Botswana, home to nearly half of Africa’s wild elephants, is preparing to repatriate thousands of the giant mammals to neighboring Angola to reduce overpopulation and conflict with farmers. Tens of thousands of elephants fled Angola’s decades-long civil war to Botswana, as Mqondisi Dube reports from Chobe, Botswana.Camera: Reference Sibanda
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Month: November 2020
Turkey-Backed Rebels Attack Syrian Town, Displacing Residents
Recent attacks by Turkey-backed rebels have caused another round of displacement in Syria, where dozens of families have left their homes in the border town of Ain Issa. The town is held by Kurdish forces that Turkey views as terrorists. VOA’s Reber Kalo reports from Syria.
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US Urges End to Violence in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday urged a stop to all fighting in Ethiopia, as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed lauded his troops for what he termed their victory in the Tigrayan capital of Mekelle. “I spoke with Ethiopian Prime Minister @AbiyAhmedAli today and urged a complete end to the fighting in Tigray, a start to dialogue, and free, safe, unhindered humanitarian access,” Pompeo wrote on Twitter.I spoke with Ethiopian Prime Minister Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed gestures while addressing the House of Peoples Representatives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Nov. 30, 2020.Authorities have not confirmed whether there were any deaths in a Saturday offensive, which followed a 72-hour ultimatum for the TPLF to surrender to the national government. But the International Committee of the Red Cross noted that the Ayder Referral Hospital in Mekelle was lacking body bags for the deceased. Meanwhile, local hospitals in Mekelle were running out of medical supplies to treat the injured, aid workers said Sunday.According to the ICRC, roughly 80% of patients at the hospital were suffering from trauma injuries. ”The hospital is running dangerously low on sutures, antibiotics, anticoagulants, painkillers and even gloves,” Maria Soledad, head of operations for the ICRC in Ethiopia, was quoted as saying in a Sunday press release from the ICRC.”The influx of injured comes more than three weeks after supply chains were disrupted into Mekelle,” she added. Tens of thousands have fled the area for neighboring Sudan. Some reports say thousands have been killed since the violence broke out. Meanwhile, the U.N. refugee agency has appealed for $147 million to support the Ethiopians who have fled to Sudan. The agency says some 43,000 people have gone to the neighboring country in recent weeks.
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Greek Monastery Seeks Return of Stolen Religious Objects from Bulgaria
Leading clerics and monks in Greece are urging the state to take legal action against Bulgaria in a bid to win back hundreds of rare religious relics, including Byzantine manuscripts, that Greece alleges were stolen by Bulgarian guerrillas during World War I.The move comes after the U.S.-based Museum of the Bible, which holds some of the world’s most revered collections of religious manuscripts, agreed last week to return a rare 10th century gospel book to the Monastery of Theotokos Eikosiphinisa in northern Greece.“This return marks a glorious achievement,” said Bishop Pavlos of the northeastern Greek city of Drama, who oversees the monastery. “[But] more manuscripts and relics are out there, around the globe, and they need to be repatriated.”“We plan to get tougher in our fight, potentially taking legal action against Bulgaria. But the bigger question is why isn’t the Greek state – the ultimate keeper of the country’s national treasures and identity – backing this repatriation campaign also.”Greece says there has been no response from the Bulgarian government.Successive Greek governments have long lobbied for the return of the Parthenon Marbles, billing their repatriation a top national priority and insisting the British Museum hand them back after a British aristocrat, Lord Elgin, hacked them off the ancient temple, selling them to the British Museum over 200 years ago.FILE – A woman looks at the Parthenon Marbles, a collection of stone objects, inscriptions and sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, on show at the British Museum in London, Oct. 16, 2014.“There is no difference to what happened in the case of Eikosiphinisa,” the bishop said.Painstakingly written out in Greek and preserved for centuries at the monastery, also known as Kozintsa, the decorated manuscript was stolen in 1917 by Bulgarian separatists who looted some 430 sacred documents from the convent’s library and 470 religious relics.They then sold them to bookshops and collectors across Europe. The documents and relics eventually found their way to art dealers, who allegedly auctioned them off to major institutions or private collectors in Europe and the U.S.These include elite universities such as Princeton and Duke, and the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City.Legal action spearheaded by ecumenical Patriarch Batholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s 200 million Christian Orthodox adherents, has already been waged in the United States.But the front line of the battle, Bishop Pavlos said, should be Bulgaria, where the bulk of the booty remains in the hands of the state there.“It is unthinkable that the Greek state has not even submitted a simple petition after so many years,” he says.The Greek Culture Ministry did not respond to repeated requests by VOA for comment.Claims for restitution target the Ivan Dujcev Center for Slavo-Byzantine Studies in Sofia, which holds around 300 of the looted manuscripts, despite the 1919 Treaty of Neuilly which required Bulgaria to return all cultural objects taken during the First World War.In a statement, the Museum of the Bible in Washington said it acquired the 1,000-year-old gospel book from Christie’s auction house in 2011. But details of its provenance remain murky, allowing Patriarch Batholomew to weigh in and insist on its return.FILE – A visitor looks at various Bibles during a preview at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., Nov. 14, 2017.The museum has since then acknowledged that pieces of its collection, originally owned by the Green family in Oklahoma City, founders of the arts and crafts chain Hobby Lobby, were looted and smuggled out of their country of origin – an admission that has sparked a thorough in-house investigation.Similar moves led the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago to hand back another priceless manuscript to the Eikosiphinisa monastery in 2016 – a landmark return that adds firepower to Greece’s campaign to win back the Parthenon Marbles.Religion, Bishop Pavlos advises, should not become a factor in cultural restitution.But even if it is, he quips, “Then those in the helm of power should not forget that the Parthenon was once a religious temple too.”
