Outcry after RFK Jr linked to effort to nix US approval for polio vaccine
Backlash has been building in the United States following a news report that links one of President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed cabinet members to an effort to revoke approval for the polio vaccine. On Saturday, The Associated Press news agency published a statement from a spokesperson for Robert F Kennedy Jr, whom Trump has nominated to lead the Health and Human Services Department. In the statement, Kennedy’s camp attempted to distance the nominee from a New York Times report that his lawyer Aaron Siri had petitioned to suspend approval for the life-saving vaccine. “Mr Kennedy believes the Polio Vaccine should be available to the public and thoroughly and properly studied,” Katie Miller, Kennedy’s spokesperson, said. But The New York Times article has raised alarm about Kennedy’s nomination to Health and Human Services, a department whose mission is to enhance the “health and well-being of all Americans”. Kennedy, like Siri, is a vocal vaccine sceptic. In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kennedy helped spread doubts about vaccines designed to protect against the deadly virus, calling them “shoddily tested” and potentially “deadly”. Advertisement And in 2019, when a measles outbreak killed more than 80 children in Samoa, Kennedy wrote to the Samoan prime minister implying that a “defective vaccine” could be to blame. He has also pushed conspiracy theories that link vaccination to autism, a widely debunked belief. Kennedy has long denied being anti-vaccine, arguing instead that he simply wants to ensure vaccine safety. But members of his own family have spoken out against his track record of spreading vaccine misinformation. A Trump ally In the 2024 presidential race, Kennedy ran on an independent ticket, before suspending his campaign in August and throwing his support behind Trump. Afterwards, he became a prominent Trump surrogate, appearing numerous times on the campaign trail with the Republican leader. Trump, in turn, teased early on that he would nominate Kennedy to his administration. “I’m going to let him go wild on health,” Trump said at an October campaign stop at Madison Square Garden in New York. “I’m going to let him go wild on the medicines.” Trump’s decision to pick Kennedy to head Health and Human Services has raised concern in the medical community about the future of efforts to limit the spread of preventable illness. Those concerns were amplified on Friday, with The New York Times report. The article resurfaced a 2022 petition Siri made to the Food and Drug Administration to rescind the polio vaccine’s approval, along with that of other vaccines. Polio is a highly infectious disease, capable of causing paralysis and death. There is no cure once infected, but vaccines can prevent its spread. Advertisement Siri has enjoyed a close relationship with Kennedy. The two campaigned together during Kennedy’s bid for office, and NBC News reported that Kennedy mulled appointing Siri as his attorney general, had he succeeded in winning the White House. Swift criticism The backlash to Friday’s report was swift, with bipartisan condemnation pouring in. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, issued a statement on Friday warning that any effort to discredit the polio vaccine could threaten the nominee’s Senate confirmation hearing. He did not mention Kennedy by name, but McConnell, 82, is known to be a survivor of childhood polio, which left his left leg briefly paralysed. “Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed — they’re dangerous,” McConnell wrote. “Anyone seeking the Senate’s consent to serve in the incoming administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts.” Democrats likewise criticised Kennedy’s association with Siri. “Say goodbye to your smile and say hello to polio,” Senator Elizabeth Warren said in a video posted to social media. “This is a man who wants to stop kids from getting their polio and measles shots.” Another senator, Chuck Schumer, called on Kennedy to make his position on the polio vaccine clear. “It’s outrageous and dangerous for people in the Trump Transition to try and get rid of the polio vaccine that has virtually eradicated polio in America and saved millions of lives,” Schumer, the Senate majority leader, wrote. “RFK Jr. must state his position on this.” Advertisement Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee for the presidency and a longtime rival of Trump’s, posted her own rejoinder, with a screenshot of The New York Times article. “I think Trump voters may be surprised to learn they voted to make polio great again,” she wrote, offering a riff on Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again”. Adblock test (Why?)
