The EEA has shortlisted 50 finalists in this year’s competition which asked avid photographers to submit their best nature photos in any of the four competition categories — air, water, land and sound.
This year’s contest received the highest number of photo submissions ever. Water was the biggest category followed by land.
The winner of each category will receive a cash prize of €1,000. Additional prizes are awarded to the best youth entry as well as the public’s favourite photo.Citizens across Europe now have the opportunity to choose their favourite photo. You can vote for as many photos as you want but each person is only allowed to vote once.
The Well with Nature photo competition highlights our connection to nature, how much we care for it and how it can keep us emotionally and physically healthy. It aims to raise awareness about the benefits we can all receive by taking action towards zero pollution.
On Friday 21 October 2022, the first of a number of Diwali events started to take place and in Luxembourg took place one that included the presence of the President (Dr. Lakshmi Vyas) and VicePresident (Krishna Kripa Dasa) of the Hindu Forum Europe. The event, organized by the Hindu Forum Luxembourg had different personalities and guests attending the celebration, including the Deputy Chief of Mission for India to the European Union, Mr Debasish Prusty.
Diwali, the Festival of lights in Hinduism, according to the Religious Festivities Calendar of the Spanish government Foundation Pluralism and Coexistence “Is the most widely celebrated and accepted by all orientations both in India and outside Asia. It is celebrated for five days between mid-October and mid-November of the common calendar. It worships Lakshmi, goddess of fortune, and also commemorates the victorious return of the god Rama after his exile. It is a festival characterised by merriment, gifts, new clothes, and celebrations in houses that are carefully cleaned and lights are lit. In the temples, it is the main celebration where they are decorated and illuminated to signify the triumph of light over darkness.” You can find more about it here.
The opening ceremony of the event was performed by Krishna Kripa Dasa (aka Juan Carlos Ramchandani), who while being the Vice President of the Hindu Forum Europe, is also the President of the Spanish Federation of Hinduism, which is working to unite the Hindu community in Spain to guarantee for all Hindus the rights that other younger religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam and even Buddhism already have in Spain.
The ceremony performed by Krishna Kripa Dasa at the start of the evening, consisted in the offering of five elements (fire, water, wind, earth and sky), offering incense and other items to the pooja, blowing on the conch and ringing a bell.
Ambi Venkataraman, President of the Hindu Forum Luxembourg (and one of the 13 original founders of the Indian Association Luxembourg), and Lakshmi Vyas, President of the Hindu Forum Europe, welcomed Debasish Prusty, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of India to European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg, as special guest for this occasion. Many of the 100+ attendees were from Luxembourg but included numerous participants coming from Spain, UK, Belgium, Netherlands and others.
Lakshmi Vyas, President of the Hindu Forum Europe (HFE), presented a brief history of HFE and showed a series of photographs chronicling the activities of the HFE over the past few years since its formation in 2006. Vyas is Former Principal of Elphinstone College, Mumbai, and has authored three books on Environmental Science, published more than thirty research papers on International journals of repute and is a follower of Iyengar Yoga. Her current mission is to unite the Hindus and represent them in UK and the European institutions.
Ambi Venkataraman talked about the HFL (formed in 2017) and its activities, explaining the link the venue (the Lycée Michel Rodange in Luxembourg-Merl) has had with thee HFL – based on student exchanges.
Debasish Prusty, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy, wished everyone present a happy Diwali and said how he regarded everyone attending as ambassadors, bringing Diwali across Europe.
As reported by chronicle.lu , India has many festivals, with Diwali – a five-day festival of Lights – being the one celebrated by all religions in the country and considered by many to be the country’s most important holiday. In northern India, they celebrate the story of King Rama’s return to Ayodhya after he defeated Ravana by lighting rows of clay lamps. Southern India celebrates it as the day that Lord Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura. It is a time to celebrate the triumph of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and good over evil.
The formal part of the evening was followed by a cultural programme of dance, with Arsha performing a Kathak dance, Ragasudha performing a Bharatnatyan dance, and Nishi Joshi-Bhatt performing a semi-classical dance, all accompanied by appropriate music.
