chose the path towards membership of the EU and then loses its independence, then Gagauzia reserves its right to its independence.”
AboutIevgeniia Gidulianova
Ievgeniia Gidulianova holds a Ph.D. in Law and was Associate Professor at the Department of Criminal Procedure of Odesa Law Academy between 2006 and 2021.
She is now a lawyer in private practice and a consultant for the Brussels-based NGO Human Rights Without Frontiers.
Footnotes
(*) At that time, the country was ruled by the Party of Communists which had won 50.07% of the votes and gained 71 of the 101 MPs in the 2001 parliamentary elections. They elected Vladimir Voronin as their president who remained in power until 2009. Moldova was then the first post-Soviet state where a Communist Party returned to power. From 2010 on, the party started its descent into hell and was not represented any more in the parliament in 2019. In 2021, they came back through the back door in an alliance with the Party of Socialists which gained 10% of the seats in the parliament.
(**) EU Sanctions Against Russia Explained: To counteract Russian propaganda, the EU has suspended the broadcasting activities and licenses of several Kremlin-backed disinformation outlets:
Sputnik and subsidiaries including Sputnik Arabic
Russia Today and subsidiaries including Russia Today English, Russia Today UK, Russia Today Germany, Russia Today France, Russia Today Spanish, Russia Today Arabic
Rossiya RTR / RTR Planeta
Rossiya 24 / Russia 24
Rossiya 1
TV Centre International
NTV/NTV Mir
REN TV
Pervyi Kanal
Oriental Review
Tsargrad TV Channel
New Eastern Outlook
Katehon
Spas TV Channel
Russia uses all of these outlets to intentionally spread propaganda and conduct disinformation campaigns, including about its military aggression against Ukraine.
They cover all means of transmission and distribution in or directed at EU member states, including cable, satellite, Internet Protocol TV, platforms, websites and apps.
In line with the Charter of Fundamental Rights, these measures will not prevent those media outlets and their staff from carrying out activities in the EU that do not involve broadcasting, e.g. research and interviews.
Patients in Bulgarian psychiatric hospitals are provided with nothing even approaching modern psychosocial treatments
Continued abuse and tying of patients, lack of therapy, understaffing. This is what a delegation of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) of the Council of Europe saw during their visit to state psychiatry centers in Bulgaria in March 2023, reports Free Europe – the service for Bulgaria of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
Their observations were set out in a critical report, noting that the country “once again demonstrates the continuing serious failure of the Department of Health to prevent and eradicate such unacceptable behaviour”.
The news comes against the background of a case from the end of last year, when a patient of the psychiatry in Lovech died in a fire while being tied up for punishment. The case provoked a swift investigation by the ombudsman, which found numerous violations that led to the fatal outcome.
The National Assembly established a temporary commission to collect and analyze data on violations in psychiatry and to propose legislative solutions.
The Torture Committee has seen some progress in welfare institutions and hopes that actual deinstitutionalization will continue.
His report was published together with the response of the Bulgarian authorities. It does not differ significantly from the reports published after observations in Bulgarian psychiatry in recent years.
“Patients are hit and kicked”
The delegation visited the state psychiatric hospital “Tserova Koria”, the social care homes for persons with mental retardation in Draganovo and Tri Kladentsi, and the state psychiatric hospital in Byala.
She has received a number of claims from patients at both hospitals that, in addition to being shouted at by staff, orderlies also punch and kick patients, including in the groin.
It is common practice for patients to be tied, isolated, mechanically and chemically restrained.
As for the material conditions, the CPT sees overcrowded rooms and a “carceral” environment – with bars on the windows and a lack of decoration.
“As with previous visits, staff numbers are grossly inadequate to ensure adequate patient treatment and a safe environment,” the report said. The hospital in Byala continues to experience an acute shortage of psychiatrists.
There are limited opportunities for psychological, occupational and creative therapy. Most patients simply lie in bed or walk around idly.
CPT emphasizes that patients in Bulgarian psychiatric hospitals are not provided with anything that even comes close to modern psychosocial treatments.
Many patients were not informed of their rights as voluntary patients, including the right to be discharged at will. Thus, de facto, they were deprived of their freedom.
The Committee also requests the Bulgarian authorities to provide the conclusions of the audit of the clinical trials conducted at the Tserova Koria State Psychiatric Hospital, including the ethical approvals of these trials.
Calm atmosphere in care homes
The committee found the atmosphere in the care homes visited to be relaxed and most residents spoke positively of the staff.