Images and narratives of Syria’s historic moment
With the end of the al-Assad regime and half a century of dictatorship, Syria’s media space is undergoing tumultuous changes. State TV and social media users are weaving new narratives, while the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham continues its rebrand. Contributors:Ibrahim Olabi – Lawyer, Guernica 37Kholoud Helmi – Co-founder, Enab Baladi NewspaperRasha Elass – Editorial Director, New Lines MagazineZaina Erhaim – Managing Editor, Jeem On our radar: Israel’s latest land grab and bombing raids in Syria run counter to international law – but you would not guess it from the coverage in Western and Israeli media. Meenakshi Ravi reports. How ‘smart cities’ make us more surveilled than ever before As urban populations soar, surveillance is intensifying in the form of “smart cities” built around the collection of data. But beneath promises to improve services lie serious concerns for residents’ privacy and freedoms. Featuring: Anna Kwok – Executive Director, Hong Kong Democracy CouncilDhaksh Raj Sooriya – Senior Researcher, Surveillance Resistance LabJulia Angwin – Investigative Journalist Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
‘Until my last breath’: Searching for relatives at Syria’s ‘slaughterhouse’
Sednaya, Syria – For decades, Sednaya prison was only ever mentioned in hushed tones in Syria. Torture and death were known to be routine in this place everyone called the “human slaughterhouse”. But on the evening of December 7, that all ended when Syrian opposition fighters burst through doors and liberated the prisoners. In no time, thousands of Syrians descended on the prison in the mountains north of Damascus, desperately seeking news of the loved ones they believed had disappeared behind the prison’s walls. Standing in front of the prison, Jumaa Jubbu, who is from al-Kafir in Idlib, said: “The liberation [of Syria] is an indescribable joy. “But the joy is incomplete because there are [hundreds of thousands] of missing detainees, and we haven’t heard any news about them at all.” Jumaa Jubbu feels the joy of liberation is incomplete so long as people remain disappeared in Sednaya Prison [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera] False hope Sednaya’s two buildings may have been holding as many as 20,000 prisoners, according to Amnesty International. Advertisement Many of the prisoners were freed a week ago – on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. But by Monday, thousands of people were still waiting for news. The scene inside the prison was chaotic. Rumours were circulating that there were hidden underground sections of the prison which they could not access. A former prisoner told Al Jazeera that military police had told him there were three underground floors with thousands of people held there. This week, people were using water conductors in the hopes of finding gaps in the walls or floors. Thousands of people have descended on Sednaya prison in search of missing friends and family [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera] At one point, a loud bang rang out from a far wall of the prison and shouts spread through the crowd. Someone had broken through and there were hopes they had found an entry to the rumoured cells. People began running towards the sound, shouting “God is the greatest”. But, seconds later, the shouts died down and people turned away – a false hope. There was no entrance. “We’re waiting, hoping that God will guide us to find the underground prison, because most of the prisoners who were released before, they say the prison has three underground levels,” Jubbu said. “We only saw one floor.” Jubbu said he was searching for 20 people from his village, among them his cousins. All had been taken in the early years of the war, between 2011 and 2013 and were believed to have ended up at the “slaughterhouse”. But just a few hours later, a statement was released by the Association of Detainees and Missing in Sednaya Prison which said the last liberated prisoner had been released at 11am the day before. Advertisement The White Helmets, Syria’s Civil Defence force, continued to search but finally suspended operations on Tuesday after finding no more prisoners. Families seeking loved ones wait hopefully as a member of the civil defence force, the White Helmets, attempts to locate an entrance to rumoured underground cells [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera] ‘The smells are indescribable’ Syrian opposition fighters liberated Aleppo, Hama, and Homs on their way to Damascus. In each city, they opened up the prison doors and liberated tens of thousands of people. But more remain missing. On the road to Sednaya, people drove as far as they could before the crush of people forced them to park and continue on foot. Young and old, men and women, some holding children – all climbed up the unpaved incline to the infamous prison. Under the now-defeated regime, Sednaya was a military prison where many were held on charges of “terrorism” which, in