In following the tremendous respect Hinduism scriptures have for diversity and the different understandings of religions, among others, representatives of the Church of Scientology in Europe were invited to participate, in recognition of the so much needed interfaith dialogue and cooperation in Europe.
Ivan Arjona, the representative of the Scientologists, accepted the invitation and while wishing a wonderful Diwali to all Hindus in Europe, offered two unique commemorative samples of the scriptures of Scientology, written by its founder L. Ron Hubbard, one of them a translated version of Dianetics in Hindi, and the other the book of sermons and ceremonies translated into Spanish.
According to a report from Chronicle.lu, this was followed by a classical Tamil song performance by Smt. Uma Rangarajan. Youngsters Om Sankar and Diya Ganesh also sang and Ms Vedhikha (Bharatanatyam dance) and a young troupe (Bollywood semi-classical dance) also performed reflecting the family and community spirit of the event. Those attending then partook in an Indian meal provided by the Indian restaurant Kripa, with dancing to round off the celebration.
Given where most of the fighting and dying is taking place it is easy to think that the current European security crisis is primarily about Ukraine. This tendency is reinforced by the fact that Russia and the west are keen to keep the war limited to Ukrainian territory.
Vladimir Putin’s whole calculation has, from the outset, been based on two assumptions. First that Russia’s possession of nuclear weapons would deter western military intervention for fear of wider escalation. The second was that Europe’s dependence on Moscow’s gas supply would mute any sanctions from the west and that, in the long run, these factors would be used to force Kyiv to yield in some way to Putin’s demands.
For its part, the US and its allies have also been keen to limit the conflict, recognising that while Kyiv is fighting for its survival as an independent sovereign state, the first policy priority for the west is to avoid a general war in Europe. Putin’s frequent and lurid nuclear sabre rattling is also intended to remind the west that its meddling – even its continued military support for Kyiv – risks just that outcome.
This framing of the war also explains the constant calls for a negotiated resolution to the conflict. Many efforts to end the war, from the French president Emmanuel Macron to the business magnate Elon Musk, focus on the need for negotiation. By this they mean a compromise by Ukraine over parts of its territory, such as Crimea, or its security status regarding Nato membership and alignment with the west rather than Russia. Even the US president Joe Biden’s statement that Putin must be offered an “off ramp” is a recognition of the desire to solve the Ukraine crisis on these terms.
Yet this approach to a resolution of the war is flawed in two important ways. First, in ignores the clear evidence that neither side is interested in a negotiated solution as both Russia and Ukraine believe that they have more to gain by fighting. Indeed, both sides seem convinced that they can win.
For Ukraine its military successes and territorial advances demonstrate that the tide of the war has turned on the ground due to its better training, logistics, intelligence, equipment and morale. For Russia, weaponising winter, attacking Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure as well as mass mobilisation of reserve troops and regular threats of further escalation have convinced Moscow that in the long run it can break the will of Ukraine or its western backers.
Perhaps more importantly however, framing the war in these terms misses the wider challenge that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine poses for both the future of the European security order – and indeed the rules of the international system as a whole. In short, the problem is not confined to the war in Ukraine.
Where Russian is the main language. Felipe Menegaz, Peter Fitzgerald, CC BY-NC-SA
The problem is that a major world power has gone rogue and abandoned its adherence to the basic principles of non-intervention. Principles that sit at the heart of the international system of states. It has done this by leveraging the threat of nuclear war as a central element of its approach.
Further, Putin has indicated that his imperialist aims are not limited to the areas that it has recently declared to be Russian territory. Indeed, Russia’s imperial aims stretch to all of Ukraine, and to all Russian-speaking enclaves in Europe, including the Baltic states and Moldova.
Russia has also, since 2015, propped up the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, enabling its use of poison gas against its own people. Russian soldiers have also been active in Africa, through the Wagner Group, where their efforts in more than a dozen countries advance Moscow’s political influence and commercial interests.
In both the Middle East and Africa, Russia is exploiting what it sees as the strategic vacuum left by US hesitance and withdrawal. In explicitly calling for the end of the US led international order it is acting on an alternative vision for the international system where Russia’s self-serving imperial influence is on the march.
