It’s the reason why Lavrov’s plane did not fly over Bulgaria
The spokeswoman of the Russian MFA, Maria Zakharova, called the decision of the Bulgarian authorities to deny Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s plane from flying through the country’s airspace if she herself was on board “dangerous”.
“It is not just about stupidity, but about the dangerous stupidity of some intriguer in the power structures of Bulgaria. The fact is that the rules of air traffic are regulated by the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation of 1944. It prescribes the territory of the state should be understood as “land territories and adjacent to them except territorial waters.” Airspace is not included in the term “territory”. , which is prohibited from entering the territory of the state,” wrote Zakharova on the Telegram channel. According to her, for the first time in the whole country, the state authorities banned not a plane, but a person in the plane from being in the sky, because according to the note of the Bulgarian diplomatic department, the plane of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was allowed to fly over it.
“Did the Bulgarian officials think that such measures could be implemented in response to the thousands of NATO operatives who are on our mirror stop lists? Did they think about setting a dangerous world precedent in principle? I think not. in Sofia to disgrace the Bulgarian people? …We, by the way, are already in Skopje,” Zakharova added.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in the capital of North Macedonia, Skopje, to participate in the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The plane was flying through Greece, and before that the route was expected to pass through Bulgaria. As TASS has learned, the Bulgarian side has refused to let the plane of the Russian foreign minister go if Zakharova is on board.
The note from the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, states in particular: “Permission to participate in the above-mentioned meeting in Skopje is granted to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov and his accompanying delegation in accordance with the note … The decision does not refers to the director of the information and press department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, who is on the list of sanctions, in accordance with EU legislation.”
The length of the ministerial plane’s route was about 4,000 km, the journey lasting more than five hours. Lavrov’s plane flew over Turkey and Greece on the way to North Macedonia.
According to media reports, ongoing negotiations over the Israel-Hamas agreement on a four-day humanitarian pause and the freeing of hostages held by the Palestinian armed group since its 7 October terror attacks indicated that the deal’s entry into force was believed to be unlikely before Friday.
Amid rising hunger, UN World Food Programme (WFP) chief Cindy McCain said that the agency was “rapidly mobilizing to scale up assistance inside Gaza” once safe access is granted. Her comments followed UN emergency relief chief Martin Griffiths’ statement on the Organisation’s readiness to increase the volume of aid brought into the enclave and distributed across the Strip.
Ms. McCain said that WFP trucks are “waiting at the Rafah crossing, loaded with food slated for families in shelters and homes across Gaza, and wheat flour for bakeries to resume operations”.
Latest UN humanitarian reports indicated that wheat flour is no longer available in markets in the north of Gaza and that no bakeries are functioning owing to a lack of fuel, water, flour and structural damage.
Since limited aid deliveries through the Rafah crossing with Egypt resumed on 21 October, just over 73 truckloads of WFP food aid have made it into Gaza, falling far short of needs.
Ms. McCain expressed hope that more fuel will be let into the enclave “so that our trucks can carry in much-needed supplies and that once again bread will be available as a lifeline to hundreds of thousands of people every day”.
Some 75,000 litres of fuel entered Gaza from Egypt on Wednesday following an Israeli decision last week to allow the “daily entry of small amounts of fuel for essential humanitarian operations”, according to UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA.
The fuel is being distributed by the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, to support food distribution and the operation of generators at hospitals, water and sanitation facilities, shelters, and other critical services in the south of the Strip, as access to the north has been cut off by Israeli military operations.
OCHA head and UN emergency relief chief Martin Griffiths said last week that some 200,000 litres of fuel per day were needed.
Hospital evacuation update
A new evacuation of 190 wounded and sick people, their companions and medical workers from Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City was completed on Wednesday.
The development was announced by UN health agency WHO as a joint effort between UN agencies and humanitarian partners led by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
The evacuees were transported in an ambulance convoy to the south.
OCHA quoted PRCS reports stating that the evacuation “lasted for almost 20 hours as the convoy was obstructed and subjected to inspection while passing through the checkpoint that separates northern and southern Gaza” and deploring the fact that the lives of patients had been endangered.
Evacuated dialysis patients were transferred to Abu Youssef An Najjar Hospital in Rafah, Gaza, while other patients were transported to the Strip’s European hospital in Khan Younis. An estimated 250 patients and staff are believed to be at Al-Shifa, which is no longer operational, OCHA said.
Meanwhile, Wednesday saw the lowest number yet of displaced people leaving northern Gaza to cross to the south using the “corridor” opened by the Israeli Defense Forces along the Strip’s main traffic artery, Salah Ad Deen Road.
According to OCHA monitoring only some 250 people moved south. The UN Office said that the decline is “largely attributed to the expectations generated by the humanitarian pause” which is yet to be implemented.
To date, over 1.7 million people in Gaza are internally displaced.
Life inside Gaza
Meanwhile, an UNRWA staff member who fled Gaza this week spoke to UN News about living and working during the conflict.
Maha Hijazi, UNRWA’s Warehousing and Distribution Officer, was responsible for securing food for hundreds of thousands of displaced people (IDPs) now sheltering in its facilities.
