<p>A document leaked to Deutsche Welle (DW) exposes how China is using high-tech surveillance to track every Uighur Muslim in Xinjiang.</p> <p>The newly leaked document reveals that Uighurs are being tracked by their identity, religion, locations and their habits. It also lists hundreds of detainees and the reasons for their detention.</p> <p>“Having a beard”, “wife wearing a face veil” and “having too many children” are some of the reasons why Uighur Muslims are being detained in Xinjiang.</p> <p>DW’s analysis of the document highlights that China subjects Uighur Muslims to draconian methods of tracking and arrests.</p> <p>“Facial recognition is carried out with high-tech surveillance cameras. Individual Uighur families are constantly monitored through a network of spies repeated house visits and collective interrogations,” DW reports.</p> <p>China continues to reject claims of mistreatment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang and instead claim they are offering ‘education’ to counter religious extremism.</p> <p>Read more from DW <u><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/exclusive-chinas-systematic-tracking-arrests-of-u…">here</a></u>.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Labour MP, Debbie Abrahams, was denied entry into India yesterday, without any reason being given.</p> <p>The MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, who is also the Chair of the All-Party-Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Kashmir, was told that her e-visa was invalid and was flown out to Dubai.</p> <p>Immigration officials at Delhi airport told the British MP that her e-visa, which was issued in October 2019 and was valid until October 2020, has been rejected.</p> <p>She said she was “treated like a criminal” before she was put back on a plane to Dubai.</p> <p>Abrahams has been an outspoken critic of the Indian government’s decision to end the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and has demanded access to the region.</p> <p>“We are in contact with the Indian authorities to understand why Deborah Abrahams MP was denied entry to India. We provided consular assistance to her while she was in New Delhi airport,” a spokesperson from the British High Commission said.</p> <p>Read more <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/british-mp-who-leads-parliamenta…"><u>here</u></a> and <a href="https://amp.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/17/india-denies-critical-…"><u>here</u></a>.</p>

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and 27 other non-government organisations have called upon the Government of Myanmar to lift the restrictions on the internet in eight townships in Rakhine State and one in Chin State.

HRW notes that the 8-month internet blackout in Kyauktaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, and Ponnagyun are one of the world’s longest-running government-imposed blackouts. The blackouts were in June 2019 and were in response to the brutal conflict in the Rakhine and Chin states between the majority Buddhist Myanmar military and the secessionist ethnic Rakhine Arakan Army.

This blackout follows a ruling from the International Court of Justice which mandated that Myanmar take measures to ensure the protection of the Rohingya community in Rakhine State from genocidal acts. Yanghee Lee, UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, warns that this blackout would make it significantly more difficult to ensure this and would only serve to “severely exacerbate” the dire human rights situation in the Rakhine and Chin townships.

Lee further warned that this was worrying for civilians who were now;

“cut off and without the necessary means to communicate with people inside and outside the area.”

HRW notes this is in violation of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which guarantees individuals with a right to freedom of expression.

Read HRW statement here.

The former chief executive officer of the debt riddled SriLankan Airlines and his wife have been arrested, after a corruption scandal involving the French aerospace company Airbus revealed the couple may have accepted millions of dollars in bribes.

The arrests come after Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) found alleged corruption in dealings between Airbus and Sri Lankan Airlines date back to between July 2011 and June 2015. SFO found that Airbus had paid $2 million to Priyanka Wijenayakathe, the wife of the then Sri Lankan Airlines executive Kapila Chandrasena.

It is alleged these bribes were given by Airbus with the aim of securing a multi-billion-dollar aircraft deal. Investigators in Britain have accused Airbus of bribing associates in order to "obtain or retain business or advantage". As a result in January, a French court had fined Airbus €3.6 billion (USD $4 billion).

Wijenayakathe reportedly accepted the bribes in order to “influence” SriLankan Airlines to purchase 10 aircraft from the Airbus in 2013, during the previous Rajapaksa regime. The order of 4 such aircraft was subsequently cancelled, leaving Sri Lanka to pay a penalty of $154 million.

The allegations come in the midst of Sri Lanka's national carrier struggling financially. It was reported that the airline had accumulated losses of USD $1.24 billion.

As a result, Chandrasena and his wife have currently been remanded in custody.

Read more from Reuters here, and from AA here.

 

 

Sudan’s Sovereign Council and government have announced that they will be fully operating with the International Criminal Court (ICC), who will charge former Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir with charges of genocide for his role in the Darfur. 