To grant concessions to Russia at Ukraine’s expense would do little to pacify Russia’s grandiose power ambitions – quite the opposite, it would merely feed the beast. Europe’s borders, and international frontiers more broadly, would be forever open to challenge in a world with such a state as a major power.
Future lessons
How this war ends matters hugely beyond the confines of Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders. Russia’s claim that everywhere that speaks Russian should be part of the Russian state has obvious parallels for Taiwan and China’s claim to its sovereignty.
Nuclear fears: Vladimir Putin has repeatedly hinted he may use Russia’s nuclear arsenal in Ukraine. EPA-EFE/Sergei Ilnitsky
But even more importantly, Putin’s attempts at nuclear coercion are a fundamental challenge to the role of nuclear weapons within the international system. The lesson now drawn by many observers in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and further afield is that possession of nuclear weapons is the only guarantee of a secure defence. And if the nuclear threat allows a weak army to make territorial gains by an illegal invasion of a neighbour, then the precedent set for offensive use of nuclear weapons in this way would be truly alarming.
By contrast, if Putin’s threat, or even limited use of nuclear weapons leads to Russia’s defeat in this aggressive war, then the signal sent to the international community is one that would diminish the status of nuclear weapons. If nothing else, this is worth supporting Ukraine’s fight for.
On Wednesday, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine decided to recognize the “Chechen Republic of Ichkeria” as a “territory temporarily occupied by Russia” and condemned the “genocide against the Chechens”.
According to the information of Radio Free Europe, the Ukrainian government is currently engaged in the development of “an electronic platform on which to hold referendums on the independence of other national republics within the Russian Federation – Dagestan, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, etc.”
The publication cited its Ukrainian source, who also stated that Ukraine closely monitors “the national movements of Bashkirs, Tatars, Kumyks, Ingush, Kalmyks, Erzyans and other peoples enslaved by the Russian Federation, and is ready for dialogue with these forces. which they want decolonization and are willing to make efforts along the way.”
The MP from the Servant of the People faction, Oleg Dunda, said that the “dismantling” of Russia will take place in “a year or two”. He also said that “at the end of 2022 – the beginning of 2023, planned referendums will be held in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Kaliningrad Oblast, most likely in almost all regions of the North Caucasus, possibly Buryatia…”
Recently, Vil Mirzayanov, head of the Tatar “government-in-exile”, also living in the US, asked Volodymyr Zelensky to recognize the independence of Tatarstan.
Such a decision has long been prepared by Ukrainian parliamentarians. Back in July, the Chechen separatist and “prime minister of Ichkeria in exile” Akhmed Zakaev appointed Yury Shulipa as consul of the “republic” in Kyiv.
Zakaev himself came to Kyiv in June and met with Ukrainian lawmakers, after which the idea for the bill emerged. After his visit, the Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko founded the parliamentary association “For a Free Caucasus” to “help the oppressed peoples of the North Caucasus”.
Goncharenko also prepared a draft law to recognize the “Circassian genocide” – so we will soon see such a decision by the Ukrainian parliamentarians.
We remind you that Chechen fighters who emigrated to the West and Turkey in the mid-2000s are fighting on the side of the armed forces of Ukraine, some of them participated in the civil war in Syria.
What do I remember, more than a month after the remarkable event that brought together more than 4,000 Christians in the Karlsruhe Congress Centre from 31 August to 8 September? I am referring to the eleventh General Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC).
Three words come to my mind: love, pilgrimage, and unity. Let’s talk about the first in this paper!
Certainly, the theme “Christ’s love leads the world to reconciliation and unity” is original, when placed in the history of these assemblies. It was at the 2018 WCC central committee (during the visit of Pope Francis to the WCC) that the then general secretary Olav Tveit proposed this theme, based on Paul’s reflection on reconciliation: “the love of Christ embraces us” (II Cor. 5:14-15). (See here)
This theme of “the love of Christ”, so central to the Christian faith, had in fact never been thematized in the WCC. Some had doubts about the relevance of such a theme. Others rejoiced. After the theocentric themes of the last three assemblies – influenced by openness to inter-religious dialogue – it focuses on the kerygma: the risen Christ. [1] The time has now come to “give an account of the hope that is in us” (1 Peter 3:15): if we want to meet all, it is because Christ died and rose for all!