In the homes visited, isolation and tying of the residents are not practiced.
Living conditions are relatively good, but the number of attendants and medical staff is “grossly inadequate” to provide adequate care for residents.
In their response, the Bulgarian authorities provide information on measures taken or planned to implement the recommendations made.
Note: Report to the Bulgarian Government on the ad hoc visit to Bulgaria carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 21 to 31 March 2023. The Government of Bulgaria has requested the publication of this report and of its response. The Government’s response is set out in document CPT/Inf (2024) 07.
Police in Moscow detained about 25 people, mostly journalists, covering a protest against the mobilization for the war in Ukraine.
The journalists were arrested for several hours outside the Kremlin walls, during an unauthorized demonstration. Wives of Russian servicemen in Ukraine symbolically brought flowers to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Thus, they demand that their men return from Ukraine and their movement grows.
So far, it is not punished by the authorities. The press center of the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office stated that their protest today was not coordinated with the authorities.
An American magazine honored Istanbul Airport with 5 awards in December 2023.
The airport has connections to 315 destinations, making it the best airport in the world. It was named “Airport of the Year” for the 3rd time in a row.
Istanbul Airport was deemed worthy of awards in 5 different categories as a result of the votes of the readers of the US-based travel magazine Global Traveler: “Best Airport”, “Best Airport in Europe”, “Airport Offering the Most good shopping’, ‘The airport with the best food and beverage area’ and ‘The airport with the best duty-free shopping in Europe’.
Istanbul’s mega airport aims to increase the number of passengers it handles from 76 million last year to 85 million in 2024, while increasing its investment to 657 million euros.
The biggest part of the investment went to the construction of new tracks, noted Selahattin Bilgen, acting CEO of İGA Istanbul. He emphasized that they have allocated more than 330 million euros for two new runways.
Bilgen noted that for the first time in Europe, a new flight system, used only in the US, was introduced at Istanbul Airport, through which it is possible for three planes to take off from the airport’s runways in parallel.
“We aim to operate with the highest efficiency and capacity after the United States. This increase in air traffic capacity will be instrumental in helping our airport exceed the 150 million passenger targets in its original contract and reach 200 million passengers without the construction of an additional runway after Phase 5.”
A 15 percent increase in flight traffic at the airport is expected to about 540,000 aircraft in 2024, he added.
The airport has increased its list of airlines to 101 in 2023. “We have signed contracts and will receive 11 more airlines at Istanbul Airport this year,” Bilgen noted at a press conference where he revealed the company’s plans and goals for 2024.
“To date, Istanbul Airport has connections to 315 destinations, making us the best airport in the world.”
Investments in the airport exceeded €160 million last year and will reach €656.5 million in 2024.
Illustrative Photo by Kürşat Kuzu: https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-concrete-building-under-the-blue-sky-8271684/
It is the third sentence the jailed Khan, 71, has received last week
Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra were sentenced to seven years in prison and fined by a court that ruled their 2018 marriage violated the law, Reuters reported, citing a party statement. Khan’s Justice Movement (“Pakistan Tehreek and Insaf”).
The fine imposed on the two is 500,000 rupees ($1,800), reports the Pakistani news channel ARY News, quoted by BTA.
It is the third sentence the jailed 71-year-old Khan has received this week, ahead of Pakistan’s Feb. 8 general election, in which he is barred from running.
On Tuesday, the former prime minister received a ten-year sentence for leaking state secrets, and on Wednesday, a Pakistani anti-corruption court sentenced him and his wife to 14 years in prison for withholding and selling state gifts he received as prime minister.
Bushra was accused of marrying Khan before the Islamic mandatory waiting period, called “iddat”, for her divorce to be finalized.
The Khans entered into their marriage contract, called a nikah, in January 2018 in a secret ceremony, seven months before the charming Khan, a cricket superstar in his homeland, took office for the first time as prime minister, according to Reuters.
There was a dispute as to whether they were married before the waiting period ended after Bushra’s divorce. After initially denying the two had married in January, Khan’s party confirmed it weeks later. Imran and Bushra denied breaking the rules.
Khan is in Adiala prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi while his wife has been granted permission to serve out her sentences at the family’s hilltop estate in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Reuters points out that it is currently unclear whether Khan’s sentences will run concurrently or consecutively.
Illustrative Photo by Donald Tong: https://www.pexels.com/photo/rear-view-of-a-silhouette-man-in-window-143580/
I have always stated that every belief, whatever it may be, is respectable. Of course, as long as it does not threaten the lives of others, or their fundamental rights, especially if these rights protect the little ones.