reality, meant had been arrested for any number of arbitrary reasons. Many of the people Al Jazeera spoke to there said their relatives had done nothing wrong. Some weren’t even sure their loved ones were here, they had come because they’d heard from someone that their relative “might” be here. Or they had checked other prisons and still hadn’t found any trace. A man looking for relatives at Sednaya prison holds up blood-stained nooses found inside [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera] Mohammad al-Bakour, 32, said his brother Abdullah was arrested in 2012 for protesting peacefully in Aleppo. He has not seen him since. Advertisement At 2am the previous morning – around the time al-Assad fled Damascus for Moscow – al-Bakour headed straight from his home town near Aleppo to Sednaya to search for his brother. “His children are now young adults, they don’t remember him and wouldn’t recognise him,” al-Bakour said. Inside, he searched the prison for any sign of Abdullah. “The smells in there are indescribable. The suffering of the prisoners inside is unimaginable,” he said. “Many times, they wished for death but couldn’t find it. Death became one of the prisoners’ dreams.” Mohammad al-Bakour’s brother Abdullah has been missing for 12 years since his arrest while peacefully protesting [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera] Life in limbo At Sednaya, many prisoners said they had been tortured and raped. Others were killed so the world won’t know what happened to them. The corpse of prominent activist Mazen al-Hamada was found in a military hospital morgue showing signs of torture. Another former prisoner, Youssef Abu Wadie, described to Al Jazeera how the guards treated inmates: “They would knock on the door, yell, ‘Quiet, you dog!’ and wouldn’t let us speak. The food was scarce. They would take us outside, beat us, break us. “Sometimes two people would hold us down and beat us. They would drag us around and take away our medicine.” ‘They would break us’. Youssef Abu Wadie, a former prisoner at the notorious Sednaya prison, described how prison guards would beat inmates [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera] Many inmates told Amnesty International in 2016 that they were not allowed any contact with the outside world or to send anything to family members. Advertisement In many cases, families of prisoners were told incorrectly that a prisoner
India vs Australia: Border-Gavaskar third Test opens with a near washout
The first day of the third Test is a near washout as Australia and India are left frustrated by rain in Brisbane. India’s bowlers were left frustrated and wicketless as rain wiped out most of the opening day’s play in the third Test against Australia in Brisbane on Saturday. Australia were 28-0 when play was abandoned, with Usman Khawaja unbeaten on 19 and Nathan McSweeney on four after facing only 13.2 overs at a rain-sodden Gabba. India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field first but his hope of early wickets proved forlorn, with rain halting play in the sixth over for about 30 minutes and dashing his pace bowlers’ hopes of finding their rhythm. The rain returned to bring an early lunch and persisted until play was abandoned late in the afternoon, short-changing a crowd of 30,145. The Gabba pitch had a green tinge on what had been a steamy, overcast morning, promising a stiff examination for Australia’s top order, but the ball ultimately did little off the spongy pitch. Barring a probing, opening burst by Bumrah, who repeatedly beat Khawaja’s bat, the Indian pacers were culpable of bowling too short. Advertisement Khawaja capitalised, smashing Mohammed Siraj to the fence with a couple of sweetly struck pull shots but the weather denied a healthy crowd more action. With the five-Test series poised at 1-1, India made two changes to the side that lost by 10 wickets in the day-night Test in Adelaide — Ravindra Jadeja replacing spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and Akash Deep coming in for struggling paceman Harshit Rana. Australia made only one change, with quick Josh Hazlewood replacing Scott Boland after recovering from a side injury. Rohit, whose poor form with the bat has heaped pressure on his captaincy, will continue to bat at number six, with KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal retained as the opening combination. “There’s a lot of grass and it looks a little soft as well so we want to try and make the best use of the conditions and try and see what we can do with the ball up front,” Rohit had said after winning the toss, adding that the mood in the Indian dressing room was “absolutely buzzing”. “The guys are looking forward to the Test match. It’s been always nice to come here and play some really good cricket and yeah, when you talk about how everyone’s feeling, they want to come out here and showcase themselves.” As it was, India will have to wait until day two to show their skills and may need early wickets to force a third consecutive result in the series. Adblock test (Why?)
