‘Political games’: Advocates vow to fight US border policy standoff
Washington, DC – Military aid for Ukraine in exchange for stricter migration and asylum policies: That is the gambit put forward by Republicans in the United States Congress as they negotiate with Democrats over government spending. But the prospect of tighter border restrictions has prompted concern among advocates, particularly as some leading Democrats seem poised to compromise. On Tuesday, demonstrators from dozens of advocacy groups gathered near the US Capitol for a “Save Asylum” campaign, where they appealed to lawmakers not to sacrifice asylum protections as part of any spending deal. “We are here today demanding, lifting our voice, and continuing the fight to ensure that a couple of senators do not implement behind closed doors things [that] will affect our community,” said Lydia Walther-Rodriguez, an organiser with the national immigration group CASA. “We are going to lift our voices united to ensure that they do not look at us as just statistics to play political games,” she continued. “Real lives are on the line.” Top Democrats and the White House have already signalled they are willing to make concessions on immigration in return for a long-sought $110bn aid package. That deal would include military aid for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, as well as other security spending. Talks between Republican and Democratic senators, however, failed to reach a breakthrough before Congress adjourned last year for its holiday break. Asylum advocates rally in Washington, DC, amid fears of increased restrictions at the US border [Joseph Stepansky/Al Jazeera] With legislators returning to work this week, asylum rights supporters have vowed a flurry of advocacy work to bring awareness to the ongoing negotiations — and the stakes they entail. Tuesday’s event, held in Washington’s Reformation Lutheran Church, brought together 200 demonstrators, some of whom held signs that read “Save asylum” and “Don’t deport our families”. “Senator Schumer, we see you, but it appears you do not see us,” Murad Awawdeh of the New York Immigration Council said, speaking as if to Senate majority leader himself. “Do good by us, or we will be holding you and everyone else accountable,” he added. ‘Trump border plan, plain and simple’ Addressing the crowd on Tuesday, Senator Alex Padilla, a Democrat from California, acknowledged that there has not yet been “anything in writing” in terms of official proposals from the negotiations. Still, he added, what was emerging from the closed-door discussions had given him cause for alarm. “Republicans in Congress are seeking to double down on the failed Trump policies,” he said, referencing former Republican President Donald Trump. “What this deal is sounding like is a page out of the Trump border plan, plain and simple.” The Associated Press (AP) news agency, citing people familiar with the negotiations, reported that humanitarian parole was a sticking point in the bipartisan meetings. Humanitarian parole is a mechanism that allows US Citizenship and Immigration Services to grant temporary legal admission to the US. In 2023, the White House announced it would expand its humanitarian parole programme to accept up to 30,000 applicants per month from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti. That plan was part of a wider strategy the Biden administration said would increase legal pathways to enter the US, while strengthening penalties for irregular crossings at the southern border. But while the Biden administration initially saw a decline in irregular border crossings after the announcement, the overall number has since shot upwards. The US Customs and Border Protection agency documented a record 2,475,669 irregular “encounters” for its 2023 fiscal year, and officials in communities like Eagle Pass, Texas, reported struggling to accommodate the influx of arrivals. Republican officials, as well as some Democrats, have used the heightened numbers to push the federal government for more action. Congressional negotiators reportedly agreed to make asylum interviews more restrictive and allow authorities to quickly expel those crossing the border without humanitarian screenings in periods of increased crossings. However, they have not been able to agree on the number of crossings that would trigger such a policy, according to the AP. The news agency previously reported that other proposals included making it easier to deport migrants who have been in the US for fewer than two years, even if they reside far from the border, and detaining and electronically monitoring families crossing the border. Both tactics, critics fear, would represent a return to hardline Trump-era practices. Speaking at the rally on Tuesday, advocates and elected officials warned the situation was particularly dire because the strict measures Congress members were weighing could end up codified in law. That would make them harder to challenge than policies solely put in place by the executive branch. Senator Mazie Hirono said Republicans were holding aid to the US allies “hostage” to demand “negative, really bad changes that they want to make to the immigration system”. “And my concern is that they are really setting the stage for getting what they want,” she said. ‘Asylum saves lives’ The presidential and congressional elections in November loom large over the immigration fight in Congress. Recently, Republicans