“Our plan…was to have 150,000 Palestinians IDPs inside UNRWA shelters which are now reaching about one million,” she said.
The UN and partners continue to appeal for more aid to be allowed into the Gaza Strip, which continues to face dire shortages of food, water, fuel, medicines and other desperately needed items.
Full shelters, empty markets
Most UNRWA staff are themselves Palestine refugees and some have also sought refuge in its shelters while continuing their lifesaving work. More than 100 of their colleagues have been killed to date.
Although Ms. Hijazi’s family were not staying in one of the shelters, she said her parents barely found food in the markets.
“We went to the markets, but it’s empty. We found nothing to purchase. We have money, but we have nothing to purchase,” she said.
A mother’s decision
On Monday, Ms. Hijazi and her family fled Gaza for Egypt. She was angry and reluctant to leave her homeland, apartment and job.
“Neither my kids, nor any of our Palestinian kids feel safe, feel secure, and feel protected. The whole night and day they hear bombing everywhere,” she said.
Ms. Hijazi recalled that before going to bed, her children would ask her if they were going to die like their neighbours and relatives.
“I had to hug them and promise them that if we die, we will die altogether, so we won’t feel anything. And if you hear the bombing, then you are safe. The rocket that will kill you, you will not hear its sound,” she said.
Despite the pain of leaving of Gaza for Egypt, Ms. Hijazi felt this was the best decision for her children, who are dual nationals.
“I need to get this chance for them to sleep and to feel that they are similar to other kids,” she said.
“I can tell you that the whole trip I was crying with my kids because we don’t want to leave our land, we don’t want to leave Gaza. But we are forced to do that seeking safety and protection.”
As UNRWA’s Warehousing and Distribution Officer, Maha Hijazi was responsible for securing food for hundreds of thousands of displaced people who have sought refuge in its shelters.
Mission impossible
“UNRWA teams in Gaza are working hard to provide all the basic needs for those people, and number one is security and safety,” she said.
“We are doing our best despite all the challenges, despite the limited resources, despite that there is no fuel. But we are on the ground doing an impossible mission to secure what we can secure for our people.”
Ms. Hijazi is also a mother and this week her family fled to Egypt because her children will be safe there.
She spoke to UN News about the painful decision to leave Gaza, her home and her job.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Maha Hijazi: Neither my kids nor any of our Palestinian kids feel safe, feel secure, and feel protected. The whole night and day they hear bombing everywhere and they have only one question: What did we do wrong to deserve this life, and are we going to die today or tonight?
Every day they would ask me before we went to bed, ‘Mama, will we die tonight, similar to our neighbours, similar to our relatives?’ So I had to hug them and promise them that if we die, we will die together, so we won’t feel anything. And if you hear the bombing, then you are safe. The rocket that will kill you, you will not hear its sound.
UN News: You fled Gaza on Monday for Egypt. Tell us about the journey, especially as humanitarians have said that nowhere is safe in Gaza.
Maha Hijazi: I feel angry that I have to leave my homeland – to leave my home, my apartment, and also to leave my daily work supporting the refugees – but what else could I do for my children because they have dual nationality. I need to get this chance for them to sleep and to feel that they are similar to other kids. So, I don’t want to miss this opportunity despite all the pain inside.
I can tell you that the whole trip I was crying with my kids because we don’t want to leave our land, we don’t want to leave Gaza. But we were forced to do that seeking safety and protection.
I actually lived in the middle of Gaza, in Deir al Balah, and the crossing is at Rafah in the south. Many people who were just evacuated were walking on Salahadin Street and they would have no place to go. We saw them and we witnessed the bombing during our trip until we reached the Rafah crossing which, by the way, not all Palestinian people are allowed to go through. You have to have another nationality or another passport. So, it was tough, and I will not forget this day.
UN News: What was your main task at UNRWA?
Maha Hijazi: My main task during the emergency, or during this war, was food focal point at the central operation room. So, I was responsible for securing the food items needed for the displaced people (IDPs) inside UNRWA shelters. Our plan was to have 150,000 Palestinians IDPs inside UNRWA shelters which are now reaching about one million. Their needs are very high and there is a lack of resources, so that’s why we’re working hard just to secure at least the minimum for them to survive.
UN News: How is UNRWA functioning, and where is it able to help Gazans?
Maha Hijazi: People are seeking UNRWA schools. They are seeking protection under the UN flag, and then we are responsible to provide them food and also non-food items, blankets, mattresses, in addition to drinking water and running water.
UNRWA teams in Gaza are working hard to provide all the basic needs for those people, and number one is security and safety. Despite that, there is no safe place in Gaza, which is very true and very correct. But we are doing our best, despite all the challenges, despite the limited resources, despite that there is no fuel. But we are on the ground doing an impossible mission to secure what we can secure for our people.
UN News: Was UNRWA getting fuel when you were there? How about food and water? Are you getting the supplies you need?