US citizen imprisoned in Syria has been released and flown to Jordan
Travis Timmerman, 29, was imprisoned in Syria after crossing into the country on a Christian pilgrimage in June. United States officials have revealed that Travis Timmerman, a 29-year-old US citizen who disappeared into the Syrian prison system seven months ago, has been released and taken out of the country. Citing unnamed government sources, the news agencies Reuters and The Associated Press reported on Friday that Timmerman had been flown to Jordan to meet with US officials. Timmerman had been missing since June, after he crossed into Syria near the eastern Lebanese town of Zahle. Once in the country, he had been imprisoned under the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But in recent weeks, Syrian opposition forces, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebel group, pushed southwards in a lightning offensive, capturing major government strongholds and toppling al-Assad’s administration. On December 8, al-Assad fled to Russia, ending more than a half-century of his family’s rule. Timmerman’s release comes as prisoners throughout the al-Assad government’s notorious prison system are set free. For years, organisations like Human Rights Watch have chronicled reports of widespread torture, starvation and disease inside the detention facilities, leading to deaths in government custody. Advertisement Some Syrians have reportedly spent years, even decades, inside the facilities’ walls, with no contact with the outside world. Timmerman, however, told The Associated Press on Friday that he was not treated poorly in the Syrian prison where he was held, known as the Palestine Branch. He explained he was captured while on a Christian pilgrimage. A US official told Reuters that Timmerman had been transported to the al-Tanf military garrison in Syria, which is located near the border with Jordan and Iraq. From there, he was flown via helicopter to a second US military base in Jordan. While in prison, Timmerman says that he had a mattress, a plastic drinking container and another two containers to dispose of waste. In videos shared shortly after his release, Timmerman indicated that rebels had used a hammer to break down his cell door and free him. It is unclear where he will go next. The AP reported that Timmerman thanked those who released him from prison but told US officials he hopes to remain in the Middle East. The US continues to search for Austin Tice, a former US marine and freelance journalist who was kidnapped while reporting near the capital of Damascus in August 2012. Tice had been among the first US reporters on the ground in Syria, after the pro-democracy “Arab Spring” protests of 2011 sparked a brutal government crackdown and eventually a civil war. In the days since al-Assad’s fall, videos documenting the appalling conditions in the government prison system have been widely shared. Scores of people have also trekked to the facilities, hoping to find friends or loved ones who were detained or disappeared long ago. Advertisement Describing conditions at the Sednaya Prison near Damascus, Raed al-Saleh — the director of Syria’s Civil Defence organisation, known as the White Helmets — called the facility a “hell”. White Helmet rescuers have been combing the facility to document human rights violations and free the people inside. Al-Saleh told Al Jazeera on Monday he believed executions were happening daily within the prison walls. “It is a human slaughterhouse where human beings are being slaughtered and tortured,” al-Saleh said. Adblock test (Why?)
Will South Korea’s President Yoon survive second impeachment motion?
Seoul, South Korea – South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is set to face a second impeachment motion in the National Assembly on Saturday, just a week after a previous attempt by the political opposition fell short. The stakes are high following Yoon’s controversial declaration of martial law on December 3, which triggered nationwide protests and heightened uncertainty for Asia’s fourth-largest economy. For the latest impeachment motion to succeed, it must secure at least 200 votes – a two-thirds majority – in South Korea’s 300-seat National Assembly. The opposition bloc holds 192 seats, leaving it eight votes short of the number required. However, in recent days, a small yet growing number of legislators from Yoon’s governing People Power Party have openly supported the motion, making impeachment increasingly more likely. In a defiant televised address on Thursday, Yoon dismissed the idea of voluntary resignation, stressing, “Whether they impeach me or investigate me, I will stand firm.” Advertisement What happens if Yoon is impeached? If the National Assembly passes the impeachment motion, a series of legal and constitutional processes will unfold, starting with the official delivery of the impeachment resolution from the National Assembly to the President’s Office and the Constitutional Court. From that moment, Yoon’s presidential powers will be suspended. He will still retain the title and some privileges associated with the presidency, including the presidential residence, and continued security protection. During this period, South Korea’s prime minister will assume the role of acting president under Article 71 of the Constitution. However, the opposition is also considering impeaching Prime Minister Han Duck-soo in connection with his possible role in the martial law declaration. If Han is impeached, too, the deputy prime minister for the economy would take over as acting president. The acting president will handle essential duties such as military command, issuing decrees, and managing state matters. While the Constitution does not clearly limit the scope of an acting president’s authority, precedent suggests powers should be limited to maintaining the status quo rather than initiating major policy changes. Review at the Constitutional Court The impeachment process then moves to the Constitutional Court, where justices will review the case to determine whether Yoon’s removal is justified. At least six out of the nine justices must support the motion for it to be upheld. Advertisement However, only six justices currently sit on the bench, meaning Yoon needs just one supportive ruling to survive the impeachment attempt. The three vacant seats are positions that the National Assembly can nominate. While legislators are now rushing to fill those seats, the president has the final authority to approve the appointments, raising the possibility of delays or rejections. The court is required to issue its decision within 180 days of receiving the case. The Constitutional Court took 63 days to rule on former President Roh Moo-hyun’s impeachment in 2004 and 91 days for former President Park Geun-hye’s case in 2016. South Korea’s removed President Park Geun-hye arrives at a court in Seoul, South Korea, in August 2017 [File: Kim Hong-ji/Reuters] Yoon’s potential legal defence Yoon’s speech on Thursday appeared to preview his defence strategy should the case reach the Constitutional Court. He is likely to argue that declaring martial law was within his constitutional powers and did not constitute an illegal act or an insurrection. He framed the martial law declaration as a “highly political decision” falling under the president’s powers, which are “not subject to judicial review”. Yoon insisted that his decision was an “emergency appeal to the public” amid what he described as a severe political crisis, which he blamed on the opposition-controlled National Assembly. Constitutional Court’s ruling If the court upholds the impeachment, Yoon will be removed from office. Advertisement He will lose privileges afforded to former presidents, such as pensions and personal aides, though he will continue to receive security protection. A presidential election must then be held within 60 days to elect a new leader. If the impeachment is rejected, Yoon will be reinstated as president and resume his duties. Separate investigations Even if he survives the second impeachment bid, Yoon still faces criminal investigations. Although a sitting president enjoys immunity from criminal prosecution, this protection does not extend to charges of insurrection. Multiple investigative agencies, including the police, the prosecution, and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, are investigating senior officials and military commanders on charges of insurrection. This means that Yoon could potentially be arrested, which would mark the first such case involving a sitting president in South Korea. Adblock test (Why?)