The announcement came earlier this week as the government maintained that the ICC would be one among four mechanisms dedicated to achieving transition justice in Darfur. Human Rights Watch (HRW) notes that this includes “a special criminal court and truth and reconciliation in Sudan”.  

Former President Al-Bashir has been accused by the ICC of three counts of genocide; five counts of crimes against humanity; and, two counts of war crimes. The ICC’s charges are based upon horrific abuses in Darfur from 2003 to 2008 which include, rape, mass extermination, forcible transfers and pillaging. According to HRW’s research, senior leadership in Sudan was directly responsible for the government’s abuses of power in its counterinsurgency strategy.  

In April 2019, Al-Bashir was deposed from the government after several months of protests which were in response to hundreds being killed in December 2018. Alongside Al-Bashir, HRW notes that the ICC has issued arrest warrants for; 

“Ahmed Haroun, former state minister for humanitarian affairs and former governor of Southern Kordofan state; Abdulraheem Mohammed Hussein, the former defense minister; Ali Kosheib, a militia leader; and Abdallah Banda Abakaer, leader of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement in Darfur”.

HRW has welcomed the Sudanese transitional government’s decision in its cooperation with the  ICC. General Abel Fattah al-Burhan, who chairs the Sovereign Council, told HRW;

“We agreed no one is above the law, and that people will be brought to justice, be it in Sudan or outside Sudan with the help of the ICC”.

Read HRW’s statement here.

 

For the first time, the UN has released a list of over 100 companies involved in the violation of Palestinian rights and illegal occupation of the West Bank.

The New York Times, notes that the UNHRC has never requested a list of corporations which will face public scrutiny.

The list is predominate of Israeli organisations but also include international companies such as Expedia, Booking.com, TripAdvisor, Airbnb,  and Opodo. These travel and vacation companies offer rental opportunities in the occupied West Bank.

The list also includes companies involved in the construction of settlement and destruction of Palestinian homes; banking and finance services as well as security equipment and services.

Riad Malki, Palestinian Foreign Minister, promoted the publication of this list as;

“[A] victory for international law and for the diplomatic effort to dry up the sources of the colonial system represented by illegal settlement in the occupied Palestinian territory.”

Israel Katz, Israel’s foreign minister, has criticised the publication of this list as a “shameful surrender” to nations and organisations hostile to Israel, such as the BDS movement (Boycott, Divest, Sanction).

In November 2019, Israel ordered the deportation of Human Rights Watch (HRW) official Omar Shakir, a US citizen, for allegedly supporting BDS. Israel had outlawed the supported of BDS and blocked entry for those who have supported the movement since they passed a bill in 2017.

Read more on: Israel’s court backs deportation of HRW official

Bruno Stagno, Human Rights Watch's deputy advocacy chief, supported the move by stating; “to do business with illegal settlements is to aid in the commission of war crimes”.

A full list of the companies is accessible here.

Read more from the New York Times here and from Reuters here.

 

Northern Irish independence party, Sinn Féin, has seen a recent surge of support, particularly among young rural voters, which has raised its polling numbers 14% support in October to over 25% in the last week.

This follows the UK withdrawal from the European Union at the end of January. Whilst Northern Ireland was largely opposed to Brexit, this division was largely formed on factional lines. Unionists, who are primarily British and Protestant, mainly (60%) voted for the UK to leave the European Union, whereas nationalists (Irish and Catholic) predominately (85%) voted to oppose Brexit.

Particular concern was raised due to the back-stop agreement and the prospect of a hard border which would violate the Good Friday agreement which brought an end to “the Troubles” in Ireland, a period of civil war. The passage of Brexit may explain in part the surge in support for Sinn Fein which has deep historic ties with militant Irish Republican Army (IRA). The stated ambition of Sinn Fein is for a united Ireland outside of the UK.

Whilst the party is expected to do well in the coming elections, it seems that they are running too few candidates and may not be able to capitalise on this support.

Read more from the Irish Times here.

India has continued its detention of four Kashmiri independence leaders and a prominent lawyer under India’s Public Safety Act (PSA) which permits detention without trial for up to two years.

Reuters reports that the four arrested include former chief ministers, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti as well as regional party leaders Ali Mohmmad Sagar and Sartaj Madni. Kashmir’s Bar Associate President, Mian Abdul Qayoom was also arrested. His appeal has been recently rejected by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.

