The UK government’s proposed legislation to restrict the ability to hold British soldiers accountable for crimes committed overseas – the Overseas Operations Bill - passed its second reading in Parliament yesterday. The law will provide a “presumption against prosecution” after five yearsfor British soldiers and veterans. The legislation forms part of the Conservative party election manifesto pledge to protect British armed forces from ‘vexatious’ claims.

The bill also intends to introduce time limits on submitting civil claims in relation to overseas operations, which could see the government considering moving away from the European Convention of Human Rights with regards to overseas military operations.

The bill has been criticised by opposition MPs and rights groups, as well as by some Conservative MPs. Senior Conservative MP David Davis, a former cabinet minister, said he was "deeply troubled" by government plans to "decriminalise torture by British personnel if it took place more than five years ago" (Sky News).

“The Overseas Operations Bill – the legislation that, if enacted, would effectively grant veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns immunity from prosecution – will have damaging consequences. Ultimately, this Bill is harmful both to Britain’s standing in the world and to the reputation of our Armed Forces,” wrote Labour MP and former army major Dan Jarvis.

“The overwhelming majority of members of our Armed Forces follow the rules. But no one is above the law. That principle remains true whether or not someone wears a uniform. One of the best ways to protect our troops is to ensure we apply the rule of law in every instance.”

Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy who voted against the bill, defying the party’s whip to abstain, wrote that the bill “effectively decriminalises torture, violates essential rule of law principles such as judicial and prosecutorial independence, and defies international human rights law” and that it would have “obvious and disastrous implications for upholding justice for the victims of war crimes”.

Another Labour MP, Apsana Begum, who voted against the bill wrote “it is not clear why Britain’s Armed Forces personnel should be above the law, or why they should be able to contravene our international legal obligations related to war crimes and crimes against humanity. In fact, it is especially important that time limits are not too restrictive in this regard. It takes time to gather evidence, to fully trace the harm done, and to work with lawyers across borders. This is not vexatious or targeting Armed Forces members. It’s only fair, and it applies to everyone.”

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the bill “would make it nearly impossible to prosecute genuine cases” and “would send a clear message that the government’s aim is to prevent justice for the most serious crimes committed by British nationals against foreigners.”

Highlighting Britain’s “long and shameful history of failing to prosecute its nationals responsible for major crimes overseas” HRW said:

“More recently, the evidence is overwhelming that some British forces in Iraq committed serious abuses, often amounting to war crimes. Public inquiries and court rulings have found that British forces abused detainees, sometimes causing their deaths. Commanders and government ministers should have known about and prevented such abuse. Such failure to prevent war crimes is itself a criminal offense.

Despite this evidence, virtually no British soldier has been prosecuted, let alone convicted for war crimes. A public inquiry found that Baha Mousa, an Iraqi hotel receptionist, was beaten to death in British custody in 2003, but only one British soldier, a corporal, was convicted and sentenced to one year in prison. British governments have directly interfered to prevent UK nationals being prosecuted, shutting down investigations into alleged crimes committed by forces in Iraq and Afghanistan before they had completed their work.”

Protests have erupted across the US following the news that the two officers who killed Breonna Taylor were not charged however one officer who fired shots during the incident was indicted for wanton endangerment.

Taylor’s case has been central in the recent uprisings led by the movement for Black lives, as it serves as an example of the extreme violence of police and the perceived disposability of the lives of Black women. Breonna Taylor, a Black healthcare worker, was killed in her home whilst she slept by police officers in March. Taylor’s family had advocated for criminal charges against the officers.

Protests have been centralized in Louisville where Breonna Taylor lived and was killed. Protests have been seen nationwide though, with thousands marching for justice in New York, Portland, St. Paul, Denver, Chicago, and Seattle. In Seattle, 13 protesters were arrested.

“At this point it’s bigger than Breonna, it’s bigger than just Black Lives,” Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, said. “We’ve got to figure out how to fix the city, how to heal from here.”

Read more from CNN and the New York Times

Indian lawmakers approved 2 controversial farming bills on Sunday that the government claims will boost growth in the farming sector, but opposition parties and long-time ally of the ruling party called “anti-farmer.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi fiercely supported the bills saying, the new laws will remove middlemen from agriculture trade, allowing farmers to easily sell their produce to institutional buyers and large retailers.

On Thursday, Harsimrat Kaur, Minister of Food Processing, from a party believed to be one of the Modi government’s most trusted allies, resigned in protest of the proposed bills. 

Opposition parties have claimed farmers’ bargaining power will be diminished by allowing retailers to have tighter control over them calling the new legislation “black law” and “pro-corporate.”