Singapore steps up executions and pressure on anti-death penalty groups
Singapore – Masoud Rahimi Mehrzad’s father was in a remote part of Iran when he received the news that he had long dreaded. His son was to be hanged in Singapore’s Changi Prison. Suffering from deteriorating health and with just a week’s notice until the execution at dawn on November 29, he was unable to take on the demanding trip to see his son in person for one last time, according to reports. Instead, the final contact between the father and son came via a long-distance phone call. Despite a last-ditch legal challenge, Masoud was hanged on the final Friday of November, more than 14 years after he was first arrested for drug offences. Masoud, 35, became the ninth person to be hanged in Singapore this year. “With four executions in November alone, the Singaporean government is relentlessly pursuing its cruel use of the death penalty,” said Bryony Lau, Deputy Director for Asia at Human Rights Watch. Anti-death penalty campaign groups believe that about 50 inmates are currently on death row in Singapore. Advertisement Despite opposition from prominent human rights groups and United Nations experts, Singapore claims that capital punishment has been “an effective deterrent” against drug traffickers and ensures the city-state is “one of the safest places in the world”. A group of UN experts said in a joint statement last month that Singapore should “move from a reliance on criminal law and take a human rights-based approach in relation to drug use and drug use disorders”. An anti-death penalty activist takes part in a rally against the death sentence at Speakers’ Corner in Singapore in April 2022 [File: Roslan Rahman/AFP] Stories of the plight of death row inmates generally come from activists, who work tirelessly to fight for the rights of those facing the ultimate punishment. The recent wave of executions has now left them shaken. “It’s a nightmare,” says Kokila Annamalai, a prominent anti-death penalty campaigner with the Transformative Justice Collective (TJC). Her work has led her to form a close bond with many death row prisoners. “They’re more than just people we are campaigning for. They’re also our friends, they feel like our siblings. It’s been very difficult for us personally,” Annamalai told Al Jazeera. ‘Losing another son, he couldn’t accept it’ Like almost all of Singapore’s prisoners on death row, Masoud was convicted for drug offences. Born in Singapore to an Iranian father and Singaporean mother, he had spent his childhood between Iran and Dubai. At the age of 17, he returned to Singapore to complete his compulsory national service and it was during this period in his life that he was arrested on drug charges. In May 2010, aged 20, he drove to meet a Malaysian man at a petrol station in central Singapore. Masoud took a package from the man, before driving away. He was soon stopped by the police. They searched the package and some other bags that they found in the car. Advertisement In total, officers discovered more than 31 grams of diamorphine, which is also known as heroin, and 77 grams of methamphetamine. Masoud was arrested for possessing drugs with the purpose of trafficking. Under Singapore’s strict laws, anyone caught carrying more than 15 grams of heroin can face the death penalty. Masoud told police that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. He also blamed an illegal money-lending syndicate for planting the drugs in order to frame him. His defence did not stand up in court and he was sentenced to death in 2015. Masoud Rahimi Mehrzad [Photo courtesy of Transformative Justice Collective] Masoud’s sister, Mahnaz, released an open letter shortly before her brother was hanged last month. She described the pain that the death sentence had inflicted on their father. “My dad was completely heartbroken, and he has never recovered. One of my brothers died when he was 7 years old, from appendicitis … losing another son, he couldn’t accept it,” she wrote. Masoud had fought tirelessly to appeal his conviction, but his numerous legal challenges failed, as did a plea for clemency to Singapore’s President Tharman Shanmugaratnam. Before his own execution, Masoud’s sister recounted how her brother had dedicated his time on death row to helping other prisoners with their own legal battles. “He’s very invested in helping them find peace,” Mahnaz said. “He feels it’s his responsibility to fight for his life as well as the others, and he wishes for everyone on death row to feel the same motivation, to be there for each other,” she said. Advertisement ‘People start to care deeply’ In October, Masoud was one of 13 death row prisoners who won a case against the Singapore Prison Service and the Attorney General ‘s Chambers, after they were deemed to have acted unlawfully by disclosing and requesting the private letters of prisoners. The court also found that the prisoners’ right to confidentiality had been breached. Masoud was also due to represent a group of 31 prisoners in a constitutional challenge against a new law relating to the post-appeal process in death penalty cases. A hearing in that legal challenge is still scheduled for late January 2025, a date that is now too late for Masoud. Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau said the fact that Masoud’s execution was carried out in advance of the upcoming high court hearing was “not relevant to his conviction or sentence”. After a two-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, executions have ramped up in recent years in the Southeast Asian finance hub. According to news reports, 25 prisoners have been executed in Singapore since 2022, with the authorities showing little prospect of softening their approach to capital punishment for drug traffickers. An activist lights candles for death row inmate Tangaraju Suppiah during a vigil for him in Singapore in April 2023. Suppiah was executed on April 26, 2023 [File: How Hwee Young/EPA] Anti-death penalty campaigners in the city-state continue to voice their outrage at the government’s actions, using social media to amplify the personal stories
Elon Musk’s election talk sparked concern in swing state, emails reveal
Elon Musk’s claims of voting fraud in the United States presidential election prompted a flurry of concerned correspondence to election officials in a key swing state, newly released emails reveal. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s commentary on X prompted a Republican state senator and others in Pennsylvania, the most important battleground state with 19 Electoral College votes, to contact the top election official in one district to discuss concerns about overseas voting, according to the emails, which provide new insight into the billionaire’s behind-the-scenes effect on the vote. The office of Senator Chris Gebhard in October contacted the director of elections for Lebanon County, a heavily Republican district located northwest of Philadelphia, to express the lawmaker’s “concerns with what is being communicated” about the November 5 election, the emails show. “Can you help us out by giving us a statement? I dropped off one of the emails,” Daniel Bost, an aide to Gebhard, wrote in an October 10 email to Sean Drasher. Advertisement Bost provided Drasher with a “printout” of an X post by Musk by way of illustrating the senator’s concerns, according to an email Drasher sent to a state-level election official seeking advice on how to respond to the lawmaker. Though it is not clear which of Musk’s posts the officials were referring to, Drasher said in his email to Jonathan Marks, Pennsylvania’s deputy secretary for elections and commissions, that it detailed “the Blue push to register overseas voters”, referring to the traditional colour of the Democratic Party. Al Jazeera obtained the emails through a records request submitted under Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law. False claims In the run-up to the election, Musk, one of US President-elect Donald Trump’s most powerful allies, posted prolifically on X about the supposed risks of voter fraud. Many of those posts included false or unsubstantiated claims, such as hundreds of thousands of migrants had been flown to swing states and put on a fast-track to citizenship as part of a plan to give Democrats an electoral advantage. Although not involving Musk, Republicans filed lawsuits in multiple states, including Pennsylvania, casting doubt on the security of overseas voting in the weeks before the vote. In late October, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit, in which six Republican state lawmakers in Pennsylvania called for new checks to confirm the identities of voters overseas, ruling that the lawmakers had no justifiable reason for making their claim so close to the election and had relied on “hypothetical concerns”. Advertisement Trump also singled out overseas voting for criticism during his campaign, falsely claiming that people overseas are sent ballots “without any citizenship check or verification of identity whatsoever”. Concerns about overseas voting The outreach to Drasher prompted by Musk’s social media activity apparently left the election official conflicted about how to respond, in part because of his own concerns about overseas voting, according to the emails. Drasher said that although the “tone and some of the details” of Musk’s posts did not seem credible to him, he himself had “real concerns” about the voter registration process. “I don’t feel I can directly address Senator Gehbard [sic] without sounding foolish or uninformed,” Drasher wrote in an October 10 email to Marks. “Ironically I’m now being confronted with something that I also wanted to call out. Could you help me understand? Or, would you be willing to address this with Sen Gebhard yourself and then fill me [in] so I also understand?” Drasher reiterated his concerns about overseas voting registration