Under India’s law the police can only detain people for a maximum of a six-month period without charge hence they needed to place them under the PSA or would be forced to release them. According to India’s home ministry, over 389 people were held in Kashmir since August under the PSA.

This move follows India’s Hindu-nationalist Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, decision to strip Kashmir of its autonomy and brutal crackdowns on dissent.

Read more from Reuter’s here. 

 

Following talks with Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Catalonian separatist leader Quim Torra announced that he would be pushing for an agreed date for a Catalonian independence referendum.

During his press conference, he stated that the path to Catalonian independence was “irreversible” despite Prime Minister Sanchez’s rejections of any move towards independence.

The Catalonia independence movement gained strong support since the October 2017 referendum which was not recognised by Spanish courts. Following this election, 9 Catalonian leaders have been imprisoned in October for holding the referendum under charges of sedition. Sanchez has refused to grant asylum for any separatist leader jailed.

The Catalan government was able to secure discussions following their support for the confirmation of Sanchez as Prime Minister last month. This was a demand set out by the left-wing separatists from the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC).

Torra has promised a date for the referendum after Catalan’s budget has been approved by their regional parliament. Torra himself was sentenced to an 18-month ban from public office after he refused to take down symbols of support for the jailed Catalonian separatists which were in government offices. He is appealing this judgement.

Read Reuter’s reporting here.

 

The UN Security Council discussed the recent judgement by the International Court of Justice’s order to Myanmar which maintained that they must protect the Rohingya Muslim but failed to reach an agreed-upon statement.

EU members have insisted that Myanmar has to comply with the ICJ’s judgement. In a joint statement, Germany, France, Belgium, Estonia and Poland stated;

'Myanmar must address the root causes of its conflicts, in Rakhine State, but also in Kachin and Shan States [...] Accountability of perpetrators of human rights and humanitarian law violations is a necessary part of this process'.

They further stated;

'Myanmar must also create conditions for and facilitate a voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return of the Rohingya to Myanmar'.

This follows a brutal crackdown in 2017, in which over 700,000 Rohingya Muslims were forced to flee into neighbouring Bangladesh. Myanmar stands accused of genocide and war crimes include mass execution of civilians, torture and sexual violence.

Vietnam and China, allies of Myanmar, criticised the nature of the discussion as it was closed doors and anonymous. 

Read the AP’s reporting here.

Following the US-Israel proposal to grant Israel, Jerusalem and territories in the West Bank, Palestinian authorities have responded by rejecting the deal and stating that they will present their case to the UN.

Palestine’s President Mahmoud Abbas was reported to have responded to the proposed deal with “a thousand no’s”.

For more information on the proposed deal read: Palestinians protest Trumps Middle East plan 

Riyad Mansour, a Palestinian envoy to the UN, will place a draft resolution to the 15-member Security Council where it is likely to be vetoed by the United States. The resolution will subsequently be taken to the UN General Assembly which consists of 193 members representing states throughout the international community.

Read Al Jazeera’s reporting here.

Following the announcement of US President’s Middle East plan, which aims to grant Jerusalem to Israel as well as recognising Israeli sovereignty over Palestinian territory in the occupied West Bank, hundreds of Palestinians have taken to the streets in Ramallah and the Gaza strip.

US President, Donald Trump, made the announcement accompanied with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu where he described it as the ‘Deal of the Century’. Aljazeera has described the deal as ‘a new Balfour’, invoking the initial British pledge in 1917 which established Israel. The declaration also led to the Nakba, meaning ‘The Catastrophe’ which forced over 750,000 Palestinians into exile.

 

Demographic transfer
Under the current plan, Israel would annex territory which it has illegally occupied in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley would also be placed under Israeli sovereignty. This would mean that over 97 percent of Israeli’s residing in the West Bank would be integrated into Israel. Whereas the “Triangle Communities” which are 10 predominately Palestinians towns may be granted to Palestine. Al Jazeera estimates that 257,000 Palestinians citizens of Israel could find themselves living outside of Israel.

In 2018, Israel passed the Basic Law, also known as the Nation State law which specifies that Israel is a Jewish state. 

As part of the deal, which the Palestinians have rejected, the US has promised $50bn in investment into Palestine.

Ziyad Abu Zayyad, Former Palestinian Authority minister, has rejected the plan stating:

"We will never give up Jerusalem as our capital, nor the Jordan Valley and areas in the West Bank as part of our state”.