Grounding the search for unity in the Trinitarian love revealed in Christ’s death and resurrection provides a solid foundation for ecumenism. But will the language of love be understood in a secularized context? Jerry Pillay, the newly elected general secretary, said at that time (in 2018) that this theme would renew the commitment to unity. To work for the unity of humanity, we must start with the house of God.
Pope Francis asked in his message to the Assembly: “how can we credibly proclaim the Gospel of reconciliation without also being committed, as Christians, to promoting reconciliation among ourselves? Reconciliation among Christians is the fundamental prerequisite for the credible mission of the Church. Ecumenism and Mission belong together and interrelate”. https://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/message-of-his-holiness-pope-francis-to-the-11th-assembly-of-the-world-council-of-churches Tveit discerns the influence of the “spirituality of communion” in the choice of this theme which emphasizes the importance of relationships. [2].
This theme inspired WCC president Agnes Abouom to coin the phrase “ecumenism of the heart”. In her presidential report, she writes: “churches will be challenged to seek to overcome their divisions through an “ecumenism of the heart”, i.e., an ecumenism in which we look at other churches first of all with the eyes of communion in the love of the compassionate Jesus; with the eyes of common commitment to God’s kingdom; and only within the solid foundation of that unity in Christ do we look at what separates them in matters of faith, ordained ministry or ethics.” (§45). https://www.oikoumene.org/sites/default/files/2022-08/A01-Report-of-the-Moderator-ENG.pdf
At the initial press conference, Bishop Mary Ann Swenson of the United Methodist Church in the USA, vice moderator of the Central Committee of the WCC, echoed this: “I hope that this assembly will enable us to be more perfect in love. We want to live an ecumenism of the heart. We want people to be able to say, like the first Christians, ‘look how much they love each other’”.
Romanian Orthodox Fr Ioan Sauca, the acting general secretary of the WCC, states in his report that this ecumenism of the heart is translated into a respectful attitude of welcome and dialogue: “As followers of Christ, we were entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation, and the theme of the WCC’s 11th Assembly reminds us all that the love of Christ moves the world to reconciliation and unity. It would be very easy to use the language of the politicians, but we are called to use the language of faith, of our faith. It is easy to exclude, excommunicate, and demonize, but we are called as the WCC to offer a free and safe platform of encounter and dialogue, to meet and listen to one another even if and even when we disagree. (§53). This is how he responded to calls for the expulsion of the Russian Orthodox Church from the WCC fellowship. https://www.oikoumene.org/sites/default/files/2022-08/A02-Report-of-the-Acting%20General-Secretary-ENG.pdf
The WCC’s new moderator of the Central Committee, Lutheran Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, preaching on the words of St. John “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (I John 4:16) asked: “Shall we be witnesses of this beautiful and eternally faithful love in this wounded world?
This “ecumenism of the heart” was the golden thread of this assembly, which wanted to affirm that the search for Christian unity is rooted in the love of Christ, who died and rose for all.
Love is also at the center of the beautiful final message adopted by the assembly. Its last words are: “In Christ, all things will be made new. His love which is open to all, including the last, the least, and the lost, and is offered to all, can move and empower us in a pilgrimage of justice, reconciliation, and unity”. https://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/message-of-the-wcc-11th-assembly-a-call-to-act-together The challenge is to work together, brothers and sisters, despite our differences, to witness to Christ together. As behind divisions there is a lack of love, only the Holy Spirit has the power to heal and to unite. It is a call to take Christ’s “New Commandment” seriously, to live it among Christians and to extend it to all.
It is precisely this love that impels us to be ambassadors of reconciliation and unity, as the Apostle to the Gentiles forcefully announced: “It is in the name of Christ that we are ambassadors, and through us it is God himself who is in fact calling you. In the name of Christ, we beseech you, be reconciled to God” (1 Cor 5:20).