the following day in an email to his Lebanon County colleagues. “This puts us in a bit of an uncomfortable position because, frankly, I don’t like the UMOVA/UCOVA statutes myself,” he wrote, referring to legislation that facilitates overseas and military absentee voting. “I want to see them changed. And in my opinion, some of the things you see out on Twitter end up being completely valid concerns. I take comfort in the fact that this affects a tiny number of voters; And in our County its [sic] barely statistically relevant.” Advertisement Drasher said that given the attention elected officials were paying to the issue, it would be “only a matter of hours before we start getting calls from constituents who will also be looking for answers”. “I will bow to our excellent solicitor on this, but my own feedback is once again: We can only follow the law as written and we will happily enforce any changes as soon as the Legislature moves on them,” he wrote. When contacted by Al Jazeera, Drasher said he could not remember the exact X post that had prompted the discussions in his office. Asked to elaborate on his concerns about overseas voting, Drasher said it was his job to be concerned about “all” aspects of voter registration. “My concern is that I need to more fully understand the process and rationale behind its structure,” he said. Requests sent to X seeking Musk’s comment did not receive a response. The Pennsylvania Department of State did not follow up on requests for comment. About 4.4 million US citizens were living abroad in 2022, about 2.8 million of whom were voting age, according to the Federal Voting Assistance Program. Research shows voter fraud to be extremely rare in the US. An Associated Press review of every case of potential voter fraud in six battleground states in 2020 identified 475 cases out of more than 25 million ballots cast. Adblock test (Why?)
Dutch court rejects bid to halt arms exports to Israel as Gaza war rages
Court says ‘all claims dismissed’ after rights groups file lawsuit to stop arms sales, citing genocide convention. A Dutch court has rejected a bid by 10 pro-Palestinian NGOs to stop the Netherlands from exporting weapons to Israel and trading with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory. The Hague district court stressed on Friday that the state has some leeway in its policies and courts should not rush to step in. “The interim relief court finds that there is no reason to impose a total ban on the export of military and dual-use goods on the state,” it said in a statement. “All claims are dismissed.” The plaintiffs, citing high civilian casualties in Israel’s assault in the besieged Gaza Strip, had argued that the Dutch state, as a signatory to the 1948 Genocide Convention, has a duty to take all reasonable measures at its disposal to prevent genocide. “Israel is guilty of genocide and apartheid” and “is using Dutch weapons to wage war”, said Wout Albers, a lawyer representing the NGOs, during the hearings. The NGOs cited a January order to Israel by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza. The UN’s top court said it was plausible Palestinians were being deprived of some rights protected under the Genocide Convention. Advertisement The coalition said it will review the court’s ruling and is considering an appeal. Shawan Jabarin, the general director of Al-Haq, described the decision as an “abominable injustice”. “The Netherlands has abandoned the most basic rules of international law, to prevent colonisation, annexation, apartheid and genocide,” he said. The decision in The Hague came a day after an Israeli air strike hit a residential building in the Nuseirat refugee camp Gaza on Thursday, killing at least 40 Palestinians and wounding dozens more, according to medics. Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence minister, and Hamas’s military chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity in connection with Israel’s war on Gaza. The warrants said there was a reason to believe that Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant had used “starvation as a method of warfare” by severely restricting humanitarian aid and had intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s assault in Gaza. Earlier this week, the United Nations said humanitarian aid to north Gaza, where famine is looming, has largely been blocked for the past 66 days since Israeli forces launched a renewed ground offensive there, leaving between 65,000 and 75,000 Palestinians without access to food, water, electricity or healthcare. Israel’s offensive has killed at least 44,805 people in Gaza since October last year, a majority of them women and children, according to figures from Gaza’s Health Ministry. Advertisement Earlier this month, Amnesty International accused Israel of “committing genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza since the start of the war last year. Israel has rejected the allegations. Adblock test (Why?)