in the House of Representatives launched impeachment proceedings against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, accusing him of failing to enforce laws at the border. Speaking in Texas this week, Mayorkas defended his record. From June to July of last year, he said his agency “removed or returned more noncitizens without a basis to remain in the United States than any other five-month period in the last 10 years”. But while Republicans and some Democrats want stricter border restrictions, some politicians — particularly on the left — are wary of more heavy-handed policies. Biden has already faced criticism from within his own Democratic Party for a raft of measures meant to curb southern border crossings by limiting those eligible to make asylum claims. One rule broadly disqualified people from seeking asylum in the US if they crossed through a third country where they could seek asylum or otherwise “circumvent available, established pathways to lawful migration”. Asylum seekers are taken into custody by officials at the Texas-Mexico border
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 686
As the war enters its 686th day, these are the main developments. Here is the situation on Wednesday, January 10, 2024. Fighting Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would do everything it could to halt Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod as Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had brought down 10 rockets fired at the Russian border city in an attack that injured three. Hundreds of people have been evacuated from Belgorod since an attack last month that killed more than 20 civilians. One person was killed in Ukrainian shelling of Russia’s Kursk region near the border, while three people were injured after drones struck a fuel facility in the neighbouring region of Oryol, according to the governors of the two regions. One person was killed in Ukrainian shelling of Horlivka in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Donetsk region, according to the town’s Russian-installed mayor. At least 520 children have been killed and nearly 1,200 injured since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, according to the office of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General. A body was found in the ruins of a Kyiv warehouse destroyed in Russia’s December 29 missile attack on the Ukrainian capital, bringing the number of deaths in the bombardment to 33. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu assured security officials that his forces were in control along the roughly 1,500km (930-mile) front line, which has been largely static over the past year despite fierce fighting. “We retain the strategic initiative along the entire line of contact,” Shoigu said, accusing the United States of pressuring Ukraine to keep fighting against Russia. He claimed that Ukraine lost 215,000 soldiers in the fighting last year. Politics and diplomacy A secret meeting took place last month in Saudi Arabia between Ukraine, its Group of Seven (G7) allies and a small group of Global South countries to build support for Kyiv’s peace plan, according to Bloomberg News. The report, citing people familiar with the situation, said China chose not to attend and Russia was not invited. Russia’s Interior Ministry put exiled Russian tycoon and opposition leader Mikhail Khodorkovsky on its wanted list, accusing him of spreading false information about the Russian army, according to Russian state news agency TASS. London-based Khodorkovsky has been a vocal critic of the war in Ukraine The Italian city of Modena blocked the use of a public hall to host a private event on the reconstruction of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which is under Russian occupation, saying it appeared to openly support Russia’s invasion. The event was organised by the Russia Emilia-Romagna cultural association and panellists included the Russian consul general in Milan, Dmitry Shtodin, according to the organisers’ website. Weapons A group of 48 countries, including Argentina, Australia and the US condemned “in the strongest possible terms the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) export and Russia’s procurement of DPRK ballistic missiles, as well as Russia’s use of these missiles against Ukraine on December 30, 2023, and January 2, 2024”. Such transfers breached United Nations Security Council resolutions on North Korea, they added in a joint statement. The Kremlin’s Peskov declined to comment on the US and Ukrainian allegations. Ukraine’s Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat told national television that Russia’s recent escalation of missile and drone attacks was stretching Ukraine’s air defence resources, leaving the country vulnerable unless it could secure further weapons supplies. Russia fired more than 500 drones and missiles between December 29 and January 2, according to officials in Kyiv. Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said an internal audit of the ministry had so far uncovered corruption schemes estimated at more than $262m, including over the purchase of ammunition. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there were “clear signs of a slowdown” in the activities of Russia’s defence industry and called for further action to eliminate loopholes in sanctions against Moscow. Zelenskyy did not provide evidence for his claim. Adblock test (Why?)