[1] The themes of previous assemblies were: Harare 1998: “Let us turn to God in the joy of hope”. Porto Alegre 2006: “God, in your grace, transform the world”. Busan – Korea 2013: “God of life, lead us to justice and peace”.
[2] Tveit in the Epilogue to Chiara Lubich, My ecumenical journey, New City 2020, p. 127 wrote “It might well be that it was under influence of Chiara and her charism for Christian unity that the WCC was inspired to choose (this) theme for the eleventh WCC assembly”.
Some “smear campaigns” on social media are tantamount to a “terrorist attack”, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today, after a law came into force days ago that provides jail time for spreading what the authorities consider to be fake news. DPA, quoted by BTA.
Campaigns of lies and slander, which are directed against the interests of our country, against the values of our nation, against privacy, are a kind of terrorist attack, Erdogan told members of his ruling party in Ankara.
The new media law, passed by parliament last week, imposes a penalty of up to three years in prison for spreading “false information” about the country’s security and public order.
Opposition parties and human rights groups have warned that it will lead to increased censorship and the silencing of dissent ahead of key parliamentary elections next year.
The prison sentence can be increased by another year and a half if the information is distributed through anonymous accounts or as part of a banned group.
Social media has become a source of “slander, threats, blackmail and dangers” against individuals and institutions, Erdogan said, adding that the law was “urgently needed” to fight “disinformation”. European countries, as well as the United States, are also imposing similar measures, the Turkish leader claimed.
Yesterday, the main opposition party – the People’s Republican Party – asked the Constitutional Court to suspend the most criticized Article 29 of the law, which determines the penalty of imprisonment.
The new law tightens Erdogan’s grip on the internet, one of the last remaining areas where his 20-year rule has not had full control, DPA notes. It also obliges social media companies, such as Twitter, to share user data with authorities. Otherwise, they will be fined or blocked.
The organization “Reporters Without Borders” ranked Turkey in 149th place out of a total of 180 countries in terms of press freedom, reminds DPA.
Romain Gutsy is not a really a newcomer. In fact, I know him for a long time. Let me tell you a true story.
In 1994, in Paris, France, I went to a place called the Chesterfield Café, in a street ending on the famous Champs Elysée. The Chesterfield Café, which does not exist anymore, was a good café-concert and in fact I was there to attend a concert of the famous rock band Soul Asylum. In that period, Soul Asylum was at the top of many international charts with their song “Runaway Train” (a song which would deserve a whole article by itself) which was selling by millions. The big café-concert was crowded.
For the opening act, Soul Asylum had invited a band named Daffy Plays Mandola, which in fact was Romain’s band. Their specialty was Irish music, and more specifically covers from The Pogues, with traditional Irish instrumentation featuring banjo, mandolin and tin whistle. It was a weird opening act as first, they played for more than an hour (and I learned later from Dave Pirner, Soul Asylum singer, that he loved Romain and his band, musically and humanely, and insisted to have them playing an hour), and then because they have set the room on fire like if they were the main band of the night.
After Daffy Plays Mandola’s show, Soul Asylum went on stage, and they started by dedicating “Runaway Train” to Romain’s band. But the most important part of the night, as far as I’m concerned, came later. At one point, both bands merged on stage, and altogether they played the craziest version of The Pogues’ “Dirty Old Town” (which in fact has not been written by The Pogues but whatever). Electric Saturated guitars mingling with mandolin and tin whistle, strong drums, a general punk flavor and a blend of grunge with traditional folk, that was the best ever version of the song I ever heard. And the public was in trance.
So now you know I’ve met Romain Gutzi a long time ago. That was one of his projects, and in fact he had many others of different genres, and I followed his career from far away for some time. Any musician who knew him has considered him as a pretty good eclectic musician and a great composer. Then at some point in the 2000’s he disappeared. I have no idea why and never heard about him again, until recently, when he came back in 2021 with his first (to my knowledge) solo project and an album called “When Leonard Met Dolly”, which is full of great original songs, even if I think that the production could have been better (always easy to be a critic, you should say). But today is the release day of his new single “If You Don’t Mind”, and it absolutely rocks.