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France Faces Public Resistance to COVID Vaccine
As French authorities prepare to roll out their COVID immunization strategy this week, they face skepticism in a country where surveys show many people do not trust the vaccine.France was among the nations of Europe taking the heaviest hit from the COVID-19 outbreak as more than 50, 000 people died of the virus.Like the rest of the world, hopes are high that vaccines will defeat the virus and enable people to go back to a normal life. The French immunization campaign is scheduled to start by the end of December with the elderly, people living in nursing homes and medical personnel slated to receive the first doses.In an address to the nation, French President Emmanuel Macron said a scientific committee would supervise the immunization campaign and a citizen group would be created to make sure the population is part of the process. Immunization against COVID-19 must be clear and transparent and information must be shared on what is known and unknown, insists Macron, who stressed that immunization will not be mandatory in France.The government is worried that millions of French people will refuse coronavirus vaccine shots due as skepticism grows in the country. Fifty-nine percent of French people surveyed say they would not get vaccinated, according to an IFO poll published on Sunday.Prime Minister Jean Castex recently said his fear is that not enough French people will get vaccinated.Jean Paul Stahl, a French doctor of infectious diseases, said the numbers concern him.The professor explains there is a common fear of side effects for these vaccine.He said there is also skepticism as people see this vaccine as a tool used by the government. Stahl said that nowadays in our societies, more and more people do not trust any authority: political, scientific, and others.France has budgeted more than $1.75 billion to buy vaccines next year.
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Used to Freedom, Women in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Worry About Future Under Taliban Rule
In Afghanistan’s central Bamiyan province, women have enjoyed relatively more freedom than elsewhere in the country. But many of them are now facing an uncertain future. VOA’s Ayesha Tanzeem reports.Camera: Rahim Gul Sarwan
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‘World’s Loneliest Elephant’ Arrives in Cambodia to Start New Life
The pachyderm dubbed the “world’s loneliest elephant” arrived in Cambodia Monday, following his rescue from a Pakistani zoo. After a seven-hour flight from Pakistan in a custom-built enclosure, Kaavan was welcomed to Cambodia by chanting Buddhist monks and sent on his way to a wildlife sanctuary. Kaavan the Asian elephant is released into his new home in the Kulen Prom Tep Wildlife Sanctuary in Oddar Meanchey Province on Nov. 30, 2020.During his flight, the elephant reportedly ate 200 kilograms of snacks and took a nap. “He behaves like a frequent flier. The flight was uneventful, which is all you can ask for when you transfer an elephant,” Amir Khalil, a veterinarian for the animal rescue group that accompanied Kaavan on the flight, according to AP. The vet works for the Vienna, Austria-based Four Paws animal rescue group, which organized the 36-year-old pachyderm’s rescue. FILE – Volunteers paint an image of Kaavan on a crate to transport him to Cambodia, at the Maragzar Zoo in Islamabad, Pakistan, Nov. 27, 2020.One reason Kaavan may have been somewhat relaxed is that he was trained three times a day for three months on how to enter and exit his special travel crate, AP reported. Kaavan arrived in Pakistan in 1985 as a gift from Sri Lanka. He had been in the Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad. In 2012, his partner, Saheli, died due to a leg infection. FILE – A Four Paws veterinarian is pictured with an elephant named Kaavan at the Maragzar Zoo in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sept. 4, 2020.Campaigners say the heartbreaking image of Kaavan standing above the body of his partner shocked the world. Kaavan was held in chains for years in an insufficient enclosure and was forced to perform in front of visitors in the poorly managed zoo. An initial medical examination in September showed Kaavan’s nails had cracked and were overgrown due to improper care and an insufficient enclosure with flooring that damaged its feet. The elephant also developed a stereotypical behavior because of his loneliness, the cause of his shaking head back and forth for