British FM ‘worried’ Israel may have breached international law in Gaza
David Cameron spoke to a parliamentary committee about whether Israel was ‘vulnerable to a challenge’ from the ICC. British Foreign Minister David Cameron has said he is worried that Israel’s war on Gaza may have included breaches of international law, and while the advice he received so far was that Israel was compliant, there were questions to answer. Speaking to the British parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Cameron said some of what he had seen during the war in the besieged Palestinian territory was “deeply concerning”. Asked during a question-and-answer session with lawmakers if Israel could be “vulnerable to a challenge” from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague over whether its actions were proportionate, Cameron said the stance was “close to that”. While the former prime minister did not directly answer questions about whether he had received legal advice that Israel might have broken the law, he said some incidents had raised questions over whether there had been breaches. “Am I worried that Israel has taken action that might be in breach of international law because this particular premises has been bombed, or whatever? Yes, of course,” Cameron said. He added that there was always a “question mark” over whether a given incident had broken international law, which lawyers would examine and advise him over. “The advice has been so far that they [Israel] have the commitment, the capability and the compliance [with international law], but on lots of occasions, that is under question,” he said. The United Kingdom has reaffirmed its support for Israel multiple times and backed its right to defend itself against Hamas, but has also called on the Israeli military to show restraint and act within international law in its offensive in Gaza. The Foreign Affairs Committee scrutinises the work of the UK’s foreign ministry, to which Cameron was appointed late last year. During Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza, at least 23,210 people have been killed, according to the Palestinian health ministry, and most homes in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed. Cameron, who sits in the parliament’s upper chamber as an unelected minister, said it would take “a giant effort” to rebuild Gaza due to the level of destruction being so “great”. “We’re going to need as many people as possible. It will take more than any one country to do it,” he said. He also said that he had seen figures that show Hamas fighters had lost “over 50 percent of their capability and capacity” to fire rockets into Israel. Amid growing concern over the Gaza death toll and the South Africa genocide case against Israel, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israeli leaders on Tuesday to avoid future harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure. Adblock test (Why?)
Blinken says US wants to see end to Israel-Gaza war
NewsFeed “We want this war to end as soon as possible.” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to reporters following his meetings with Israeli leaders and other regional leaders who all share concerns about the Israel-Gaza war spreading. Published On 9 Jan 20249 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Lloyd Austin hospitalised for infection after prostate cancer surgery
Disclosure comes as Pentagon faces public backlash over its secrecy about US defense secretary’s hospitalisation. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been hospitalised since January 1 with a urinary tract infection after a December surgical procedure to treat prostate cancer, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center says. The disclosure on Tuesday came after nearly a week of public backlash directed at the Pentagon over its secrecy about the hospitalisation with President Joe Biden and Austin’s own deputy kept in the dark for days. Once the Pentagon did disclose on Friday that Austin was in the hospital, it declined to say why he was there or offer details about his medical prognosis. The 70-year-old was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on December 22 and underwent surgery to treat the cancer, doctors said. Austin later developed the infection and was rehospitalised. Senior White House and defence officials were not told for days about his hospitalisation or the cancer. Doctors said the cancer was detected when Austin had a regular screening in early December. They said he “underwent a minimally invasive surgical procedure” and went home the next day. But on January 1, he reported nausea and severe abdominal, hip and leg pain due to the infection. They said his prostate cancer was detected early, and his prognosis is excellent. The announcement came after days of questions about why Austin had been hospitalised and why Biden and other top officials hadn’t been informed immediately. Austin sits just below Biden at the top of the chain of command of the US military, the most powerful in the world. His duties require him to be available at a moment’s notice to respond to any national security crisis. Some Republican lawmakers have said Austin should be removed from his job. But the Pentagon said the retired four-star general had no plans to resign, and the White House said Biden, a Democrat, was not seeking to remove him. Austin remains at Walter Reed. “The secretary continues to remain focused on recovering but, more importantly, on carrying out his duties as secretary of defense and defending the nation,” Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder said at a news briefing. Adblock test (Why?)