Maha Hijazi: For the first days of escalation, we stopped receiving fuel. And after that we received like drops of fuel just to operate our vehicles. Recently, maybe four or five days ago, we were allowed to receive fuel, but it was a very minor quantity. I recall the last days that I was in Gaza we had the aid trucks at the Rafah crossing, but no fuel on the trucks, so the trucks were stuck for two days waiting to be refueled. The generators to provide electricity, also pumping water, sewage plants, everything needs fuel, in addition to the bakeries.
With regard to food and water, it’s very, very minor quantities and not sufficient for our needs as the number of IDPs is dramatically increasing. But it’s not just people inside UNRWA shelters. There are hundreds of thousands of people outside UNRWA shelters. They are hungry and they don’t get food, even in local markets. My family was not in an UNRWA shelter, but I remember that my parents did not get sufficient quantities of food from the market. We witnessed that. We went to the markets, but they are empty. We found nothing to purchase. We have money, but we have nothing to purchase.
Thousands celebrate 4 years of IAS’s monumental global humanitarian work using L. Ron Hubbard’s vision.
BRUSSELS, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, November 29, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — Thousands of Scientologists recently gathered at the historic Saint Hill estate in West Sussex, England to commemorate four years of monumental humanitarian accomplishment by the International Association of Scientologists (IAS). Saint Hill is the home of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Scientology religion. Over a weekend of festivities, attendees celebrated recent IAS-sponsored initiatives and their unprecedented worldwide impact.
The event opened on Friday evening with an extensive presentation by Mr. David Miscavige, the ecclesiastical leader of Scientologists. He recalled the 1984 founding of the IAS and its solemn pledge “to unite, advance, support and protect the Scientology religion and Scientologists in all parts of the world.” This inaugurated an era of global humanitarian work guided by L. Ron Hubbard’s vision for “a civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war.”
Mr. Miscavige described the IAS’s herculean efforts over the past four years to provide hope and help around the world, especially throughout the trials of the global pandemic. When countries everywhere shut down, a Volunteer Minister force mobilized online and in the streets, delivering an astonishing 9 million hours of one-on-one assistance between 2020 and 2023. Meeting skyrocketing demand, “the Church distributed 45 million informational booklets containing solutions for life’s difficulties. New partnerships were formed with 29,000 governmental, private and non-profit organizations worldwide. Viewership of the Scientology Network grew by over 20 million, as people everywhere sought answers”, said Scientology’s EU and UN representative Ivan Arjona.
Against all odds, the religion also attained landmark recognitions even amidst global lockdowns and restrictions. These included full tax-exempt status from Panama in 2022, public benefit status from the Netherlands in 2022, and official recognition as a formal religion from Greece in 2023.
In addition, decades of relentless campaigning by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) culminated when the United Nations hosted its first-ever Consultation on Human Rights in Mental Health. At this summit in Geneva, Switzerland, CCHR presented expert testimony against systemic psychiatric abuse. The resulting UN guidelines incorporated CCHR’s input, definitively banning involuntary treatment and forced institutionalization in mental health care.
Mr. Miscavige also showcased the expanding reach of IAS-sponsored humanitarian initiatives like Youth for Human Rights, The Way to Happiness, and the Foundation for a Drug-Free World. The Truth About Drugs campaign appointed NFL legend Marshall Faulk as its national spokesperson. By taking his message of prevention directly to youth across America, Mr. Faulk spread drug education to millions. Altogether, “over 300 million individuals have now been uplifted through such IAS programs,” said Arjona.
When catastrophic disasters struck everywhere from Kashmir to Florida over the last four years, Scientology Volunteer Ministers mobilized to provide hands-on relief at 45 crisis sites across 20 different countries. Their efforts will be immortalized in an original documentary called “Operation: Do Something About It.” The film chronicles the global pandemic response and will premiere this December on the Scientology Network.
During the event, Mr. Miscavige also presented IAS Freedom Medals to exemplary humanitarians. These included mental health reformer Yuzuru Ogura of Tokyo, “whose exposés of psychiatric malpractice helped reduce Japan’s suicide rate by 34%” says the official press release from Scientology.org; educators Salomon and Lucy Dabbah of Mexico City, whose work “has provided drug education to 2.1 million young students across Mexico” said Arjona; and religious freedom advocate Giselle Lima of Panama City, whose efforts secured tax exemptions and legal status for Scientology in Panama while working with law enforcement to spread good morals in Panama.
“IAS members reconvened Saturday 4th of November in the morning to strategize an ambitious slate of new awareness campaigns on human rights, drug prevention, moral education, and disaster response for the upcoming year” explained Arjona to different European leaders. That evening, long-standing supporters of the IAS were honoured at the annual Patrons Ball. “Since the last gathering in 2019, nearly 5,000 new patrons joined the IAS to back its humanitarian mission” continues Arjona. Finally, Sunday evening’s Saint Hill Charity Concert raised funds for local charities across East Grinstead and the surrounding communities.