UN human rights office resumes activities in Venezuela despite Maduro clash
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has announced that his office is starting to resume its activities in Venezuela, despite past clashes with the government of President Nicolas Maduro. High Commissioner Volker Turk made the announcement on Friday at a meeting with the UN Human Rights Council, where he reiterated his concerns about conditions in Venezuela, particularly after its most recent presidential race. “My office has begun to resume its operations in the country in recent weeks. My hope is that we will be able to restore our full presence,” Turk said in his opening remarks, pitching his organisation as a “bridge-builder”. The UN human rights office had previously established a presence in the country in 2019. But that changed in February, when Maduro’s administration accused the office of plotting with opposition members to undermine the government — an allegation made without proof. Its local office was ordered to close immediately, and its members were told to leave the country within 72 hours. President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores wave to supporters during an event in Caracas, Venezuela, on December 10 [Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo] In a statement at the time, Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Yvan Gil Pinto accused the UN human rights office of becoming a “colonialist” and “improper” presence in the country, stirring up unrest. Advertisement “Far from showing it as an impartial entity”, Gil Pinto said the office’s actions have “led it to become the private law firm of coup plotters and terrorist groups that permanently conspire against the country”. The Maduro government, however, has long faced condemnation for its human rights record, which includes allegations of arbitrary arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings. Shortly before the human rights office in Venezuela was ordered to be closed, UN officials had expressed concern about the sudden detention of human rights lawyer Rocio San Miguel. In a social media post about her arrest, the human rights office wrote that “due process guarantees, including right to defence, must be respected”. The shuttering of the local office also coincided with intensifying scrutiny over the fairness of Venezuela’s latest presidential election. Maduro, at the time, was seeking a third term in office, but public opinion polls in the months leading up to the race heavily favoured the opposition. The government disqualified several popular opposition candidates from running, including opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and her subsequent replacement, Professor Corina Yoris. Ultimately, Edmundo Gonzalez, a former diplomat, was picked to lead the opposition ticket. The election was held on July 28. But in the early hours of July 29, shortly after polling stations closed, Venezuela’s electoral authority announced that Maduro had won — though it did not release the paper voting tallies that traditionally accompany the results. Advertisement Critics immediately slammed the announcement as fraudulent and called for transparency in the voting results. The contested election led to protests in the streets of the capital Caracas and other cities, as the opposition published voting documents online that it said proved Maduro’s defeat. An estimated 2,000 people were arrested in the government crackdown that followed, with dozens killed and hundreds injured. In his statement at the UN council on Friday, Turk underscored the human toll of the violence. “Looking back over recent months, I remain deeply concerned by the disproportionate use of force and violence during post-electoral protests in July and August, including by armed individuals supporting the government,” Turk said. “I urge a prompt and effective investigation into at least 28 killings that reportedly included demonstrators, bystanders and members of the armed forces.” Still, in a gesture to the country’s authorities, Turk applauded recent waves of prisoner releases that freed protesters and opposition members detained during the post-election protests. An estimated 225 political prisoners were released under “precautionary measures” — including mandatory court appearances — on November 26, and another 103 were set free on Thursday. “This is an important step,” Turk said. But he nevertheless urged Venezuelan officials to review all the cases of those still detained. People detained during a government crackdown on post-election protests walk out of the Yare 3 prison in San Francisco de Yare, Venezuela, on November 16 [File: Cristian Hernandez/AP Photo] “I urge the release of all those arbitrarily detained, both before and after the presidential election. This includes human rights defenders such as Rocio San Miguel and Javier Tarazona, as well as humanitarian workers,” he said. Advertisement “The continued use of counterterrorism legislation against protesters, including adolescents, and reports of enforced disappearances and ill treatment are deeply troubling.” As part of that alleged ill treatment, Turk indicated detainees struggle with “overcrowded cells” and inadequate supplies of food, water and healthcare. He also called on the Venezuelan government to allow each of the prisoners a fair trial, including access to a lawyer and translators if needed, particularly for Indigenous detainees. Looking ahead to Maduro’s inauguration in January and National Assembly elections later in 2025, Turk reflected on his previous visits to Venezuela. He cast his office’s role in the country as one of cooperation. “It was clear to me then, as it is now, that the society needs to heal; overcome divisions and polarisation; and engage in an inclusive dialogue as an absolute priority,” Turk said. “We stand ready to support the people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela during these difficult times in a spirit of constructive engagement.” Adblock test (Why?)