Irish singer Sinead O’Connor died from ‘natural causes’, coroner confirms
The Nothing Compares 2 u singer was pronounced dead at her London home in July last year. Acclaimed Irish singer Sinead O’Connor, who was found dead in her London home in July last year, died of natural causes, the coroner has said. The Nothing Compares 2 u singer was pronounced dead at the scene, and police said her death, at the age of 56, was not being treated as suspicious. “This is to confirm that Ms O’Connor died of natural causes. The coroner has therefore ceased their involvement in her death,” London Inner South Coroner’s Court said in a statement on Tuesday. The coroner’s court said at the time of her death that an autopsy would be conducted before a decision was made on whether to hold an inquest. O’Connor’s death prompted an outpouring of sympathy from her fans, including other musicians and celebrities worldwide, particularly in her homeland of Ireland. On the day of her funeral in August, hundreds lined the route of her cortege in Bray, the Irish town 20km (13 miles) south of Dublin that she called home for 15 years. Some who came to honour her sang along to hits blasted from a vintage Volkswagen camper van, and others showered her hearse with flowers. Sinead O’Connor performs on stage at Glastonbury, United Kingdom, 1990 [File: Martyn Goodacre/Getty Images] The musician, who rose to fame in the 1990s, changed the image of women in music at the time. Her shaved head, pained expression, and shapeless wardrobe were seen by many young women as a direct challenge to popular culture’s long-prevailing notions of femininity and sexuality. She was also vocal about her political stance against the Catholic Church. O’Connor was vilified by some and praised as a trailblazer by others. Her agents revealed that she had been completing a new album and planning a tour as well as a movie based on her autobiography, Rememberings, before she died. She converted to Islam in 2018 and took the name Shuhada’ Davitt, later Shuhada’ Sadaqat, but she continued to use Sinead O’Connor in her professional life. The musician had also spoken publicly about her mental health, telling the American television host, Oprah Winfrey, in 2007 that she struggled with thoughts of suicide and had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. More recently, she had left the limelight following the death of her son Shane, who died by suicide in 2022 at age 17. Adblock test (Why?)
Blinken tells Israel to avoid ‘further civilian harm’ in Gaza
In Tel Aviv, the US secretary of state says that while Israel has a ‘right’ to prevent terrorist attacks, a sustainable peace includes the creation of a Palestinian state. United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged Israel to avoid further civilian harm in its war on Gaza and to seek a path towards the creation of a Palestinian state as a way to resolve the long-running wider conflict. In a Tel Aviv meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, Blinken “stressed the importance of avoiding further civilian harm and protecting civilian infrastructure in Gaza”, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. He reaffirmed US “support for Israel’s right to prevent the terrorist attacks of October 7 from being repeated”, Miller added, and “reiterated the need to ensure lasting, sustainable peace for Israel and the region, including by the realisation of a Palestinian state”. The top US diplomat is on his fourth visit to the Middle East since the war broke out on October 7 when Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel that killed 1,139 people, according to Israeli authorities. Israel responded with a devastating bombardment and a ground invasion of Gaza that has destroyed much of the territory and killed more than 23,200 people, mostly women and children, according to Palestinian officials. The secretary of state voiced hope that, after the war, Israel could push on with its efforts towards regional integration following its US-brokered normalisation deals with the United Arab Emirates and other states. “I think there actually are real opportunities there, but we have to get through this very challenging moment,” Blinken said after meeting Foreign Minister Israel Katz. Met with @IsraeliPM and reaffirmed our support for Israel’s right to prevent another October 7 from occurring. I also stressed the importance of avoiding civilian harm, protecting civilian infrastructure, and ensuring the distribution of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza. pic.twitter.com/1g7h27Ci8f — Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) January 9, 2024 On Monday in Riyadh, he said countries in the region wanted integration with Israel but only if plans to normalise relations included a “practical pathway” to a future Palestinian state. Blinken was to meet with families of captives taken by Hamas and discuss the “relentless efforts” to bring them back. Several dozen protesters gathered outside the hotel where he was having meetings and called for a ceasefire to secure the release of the captives. Israel said that of about 240 people seized by Palestinian armed groups on October 7, 132 are still being held in Gaza and 25 have died in captivity. Blinken travelled to Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates before reaching Israel and the occupied West Bank. In Jordan on Friday, Blinken noted “real concern” over the Israel-Lebanon border, where the Israeli army and Hezbollah are trading fire and stoking fears of a wider regional conflagration. Israel’s defence minister was quoted as saying in a government statement that increasing pressure on Iran was “critical” as it could prevent a regional escalation as war grinds on in Gaza. “An increase in the pressure placed on Iran is critical and may prevent regional escalation in additional arenas,” Gallant was quoted as saying. Adblock test (Why?)