Furthermore, on Sunday some opposition lawmakers shouted slogans, tore documents and tried to grab the speaker’s microphone in India’s parliament before the two of three bills were passed.

The third farming bill was unable to be heard after the upper house adjourned for the day due to the chaotic scenes.

Several farmers organizations have held street protests in Punjab and Haryana, opposing the bills.

Read more from Well and Tribune, and Reuters

<p>A rare Mediterranean hurricane, known as a medicane, swept through western Greece on Friday, flooding streets and homes.</p> <p>The storm, named Ianos, uprooted trees, flooded highways and caused power cuts in the Ionian islands of Kefalonia, Zakynthos and Ithaca.</p> <p>The body of one man was found under the collapsed roof of his house;&nbsp;another 63-year-old man was found dead in the same area;&nbsp;and, the body of an elderly woman was found nearby Farsala, as reported by brigade officials.</p> <p>Officials are still searching for a woman reported missing in Karditsa.</p> <p>Experts report that about 5,000 houses were flooded in the area of Karditsa.</p> <p>Greece Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who is planning to visit the affected region within a few days, says the government will provide economic assistance to the affected areas.</p> <p>The fire brigade reportedly received more than 2,450 calls for assistance, mainly to cut down trees, rescue trapped people and pump water from homes and stores.</p> <p>Authorities say cyclones were appeared in Greece in 1995, becoming more frequent in recent years.</p> <p>A similar storm hit Greece in 2018 and flash floods in 2017 killed 25 people and left hundreds homeless.</p> <p>Read more from Reuters <u><strong><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-greece-weather-medicane/rare-mediter…">here </a></strong></u>and <u><strong><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-greece-weather-medicane/three-dead-a…">here</a></strong></u></p>

India’s government has requested Twitter to delete a trending post by The World Sikh Organization (WSO) which commemorated the 1984 Genocide of Sikhs. India’s government has claimed that it “violates the law(s) of India.”

Twitter’s legal department has responded stating that it was notifying WSO in the interests of transparency but was not taking any action “at this time.”

The specific tweet addressed by India, states “abduction, torture and extra-judicial killing” of Sikhs, “#neverforget1984” and refers to Jaswant Singh Khalra, a human-rights activist who was abducted and murdered by the Indian police in 1995.

WSO, the Ottawa-based Sikh group, said the events were “a perfect example of India criminalizing dissent.”

Today, we received notice from Twitter notifying us that our tweet remembering the Sikh genocide & the sacrifice of Khalra allegedly violates Indian law(s).

A perfect example of India criminalizing dissent, including for stating well accepted facts.#NeverForget1984 #KhalraWeek pic.twitter.com/npYCwVTOwg

— WSO (@WorldSikhOrg) September 15, 2020

Furthermore, a report by WSO alleges New Delhi has cracked down on social media posts about Khalistan, a proposed separate Sikh homeland, with #Sikh temporarily blocked on Facebook and Instagram.

WSO legal advisor, Balpreet Singh, commented on the issue stating, “They’re saying if you engage in this topic on social media, we will silence you and you will face the consequences.”

However, Singh commented, “Obviously, this is not going to work here in Canada. We are protected by freedom of speech.”

Singh went on to claim that India is afraid that Sikh youth in the country are learning about and believing in the Khalistani movement, using social media to peacefully express their support.

Read more from the National Post and The News

 

(Photo of Stef Block, Foreign Minister of Netherlands)

The Netherlands has announced that it is preparing a case against Syria at the UN’s International Court of Justice and is seeking to hold President Bashar al-Assad accountable for human rights violations, including torture and the use of chemical weapons.

In a letter to legislator’s, Netherland’s Foreign Minister, Stef Blok, stated:

“Today the Netherlands announced its decision to hold Syria responsible under international law for gross human rights violations and torture in particular”.

The letter further stated:

“The Assad regime has committed horrific crimes time after time. The evidence is overwhelming. There must be consequences […] Large numbers of Syrians have been tortured, murdered, forcibly disappeared, and subjected to poison-gas attacks, or have lost everything fleeing for their lives.”

This decisions by the Netherlands follows multiple efforts which were blocked by Russia at the United Nations Security Council to refer a case on human rights violations in Syria to the International Criminal Court, which prosecutes individuals for war crimes and is also based in The Hague.

The Netherlands has reported that the Syrian conflict has claimed the lives of at least 200,000 civilians, left 100,000 missing and forced 5.5 million to flee to neighbouring countries.

