NATO warns Georgia ‘foreign agents’ bill is ‘step in wrong direction’
Protests set to continue as Western nations urge Georgian authorities against adopting ‘Kremlin-style’ measure. NATO has warned Georgia that its approval of new contentious legislation branding overseas-funded NGOs as “foreign agents” was a “step in the wrong direction”. It was also a move “away from European and Euro-Atlantic integration”, the military alliance that Georgia aspires to one day join said on Wednesday, a day after the United States warned that the “Kremlin-style” law would force it to reassess ties with the country. Tens of thousands of protesters, who have been demonstrating in the streets of the capital, Tbilisi, for weeks, are expected to rally against the bill outside parliament later on Wednesday. “We urge Georgia to change course and respect the right to peaceful protest,” said NATO spokeswoman Farah Dakhlallah. Protesters block a street during a rally against the controversial ‘foreign influence’ bill in Tbilisi [File: Giorgi Arjevanidze/AFP] The European Union urged Georgia to withdraw the legislation, which it said would set back the country’s ambitions to join the 27-nation bloc. “The adoption of this law negatively impacts Georgia’s progress on the EU path,” said a statement from EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and enlargement commissioner Oliver Varhelyi. “The choice on the way forward is in Georgia’s hands. We urge the Georgian authorities to withdraw the law,” they said. US Assistant Secretary of State James O’Brien, who visited Tbilisi on Tuesday, said Washington could impose financial and travel restrictions unless the bill underwent change or if security forces forcibly broke up protests as has occurred in recent weeks. ‘Russian law’ The law requires media and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and other nonprofit groups to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad. It has been dubbed “the Russian law” by opponents, who compare it with legislation used by the Kremlin for the past decade to crack down on its opponents. The ruling Georgian Dream party says it is needed to promote transparency, combat “pseudo-liberal values” promoted by foreigners and preserve the country’s sovereignty. A woman holds Georgian national and EU flags in front of riot police blocking a street in Tbilisi [File: Zurab Tsertsvadze/AP] President Salome Zourabichvili, who is increasingly at odds with the governing party, has promised to veto the bill, but Georgian Dream has a majority sufficient to override it. Zourabichvili has 14 days to act. On Tuesday, she met with the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Iceland who visited Tbilisi in connection with the controversial legislation. “We talked about what the next steps are. I very clearly explained to the representatives of friendly countries that with my veto, I would under no circumstances enter into some fake, artificial, deceitful negotiations. No and never!” she said after the meeting. “I will not betray the spirit that is in this country today and needs to open a path. I will be the opener of this path. This message will be delivered by our friends everywhere so that no one thinks that you can use the President of Georgia to save the image of this government,” Zourabichvili said. “Today, not this issue is on the agenda, Georgia’s survival is on the agenda,” she added. Gabrielius Landsbergis, the Lithuanian foreign minister, said the Georgian government was turning its back on the European direction and so it was important to show support for Georgia’s pro-Western society and its president. Adblock test (Why?)
What’s at stake in next month’s European elections?
Right-wing parties are expected to perform well, according to pre-election polls. Europe is getting ready for next month’s crucial parliamentary election. Ministers in Brussels have signed off a major overhaul of migration and asylum rules as the campaigning heats up. Pre-election polls are predicting right-wing parties to perform well. The election will shape the future of the institutions and reflect the political landscape of individual member states. It is also the first European Parliament vote since the UK left the bloc. So, what are the consequences of this year’s vote for the continent – and the world? Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault Guests: Pieter Cleppe – Editor-in-chief at BrusselsReport.eu Anna Maria Corazza Bildt – MEP candidate for the Renew Europe Group Aurelian Mondon – Lecturer in French and comparative politics at the University of Bath Adblock test (Why?)