The Great British Post Office scandal, explained
Public fury over a scandal which has ruined the lives of hundreds of British postal workers has reignited after a TV drama based on the affair was broadcast in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the new year. Faulty computer software resulted in some 230 post office workers being imprisoned on false charges of theft and fraud. Thousands of others were accused of similar misdeeds. Mr Bates vs the Post Office: The Real Story chronicled sub-postmaster Alan Bates’s legal battle against the Post Office, which had falsely accused him and some 3,500 others of defrauding the UK’s postal service. Following the airing of the four-part mini-series, the number of signatures on a long-running petition calling for an official honour to be stripped from former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells rocketed to more than one million. It had the desired effect. On Tuesday, Vennells bowed to pressure and pledged to “return my CBE with immediate effect”. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has also weighed in, promising that the 700-plus postal workers who were prosecuted for crimes they never committed would “get the redress that they deserve”. What happened? Between 1999 and 2015, 736 Post Office branch managers were prosecuted and convicted of financial misconduct based on information generated by the organisation’s computing software. Horizon, the computer software which is still used by the Post Office today, wrongly indicated that sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses (the official titles given to post office managers) had been involved in a campaign of theft and false accounting, leading many to serve jail time. The miscarriage of justice came to light in 2019 when the High Court ruled that the Horizon software was to blame and the government ordered an inquiry into the affair in 2020. But, so far, only 93 people have had their convictions quashed after it was revealed that Horizon was riddled with faults. In 2021, the UK Court of Appeal overturned 39 of those convictions in a single ruling. The rest of the cases are still being evaluated, but the recent TV drama has triggered calls for the process to be expedited. What mistakes did the computer software make? The Post Office began the British rollout of Horizon computing software – manufactured by the Japanese company Fujitsu – in 1999. It was introduced to manage financial transactions in the UK’s Post Office branches. But staff soon began to report that Horizon was falsely indicating cash shortfalls and complained that the system was not fit for purpose. Their complaints to Post Office management that there were errors in the system went unheeded, and these financial irregularities continued to appear on branch accounts countrywide. Faced with these discrepancies and lacking support from management, some sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses attempted to plug the “financial holes” with their own money. But Post Office chiefs, convinced that they were being defrauded and refusing to admit to Horizon’s shortcomings, began to launch private prosecutions against employees in 2000. Some workers served prison sentences after being found guilty of theft. Many faced financial ruin after they were instructed to refund the money they were accused of stealing, and the breakdown of relationships, and several deaths by suicide have been linked to what was described by British barrister Jason Beer as “the worst miscarriage of justice in recent British legal history”. What impact has this had on the accused postal workers? Beer, who is counsel to the continuing public inquiry into the scandal, hearings for which officially began in February 2022, said that “reputations were destroyed, not least because the crimes of which the men and women were convicted all involved acting dishonestly.” He added, “People who were important, respected and integral parts of the local communities that they served were in some cases shunned. A number of men and women sadly died before the state publicly recognised that they were wrongly convicted.” Parmod Kalia was one of those wrongly imprisoned. Falsely accused of pocketing more than 20,000 pounds ($25,500 at the current rate), Kalia was given a six-month jail sentence in 2001. The southeast London postmaster had even been driven to borrow money from his mother to fill the supposed cash shortfall. But, convinced by the Horizon data, the Post Office pursued its prosecution against him. It wasn’t until 2021 that his conviction was overturned. Seema Misra was another. The English postal worker was eight weeks pregnant when she was given a 15-month prison sentence for fraud in 2010 after she was blamed for a cash discrepancy of 74,000 pounds ($94,000 at current rate). “I’d been warned there was a chance I could be jailed,” she recounted of her ordeal to a UK newspaper. “But I honestly just couldn’t see for a second how I could be punished like that for something I hadn’t done. I had faith in the justice system, at that point. When the judge said I’d been sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment, I passed out. If I hadn’t been pregnant, I would have