If You Don’t Mind, get free with Romain Gutsy! 2
The song contains a bit of the philosophy of this man which has always been with a special mind in the music milieu. No drugs, no politics, no easy sex, and an urge for freedom, that’s indeed the man I knew. Nevertheless, Romain Gutsy has a lot of humor and a sense of self-derision which makes his creations never too serious. That’s how I received “if You Don’t Mind”. A solid and crisp production that he has done with Marc Bentel, a South African musician who now has a production studio in Florida, an arrangement which makes it difficult to categorize it in a one single genre, and an incredible distinctive voice that talks directly to your soul.
I’m honestly super happy to have Romain Gutsy back in business, and I hope to speak to him soon and maybe share an interview here. Meanwhile, enjoy the song, I’m pretty sure that it’s the first of a long series of incredible tracks:
And if you want to see a video of the song (not the previously released track, but an interesting version with live instrumentalists), it’s here:
On 9 June, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the human rights situation in Xinjiang, calling on the European Commission “to propose an import ban on all products produced by forced labour and on products produced by all Chinese companies listed as exploiting forced labour.”
In line with this call, MEP Reinhard Bütikofer, chair of the Delegation for relations with the People’s Republic of China, organized a conference on human rights in China at the European Parliament on 13 October, with three discussion panels: China and the CCP after a decade under Xi Jinping, China’s trajectory on socio-economic development and China’s foreign policy.
MEP Reinhard Bütikofer
On the next day, a conference took place at the Press Club in Brussels on the situation of the Uyghurs in China and a possible ban on Chinese goods. [Watch full conference at the end of the article]
MEP Carlo Fidanza (Italy), who was abroad, supported the initiative with a video in which he took a clear position about the attitude that the European Union should adopt towards China.
MEP Carlo Fidanza (ECR)
“The European Parliament has always condemned the persecution of Uyghurs, forced labour, torture, organ harvesting, forced sterilization and the camp system for so-called reeducation. Several strong resolutions have been adopted, they send an unambiguous message to the EU High Representative for its dealings with China,” he said.
He also stressed that the Uyghurs are not the only victims of the Chinese regime. “Christians and Falun Gong practitioners are also suffering from the same repression.”
He added: “The Chinese totalitarian system does not tolerate dissenting voices; it imposes its ideology, using violence and concentration camps if necessary, because it is afraid of losing its control over society.
And he concluded: “When the road is dark, there is no light and one feels alone, we must stand up together, fight with each other and for each other; we must react with courage and strength without giving in to easy temptations.”
Ben Rogers, Hong Kong Watch
Keynote speaker was Ben Rogers, founder of Hong Kong Watch, a UK-based NGO, who said, “This is an incredibly important topic and I warmly welcome the EU proposal on a possible goods ban. This is a very good start. The US has already gone down this path to ban imports made by forced labour. I would urge the EU to do the same.”
He also noted that the Uyghur repression is increasingly recognized as a genocide and added: “We live in a society where we want things as cheap and quick as possible but there is a growing awareness of the problem of slave labour. We need to get information out there so people can make an informed choice and also diversify the sourcing of goods and components for consumer products and not relying so much on China.”
Another contributor, Chris White, a former national newspaper reporter in the UK, said: “There is a general failure of politics around the world. Politicians intend to do the right thing but often it is not concluded. But I must admit that I don’t see the EU succeeding in this proposal on a goods ban because it will come up against fierce opposition.”
And White added: “I have a phone of which key parts were made in China but I have not seen any reports in the media about people not buying goods from China. The public is ill informed and I suspect corporate issues are at play here.”
Chris White and Gary Cartwright (EU Today) at the Press Club in Brussels
Gary Cartwright, publisher of EUToday, who organised the debate, also criticised media coverage of the issue, saying, “This is one of the major human rights issues but the British media seem more interested in celebrity news.”
He cited a major IT company’s statement for the financial year 2021 which speaks about “cleaning up its act” regarding its supply chain.
