Somalia’s president has defiantly signed into law an extension of his mandate and that of his government as the United States and others threatened sanctions and warned of further instability in one of the world’s most fragile countries.

The standoff prolongs a months-long election crisis after the February national vote was delayed. Critics say President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed’s time in office is over. The international community had objected to a mandate extension and warned that the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group could take advantage of the country’s heated political divisions.

The president late Tuesday signed the controversial law after the lower house of parliament this week voted to effectively extend his mandate for two years while calling for direct elections during that time. Leaders of the Senate, however, called the vote illegal and Somalia’s opposition protested.

The U.S. is “deeply disappointed,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement overnight that threatened the possibility of sanctions, visa restrictions and a reevaluation of “our bilateral relations.” The statement called for Somalia’s federal government and regional states to urgently return to talks on the election crisis.

The European Union had warned that signing this week’s decision into law would divide Somalia and “constitute a grave threat to the peace and stability of Somalia and its neighbors,” and it threatened to consider “concrete measures” in response.

Britain said this week’s move “undermines the credibility of Somalia’s leadership” and it threatened to work with international partners to “reevaluate our relationship and the nature of our assistance to Somalia.”

In Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu frustration deepened.

“What happened can be explained as a coup d’etat executed by a group of people who were hungry for power for so long,” said civil society leader Abdullahi Mohamed Shirwa. “This is just like the craziest political gamble” in a country already wrestling with humanitarian crises driven by instability and the changing climate.

Somalia’s government has been unable for months to reach agreement on how to carry out the election, with the regional states of Puntland and Jubbaland objecting on certain issues and the international community warning against holding a partial election. The crisis led to deadly violence against demonstrators who opposed an election delay.

Contentious issues in months of talks on the election process included the formation of the electoral management commission, the selection of commission members for the breakaway region of Somaliland.

Somalia hasn’t had a one-person-one-vote direct election in decades.

The country began to fall apart in 1991, when warlords ousted dictator Siad Barre and then turned on each other. Years of conflict and attacks by al-Shabab, along with famine, left this Horn of Africa country of about 12 million people largely shattered.

Al-Shabab controls large parts of southern and central Somalia and often targets the capital with suicide bombings. The extremist group has been a frequent target of U.S. military airstrikes.

Police patrols and Romani residents in the Fakulteta neighborhood of Sofia, Bulgaria. (PHOTO: BGNES, https://bnr.bg/)

All societies continue to feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the challenges of the present are especially urgent for Romani people, according to a statement released by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE-ODIHR) issued on the occasion of International Romani Day last week. From education to employment, poverty to poor living conditions, Romani people have long been Europe’s most marginalized group. 

Surveys conducted by FRA have repeatedly found that Romani people are experiencing the effects of extensive discrimination against them, antigypsyism and social exclusion. “COVID and its related restrictions have summoned a perfect storm of exclusion that has swept through Romani communities across Europe. Even before the pandemic, Romani people were living on the outskirts of society, and now they are facing even greater deprivation and discrimination,” said the director of FRA, Michael O’Flaherty.   

“Our governments must put Romani people at the forefront of interest in plans for the return of a ‘new’ normal,” the FRA director said. The many years of disparities between majority societies and Romani people have placed many Roma into an even more vulnerable position during the pandemic, and prejudices against them have further increased. 

A monitoring report from ODIHR about the media portrayal of Romani people during 2020 has demonstrated that hate speech against them online sharply grew in frequency, as did disinformation about Romani communities and the role they played during the pandemic. “The time has come to pay more attention to vulnerable communities like the Roma and Sinti who were again the target of attacks and have become the scapegoats blamed for a situation in which they themselves are suffering so much,” said ODIHR director Matteo Mecacci. 

“I call on governments to increase their efforts to combat prejudices against Roma and Sinti and to support communities that the pandemic continues to harsly impact,” the ODIHR director added. As for the FRA, its bulletins on COVID-19 are outlining the fact that Romani communities have especially suffered the most as a consequence of the measures adopted in the public health area.  

In many countries, Romani children lack Internet access and technology, which prevents them from attending online instruction, and the risk exists that they will fall even more behind. Governments need to aid Romani children with accessing distance education and instructional materials, as the ODIHR recommends in its report on the impact of COVID-19 on human rights.