Biden slaps new tariffs on Chinese imports, ratcheting trade war
President Joe Biden has slapped major new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, advanced batteries, solar cells, steel, aluminium and medical equipment, taking potshots at Donald Trump along the way as he embraced a strategy that’s increasing friction between the world’s two largest economies. The Democratic president said on Tuesday that Chinese government subsidies ensure the nation’s companies do not have to turn a profit, giving them an unfair advantage in global trade. “American workers can outwork and outcompete anyone as long as the competition is fair,” Biden said in the White House Rose Garden. “But for too long, it hasn’t been fair. For years, the Chinese government has poured state money into Chinese companies … it’s not competition, it’s cheating.” China immediately promised retaliation. Its Ministry of Commerce said Beijing was opposed to the tariff hikes by the United States and would take measures to defend its interests. Biden will keep tariffs put in place by his Republican predecessor Donald Trump while ratcheting up others, including a quadrupling of EV duties to more than 100 percent and doubling the duties on semiconductor tariffs to 50 percent. The new measures affect $18bn in imported Chinese goods including steel and aluminium, semiconductors, electric vehicles, critical minerals, solar cells and cranes, the White House said. The EV figure, while headline-grabbing, may have more political than practical impact in the US, which imports very few Chinese EVs. The US imported $427bn in goods from China in 2023 and exported $148bn to the world’s number-two economy, according to the US Census Bureau, a trade gap that has persisted for decades and become an ever more sensitive subject in Washington. US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the revised tariffs were justified because China was stealing US intellectual property. But Tai recommended tariff exclusions for hundreds of industrial machinery import categories from China, including 19 for solar product manufacturing equipment. The tariffs come in the middle of a heated campaign between Biden and Trump, his Republican predecessor, to show who’s tougher on China. Asked to respond to Trump’s comments that China was eating the US’s lunch, Biden said of his rival, “He’s been feeding them a long time.” The Democrat said Trump had failed to crack down on Chinese trade abuses as he had pledged he would do during his presidency. Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s press secretary, called the new tariffs a “weak and futile attempt” to distract from Biden’s own support for EVs in the United States, which Trump says will lead to layoffs at car factories. Administration officials said their measures are combined with domestic investment in key industries and unlikely to worsen a bout of inflation that has already angered US voters. Trade tariff Biden has struggled to convince voters of the efficacy of his economic policies despite a backdrop of low unemployment and above-trend economic growth. A Reuters/Ipsos poll last month showed Trump had a seven percentage-point edge over Biden on the economy. China’s BYD overtook Tesla as the biggest seller of electric vehicles [File: VCG/VCG via Getty Images] Analysts have warned that a trade tiff could raise costs for EVs overall, hurting Biden’s climate goals and his aim to create manufacturing jobs. Biden has said he wants to win this era of competition with China but not to launch a trade war. He has worked in recent months to ease tensions in one-on-one talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Both 2024 US presidential candidates have departed from the free-trade consensus that once reigned in Washington, a period capped by China’s joining the World Trade Organization in 2001. Trump’s broader imposition of tariffs during his 2017-2021 presidency kicked off a tariff war with China. As part of the long-awaited tariff update, Biden will increase tariffs this year from 25 percent to 100 percent on EVs, bringing total duties to 102.5 percent, from 7.5 percent to 25 percent on lithium-ion EV batteries and other battery parts and from 25 percent to 50 percent on photovoltaic cells used to make solar panels. Some critical minerals will have their tariffs raised from nothing to 25 percent. More tariffs will follow in 2025 and 2026 on semiconductors, as well as lithium-ion batteries that are not used in electric vehicles, graphite and permanent magnets, as well as rubber medical and surgical gloves. A number of lawmakers have called for massive hikes on Chinese vehicle tariffs or an outright ban over data privacy concerns. There are relatively few Chinese-made light-duty vehicles being imported now. The United Auto Workers, a politically important union that endorsed Biden, said the tariff moves would ensure that “the transition to electric vehicles is a just transition.” Adblock test (Why?)