hours. Kaavan was also obese, according to AP, which said he ate 250 kilograms of sugar cane daily. He reportedly lost 450 kilograms before his trip to Cambodia. In addition to Four Paws, American singer Cher and her animal welfare group Free the Wild helped secure Kaavan’s release. Cher was in Pakistan Nov. 27 when she met with Prime Minister Imran Khan. “Cher has arrived and is so grateful for the help and support from the people of Pakistan to allow Kaavan to move to Cambodia and live out the rest of his life in peace and with dignity,” Free the Wild co-founder Mark Cowne said in an email to VOA. Pop singer Cher gestures in front of the crate of Kaavan upon his arrival in Cambodia at Siem Reap International Airport in Siem Reap on Nov. 30, 2020.Kaavan will now be trucked to the animal sanctuary in northern Cambodia and should be out of his crate on Dec. 1.
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Uganda President Quotes Bible in Ominous Message to Opposition
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni Sunday bragged about the army’s strength and appeared to threaten the opposition. Referencing security clashes at opposition protests this month that left 54 people dead, Museveni quoted the Bible, saying wrongdoers deserve death.
In a special address Sunday night, President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power for 34 years, donned a military jacket and did not mince words. Referring to opposition parties as “criminal gangs,” Museveni said the violent protests that led to the loss of 54 lives will never be repeated. During the address, he reviewed videos of protesters damaging vehicles with his campaign posters and undressing a woman who was clad in a yellow T-shirt. He called the incidents acts of impunity by opposition supporters with foreign support. Ugandan riot policemen fire tear gas canisters to disperse supporters of presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, in Luuka district, eastern Uganda, Nov. 18, 2020.Museveni, who is also the chief of the defense forces, says weak police responses in the past have created a false impression that his security is also weak. “It was definitely a miscalculation for the schemers to imagine that they can use such anti-people techniques in a country led by the original National Resistance Army,” he said. “The overall security posture of Uganda is robust. You have no right to stone Ugandans, to undress them, including women, because they are wearing yellow garments. You have no right to damage property.” Regarding videos of soldiers shooting at civilians, he said they would be investigated and that an explanation as to why they didn’t shoot into the air would be provided. FILE – Riot policemen detain a supporter of presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, in Luuka district, Uganda, Nov. 18, 2020.Museveni said out of the 54 killed, 20 were not rioters and that they would be compensated. Quoting the Bible, Museveni had the following to say to rioters and their supporters: “In the book of Romans Chapter One, Verse 32, it says, ‘Who, knowing the righteous judgement of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.’” Museveni said the opposition National Unity Platform party, led by Bobi Wine, and the Forum for Democratic Change party, led by Amuriat Patrick Oboi, think they are untouchables and would be dealt with. A supporter of Ugandan musician-turned-politician Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, carries his poster during a protest against the arrest of Kyagulanyi, during his campaign rally in Kampala, Uganda, Nov. 18, 2020.Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda, the FDC spokesperson, says Museveni’s message to the opposition is that both they and their supporters are vulnerable. “He wants to prove a point, that the next elections are just another ceremony,” he said. “Even if you remove me by a vote, I am not going to accept and I have military. And that’s why the shooting was random. In arcades, in schools, in taxis. To prove to everybody that it is very costly to protest against Museveni.”
Political analyst Bernard Sabiti says Museveni has come to a point where he knows that he is not a democrat and continues to play a psychological game on Ugandans. “Whenever something very serious happens, he actually either holds an AK-47 or wears military fatigues to public functions, to actually remind people that he is not a civilian president; he didn’t come in because of your vote,” Sabiti said. Ugandans go to the polls January 14 to elect their next president.