Above all, the weekend “commemorated an era of unprecedented humanitarian accomplishment made possible by the stalwart supporters of the IAS. It also capped off four historic years of establishing new Ideal Churches of Scientology around the world. Demonstrating undiminished momentum, Mr. Miscavige announced 10 new facilities set to open over the next year in Europe, Africa, and across North America” highlights Ivan Arjona while in closing said that “behind such boundless growth lies L. Ron Hubbard’s vision for Scientology to create “a civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war” – a vision now crossing new frontiers worldwide thanks to the IAS”.
With the pause in fighting in Gaza, UN humanitarians warned that aid deliveries needed to multiply immediately to save the lives of the injured and stem the risk of a deadly disease outbreak that has left doctors “terrified”.
Priorities include transporting fuel to the north of the war-torn enclave, so that it can be used to power hospitals, provide clean water and maintain other vital civilian infrastructure.
Such services have been massively impacted by weeks of Israeli bombardment in response to Hamas’s 7 October massacres in southern Israel that left some 1,200 dead and around 240 taken hostage.
Gazan health authorities have reported that more than 15,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in attacks to date.
“I asked the auntie, why does Omar keep closing his eyes? And she said…he can't bear the thought that he's lost them in this world, but also might lose them in his imagination” –@1james_elder on meeting a 7-year old boy who lost his parents in #Gaza🎙️⤵️https://t.co/hFT8BbDLjmpic.twitter.com/WraRfehOP3
In an update from southern Gaza, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder said that a doctor from Al-Shifa hospital in the north had told him that the threats to children were “very much from the air and now very much on the ground”, in the form of diarrhoea and respiratory infections.
“He was terrified as a medical professional in terms of the disease outbreak that is that is lurking here and how that will devastate children whose immune systems and lack of food…is making them perilously weak,” Mr. Elder added.
As negotiations continue for the release of more hostages in return for a prolongation of the pause in fighting, the UNICEF spoke of his dismay at seeing so many youngsters fighting for their lives, “with horrendous wounds of war, (lying) in carparks on makeshift mattresses, in gardens everywhere, doctors having to make horrendous decisions on who they prioritize”.
Deadly delays
Another boy whose leg had been blown off in the violence had spent “three or four days” trying to reach the south, delayed by checkpoints, Mr. Elder continued. “The smell (of decomposition) was clear…and that boy had shrapnel all over. Potentially, he was blind and had burns to 50 per cent of his body.”
Echoing deep concerns over the scale of needs in Gaza, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) noted that an assessment carried out in the north at the start of the pause in fighting on 24 November had shown that “everybody everywhere has dire health needs”.
WHO – Surgeons operate on a patient at Al-Quds hospital in Gaza. (file)
Starvation risk
Speaking in Geneva, WHO spokesperson Dr. Margaret Harris said that this was “because they are starving, because they lack clean water and they’re crowded together…. basically, if you’re sick, if your child has diarrhoea, if you’ve got a respiratory infection, you’re not going to get any (help).”
In its latest update, UN aid coordination office OCHA said that deliveries of relief supplies have been speeded up south of Wadi Gaza, where the bulk of some estimated 1.7 million internally displaced persons have sought shelter. “Key service providers, including hospitals, water and sanitation facilities and shelters, have continued receiving fuel on a daily basis to operate generators, OCHA reported.
‘What we see is catastrophic’: WFP
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has delivered desperately needed food to more than 120,000 people in Gaza during the initial pause in fighting but says supplies are “woefully inadequate to address the level of hunger seen by staff in the UN shelters and communities.”
WFP’s Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe Region, Corinne Fleischer, said that “what we see is catastrophic.
“There’s a risk of famine and starvation on our watch and to prevent it, we need to be able to bring in food at scale and distribute it safely,” said “Six days is simply not enough to provide all the assistance needed. The people of Gaza have to eat every day, not just for six days.”
“Our team recounted what they saw: hunger, desperation, and destruction. People who have not received any relief in weeks. The team could see the suffering in their eyes,” said Samer Abdeljaber, WFP Palestine Representative and Country Director. “This pause offered a window of relief that we hope paves the way for longer-term calm. Safe and unimpeded humanitarian access cannot stop now.”
On Tuesday, the Culture Committee called for EU rules to ensure a fair and sustainable environment for music streaming and to promote cultural diversity.
In a resolution adopted by 23 votes to 3 and 1 abstentions, MEPs in the Culture and Education Committee urge for imbalances in the sector to be addressed, as they currently leave a majority of authors receiving very low revenues. The “pre-digital royalty rates” currently applied must be revised, they say, condemning the payola schemes that force authors to accept lower or no revenues in exchange for greater visibility.
EU legislation to support authors
Even though streaming platforms dominate the music market and have been growing steadily for the last eight years, there are no EU rules regulating the sector, MEPs stress. The situation is aggravated by the decline in the overall value of music products, with revenues concentrated in the hands of major labels and the most popular artists, the rise of AI-generated content and, according to studies, streaming fraud (i.e. bots manipulating streaming figures), and manipulation and illegal use of music content by platforms.
MEPs call for an EU bill to oblige platforms to make their algorithms and recommendation tools transparent and to guarantee that European works are visible and accessible. It should also include a diversity indicator to assess the array of genres and languages available and the presence of independent authors.