Key takeaways as Cohen faces more questioning on day 17 of Trump’s trial
Donald Trump’s erstwhile lawyer Michael Cohen has faced a tough cross-examination, as he delivered a second day of testimony in the former United States president’s hush-money trial in New York. Cohen is the prosecution’s star witness — and his testimony marks the pinnacle of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against the former president. On Tuesday, prosecutors also announced that Cohen will be the final witness they plan to call, as the first criminal trial against a US president nears its seeming conclusion. As he returned to the witness stand on Tuesday, Cohen sought to make the case that Trump, his former boss, orchestrated a hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels — and then covered it up by filing the charges as “legal expenses”. The former Republican president, who is seeking re-election in November, faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the case. Cohen described a meeting with Trump at the White House in 2017 during which the pair allegedly discussed a repayment plan to reimburse Cohen for the hush-money payment. The former lawyer has maintained he made the $130,000 payment at the behest of Trump to prevent Daniels from going public with a sexual encounter she says she had with the former president. Trump has denied that any such encounter took place. Trump has also slammed the case as a politically motivated “witch-hunt”, and his legal team on Tuesday sought to portray Cohen as a liar who cannot be trusted. But prosecutors believe Trump tried to influence the outcome of the 2016 vote by engaging in a “catch-and-kill” scheme to stifle media coverage that could have negatively affected his campaign for the White House. Here are the key takeaways from day 17 of the trial: Cohen details Oval Office meeting Early on Tuesday, Cohen recounted an Oval Office meeting with Trump in February 2017, wherein the newly inaugurated president allegedly said Cohen would soon be receiving the first two installments of a bonus package. That package, Cohen said, included reimbursements for the Daniels payment. “I was sitting with President Trump, and he asked me if I was OK,” Cohen told the jurors. “He asked me if I needed money, and I said, ‘All good,’ because I can get a cheque.” Cohen testified that Trump then told him, “OK, make sure you deal with Allen,” a reference to Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization at the time. Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger also walked Cohen through a series of invoices and checks — some signed by Trump himself — that Cohen said were falsely marked as paying for retainer services. “There was no retainer agreement, was there?” Hoffinger asked. “No, ma’am,” Cohen replied. In the courtroom, Trump was seen to react at various points in Cohen’s testimony, leaning over to speak with his lawyer Emil Bove, seated to his left. Trump sits at the defendant’s table during his criminal trial in New York on May 14 [Justin Lane/Pool via Reuters] Cohen says he lied to protect Trump The 57-year-old former lawyer also testified on Tuesday that a February 2018 statement he released about the hush money-payment was purposely “misleading”. The statement declared, “Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction.” Cohen explained that the statement was “deceptive”, because it was neither the Trump Organization nor the campaign that was a part of the transaction. “It was Mr Donald J Trump himself,” Cohen said. He added that he made the statement “in order to protect Mr Trump, to stay on message”. Cohen also told the jurors that he helped craft a pair of statements purportedly from Daniels, the adult film star, denying her affair with Trump. The first came after The Wall Street Journal reported in 2018 that he arranged the $130,000 hush-money payment to Daniels. The second was written after Cohen said he heard Daniels was planning to go on comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night TV show. Cohen explained he contacted Keith Davidson, the lawyer who represented the adult film star in the hush money deal, to put together the statement, which Daniels issued on the day of her appearance. It reiterated that she had not been paid “hush money” to deny the claim. Cohen testified that he knew the statements were false because he had helped craft them — and that he knew the payment had been made because he had paid it. He also said he regretted “lying, bullying people” during his many years working for Trump. “To keep the loyalty and to do the things that he asked me to do, I violated my moral compass. And I suffered the penalty, as has my family,” Cohen said. Defence presses Cohen on credibility Trump’s defence team pressed Cohen during cross-examination on Tuesday afternoon, seeking to poke holes in his testimony and present him to the jury as a serial liar seeking revenge against a former boss. Cohen served time in federal prison for various crimes, including some related the hush-money payment, and has admitted to lying under oath. He has also been vocal about his antipathy towards Trump, with whom he had a public falling-out. Under aggressive questioning from Trump lawyer Todd Blanche, Cohen acknowledged calling the former president a “dictator douchebag” on the social media platform TikTok. The defence also showed jurors pictures of Trump-themed merchandise for sale on Cohen’s website, including shirts with an illustration of the former president behind bars. Blanche pointed to statements Cohen made on his podcast as well, indicating the former lawyer would like to see Trump convicted. In one of several moments when Blanche asked Cohen if he wanted to see Trump found guilty, the former lawyer hedged: “I would like to see accountability. It’s not for me. It’s for the jury and this court.” Blanche pressed him: “I’m just asking you, yes or no: Do you want to see President Trump get convicted in this case?” “Sure,” Cohen replied. Cohen’s shorter answers under cross-examination marked a contrast with his