He said: “Another letter to this company’s CEO from the Human Rights Commission in Geneva, despite what the company said about cleaning up its act, says the firm may be involved in the supply chain of goods originating from forced labour.”
FEMM Committee - Hearing: on 'Sexual violence and rape as abuses of power'
Presentation at the hearing “Sexual violence and rape as abuses of power” held by the FEMM Committee of the European Parliament on 13 Octoberby Willy Fautré, Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF).
The panellists were
Ms Katarzyna KOZLOWSKA, social activist, founder and President of the #SayStop Foundation
Dr. Branka ANTIC-STAUBER, collaboration with Organisations supporting victims of sexual violence in Bosnia
Mr Willy FAUTRÉ, Director and Co-Founder of Human Rights Without Frontiers
HRWF (14.10.2022) – Abuse of power leading to sexual violence and rape has many facets and can take place in many contexts. Within the family, in the professional context, in a religious context, in the world of sports, in the economic and political world. Another area of abuse of power and extreme brutality, but in wartime now, concerns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, where a foreign occupation army uses its power to commit massive exactions, including sexual violence and rape.
Sexual abuse, violence and rape in Ukraine in wartime
For more than 230 days, allegations of sexual violence by Russian troops in Ukraine have been dramatically mounting. At this stage, it is difficult to have even a rough estimate of the number of cases due to several factors, despite the intense work of the ICC and UN bodies.
It is already difficult for a victim in times of peace to reveal such a traumatizing experience. So, you can imagine the mindset of such victims in wartime. It means that testimonies collected by the UN, the ICC or the Red Cross will only represent a tiny portion of the magnitude of the tragedy. A huge number of cases will fall through the cracks as many women fled to EU countries, were displaced internally or were deported to Russia in unknown conditions. Moreover, the war is still raging in the occupied territories on Ukraine.
The fraught nature of sexual atrocities, which are historically underreported, means that in Ukraine it will be a long time before the full scale of the problem is clear. The small towns in the suburbs of Kyiv that are already known to the world for the widespread killing of civilians — Bucha, Borodyanka and Irpin — are haunted by tales of rape, too. Ukrainian officials and activists have also heard many accounts of sexual atrocities from regions that remain under occupation today.
In such conditions, collecting reliable data is extremely hard. In Ukrainian society, and especially in rural areas, sexual crimes are so stigmatized that victims fear being judged by their social environment. It is usually the victim’s relatives and friends who seek help on the victim’s behalf.
Position of the UN and other institutions on sexual violence and rape in Ukraine
Since 24 February, Pramila Patten has issued three public statements “to ensure that this issue is not shrouded in silence or normalized by impunity”. She has also urged all parties to the conflict to ensure the protection of civilians from sexual violence.
“Too often have the needs of women and girls in conflict settings been side-lined and treated as an afterthought,” she said.
She also warned against waiting too long to act, saying
“An active battle-ground is never conducive to accurate ‘book-keeping’ […] if we wait for hard data and statistics, it will always be too late,”
and she called on the international community to mobilize immediately.
Information from the field and statistics provided by investigating institutions are indeed scarce and fragmented.
In June, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) released a report covering the period from 24 February until 15 May 2022 in which Matilda Bogner, the head of the UN body, noted that she had received numerous allegations and had been able to verify 23 cases of conflict-related sexual violence, including cases of rape, gang rape, torture, forced public stripping, and threats of sexual violence.
“Although the full scale of conflict-related sexual violence is not yet known, human rights activists and law enforcement agencies estimate that hundreds of cases have been committed not just against women and girls, but also men and boys and people of other gender identities.”
La Strada Ukraine, a well-known human rights organization, has been receiving calls about incidents of sexual crimes since early March. In the first two months of the war, they said they learned about 17 victims: one man and 16 women, three of whom were teenagers.
According to Iuliia Anosova, a lawyer with the group, they collected, from their hotline, stories about groups of soldiers committing rapes in front of onlookers.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has also reported cases of conflict-related sexual violence, particularly rape and forced nudity, across the country, noting that these assaults often take place in conjunction with other crimes, including killings.