Rules should oblige streaming platforms to identify right-holders via the correct allocation of metadata to help their works to be discovered, as well as to prevent e.g. streaming frauds used to reduce costs and lower value. A label should inform the audiences about purely AI-generated works, they add.
Finally, MEPs ask the EU to invest more in European music, including local and niche artists or artists from vulnerable communities to offer a more diverse repertoire, as well as to support authors in the digital transformation of their business models.
Quote
“The success story of music streaming services has its own paradoxes. The majority of authors and performers, even those with hundreds of thousands of reproductions each year, do not receive remuneration that allows them to afford a decent living. It is of paramount importance to recognise the role authors play in the music sector, review the revenue distribution model that streaming services use and explore proportionate and efficient solutions, to promote cultural diversity”, said lead MEP Ibán García Del Blanco (S&D, ES).
Next steps
The Plenary vote on the non-legislative resolution is scheduled for the January 2024 Strasbourg session.
Background
Digital music platforms and music sharing services currently provide access to up to 100 million tracks either for free or for a comparatively low monthly subscription fee. Streaming represents 67% of the music sector’s global revenue, with an annual revenue of 22.6 billion USD.
Liège, shopping destination: trendy boutiques and traditional markets
Liège, the charming Belgian city located in the Walloon region, is much more than just a tourist destination. Known for its rich cultural and historical heritage, Liège is also an attractive city for shopaholics. With its trendy boutiques and traditional markets, the city offers a unique shopping experience that will delight lovers of fashion, design and local products.
Shopping enthusiasts will be enchanted by the trendy district of Liège, located around rue Neuve and rue Saint-Gilles. These lively streets are full of designer boutiques, trendy clothing stores and original concept stores. Fashion enthusiasts will find what they are looking for in the boutiques of renowned Belgian brands, such as Maison Martin Margiela, Dries Van Noten and Raf Simons. Design lovers will be delighted by the concept stores, such as Hunting and Collecting or La Manufacture, which offer a cutting-edge selection of clothing, accessories and designer objects.
But Liège is not limited to trendy boutiques. The city is also full of traditional markets where you can discover local products and crafts from the region. The Market Square market, which takes place every Sunday morning, is a must for lovers of fresh produce. There you will find seasonal fruits and vegetables, cheese, cold meats, bread and many other local delights. It’s the ideal place to stock up on local products and meet passionate producers in the region.
Another market not to be missed is the Batte market, which is held every Sunday morning along the banks of the Meuse. This market is one of the largest markets in Europe and attracts thousands of visitors every week looking for bargains and a variety of products. You’ll find everything from clothes and jewelry to decorative items, books and even pets. It is a true paradise for bargain hunters and flea market enthusiasts.
In addition to these traditional markets, Liège also offers numerous shopping events throughout the year. The Christmas market, held every year during the holiday season, is one of the most popular in Belgium. The city streets are transformed into a real Christmas village, with wooden chalets offering handcrafted gifts, culinary specialties and attractions for young and old. This is the perfect opportunity to do your Christmas shopping while enjoying the festive atmosphere of the city.
Finally, for lovers of antiques and vintage objects, Liège is full of specialized shops. The Saint-Pholien district, located a few steps from the city center, is known for its numerous antique and flea market shops. There you will find antique furniture, vintage decorative objects, rare books and many other hidden treasures. It’s the ideal place to find unique pieces and add a touch of originality to your interior.
In conclusion, Liège is an essential shopping destination in Belgium. With its trendy boutiques, traditional markets and shopping events, the city offers a unique experience for lovers of fashion, design and local products. Whether you are looking for trendy clothing, fresh products or vintage objects, Liège will seduce you with its varied offering and its friendliness. So, don’t hesitate any longer and set off to discover this dynamic city full of surprises.
In France, the Senate is working on a bill to “reinforce the fight against cultic deviances”, But its content seems to pose serious problems for experts in freedom of religion or belief and scholars of religion.
On November 15, the Council of Minister of the French Republic sent a draft law to the Senate aimed at “reinforcing the fight against cultic deviances”. The bill will be debated and voted upon at the French Senate on December 19 and then sent to the National Assembly for review before final vote.
Of course, “fighting against cultic deviances” would seem to be very legitimate, if anyone could come with a legal and accurate definition of “cultic deviance” or even “cult”. However, besides the title of the bill, it’s its content that appears to be highly problematic in the eyes of FoRB (freedom of religion or belief) experts and religious scholars.
Its article 1 aims to create a new crime defined as “to place or maintain a person in a state of psychological or physical subjection resulting from the direct exercise of serious or repeated pressure or techniques likely to impair their judgement and having the effect of causing serious impairment of their physical or mental health or leading this person to an act or abstention which is seriously prejudicial to them”. Again, with a rapid reading, who would be against punishing such bad behaviour? But the devil is in the detail.