Palestinians mark 76 years of Nakba as new tragedy unfolds in Gaza
Palestinians will mark the 76th anniversary of their mass expulsion from what is now Israel, an event that is at the core of their national struggle. But in many ways, that experience pales in comparison to the calamity now unfolding in Gaza. Palestinians refer to the anniversary, which they will observe on Wednesday, as the “Nakba”, Arabic for “catastrophe”. Some 700,000 Palestinians, a majority of the pre-war population, fled or were driven from their homes before and during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that followed Israel’s establishment. After the war, Israel refused to allow them to return because it would have resulted in a Palestinian majority within its borders. Instead, they became a seemingly permanent refugee community that now numbers some six million, with most living in slum-like urban refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. In the Gaza Strip, the refugees and their descendants make up about three-quarters of the population. Israel’s rejection of what Palestinians say is their right to return has been a core grievance in the conflict and was one of the thorniest issues in peace talks that last collapsed 15 years ago. Now, many Palestinians fear a repeat of their painful history on an even more cataclysmic scale. All across Gaza, Palestinians in recent days have been loading up cars and donkey carts or setting out on foot to already overcrowded tent camps as Israel expands its offensive once again. The war on Gaza has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, making it by far the deadliest round of fighting in the history of the long conflict. About 1.7 million Palestinians, three-quarters of the besieged enclave’s population, have been forced to flee their homes, most of them multiple times. That is well more than twice the number that fled before and during the 1948 war. Even if Palestinians are not expelled from Gaza en masse, many fear that they will never be able to return to their homes or that the destruction wreaked on the territory will make it impossible to live there. A recent United Nations estimate said it would take until 2040 to rebuild destroyed homes in the enclave. Israel has unleashed one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history in Gaza, dropping 900kg (2,000-pound) bombs on densely populated areas. Entire neighbourhoods have been reduced to wastelands of rubble and ploughed-up roads, many littered with unexploded bombs. The World Bank estimates that $18.5bn in damage has been inflicted, roughly equivalent to the gross domestic product of the entire Palestinian territory in 2022. And that was in January, in the early days of Israel’s devastating ground operations in Khan Younis and before its military went into Rafah. Adblock test (Why?)
Israeli forces attacked ‘known aid worker locations’ in Gaza: Rights group
Human Rights Watch says aid workers’ convoys and facilities have been targeted at least eight times since last October. Israeli forces have attacked humanitarian aid convoys and buildings in the Gaza Strip at least eight times since October despite being given coordinates to ensure their protection, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said in a new report. At least 31 aid workers and their companions were killed, the international rights group said in a new report published on Tuesday. “Israeli authorities did not issue advance warnings to any of the aid organisations before the strikes,” the report said. “The eight incidents reveal fundamental flaws with the so-called deconfliction system, meant to protect aid workers and allow them to safely deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance in Gaza,” it added. At least 254 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to the United Nations, when the current conflict erupted. Of them, 188 are personnel from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the report said. On Monday, a UN vehicle was hit on the way to a hospital in Gaza, killing at least one UN staff member and injuring at least one more. The HRW report said aid workers have also been unable to leave Gaza since Israeli forces seized control of and closed the Rafah crossing on May 7. During a recent visit to Cairo and northern Sinai, near the border between Egypt and Gaza, HRW met with staff from 11 humanitarian organisations and UN aid agencies operating in Gaza. They said Israeli attacks on aid workers had forced them to take various measures that for some included suspending activities for a period of time, reducing their staff inside Gaza, or severely restricting their aid activities in other ways. (Al Jazeera) Reporting from