Children “mingi”They are children, children of superstition, condemned to death for being born to a single mother, suffering from malformations or having their upper teeth emerge first. and many other questions that the elderly always tend to decide. The previous words about “mingi”, I read them in an article in the newspaper La Verdad, in August 2013. And they impacted me.
The Karo are an ethnic group (tribe) established in an area of the Omo River, in Ethiopia, in a place known as the Southern Nations. This tribe lives in a privileged natural environment, they are sedentary, although they graze the few cattle they have. They fish for large catfish such as sirulos, grow millet and collect honey. The children are decorated with flowers, while the women prepare their daily chores and the elderly paint strange ritual symbols. For a tourist, who when he arrives is welcomed with open arms, that place is like paradise, although without electricity or running water, but nothing could be further from reality.
Until 2012, apparently, when night fell and they stopped counting the moons, observing the termite mounds and delighting in the acacias that populated the savannah, according to Mamush Eshetu, a young 43-year-old tour guide, who could not find the peculiar beliefs of that not at all positive tribe, he confessed to whoever would listen that Until recently they threw their children into the river, sacrificed them.
Until then, no one outside the few villages of the Karo ethnic group had demonstrated against the power of the elders to decide on the life and death of the people. “mingi”. These were children considered cursed upon whom the decision to be killed fell, no matter what the parents might say. Why were certain children considered cursed? Why were they condemned?
The traditions in that part of the planet, in the heart of Africa, remain a mystery and only by telling and retelling these stories can we scratch the surface of their beliefs, which, spread throughout the world as a result of the slave trade in times past, give us back stories of child sacrifice almost everywhere these kinds of ideas landed.
But returning to the cursed children of the Omo Valley, they were murdered for the most diverse reasons: for being born out of wedlock, because the parents had not communicated to the chief of the tribe that they wanted to have a child, because the child at birth suffered from some kind of illness. malformation, no matter how small it was, because the baby’s upper teeth came out in the first place, because there were twins… And so on, a long etcetera of contingencies that were left to the discretion of the witches, who, with the excuse that the bosses The tribe did not like cursed children, due to the superstition that if they became adults they could harm the tribe, bring bad luck. And that argument, in a place where famines and drought are continuous and constant, is incontestable.
Only the denunciations of some members of the Karo ethnic group, such as Lale Lakubo, have managed to modify customs, or at least make visible worldwide an atrocious tradition anchored in powerful beliefs as old as the tribe itself.
International cooperation or the protests of a corrupt government that receives funds to stop these practices and educate in human rights are of no use when it is so easy, due to superstition, to take the life of a child. The crocodiles of the Omo River, or the hyenas of the desert make sure that no trace of such a cruel practice remains.
Boys or girls are literally torn from the clutches of their parents without their parents being able to do anything for them. And if it began by collecting the words of a modest chronicle from the aforementioned newspaper, allow it to continue 10 years later, in March 2023, with the newspaper El País where, the aforementioned member of the Karo ethnic group, declared the following: “One day I was in my village and I saw an argument near the river. There were about five or six people fighting with a woman who was carrying a very small child. The boy and her mother cried while the others struggled with her. They managed to snatch her son from her and ran towards the river. “They threw the child into the water before she could do anything.” When these events occurred, Lale Lakubo was a teenager and felt scandalized, until his mother told him that two of his sisters, as children, were also murdered because the elders of the tribe considered them to be “mingis”, damn
Lale himself gives an approximate number of children murdered each year within this community for being “mingis”, around 300. Children to whom absolutely nothing happens, except living in a place where life and death are decided by a terrible balance hidden in the twisted hearts of the elders of the tribe, rooted in ancient and perverse ideas. It is as if the Karo ethnic group is still in an ancient era where the gods continue to demand blood rituals.
Some anthropologists place the beginning of these practices at the end of the last century, but this question is, honestly, according to other researchers, implausible, because this practice is related to famines and droughts, which have been devastating that area of the earth for some time. many decades. Furthermore, it is not only in this area of Ethiopia where some children are declared cursed. In my next article related to impossible beliefs, I will talk about the witch children of Nakayi. And later on albino children In short, atrocious beliefs that some people try to alleviate as best they can.