The return of the “mind control” theories
“Psychological subjection” is a synonym of what is usually called “mental manipulation”, “mind control”, or even “brainwashing”. That is clear when you read the “study of impact” of the French government, which tries to justify the need of such a new legislation with great difficulty. These vague concepts, when applied to criminal law and religious movements, have been finally debunked as pseudo-scientific in most of the countries where they had been used, with the exception of some totalitarian countries like Russia and China. In the US, The 1950’s concept of “mind control” that was used by the CIA to try to explain why some of their soldiers developed sympathy for their communist enemies, started to be applied by some psychiatrists to new religious movements in the 80s. A task force of psychiatrists was created to work on “Deceptive and Indirect Methods of Persuasion and Control” by minority religions and they rendered a “report” to the American Psychological Association in 1987. The official answer from the Ethical board of the American Psychological Association was devastating. On may 1987, they rejected the authors notion of “coercive persuasion”, declaring that “in general, the report lacks the scientific rigor and evenhanded critical approach needed for APA imprimatur”, and adding that the authors of the report should never publicize their report without indicating that it was “unacceptable to the board”.
The APA answer to mind control theories
Just after this, the American Psychological Association and the American Sociological Association submitted an amicus curiae briefs to the US Supreme Court in which they argued that cultic brainwashing theory is not generally accepted as having scientific merit. This brief argues that cultic brainwashing theory does not provide a scientifically acceptable method for determining when social influence overwhelms free will and when it does not. Consequently, US courts have repeatedly found that the weight of the scientific evidence has established that the anti-cult brainwashing theory is not accepted by the relevant scientific community.
But France (or at least the French civil servants who drafted the law, but also the government which endorsed it) do not really care about scientific accuracy.
Italy and the “Plagio” law
A law similar to the one proposed in the French bill actually existed in Italy from 1930 to 1981. It was a fascist law called “plagio” (which means “mind control”), that entered the following provision in the Criminal Code: “Whoever submits a person to his own power, in order to reduce her to a state of subjection, is punished with imprisonment for five to fifteen years”. Indeed, that’s the very same concept than the one contained in article 1 of the French bill.
The Plagio law became famous when it was used against a well-known Marxist gay philosopher, Aldo Braibanti who had taken into his home two young men to work as his secretaries. According to the prosecution, he brought them to a state of psychological subjugation with the aim of making them his lovers. In 1968, Braibanti was found guilty of “plagio” by the Rome Court of Assizes, and sentenced to 9 years of prison. On final appeal, the Supreme Court (going even beyond the decisions of the lower courts) described Braibanti’s “plagio” as a “situation in which the psyche of the coerced person was emptied. This was possible even without resorting to physical violence or the administration of pathogenic drugs, through the combined effect of various means, each of which alone might not have been effective, while they became effective when combined together.” Following this conviction, intellectual like Alberto Moravia and Umberto Eco, and a great deal of leading attorneys and psychiatrists, petitioned for the abolition of the statute on “plagio.”
Whilst the conviction was never overturned, it created debates in Italy for years. The criticism of the law was of two kinds. One was from a scientific point of view: most of the Italian psychiatrists believed that “plagio” in the sense of “psychological subjection”, did not exist, and others were arguing that in any case, it was too vague and undetermined to be used in criminal law. The second kind of criticism was political, as critics argued that the “plagio” was allowing ideological discrimination, like in the case of Braibanti who was convicted out of a patent homophobic point of view, because he was promoting an “immoral lifestyle”.
Ten years after, in 1978, the law was then applied to pursue a Catholic priest, Father Emilio Grasso, accused of having practiced “mind control” on his followers. Emilio Grasso, a leader of a Charismatic Catholic community in Italy, was accused of having created psychological subjection on his followers to have them work as full-time missionaries or volunteers for charitable activities in Italy and abroad. In Rome, the court in charge of assessing the case raised the question of the constitutionality of the crime of “plagio”, and sent the case to the Italian Constitutional Court.
On 8 June 1981, Constitutional Court declared the crime of plagio unconstitutional. According to the Court’s decision, Based on the scientific literature on the subject, whether from “psychiatry, psychology or psychoanalysis,” influence or “psychological subjection” are a “normal” part of relationships between humans: “typical situations of psychological dependency can reach degrees of intensity even for long periods, such as a love relationship, and the relationships between priest and believer, teacher and pupil, physician and patient (…). But practically speaking it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish, in situations such as these, psychological persuasion from psychological subjugation, and to differentiate between them for legal purposes. No firm criteria exist for separating and defining each activity, tracing a precise boundary between the two.” The Court added that the crime of plagio was “a bomb about to explode in our legal system, since it can be applied to any situation that implies the psychological dependence of a human being on another.”
That was the end of psychological subjection in Italy, but apparently, that’s not sufficient to prevent the French government from coming back with the very same fascist concept today.
Who could be touched?
As stated by the Italian Constitutional Court, such a concept “can be applied to any situation that implies the psychological dependence of a human being on another”. And that’s definitely the case for any religious or spiritual group of any denomination, moreover if there is social or governmental hostility against them. The assessment of the impairing effect of such a “psychological subjection” will have to be entrusted to expert psychiatrists, who will be asked to give an opinion on the characterization of a concept that has no established scientific basis.