taken my own life. I was at rock bottom.” Like Kalia, her conviction wasn’t quashed until 2021. What will happen next? Amid continuing political accusations that Post Office compensation payments to affected workers have been slow in coming, the TV dramatisation of the scandal has sparked new public outrage over the fact that most of those falsely accused have yet to receive justice. The UK government is now under huge public pressure to speed up the ongoing legal process of reviewing the convictions. The government is considering a number of options, including introducing legislation to quash all convictions of postal workers caught up in the scandal. The next stage of the public inquiry will be a disclosure hearing in London next week, with the full timeline for the inquiry expected to stretch into the middle of this year. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was interviewed on Sunday about the affair, called the convictions an “appalling miscarriage of justice”. Asked by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg whether the Post Office, which is owned by
‘They’re targeting us’: Sudan’s army cracks down on democracy activists
When the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces captured Sudan’s second-largest city, Wad Madani, tens of thousands of people fled and sought safety in regions still under the army’s control. Mohamad Osman* was among them, but military intelligence arrested him as he was trying to flee on December 27. He was taken to a secret detention centre – commonly referred to as a “ghost house” in Sudan – where the army quickly found out that he was a member of the Kalakla resistance committee, one of many neighbourhood groups that spearheaded the pro-democracy movement before the war. For five days, Osman was electrocuted and forced to look at seven corpses rotting on the cold concrete floor. He was going to be number eight. Luckily, a friend in the military bailed him out. Osman is one of dozens of Sudanese activists who have been arrested and tortured in ghost houses by military intelligence in recent weeks, even as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) threatens to defeat the army and capture all of Sudan. “The first thing they asked him was if he was a member of the resistance committees,” said Somaya Noon*, a spokesperson for the Kalakla resistance committee. “We know they’re targeting us.” Many of those being detained are members of the resistance committees, which played an instrumental role in organising mass protests to bring down Sudan’s autocratic former President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. People displaced by the conflict get on top of a truck in Wad Madani on December 16, 2023 [AFP] Four years later, the RSF and army – former bedfellows and relics of al-Bashir’s regime – ignited a devastating civil war by turning on each other. The former has been accused of grave crimes including ethnically motivated killings and sexual violence against women and girls. The army, which is suspected of harbouring Bashir-era loyalists tied to Sudan’s Islamist movement, is also accused of failing to protect civilians and settling scores against pro-democracy activists, according to several resistance committee members. “What is happening is the political revenge by cadres of the former regime who are in the security forces,” said Hassan al-Tayb*, a resistance committee member in Port Sudan, the army’s stronghold and Sudan’s de facto administrative capital since the war. ‘Sleeper cells’ The army frequently accuses resistance committee members of being RSF sleeper cells, but activists believe this is a pretext to punish them for their role in bringing down al-Bashir. “There are some people in the army that say volunteers and activists cooperate with the RSF. But this is not correct,” said Yousif Omer*, a resistance committee member in the city. “I believe these are political arrests. Many of the activists being taken were active during the revolution [that brought down al-Bashir]. Now, they are facing baseless accusations,” Omer told Al Jazeera. Sudanese Armed Forces General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan speaks in Khartoum, Sudan [File: Marwan Ali/AP Photo] Al Jazeera sent messages to army spokesman Nabil Abdallah asking him for comment about the arrests of activists, but received no response by the time of publication. Meanwhile, Sudanese activists accuse the army of devoting more efforts to crack down on them than to fight the RSF. Many pointed to the army’s rapid withdrawal from Wad Madani in mid-December, which allowed the paramilitary to capture the city. Wad Madani was a safe haven for hundreds of thousands of people displaced from the capital Khartoum and surrounding cities earlier in the war, many of whom just had to flee again when the RSF attacked. Some activists went to nearby Sennar state, where they were arrested by military intelligence. “Many friends were detained … there isn’t just one case but quite a few. We just hope they will be released soon,” Omer told Al Jazeera. Threat to legitimacy? Since the war erupted in April 2023, resistance committees have mobilised to evacuate civilians from neighbourhoods caught in the crossfire, power