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In France, Public Resistance to COVID Vaccine
As French authorities prepare to roll out their COVID immunization strategy this week, they face skepticism in a country where surveys show many people do not trust the vaccine.France was among the nations of Europe taking the heaviest hit from the COVID-19 outbreak as more than 50, 000 people died of the virus.Like the rest of the world, hopes are high that vaccines will defeat the virus and enable people to go back to a normal life. The French immunization campaign is scheduled to start by the end of December with the elderly, people living in nursing homes and medical personnel slated to receive the first doses.In an address to the nation, French President Emmanuel Macron said a scientific committee would supervise the immunization campaign and a citizen group would be created to make sure the population is part of the process. Immunization against COVID-19 must be clear and transparent and information must be shared on what is known and unknown, insists Macron, who stressed that immunization will not be mandatory in France.The government is worried that millions of French people will refuse coronavirus vaccine shots due as skepticism grows in the country. Fifty-nine percent of French people surveyed say they would not get vaccinated, according to an IFO poll published on Sunday.Prime Minister Jean Castex recently said his fear is that not enough French people will get vaccinated.Jean Paul Stahl, a French doctor of infectious diseases, said the numbers concern him.The professor explains there is a common fear of side effects for these vaccine.He said there is also skepticism as people see this vaccine as a tool used by the government. Stahl said that nowadays in our societies, more and more people do not trust any authority: political, scientific, and others.France has budgeted more than $1.75 billion to buy vaccines next year.
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Biden, Economic Realities Spur Turkey-Saudi Rapprochement
Turkey’s relations with Saudi Arabia appear to be thawing after years of regional rivalry, with both countries’ leaders pledging to improve bilateral ties. Analysts suggest factors that are leading to the improvement in ties could be economic matters as well as an incoming Joe Biden presidency. “President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and King Salman agreed to keep channels of dialogue open to improve bilateral ties and overcome issues,” a Turkish presidency statement said after the two leaders spoke by phone earlier in November. The leaders’ conversation has been followed by similar warm statements by the Turkish and Saudi foreign ministers who met in Niger on the sidelines of an Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting. “A strong Turkey-Saudi Arabia partnership will be beneficial not just for our countries, but for the whole region,” Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted. FILE – Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Saudi King Salman attend a ceremony in Ankara, Turkey. Apr. 12, 2016.Erdogan and Saudi Crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman have been bitter rivals in the past, frequently exchanging angry barbs while pursuing regional dominance. “Saudi Arabia and MBS [Mohammed Bin Salman] in particular, he tries to be the leader of the Arab world.” said professor of international relations Huseyin Bagci of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University. “Saudi Arabia is a close ally to the U.S., and Donald Trump gave them a free hand without conditions. Turkey was also trying to be the leader of the Arabs and the Islamic world, which was opposed by Saudi Arabia,” Bagci said. Observers blame the bilateral rivalry for worsening conflicts across the Middle East and North Africa. But Biden’s apparent election victory over Trump is forcing the Turks and Saudis to reassess. FILE – Then-US. Vice President Joe Biden (L) meets with Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul, Nov. 22, 2014.”One of the impetus [for Saudi Turkish rapprochement] is the arrival of Joe Biden,” said former Turkish Ambassador to Qatar, Mithat Rende, now a regional energy analyst. “The Saudis should be prepared [for] a different treatment by the Biden administration, so the Saudis and also the Turks, they came to understand this worsening of relations, this crisis in bilateral relations is not sustainable.” Analysts also cite economic factors in the push for Turkey’s rapprochement with Riyadh. “Turkey has economically terrible conditions at the moment, and Saudi Arabia has always been a life-breath for Turkey,” said Bagci. “In the past, they invest and bring money into the country, so probably this also try by Turkey to renew the relations, and to make some concessions,” he added. FILE – A Saudi woman looks at the dairy products in a supermarket, after Saudi Arabia’s retail stores urged customers to boycott Turkish products, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 18, 2020.Riyadh is reported to have imposed an unofficial trade embargo on Turkish goods. The Turkish Exporters Assembly said exports to Saudi Arabia fell 16% until October this year to $2.23 billion. But Ankara appears optimistic of a breakthrough.”We expect concrete steps to solve problems in