 

Disarmament 

As part of the deal, the plan calls for the complete demilitarisation of Palestine and disarmament of groups such as Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. In its place, Israel would erect security to control all international crossings into Palestine and continue surveillance of Palestine reliant on drones. 

 

Palestinian refugees

In defiance of previous UN resolutions, Palestinian refugees and their descendants would not have a right of return to Israel. In addition, Palestine’s refugee status would cease to exist and the United Nations's agency for Palestinian refugees would be terminated.

 

Censorship

The plan further maintains that the Palestinian school curriculum would be subject to review by the US and Israel as a prerequisite for Palestinian self determination. The plan states;

"The Palestinians shall have ended all programs, including school curricula and textbooks, that serve to incite or promote hatred or antagonism towards its neighbours, or which compensate or incentivise criminal or violent activity,"

Read Al Jazeera reporting here.

 

The International Court of Justice reached a preliminary decision on Thursday as all 17 judges voted to order Myanmar to protect the Rohingya population from genocide.

Myanmar stands accused of committing genocide against the Rohingya people after a brutal military suppression in the northern Rakhine state in 2017. Listed amongst the crimes are mass killings, gang rapes and widespread arson. Over 730,000 Rohingya were forced to flee to Bangladesh. In 2018, the UN claimed that this crackdown was performed with “genocidal intent”.

The judge presiding over the case, Abdulqawi Yusuf, read the judgement which stated Myanmar must “take all measures within its power to prevent all acts” prohibited under the 1948 Genocide Convention, and report back within four months.

Aung Suu Kyi, State Counsellor of Myanmar, lead a delegation to contest the charges of genocide at the Hague however, she has admitted that war crimes may have been committed. In an opinion piece for the Financial Times she maintained that Myanmar’s domestic mechanisms require time and accused witness testimonies of being “inaccurate” or having “exaggerated information”. She also claimed

“Human rights groups have condemned Myanmar based on unproven statements without the due process of a criminal investigation”.

Suu Kyi further stated that;

“The international condemnation has had a negative effect on Myanmar’s endeavours to bring stability and progress to Rakhine”.

Gambi who brought the case to the ICJ instead applauds the decision by the court claiming “triumph of international justice”.

Parampreet Singh, international justice director for Human Rights Watch, stated on the matter;

“The ICJ order to Myanmar to take concrete steps to prevent the genocide of the Rohingya is a landmark step to stop further atrocities against one of the world’s most persecuted people,”

Over 100 Myanmar civil society groups published a statement which expressed their hopes that the international community would continue to “bring forth the truth” and end impunity.

In their statement they say;

“Political and military policies have always been imposed with violent force and intimidation upon the people of Myanmar, systematically and institutionally, on the basis of their political and religious beliefs and ethnic identities and continue until the present”. 

 

Read Aung Suu Kyi's opinion piece here.

Read Reuter's reporting here.

 

UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has rejected Scottish demands for a second independence referendum, nicknamed indyref2, stating that it would simply perpetuate stagnation and that the 2014 referendum was predicated on the idea that it was a “once in a generation” vote.

The Scottish referendum of 2014 granted a narrow victory for remaining within the union, 55% to 45%, with the majority of votes to remaining coming from older and more affluent voters. Since the 2014 election, the United Kingdom has agreed to exit the European Union which Scotland has harshly opposed with all 32 council areas in Scotland voting to remain in the EU. 62% of Scottish voters voted to remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum. In the 2019 general election, the pro-independence SNP gained an additional 13 seats, totalling to 48 seats out of 59 in Scotland, and making them the third biggest party in British parliament.  

Responding to Johnson’s statement, Nichola Sturgeon, the leader of the SNP, has stated that his response is an attempt to “deny democracy” and was “unsustainable and self-defeating”. She further stated that Scottish government would lay out its next steps before the end of the month and would demand a “right to choose our own future”.

Sturgeon has also insisted that she would follow legal protocol and would not stage an unrecognised referendum as has happened in Catalonia in 2017. In December, Sturgeon submitted a formal request for the UK to transfer power to the Scottish parliament so that they could hold the referendum, this was known as Section 30 order.

Responding to Johnson’s rejection she stated;

"The Tories are terrified of Scotland having the right to choose our own future. They know that given the choice the overwhelming likelihood is that people will choose the positive option of independence.

Read the BBC’s reporting here.