After living the experiences he had and seeking some small support, Lale Lakubo, now over 40 years old, started an orphanage school a few years ago in the nearby city of Jinka, called Omo Child, which welcomes currently around 50 children and adolescents between 2 and 19 years old. All of them declared “mingi”. Lale, after arduous conversations with the elders of the tribe, managed to get them to give him some of the children who were going to be sacrificed. He feels that he cannot help everyone, but it is like an island of peace in the midst of so much superstitious desolation. Their project is maintained thanks to the private donations of people who try to alleviate this tragedy, some of the parents of these children also collaborate and the meager fees of other children and adolescents who go to study at the school that takes place in the facilities. The fact is that the project, little by little, is growing slowly but in an increasingly visible way.
In 2015, produced and directed by John Rowe, with Tyler Rowe as director of photography and Matt Skow as editor, a documentary titled Omo Child: The River and The Busch. Based on the exciting journey of Lale Lakubo and the mingi, where you can follow the trajectory of this man, as well as what happens with the Karo ethnic group, and other people of the ethnic groups Hamer and Bannar, with whom they share unfortunate beliefs.
Miherit Belay, head of the Ministry of Health, Women, Children and Youth in the Omo Valley area, currently states: “We receive new cases every month, but most are never known. It is something that the villages keep secret. It must be taken into account that here families live in a very large space, sometimes separated by 50 or 60 kilometers, in areas that are difficult to access and without coverage, where it is very difficult to find out about things like a pregnancy and even less about something like a sacrifice.”
All these stories do not reach the media, except sporadically. They are not interested. Who is interested in Ethiopia? They are places where people die every day of hunger, where there is not the slightest possibility of getting ahead in the way we know it. Imagine then, as Miherit Belay says, how difficult it is for them to know if sacrifices occur.
The alleged massacre happened in Welingara village in the Nara region of central Mali on 26 January. Some 30 civilians were also reportedly killed by unidentified gunmen in the Bandiagara region at the weekend.
In his call for impartial investigations into the allegations, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights emphasized the need for justice in accordance with international standards.
Mr. Türk also urged the Malian authorities to ensure that their troops – “as well as their agents or allies” – adhered to human rights law and international humanitarian law, particularly regarding the protection of civilians.
A fact-finding report from the UN human rights office, OHCHR, released last May in relation to allegations of a massacre of over 500 people in the village of Moura in March 2022, documented witnesses who described “armed white men” fighting alongside Malian soldiers.
This report followed allegations made a year ago by independent UN rights experts that the Russia-based Wagner mercenary group had been involved, describing a “climate of terror and impunity” surrounding the military contractors’ activities in Mali.
OHCHR has previously verified two other incidents involving the alleged killings of at least 31 civilians by Malian armed forces and “allied foreign military personnel” last September and October.
In the September killings, 14 herders were allegedly executed in Ndoupa in the Segou region while on 5 October, 17 civilians were reportedly executed in Ersane village in the Gao region.
No official investigations into these incidents have been reported, OHCHR noted.
Deaths, injuries and destruction continues in Ukraine-Russia war
New attacks in eastern Ukraine on Thursday have led to injuries and damage to civilian infrastructure, the UN Spokesperson told reporters in New York on Thursday.
A hospital in Kharkiv was damaged in an attack on Wednesday, with several injured and many evacuated, according to Ukraine’s national rescue service, he said.
A health facility also sustained damages in Toretsk, in the Donetsk region, as reported by the regional administration.
“In frontline areas, our humanitarian colleagues note that the continued hostilities in the Donetsk and Kherson regions of Ukraine are continuing to kill and injure civilians. Homes, education facilities, public transport, water, electricity and [heating] facilities have also been damaged,” he continued, citing local authorities.
A humanitarian hub run by a local non-governmental organization (NGO) in Kherson was also hit on Thursday.
“Despite the challenges of operating in frontline areas, aid organizations continue to provide assistance,” the UN Spokesperson said.
“In recent days, we, along with our humanitarian partners, have provided emergency repair materials as well as [psychological] and legal support in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions.”
Peacekeepers provide new humanitarian corridor in DR Congo
Peacekeepers are “continuing to do their utmost to protect civilians” in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) amid ongoing clashes between the M23 rebel group and Congolese armed forces.
That’s according to UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, who reminded correspondents at the regular Noon Briefing that the UN Stabilization Mission, MONUSCO, has established a temporary presence in Mweso following clashes in the area of North Kivu.
“Peacekeepers have also created a humanitarian corridor, which has allowed more than 1,000 displaced men, women and children to move to safer ground”, he said.