hospitals and distribute food and medicine to those in need. But activists are now pausing their initiatives for fear of arrest. “Right now, I stopped all my work,” Omer said. “To be honest, we’re scared of military intelligence. We just don’t feel like we can move freely to do our work.” Other activists said the army has imposed heavy security measures and set up checkpoints that restrict the movement of civilians and hampered the delivery of aid. River Nile State issues order disbanding neighbourhood service committees. They have been crucial since 2019 in securing basics for their neighbourhoods. This could be a major blow for the local emergency rescue committees in River Nile State. It is a blow to grassroots activism. https://t.co/ZmY6dVcYqZ — Mohanad Hashim (@moehash1) January 8, 2024 In River Nile state, the governor even issued an order to disband resistance committees and reform them according to strict guidelines set by the governor, who also barred members of old committees from joining the new ones. Hamid Khalafallah, a Sudanese expert and an active member of the resistance committees before he fled the country in May, told Al Jazeera that the army is restricting and impeding international aid. “There is a bit of a shift by international aid agencies, who now wish to work with local groups because they have seen that [working through the army] has resulted in very little aid reaching people,” Khalafallah told Al Jazeera from Manchester, United Kingdom. He added that because the army feels that resistance committees threaten its legitimacy and tries to disrupt them, vulnerable communities will face more hardship if local relief is stamped out or scaled back. “I imagine the military is not very happy about possibly losing an opportunity to exploit or divert aid,” he added. Crushing civil space Resistance committees have also drawn ire for calling for an end to the war, for the RSF to dissolve and for the army to surrender to a civilian government, according to al-Tayb from Port Sudan. “The [army] is against any activist that does not support the war or the return of the former regime,”
Former US President Donald Trump attends court for immunity hearing
The presidential candidate is accused of plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden. Former US President Donald Trump has arrived at a Washington court for an appeals hearing as he seeks to be declared immune from prosecution on charges that he plotted to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost. The outcome of the arguments heard in the court will not only have ramifications for the criminal case against Trump but also for the broader and legally untested question of whether an ex-president can be prosecuted for acts committed while in the White House. Special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the case against Trump, is eager to get the case to trial before November’s election, in which Trump is running again. The case has been put on hold for the appeal. Trump’s lawyers are not only seeking to dismiss the case but are also hoping to benefit from a protracted appeals process that could delay the trial past its scheduled March 4 start date, even potentially after the election. Trump is not required to attend Tuesday’s arguments, especially as the Republican presidential caucuses in the state of Iowa are one week away, but his appearance signals how important this case is for his re-election campaign. “Of course I was entitled, as President of the United States and Commander in Chief, to immunity,” Trump wrote on social media. “I was looking for voter fraud, and finding it which is my obligation to do, and otherwise running our Country.” While former presidents have enjoyed broad immunity, no former leader before Trump has ever been indicted, so courts have never addressed whether that protection extends to criminal prosecution. Trump’s lawyers argue that it does, that his prosecution would represent a departure from more than two centuries of American history and would open the door to future “politically motivated” cases. But Smith’s team argues that presidents are not entitled to absolute immunity and the acts that Trump is alleged to have carried out in the indictment – including scheming to get supporters as fake electors in battleground states and pressing his vice president, Mike Pence, to reject the count in favour of now-President Joe Biden – fall outside a president’s job. “Immunity from criminal prosecution would be particularly dangerous where, as here, the former President is alleged to have engaged in criminal conduct aimed at overturning the results of a Presidential election to remain in office beyond the allotted term,” Smith’s team wrote in a brief. “A President who unlawfully seeks to retain power through criminal means unchecked by potential criminal prosecution could jeopardise both the Presidency itself and the very foundations of our democratic system of governance,” it added. A federal judge overseeing the case against Trump had sided with Smith. Now judges on the US Court of Appeals will decide. It’s not clear how quickly they will rule on the appeal, but the court has signalled they intend to work quickly. Adblock test (Why?)