Any priest could be accused of maintaining the faithful in a state of “psychological subjection”, as could be a yoga teacher or a rabbi. As told us a French lawyer about the bill: “It is easy to characterize serious or repeated pressure: repeated orders given by an employer, a sports trainer, or even a superior in the army; an injunction to pray or to confess, can easily be qualified as such. Techniques for altering judgment are in everyday use in human society: seduction, rhetoric and marketing are all techniques for altering judgment. Could Schopenhauer have published The Art of Always Being Right under the influence of this Project, without being accused of complicity in the crime in question? Serious impairment of physical or mental health is also easier to characterize than it might at first appear. In the run-up to the Olympic Games, for example, a top-level athlete under repeated pressure could suffer a deterioration in his or her physical health, for example in the event of injury. A seriously prejudicial act or abstention covers a wide range of behaviors. An army soldier, under repeated pressure, will be driven to actions that could be seriously prejudicial, even in a military training context.”
Of course, a conviction based on such a vague legal concept could lead to a final conviction of France by the European Court of Human Rights. As indeed, in its decision Jehovah’s Witnesses of Moscow and Others v. Russia n°302, the Court already tackled the subject of “mind control”: “There is no generally accepted and scientific definition of what constitutes ‘mind control'”. But even if that was the case, how many persons will be wrongly convicted to jail terms before the first decision from the ECHR will come?
The provocation to abandon medical treatment
The draft law contains other controversial provisions. One of them is in its article 4, which aims to criminalize “Provocation to abandon or refrain from following a therapeutic or prophylactic medical, when such abandonment or abstention is presented as beneficial to the health of the persons concerned, whereas, given the state of medical knowledge, it is clearly likely to have serious consequences for their physical or mental health, given the pathology with which they are afflicted.”
In the post-pandemic context, everyone is of course thinking about people advocating for not taking vaccines and the challenge it represented for the governments pushing for vaccination. But as the law would apply to anyone “provocating” generally on social medias or in print medias, the danger of such a provision is more broadly concerning. In fact, the French Council of State (Conseil d’Etat) rendered an opinion on this provision on November 9:
“The Conseil d’Etat points out that when the incriminated facts result from general and impersonal discourse, for example on a blog or social network, while the objective of protecting health, derived from the eleventh paragraph of the Preamble to the 1946 Constitution, may justify limitations on freedom of expression a balance must be struck between these constitutional rights, so as not to jeopardize the freedom of scientific debate and the role of whistle-blowers by criminalizing challenges to current therapeutic practices.”
Finally, the French Council of State advised to withdraw the provision from the bill. But the French government could not care less.
Anti-cult associations given the thumbs-up
The draft law, which in fact appears to be the result of an important lobbying of French anti-cults associations belonging to FECRIS (European Federation of the Centers of Research and Information on Sects and Cults), did not leave them without compensation. With article 3 of the law, anti-cult associations will be allowed to be legitimate plaintiffs (civil parties) and bring civil actions in cases involving “cultic deviances”, even if they have not personally suffered any damage. They will only need an “agreement” from the Ministry of Justice.
Actually, the study of impact attached to the bill, names the associations that are supposed to receive this agreement. They are all known to be exclusively funded by the French State (which makes them “Gongos”, a coined term to mock pretended non-governmental organizations which in fact are “governmental-non-governmental organizations), and to target almost exclusively religious minorities. With that article, no doubt that they will saturate the judicial services with untimely criminal complaints against movements they disapprove of, in this case religious minorities. That, of course, will jeopardize the right to a fair trial for religious minorities in France.
It’s also interesting to note that several of these associations belong to FECRIS, a Federation that The European Times has exposed as being behind Russian propaganda against Ukraine, accusing “cults” to be behind the “Nazi cannibalistic” regime of President Zelensky. You can see FECRIS coverage here.
Will the law on cultic deviances be passed?
Unfortunately, France has a long history of messing up with freedom of religion or belief. While its Constitution calls for respect of all religions and respect of freedom of conscience and religion, it’s the country where religious symbols are forbidden in school, where lawyers are also forbidden to wear any religious symbols when entering courts, where many religious minorities have been discriminated as “cults” for decades, and so on.
So it’s unlikely that French MPs, who are usually not interested in questions of freedom of religion or belief, understand the danger that such a law would represent for believers, and even for non-believers. But who knows? Miracles happen, even in the country of Voltaire. Hopefully.
The Environment and Civil Liberties committees adopted their position on creating a European Health Data Space to boost personal health data portability and more secure sharing.
The creation of a European Health Data Space (EHDS), empowering citizens to control their personal healthcare data and facilitate secure sharing for research and altruistic (i.e. not-for-profit) purposes, took a step forward with the adoption of a draft Parliament position by the committees on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, and on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. MEPs adopted the report on Tuesday with 95 votes in favour, 18 against, and 10 abstentions.