Read more from Reuters 

<p>Protestors in the Libyan city of Benghazi set a government building on fire after the third straight day of protests condemning the living conditions and continued corruption within the country.</p> <p>The protests also began in Al-Bayda, where the government was previously based and in Sabha and for the first time in Al-Marj.</p> <p>Several hundred demonstrators gathered in Eastern towns to protest against the political elite and the lengthy power cuts and a severe banking crisis.</p> <p>Some of the demonstrators in Benghazi, were armed with guns and set fire to the government building leaving its white walls charred black but the burning flames were later brought under control.</p> <p>The building was constructed after Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) gained control of Benghazi, which left parts of the port city in ruins.</p> <p>The power cuts and economic crisis were worsened by a blockade of most of the country’s oil facilities by LNA however negotiations are ongoing about ending the blockade.</p> <p>Read more from <strong><u><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-security/protesters-set-govern…">Reuters </a></u></strong>and <strong><u><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/09/protesters-set-government-buildi…">Al Jazeera</a></u></strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

^{The Tijuana-San Diego border. © Tomas Castelazo}

A nurse who worked at a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Georgia came forward this week with reports of unsafe medical conditions and concerns over the high rate of hysterectomies performed on detainees.

The complaint said that many women who were detained in the facility expressed concern about the high rate of hysterectomies performed in the facility. One woman in detention said, “When I met all these women who had had surgeries, I thought this was like an experimental concentration camp. It was like they’re experimenting with our bodies.”

Nurse Dawn Wooten said that one gynecologist, who has now been identified as Mahendra Amin, was referred to as “the uterus collector.”

The allegations were related to disregard for COVID-19 precautions as well, with Wooten saying she faced retaliation when she missed work while awaiting results from a COVID-19 test.

"I became a whistleblower, now I'm a target," Wooten said at a press conference, adding that "I'll be a target anytime" rather than staying a part of an "inhumane" system.

Since the initial whistleblower complaint was made early this week, one former detainee, Pauline Binam, came forward saying her fallopian tube was removed without her consent.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded to these allegations, referring to the history of medical racism in the United States.

“If true, the appalling conditions described in the whistleblower complaint — including allegations of mass hysterectomies being performed on vulnerable immigrant women — are a staggering abuse of human rights. This profoundly disturbing situation recalls some of the darkest moments of our nation’s history, from the exploitation of Henrietta Lacks, to the horror of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, to the forced sterilizations of Black women that Fannie Lou Hamer and so many others underwent and fought.”

Amnesty International USA's Researcher on Refugee and Migrant Rights, said:

“The reports of hysterectomies performed on women detained in Irwin County without their full consent are deeply alarming… Unfortunately, the United States has a history of forced sterilisation. No one should be sterilised without their full consent, and people should be not be detained for seeking asylum.”

See more from The Independent here and Project South here.

An 11-year-old Pakistani girl was killed, and four others critically injured after “unprovoked firing” by Indian troops along the line of control in Kashmir, reports Pakistan’s military.  

The military claim the Indian troops used long-range guns and artillery on Friday, targeting the disputed region of Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan claimed by both in its entirety.

Among the four victims injured, one was a 75-year-old woman and two young boys, as reported by Pakistan’s army.

Indian Army Spokesman, Lt Col Devender Anand, claimed Pakistani soldiers initiated the firing and shelling to which Indian soldiers “retaliated befittingly” and there were no casualties on the Indian side.

 

Conflict between India and Pakistan

Tensions have grown between Pakistan and India since August 2019, when Indian PM Narendra Modi revoked Muslim majority Kashmir’s decades-old semi-autonomous status, sparking anger in Indian-controlled Kashmir and Pakistan.

Pakistan and India often exchange fire along with the highlight militarized frontier in the Himalayan region, each blaming the other side for initiating the firing.

Pakistan has recently released a new political map, identifying Indian-administered Kashmir as a disputed territory and stated that a decision on its final status will be decided under a UN resolution.

Read more The Guardian and AA.com

 

 

 