Pramila Patten, the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflicts, concluded her report at the United Nations in June by saying:
“We do not need hard data for a scaled-up humanitarian response, nor for all parties to put in place preventive measures.”
Against that backdrop, she urged humanitarian actors to prioritize support for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.
Ukraine cooperates with the UN
On 3 May, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna signed the “Framework of Cooperation with the United Nations on the Prevention and Response to Conflict-Related Sexual Violence.”
Five critical areas are highlighted in the Framework and can be used as guidelines for the current and future management of sexual violence and rape:
First, strengthening rule of law and accountability as a central aspect of deterrence and prevention of crimes of sexual violence.
Second, strengthening the capacity of the security and defence sector to prevent sexual violence.
Third, ensuring that survivors of sexual violence, as well as their children, have access to adequate services, including sexual and reproductive health, psychological, legal, and socioeconomic services and reintegration support.
Fourth, ensuring that sexual violence is addressed in the framework of any ceasefire agreement, and ensuring that amnesties for sexual violence crimes are explicitly prohibited.
And fifth, addressing conflict-related trafficking in persons for the purposes of sexual exploitation or prostitution.
The legal frameworks exist, the policies based on past experience in other conflict settings exist, the political will exists to seek, provide and analyze evidence, and the prosecution mechanisms exist. Impunity cannot and should not prevail even if it takes years or decades to identify, hunt and arrest the perpetrators as it was the case with the Nazi criminals of WWII.
Fifty-four countries that are home to more than half of the poorest people on the planet need urgent debt relief now, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said in a paper published on Tuesday that calls for rich countries to step up.
Without action, poverty will rise and desperately needed investments in climate adaptation and mitigation simply will not happen, the agency warned.
54 developing economies accounting for more than half of the world’s poorest people need urgent debt relief.
Rich countries have the resources to end the debt crisis.
It explains why debt restructuring cannot wait until interest rates drop, or a global recession occurs.
“Debt relief would be a small pill for wealthy countries to swallow, yet the cost of inaction is brutal for the world’s poorest. We cannot afford to repeat the mistake of providing too little relief, too late, in managing the developing economy debt burden,” said Achim Steiner, the UNDP Administrator.
The 54 countries with severe debt problems include 28 of the top 50 most climate-vulnerable nations in the world.
Although they are home to more than half of the world’s poorest people, they represent little more than three percent of the global economy.
Potential debt deal
The paper outlines several policy actions for debt restructuring, noting that a deal could be on the horizon.
Markets conditions around the globe are shifting rapidly. UNDP said volatility is being fuelled by “a synchronized fiscal and monetary contraction”, along with low growth.
Currently, nearly 20 developing countries are now paying more than 10 percentage points over United States Treasury bond rates to borrow money on capital markets.
At the same time, holders of many developing economy bonds report they are trading at deep discounts ranging from between 40 to 60 cents on the dollar.
Conditions favour negotiations
A debt deal might now be possible, UNDP said, as these conditions encourage private creditors to negotiate debt relief under a Common Framework elaborated by the G20 group of countries, the world’s largest economies.
“When emerging market bonds trade at 40 cents on the dollar, private creditors suddenly become more open to negotiation. The missing ingredient, at this moment, are financial assurances from major creditor governments to clinch a deal,” said George Gray Molina, Senior Economist at UNDP.
Rich countries have the resources to end the debt crisis, the paper argues, as the rapid deterioration is partly due to their own domestic policies.
This week, G20 finance ministers will meet in Washington, DC, ahead of the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
UNDP believes conditions are ripe for creditors and debtors to kickstart debt restructuring talks under the G20 framework.
The paper proposes a way forward, focused on key areas such as debt sustainability analysis, official creditor coordination, private creditor participation, and the use of state-contingent debt clauses that target future economic and fiscal resilience.
Climate funding needed
Furthermore, the Common Framework could shift focus to comprehensive restructurings that will allow countries a faster return to growth, financial markets, and development progress.
UNDP pointed out that effective debt restructuring is only one vital element of ensuring developing countries have sufficient finances to achieve progress on sustainable development.
New sources of funding are urgently needed, the agency said, for investments in climate adaptation and mitigation.