Better healthcare with portability rights
The law would give patients the right to access their personal health data across the EU’s different healthcare systems (so-called primary use), and allow health professionals to access data on their patients. Access would include patient summaries, electronic prescriptions, medical imagery and laboratory results.
Each country would establish national health data access services based on the MyHealth@EU platform. The law would also set out rules on the quality and security of data for providers of Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems in the EU, to be monitored by national market surveillance authorities.
Data-sharing for the common good with safeguards
The EHDS would make possible the sharing of aggregated health data, including on pathogens, health claims and reimbursements, genetic data and public health registry information, for reasons of health-related public interest, including research, innovation, policy-making, education, patient safety or regulatory purposes (so-called secondary use).
At the same time, the rules would ban certain uses, for example advertising, decisions to exclude people from benefits or types of insurance, or sharing to third parties without permission. Requests to access secondary data would under these rules be handled by national bodies, which would ensure data is only provided in an anonymised or, if necessary, pseudonymised format.
In their draft position, MEPs want to make explicit permission by patients mandatory for the secondary use of certain sensitive health data, and provide for an opt-out mechanism for other data. They also want to give citizens the right to challenge a decision of a health data access body, and allow non-profit organisations to lodge complaints on their behalf. The adopted position would also expand the list of cases where a secondary use would be banned, for example in the labour market or for financial services. It would ensure that all EU countries receive sufficient funding to provide protections for the secondary use of data, and protect data falling under intellectual property rights or constituting trade secrets.
Quotes
Annalisa Tardino (ID, Italy), Civil Liberties Committee co-rapporteur, said: “This is a very important and technical proposal, with huge impact on, and potential for, our citizens and patients. Our text managed to find the right balance between a patient’s right to privacy and the enormous potential of digital health data, which is meant to improve healthcare quality and produce healthcare innovation.”
Tomislav Sokol (EPP, Croatia), Environment Committee co-rapporteur, said: “The European Health Data Space represents one of the central building blocks of the European Health Union and a milestone in the EU’s digital transformation. It is one of the few pieces of EU legislation where we create something completely new at the European level. The EHDS will empower citizens by enhancing healthcare at a national and cross-border level, and will facilitate the responsible sharing of health data – boosting research and innovation in the EU.”
Next steps
The draft position will now be voted on by the full house of the European Parliament in December.
Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection has approved the Parliament’s draft negotiating position on a new regulation improving the road safety of mobile working equipment.
Cars, lorries and buses are not the only machines that circulate on public roads. Occasionally, working equipment such as construction or agricultural machines also have to use our roads to get from one worksite to another. This, however, can cause dangerous traffic situations because work machinery may not be adequately lit in the dark or their driver’s range of vision can be limited, for example.
Until now it was up to the member states to set road safety norms for such machines. But in March 2023, European Commission proposed new rules to address the road safety risks and market fragmentation at the EU level. And, today the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection adopted Parliament’s draft negotiating mandate on this proposal.
The Commission wants to establish a number of road safety requirements that cover for example brakes, steering, field of vision, lighting, dimensions and many other elements. Manufacturers would have to comply with these requirements and submit their machines for road safety testing and compliance checks before putting them on the EU market. If a machine passes the tests, it will be issued a certificate that allows the same type of machinery to be sold in all the EU. Thereafter, the manufacturer’s production processes would be regularly checked to make sure new machines remain compliant with the rules.
Scope
According to the initial proposal the regulation would cover working equipment with up to three seats (including the driver’s) and a maximum design speed of under 40km/h. Tractors, quadricycles, trailers or machinery primarily intended for the transport of persons or animals would not be covered. Machinery that would circulate only in the territory of one member state or that is produced only in small series would also be excluded from the scope.
MEPs have further specified that the regulation should cover only new machinery made by an EU manufacturer or new or second-hand machinery imported from a third country. Additionally, MEPs want to include towed equipment and leave out field-testing prototypes.
Information exchange and transition period
The proposal foresees a cooperation and information exchange mechanisms for the member states so that all countries would be immediately notified of any problems with a specific piece of equipment and of any new machinery allowed to circulate on European public roads.
Importantly, the regulation would also set a transition period of 8 years during which the manufacturers would be able to choose whether they want to apply for the EU certificate or keep complying with relevant national laws only.
Quote
After the vote, Parliament’s rapporteur for the file, Tom Vandenkendelaere (EPP, BE), said: “Today, we took the first step towards completing the European single market for non-road mobile machinery. This proposal makes it possible for producers to have machines such as construction machines, harvesters and city mowers type-approved in one Member State gaining access to the whole Single Market. Compared to the 27 separate approval regimes today, we deliver towards EU manufacturers by decreasing the administration and all related costs. The result is this excellent balance between streamlining procedures and upholding the strongest safety requirements for these machines across the Union.“
Next steps
The report was adopted at the Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee with 38 votes for, 2 votes against and 0 abstentions. The committee also agreed to start interinstitutional negotiations based on this report (37 votes for, 0 against and 2 abstentions). This decision will now have to be announced at the next plenary and if it is not challenged, the Parliament will be ready to start negotiations with the Council on the final form and wording of the regulation.