The UN Mission is continuing to protect and provide medical assistance to displaced communities taking refuge near its base in Kitchanga, which is about 15 kilometres from Mweso, Mr. Dujarric said.
The mission said it had helped evacuate eight Congolese soldiers to Goma who had been wounded in the fighting with the M23. The UN will monitor the situation closely, he added.
MONUSCO is due to withdraw completely from DRC at the request of the government by the end of 2024, but while ‘blue helmets” may be withdrawing, the UN has repeatedly said that it will continue providing support to the Congolese people in the long-term.
Haiti: UN human rights report shows spike in violence
The last quarter of 2023 saw another rise in violence across Haiti, with reports of 2,327 victims of murder, wounding and kidnapping, marking an eight per cent increase compared to the previous three months.
That’s according to the latest quarterly update from the UN integrated office in the crisis-wracked Caribbean island nation, BINUH.
People who have fled their homes due to insecurity find shelter at a theatre in downtown Port-au-Prince.
The total number of recorded victims for the year was more than 8,400. Much of the rise is due to violence at the hands of organized crime gangs, particularly in the Artibonite and the southern outskirts of the capital, with an upsurge in sexual violence recorded in several areas.
UN Special Representative and Head of BINUH, Maria Isabel Salvador, stressed that this violence is fuelling chronic insecurity and undermining social stability.
The report also reveals the serious impact on children, with at least 53 child victims of violence or other crimes. It also highlights the threat to humanitarian aid on the roads due to gang control of highways.
The judicial system has also been impacted although there are some signs of improvement, including a reduction in pre-trial detention.
During the quarter, 400 cases were processed resulting in the release of more than 258 people. However, there has been a rise in police casualties, highlighting persistent insecurity, BINUH said.
The report calls on the international community to keep Haiti high on its agenda and support the implementation of the planned Multinational Security Support Mission for Haiti.
The Taliban crackdown initially began in western Kabul, predominantly inhabited by the minority ethnic Hazara community – which has been the target of extremist violence for years – but swiftly expanded to other areas, including Tajik-populated regions and provinces such as Bamiyan, Baghlan, Balkh, Daykundi and Kunduz.
Women and girls reportedly accused by the Taliban of wearing “bad hijab” were arrested during the operation in public places, including shopping centres, schools and street markets.
Some were forcibly taken to police vehicles, held incommunicado and denied legal representation, according to a news release issued by UN rights office OHCHR on behalf of the experts.
“Women and girls were reportedly held in overcrowded spaces in police stations, received only one meal a day, with some of them being subjected to physical violence, threats and intimidation,” they said.
In May 2022, the de facto authorities ordered all women to observe “proper hijab”, preferably by wearing a chadari – a loose black garment covering the body and face – in public and made male relatives responsible for enforcing the ban or face punishment.
Institutionalized discrimination
While some detainees were released after a few hours, others reportedly languished in custody for days or weeks.
The lack of transparency and access to justice means the current number of detainees potentially held incommunicado is hard to assess.
Their release has been made contingent on male family members and community elders providing assurances, often in writing, that they would comply with the prescribed dress code in the future.
“In addition to punishing women for what they wear, assigning responsibility for what women wear to men violates women’s agency and perpetuates an institutionalized system of discrimination, control of women and girls and further diminishes their place in society,” the experts said.
The experts speaking out are mandated by the Human Rights Council to monitor and report on the rights situation in the country as well as on violence and discrimination against women and girls.
They work on a voluntary basis, serve in their individual capacity, are not UN staff and do not receive a salary.
Troubling pattern
Last month, a UN report found that several hundred Afghan women were forced to quit their jobs or were arrested and denied access to essential services in the last quarter of 2023.
Those arrested included women purchasing contraceptive pills, female staff of a healthcare facility and women who were not accompanied by a mahram – a male chaperone.
The de facto authorities reportedly stated that “it was inappropriate for an unmarried woman to work”.
A father and son walk amidst the wreckage of their home, destroyed during an earthquake in Afghanistan. (file)
Dire humanitarian situation
Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation across the country continues to deteriorate.
Four decades of conflict, entrenched poverty, climate change-induced and natural disasters and severe restrictions on rights has left almost 24 million people, including over 12 million children, in need of humanitarian assistance and protection.
In response, the UN and relief partners have launched a $3.06 billion response plan for 2024, targeting 17.3 million for assistance.
Greater food supplies are needed alongside rebuilding the agricultural sector, health systems, water and sanitation. Protection for women, children and other vulnerable groups is also a key priority.