Amman, Jordan, Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker said that the United States started pressuring Israel to stop striking aid workers after it hit a convoy of the US-based charity World Central Kitchen in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, on April 1, killing seven people and triggering global outrage. “It hit home in a different way, in a different way, unfortunately, that 35,000 Palestinians dead simply doesn’t,” Dekker said. The deadly attack on a UN vehicle showed that Israel has not changed anything, according to Dekker, who added that Israel has also not done enough to stop Israeli protesters from blocking and destroying aid trucks heading to Gaza. The latest target was a Jordanian convoy which had to go through the occupied West Bank to reach the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing in the south of the Gaza Strip. Right-wing Israeli protesters blocked it and set it on fire after looting it, Dekker reported. The other attacks HRW documented include one on a Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) convoy on November 18, on a UNRWA guest house on December 9 and on an International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) guest house on January 18. “Israel’s allies need to recognize that these attacks that have killed aid workers have happened over and over again, and they need to stop,” said Belkis Wille, associate director at HRW. The HRW report also found that Israeli authorities are using starvation as a method of warfare in Gaza. “Pursuant to a policy set out by Israeli officials and carried out by Israeli forces, the Israeli authorities are deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food and fuel, willfully impeding humanitarian assistance, apparently razing agricultural areas, and depriving the civilian population of objects indispensable to its survival,” the organisation said. “Children in Gaza have been dying from starvation-related complications,” it added. Adblock test (Why?)
Gaza ceasefire deadlocked as Israel’s Rafah attacks set talks ‘backward’
Qatar says mediation efforts are being hampered by Israel’s offensive on Gaza’s southern city. Israel’s military operation in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah has set ceasefire negotiations with Hamas “backward”, mediator Qatar has said, adding that the talks have lost steam. “Especially in the past few weeks, we have seen some momentum building but unfortunately things didn’t move in the right direction and right now we are on a status of almost a stalemate,” Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani told the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha on Tuesday. “Of course, what happened with Rafah has set us backward.” Qatar has been engaged in months of mediation between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, along with Egypt and the United States. On Tuesday morning, Israeli forces pushed deeper into eastern Rafah, entering the neighbourhoods of al-Jnaina, as-Salam and Brazil, as it prepared to expand its military operation. The Israeli army issued evacuation orders, forcing tens of thousands more Palestinians to flee, despite US warnings against a full-scale assault on the southern city that is crowded with displaced people. Israeli forces were also continuing to operate with extreme force in Jabalia city, Jabalia refugee camp and surrounding areas in northern Gaza. Israeli tanks, bulldozers and armoured vehicles were surrounding United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) schools that were turned into shelters for hundreds of displaced families. An air strike on a residential building to the south of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza killed at least 14 people, while Israeli fighter jets also attacked a school in the refugee camp where a fire broke out, according to reports. Sheikh Mohammed said there was no clarity on how to stop the war from the Israeli side. “I don’t think that they are considering this as an option … even when we are talking about the deal and leading to a potential ceasefire,” he said. Israeli politicians were indicating “by their statements that they will remain there, they will continue the war”, he said, adding that “there is no clarity on what Gaza will look like after this”. Sheikh Mohammed said the fundamental difference between the two parties was over the release of captives and ending the war. “There is one party that wants to end the war and then talk about the hostages and there is another party who wants the hostages and wants to continue the war,” he said. “As long as there is not any commonality between those two things it won’t get us to a result.” Israel is determined to press ahead with its offensive on Rafah – considered the last refuge in Gaza, where more than 1.4 million displaced Palestinians were sheltering – in defiance of warnings from the UN and its allies, including its key backer, the US. Israeli military operations have forced some 150,000 people to flee over the past week to areas devastated by previous attacks. The displaced were mainly heading towards Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, and Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza. Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said Deir el-Balah was running out of space as people poured in, looking for shelter. Adblock test (Why?)