our trade and economic relations,” Turkey’s Sabah newspaper quoted trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan as saying. “Our counterparts told us there was no formal decision that there were some exceptional issues.” In a possible gesture to Riyadh, analysts suggest Ankara is toning down its rhetoric over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. FILE – People hold pictures of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a gathering to mark the second anniversary of his killing at the Saudi Consulate, in Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 2, 2020.Khashoggi’s murder inside Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate in 2018 saw Erdogan take a leading role in international condemnation of Riyadh for the slaying, which was widely blamed on prominent members of the Saudi regime.An Istanbul court is currently trying Saudi officials in absentia for Khashoggi’s killing. Ankara had been drawing publicity to the case, until now. Last week’s hearing drew no comment by Erdogan or any of his senior party officials, and the case is adjourned until March. “Turkey has stopped making this an international issue,” said Emre Caliskan of Britain’s University of Oxford. “It seems Erdogan has lowered his tone over Khashoggi case; this would also be an indication Erdogan wants to have a better relationship with Riyadh.” However, Ankara’s support of the Muslim Brotherhood remains a major stumbling block to any reset in Turkish-Saudi ties.”Turkey has supported the Arab Spring and the Saudis they were not happy about it. The support of the Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood] movement, in particular, it was considered by Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other Gulf kingdoms as a threat to their rulers and systems,” said Rende. Riyadh lists the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, a designation Ankara strongly rejects. “I don’t think Erdogan will break its position with Muslim brotherhood at least in near future because this support has a direct impact on Turkey’s policy in Libya, Syria, and Qatar,” said Caliskan. History and pragmatism will be critical to any rapprochement, predicts Caliskan. “We should not forget that these two countries had a very good relationship before the Arab spring. Turkey and Saudi Arabia must learn to work together with their different agendas and baggages. But when it comes to pragmatism Erdogan is the champion of pragmatism; I am confident Erdogan would establish a dialogue with the Saudi leadership and vice versa would be true,” Caliskan said.
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Ethiopian PM Calls Extraordinary Session of Parliament as Tigray Conflict Continues
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called an extraordinary session of the parliament on Monday, while the conflict in the country’s northern Tigray region continues. Late Sunday, Reuters reported that the leader of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) Debretsion Gebremichael claimed in a text message to the new agency that Tigray forces had shot down an Ethiopian plane and had taken a town form the federal forces. There has not been any immediate comment to such claims from the government or the military. In a related development, the U.S. Embassy in Eritrea said that six explosions were heard overnight in the capital, Asmara. The explosions came hours after Abiy declared victory in the offensive of the government forces against TPLF and the army said it had taken “full control” of the Tigray capital Mekelle. However, government sources said TPLF leaders remained on the run. Abiy said Saturday that Mekelle had been “captured,” after giving forces of TPLF a 72-hour ultimatum to surrender to the national government. Abiy announced a military offensive against the regional government in Tigray on November 4, saying it was in response to an attack by Tigray forces on a federal military base.People who fled the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region arrive on a bus at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, Sudan, Nov. 26, 2020. The Ethiopian army announced Nov. 28 that it had taken full control of Mekelle, Tigray’s capital.Authorities have not confirmed whether there were any deaths in an offensive Saturday, but the International Committee of the Red Cross noted that the Ayder Referral Hospital in Mekelle was lacking body bags for the deceased.Meanwhile, local hospitals in Mekelle were running out of medical supplies to treat the injured, aid workers said Sunday. According to the ICRC, roughly 80% of patients at the hospital were suffering from trauma injuries. “The hospital is running dangerously low on sutures, antibiotics, anticoagulants, painkillers and even gloves,” Maria Soledad, the head of operations for the ICRC in Ethiopia, was quoted as saying in a Sunday press release from the ICRC.”The influx of injured comes more than three weeks after supply chains were disrupted into Mekelle,” she added. Telecommunication and internet services in the Tigray region have been cut for weeks, making it nearly impossible for journalists and aid workers to confirm reports of violence. Tens of thousands have fled the area for neighboring Sudan. Some reports say thousands have been killed since violence broke out earlier this month.