According to research undertaken by the FRA in six countries, even before the pandemic, many Roma and Travellers were unemployed or were working in precarious conditions. In the year 2019, every other Romani or Traveller youth between 16 and 24 years of age was neither employed nor attending school.

Because governments have instituted movement restrictions in order to stop the spread of the virus, many Romani people who are street vendors or who travel for business were unable to work. In addition, their access to welfare benefits has been informally limited as well.

Successful support for Romani communities requires a dual approach:  On the one hand it is necessary to strive to reduce poverty and combat discrimination and racism, while on the other had it is necessary to support strengthening the position of Romani people and making it possible for Romani community members with fully engaging in public life. One such initiative is the annual “Nicolae Gheorghe” Romani Leadership Academy convened by ODIHR.

The academy closely cooperates with Romani people on increasing their “know-how” and skills and maximalizing their influence and impact on policy and decision-making processes. According to the OSCE, governments need to invest more into combating antigypsyism and prejudices, esepcially within the framework of public administrations.

Each participating country in the OSCE should be cooperating, directly and locally, with communities of Roma and Travellers and arranging for Romani individuals and Romani civil society organizations to also be involved in running for elected office. This would provide governments with reliable information about Romani communities and facilitate the development of measures to end or at least ameliorate the negative impact of the pandemic.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has put many Romani people into an even more vulnerable position than they already were. Romani communities, therefore, need immediate, urgent aid in order to quickly and effectively recover from the pandemic,” the OSCE website says. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran has summoned the Portuguese Ambassador to Tehran to protest at the European Union’s move to blacklist a number of Iranian officials and bodies over human rights concerns.

“Following the European Union’s impudent move to put the names of several Iranian officials and institutions on its list of human rights sanctions, Portuguese Ambassador to Tehran Carlos Costa Neves, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency, was summoned to the Iranian foreign ministry and received a strong note of protest from Tehran over the EU’s illegal action,” a statement by the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday night.

“Accordingly, the director general for the West Europe affairs at the Iranian foreign ministry condemned the EU’s move as politically motivated, dismissing it as a double-standard approach on human rights issues,” it added.

“As we have already announced, Iran will, in reaction, suspend comprehensive talks with the EU and cooperation thereof, including in the domains of [fighting] terrorism, narcotics and refugees,” he said at the meeting.

It was also stressed that Iran is considering imposing reciprocal sanctions as well.
The top Portuguese diplomat, in turn, said he will inform Brussels of Iran’s protest.

The Finance Ministry has imposed definitive anti-dumping duty on ‘Normal Butanol’ imports from the European Union, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa and the US.

Andhra Petrochemicals Ltd — which is the sole producer of N-Butanol in the country — had filed the petition seeking sunset review of the anti-dumping duty on imports from these countries.

Based on the recommendations of the Designated Authority in the Directorate General of Trade Remedies in the Commerce Ministry in end March 2021, the Revenue Department has now imposed definitive anti-dumping duty of $46.27 a tonne on Normal Butanol imports from the EU; $51.42 a tonne from Petronas Chemicals Derivatives, Malaysia; $26.59 a tonne from BASF Petronas Chemicals and $149.31 a tonne from other producers from Malaysia; $35.66 a tonne on imports from Singapore; $13.24 a tonne on imports from South Africa.

In the case of normal butanol imports from the US, the definitive anti-dumping duty has been pegged at $24.16 a tonne.

The anti-dumping duty will be applicable for a period of five years, the Revenue Department said.

Normal Butanol is a primary alcohol and is an excellent solvent for acid-curable lacquers and baking finishes derived from urea, melamine or phenolic resins.

A large part of N-Butanol is converted into derivatives for use as solvents in coating industries and printing inks. Normal Butanol also finds application as extractant in production of drugs and natural substances, additive in polishes and cleaners, solubiliser in the textile industry, additive in de-icing fluids, anti-icing additive in gasoline, humectant for cellulose nitrate, feedstock in the production of glycol ethers and flotation aids (Butyl Xanthate) and as starting material for the production of butyl mono carboxylates, butyl acetate and butyl butyrate.

… ban for passengers from the EU, Turkey and dozens of other … issued on Thursday.
The non-EU countries are; Argentina, Bahrain, Brazil …