<p>Following a statement from Pakistan's lead police investigator, Chief Umar Sheikh, who suggested a mother was at fault for being gang-raped on one of Pakistan's most secure highways, several protests are planned across the country and there are calls for the police investigator's resignation and an apology.&nbsp;</p> <p>According to investigators,&nbsp;the victim was assaulted and gang-raped by several men in front of her two children after she ran out of petrol outside of Lahore.</p> <p>Sheikh blamed the mother for her assault on&nbsp;one of Pakistan’s most secure highways, claiming that she should have driven with a male companion.“No-one in Pakistani society would allow their sisters and daughter to travel alone so late”, Sheikh claimed.</p> <p>He further blamed the mother, a France resident, stating she “mistook that Pakistani society is just as safe” as her home country, stating she should have taken a safer highway called the GT.</p> <p>However, the highway the victim chose to take was built to replace centuries-old GT road, it is equipped with CCTV and a dedicated police force and when she ran out of fuel she contacted that same police force.</p> <p>Khadija Siddiqi, a lawyer and human rights activists stated&nbsp;that the police chief's comments were part of an unfortunate and very rampant culture of victim-blaming in Pakistan.</p> <p>Read more from the <u><a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8721957/Critics-condemned-Paki…">Daily Mail</a></u> and <u><a href="http://https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-rape/pakistanis-outr…">Reuters</a></u></p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Mozambique has denied alleged human rights abuses by the security forces and has insisted that abuses were committed solely by&nbsp;&nbsp;Islamist insurgents impersonating soldiers.</p> <p>According to Amnesty International, they have video footage and pictures of soldiers in&nbsp;the uniforms of the Mozambique Armed Defence Forces and the Mozambique Rapid Intervention Police committing atrocities in the Cabo Delgado province.</p> <p>These abuses include&nbsp;"beheading, torture and other ill-treatment of prisoners; the dismemberment of alleged opposition fighters; possible extrajudicial executions; and the transport and discarding of a large number of corpses into apparent mass graves,”&nbsp;</p> <p>Mozambique’s defence ministry has denied Amnesty's report on Thursday, saying militants regularly impersonated soldiers.</p> <p>Spokesman Colonel Omar Saranga, stated, “The Defence and security forces reiterate that they do not agree with any form of torture beheading attempts, mistreatment of illegal acts.”</p> <p>Cabo Delgado, Mozambique has faced several militant attacks with insurgents seizing key towns, hitting military and other key targets. Moreover, militants with links to Islamic State have increased their attacks in Mozambique this past year alarming other countries across southern Africa.</p> <p>Read more from <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mozambique-insurgency/mozambique-den…">Reuters</a></p>

At least ten people were killed after nationwide protests of police brutality in Colombia. The protests started after the killing of Javier Ordóñez, an unarmed lawyer who was pinned down by police as they shocked him with a taser for over two minutes.

Police responded to protesters with teargas and beatings. It was reported by the government that 10 people were dead in the aftermath of protests, and hundreds of civilians were reported injured. Over sixty people had bullet injuries.

Economic uncertainty related to COVID-19 has also contributed to the rise in protests, as has been seen worldwide. 

The mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, tweeted police were not authorized to fire on protesters and had “disobeyed direct instructions.” She also called the deaths “a massacre of our young people,” as most of the people killed were in their late teens or twenties.

Last year, Human Rights Watch said there were “worrying accounts and evidence of abuses by Colombia’s police, including arbitrary detention and brutal beatings against peaceful protesters.”

See more from The Guardian here and the BBC here.

Lebanon President, Michael Aoun, has received backlash after it emerged that Ceylon tea donated by Sri Lanka for the victims of the Beirut blast was instead given to the families of his presidential guard.

Sri Lanka donated 1,675 kilos of Ceylon tea in an effort to show support in the wake of the Beirut blast which killed more than 190 people, injuring 6,500 and leaving around 300,000 homeless.

The president’s office released a picture of Aoun receiving the Sri Lankan ambassador saying Colombo had donated the Ceylon tea “to those affected by the Beirut blast.”

After questioned about the use of the tea, they released a statement saying the “Ceylon tea had been received by the army… and distributed to the families of soldiers in the presidential guard.”

Aoun received backlash, with “tea theif” and “Ceylon tea” trending on Twitter.

Critics say this misuse of donated tea was another example of official corruption in the country.

One critic, Paula Yaoubian a former MP, stated “distributing the aid to your entourage is shameful.”

Read more from France 24

Photo of Royal Pyramids of Napata, Nuri, Sudan

Heavy rains in Sudan have caused the Nile River to reach record-breaking levels, threatening sites housing the royal pyramids of Meroe and Nuri, two of the country’s most important archaeological areas.

Sudan authorities have built sandbag walls and are pumping out water trying to prevent damage to the ancient pyramids.

The site is home to a host of ruins more than 2.300 years old.

The country-wide floods have left at least 102 people dead and made thousands homeless.

The damage caused by the flooding led the government to declare a three-month state of emergency last Friday.

Farmers along the fertile banks of the Nile depend on its annual floods but water levels have reached a record high this year.

Meroe, one of the sites at risk, was the capital of the Kush dynasty that ruled from the early 6^th century B.C.

Nuri, another site at risk, house tombs buried 7-10 metres underneath pyramids, which are often named as “invaluable historic relics.”

Read more from Reuters, the BBC, and France 24