Paris 2024: China gives table tennis legend Ma another shot at Olympic gold
Ma Long’s inclusion in China’s table tennis squad gives the 35-year-old a chance to win gold in his fourth consecutive Olympics. China’s Ma Long will get a shot at winning a sixth Olympic gold medal in Paris in August despite having been denied the chance to claim a third straight singles title at his fourth Summer Games. The 14-time world champion, now 35, won team golds at all three of his previous Olympics and back-to-back men’s singles titles in Rio and Tokyo to become the most successful table tennis Olympian of all time. Wang Chuqin and Fan Zhendong, who lost to Ma in the Tokyo final, were named as China’s entries for the singles last week but Ma was confirmed by the Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA) on Tuesday as the third player for the team tournament. There were no surprises in the women’s team who will seek to continue China’s domination of the sport with the lineup for Paris identical to that which swept the board in Tokyo. Reigning champion and world number two Chen Meng and world number one Sun Yingsha will again compete in the women’s singles and join up with world number three Wang Manyu in the team event, where China are also defending champions. China have won 32 of the 37 golds and 60 of the 155 total medals since the sport was introduced to the Summer Olympics in 1988, and the competition for a spot on the national team is fierce. The mixed doubles, a new event in Tokyo, was the one gold medal China missed out on three years ago and Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha, who top the world rankings, will pair up to try and end that anomaly in Paris. World number four pair Liang Jingkun and Wang Yidi will be the substitute players for the men’s and women’s teams, respectively, the CTTA said in a statement. The 2024 Olympic table tennis events will take place at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles from July 27 to August 10. Adblock test (Why?)
Number of internally displaced people hit new record in 2023: Report
Conflicts in Sudan and Gaza drove millions from their homes in 2023. The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) around the globe hit a record 75.9 million in 2023, an NGO monitor has found. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) said in a report released on Tuesday that 7.7 million people were displaced by disasters and 68.3 million by conflict and violence. The wars in Sudan and Gaza helped push the numbers to the new record. “Over the past two years, we’ve seen alarming new levels of people having to flee their homes due to conflict and violence, even in regions where the trend had been improving,” IDMC director Alexandra Bilak said. “Conflict, and the devastation it leaves behind, is keeping millions from rebuilding their lives, often for years on end.” While refugees are those who have fled abroad, internal displacement refers to the forced movement of people within the country in which they live. The end-of-year record was a significant increase from 71.1 million recorded at the end of 2022. Over the last five years, the figure increased by more than 50 percent, the IDMC said. Conflict-driven The number of IDPs resulting from conflict increased by 22.6 million last year, with the two biggest increases in 2022 and 2023. Sudan has the highest number of IDPs recorded for a single country since records began in 2008, the monitor said, with an estimated 9.1 million people displaced. Almost half of all IDPs live in sub-Saharan Africa. Fighting in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Palestinian territory accounted for nearly two-thirds of new movements of people due to conflict in 2023. In the Gaza Strip, 1.7 million Palestinians were internally displaced by the end of 2023, after Israel launched a war following an attack by Hamas on October 7. The monitor, which also keeps track of each new forced movement of a person within their borders, said there were 3.4 million new movements as people were displaced several times over in the enclave. Of the 26.4 million forced movements due to disasters, a third were in China and Turkey as a result of severe weather events and strong earthquakes. The report warned that displacement often lasts for long periods due to infrastructure damage and institutional disruption. In Syria, the number of internally displaced people reached a peak of 7.6 million in 2014. However, the number still stood at 7.2 million last year, despite a significant reduction in violence. The IDMC was created by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in 1998. Jan Egeland, NRC’s chief, said the monitor had never recorded so many people forced away from their homes and communities. “It is a damning verdict on the failures of conflict prevention and peace-making,” Egeland said. “The lack of protection and assistance that millions endure cannot be allowed to continue.” Adblock test (Why?)
Unrest in Pakistan-administered Kashmir: What’s behind the recent protests?
Islamabad, Pakistan — Protesters in Pakistan-administered Kashmir have called for shutdowns and the declaration of a “black day” on Tuesday after blaming paramilitary forces for killing three young men and injuring several others on Monday evening. A protest convoy, led by a group called the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), has been marching towards Muzaffarabad since May 11, the capital of the autonomous region bordering India, over demands including subsidised flour and electricity. However, on Monday evening, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved a 23 billion rupee ($82m) subsidy programme, drastically reducing the price of wheat and flour. Shaukat Nawaz Mir, the chairman of the JAAC, said the group had planned to turn their protest in to a celebration after the government’s decision to meet their demands, but will now protest against the killings. “Our protesters were completely peaceful but the government’s decision to call in rangers meant that they wanted to use force against us, and now we see that three people were killed,” he told Al Jazeera. The regional government also issued a notification ordering the closure of government offices and all educational institutions in the region. The protests, which started over the weekend, also saw the partial suspension of mobile internet services as well in some regions. Pakistani government officials have hinted, on social media, at “enemy propaganda” fanning the tensions — an apparent allusion to India, with which Pakistan has fought three wars over Kashmir. But officially, Islamabad has not blamed India for the crisis it faces in Pakistan-administered Kashmir just yet. On Sunday, Sharif expressed “deep concerns” over the situation, saying that while protest is a democratic right, no one should take the law into their own hands. “Unfortunately, in situations of chaos and dissent, there are always some who rush in to score political points. While debate, discussion and peaceful protests are the beauties of democracy, there should be absolutely no tolerance for taking the law in one’s own hands and damaging government properties,” he wrote in a message on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter). Deeply concerned about the situation in AJK. Unfortunately in situations of chaos and dissent there are always some who rush in to score political points. While debate, discussion and peaceful protests are the beauties of democracy , there should be absolutely no tolerance for… — Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) May 12, 2024 Here is a look at what the protesters have been demanding and how the government has responded so far. What are the protests about? The Kashmir valley is the picturesque, but contentious Himalayan region over which Pakistan and India have fought multiple wars since gaining independence from British rule in 1947. The region is claimed in full by both, but each governs parts of it. With a population of more than four million, Pakistan-administered Kashmir, locally known as Azad Jammu Kashmir, has a semiautonomous government with its own prime minister. According to Imtiaz Aslam, a senior leader of the 31-member JAAC which includes labour leaders, traders, transporters and other civil society members in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, their demands go back a year to May 2023. “Our movement began last year when there was a massive wheat crisis leading to increased prices of flour, and after that there was a major increase in electricity rates, following which we began our protests and made demands to reduce the prices,” he told Al Jazeera. Aslam, who was speaking from the region’s Bagh district while leading a convoy of hundreds of people to the regional capital, Muzaffarabad, roughly 75km (46 miles) north, said the protesters were also urging the government to rein in spending on officials. The protesters allege that slashing the bureaucracy of Pakistan-administered Kashmir could ensure it has more resources to spend on the public. “’Civil society people are protesting all over the world. The problem here is that as soon as you make any demands, you are accused of being an agent and silenced,” he said. What are the protesters’ demands? According to Aslam of the JAAC, the residents put forward 10 demands before the government, nine of which the government agreed to in February but has failed to deliver. The demands included the provision of subsidised flour, the provision of electricity at its production cost, and improved financial integration with the rest of Pakistan, allowing the bank in the region to open branches in other parts of the country. The JAAC says the government agreed to all of the demands except for reducing electricity prices. Protesters say the people of Pakistan-administered Kashmir should get electricity at cost since it is generated locally, through Mangla Dam, situated in the Mirpur district of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Aslam, the senior leader, said three months later, the government is yet to meet any of those demands. “On February 4, we were told by the government representatives that our demands will be met except the electricity rate and promised to deliver on them within a month. Yet here we are, when instead of fulfilling our demands, they have unleashed brutal violence on our peaceful demonstrations,” the leader said. However, Chaudhry Shaukat Ali, commissioner of Mirpur, says under Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, the prime minister of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the regional administration had already reduced prices of electricity and flour. But protesters say the reductions do not go far enough. “The protesters are only shifting goalposts, as they keep coming up with new demands,” Ali said, suggesting that the demand to lower electricity prices to production cost was new. “This is not how it is done.” Kashmiris in Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi rallied to support the protests in Pakistan-administered Kashmir [Shahzaib Akber/EPA] What is the latest situation? As tensions grew during protests over the last few days, the regional government called in paramilitary forces and deployed extra police. The JAAC claims some of its leadership was arrested pre-emptively by law enforcement officials, prompting them to call for a general strike on May 10. That was followed by a call for protests