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At Least 110 People Feared Dead in Attack on Farmers in Nigeria
At least 110 people are feared dead in a weekend attack on farmers in the northeast part of Nigeria blamed on Islamic jihadists that are active in the area. United Nations humanitarian coordinator for the African country, Edward Kallon, said in a statement he was “outraged and horrified by the gruesome attack against civilians” in the village of Koshobe near Borno State capital Maiduguri. “At least 110 civilians were ruthlessly killed, and many others were wounded in this attack,” Kallon said, adding that it was the most violent attack on innocent civilians this year. He called “for the perpetrators of this heinous and senseless act to be brought to justice.” Late Sunday, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spokesperson issued a statement in which he strongly condemned the “horrific attack on rice farm workers in Koshobe village.”United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a news conference at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., Nov. 20, 2020.Guterres extended “his deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and to the people of Nigeria,” Stéphane Dujarric said in the statement, wishing “a swift recovery to the injured and calls for the immediate and safe return of the abductees and those still reported missing.” Guterres reaffirmed the UN commitment “to support the Government of Nigeria in its fight against terrorism and violent extremism and in its response to pressing humanitarian needs in the northeast of the country.” Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari issued statement condemning the killings, in which he also said that “the entire country is hurt by these senseless killings.” Buhari said the government had equipped the armed forces with everything needed “to take all necessary steps to protect the country’s population and its territory.” Although, there is no group to have claimed the responsibility for the weekend massacre on Nigerian farmers, such attacks have been carried out in the past by Boko Haram or the Islamic State West Africa Province, which are both active in northeast Nigeria, where Islamic jihadists have killed at least 30,000 people.
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Sri Lanka Prison Protest Over COVID-19 Becomes Deadly
Officials say an inmate protest Sunday about the growing number of COVID-19 infections at a prison in Sri Lanka turned into a riot. Authorities say guards opened fire on the inmates. At least six people were killed in the clash and 50 people were wounded at the Mahara prison, about 15 kilometers north of Colombo. Police spokesman Ajith Rohana told the Associated Press the prisoners “reportedly destroyed most of the property including offices inside the prison.” Inmates at prisons in Sri Lanka have been demanding early release in recent weeks because of the escalating infections.
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French Police Charged in Beating, Racial Abuse of Black Man
Four French police officers have been charged in connection to the beating and racial abuse of a black music producer, a judicial source said Monday, days after the incident in Paris that intensified controversy over a proposed security law. The beating of music producer Michel Zecler — exposed in video footage published last week — has become a focus of anger against the police, who critics accuse of institutionalized racism and targeting black and Arab people. Tens of thousands protested Saturday against a security bill, which would restrict the right to publish images of on-duty police. Police said 81 people were arrested at the protests, with Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin saying the violence was unacceptable. An investigating magistrate ruled early Monday morning to charge the officers with “willful violence by a person holding public authority” and forgery, a judicial source told AFP. Two remain behind bars, while the other two were put on conditional release, the source added. Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz on Sunday had called for the officers to be charged specifically with using racial abuse.Fire-fighters pull off a fire on a burning car during a demonstration against a security law that would restrict sharing images of police, Nov. 28, 2020 in Paris.Racial abuse chargesAhead of the charges, the four officers had been questioned by the police’s National Police Inspectorate General on suspicion of using violence and racial abuse. Heitz said three of the officers should remain in custody “to avoid the perpetrators communicating or putting pressure on witnesses.” He also called for charges of intentional violence, racial abuse and posting a false police report. The fourth officer, who arrived on the scene later and fired a tear gas canister, should be freed under conditions and charged with intentional violence, he said. The four officers had a good service record before the incident, he said, and claimed they had acted “out of fear.” Zecler had been stopped for not wearing a mask and because of a strong smell of cannabis. But only a tiny quantity of the substance was found, he said. Lawyers representing three of the officers declined to comment Monday on the charges. Law controversyCommentators say that the images of the beating, first published by the Loopsider news site, might never have been made public if the contentious Article 24 of the security legislation was made law. The bill would criminalize publishing images of on-duty police with the intent of harming their “physical or psychological integrity.” It was passed by the National Assembly although it is awaiting Senate approval.
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UK Inquiry Looks into Role of Air Pollution in Death of Girl
A public inquiry opens Monday in London to determine the role played by air pollution in the death of a girl living near a busy London street, a case that could set a precedent. Then 9 years old, Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah died February 15, 2013, of a serious asthma attack after nearly three years of repeated attacks and more than 30 hospitalizations related to the disease. An initial investigation, in 2014, determined that she died of acute respiratory failure caused by severe asthma. But those findings were overturned in 2019 and a new investigation was ordered because of new evidence regarding air pollution risks, highlighted in a report in 2018. This second investigation, which begins Monday and will last two weeks, will examine the levels of pollution to which Ella had been exposed and determine whether they caused her death. If the coroner, charged with identifying the reason for death, concludes that air pollution directly caused Ella’s death, that would set a precedent. The girl is believed to be the first person in the United Kingdom to have air pollution as the cause of death. ‘Striking link’Ella lived less than 30 meters from the South Circular, a busy and regularly congested route in South London. In 2018, Professor Stephen Holgate, a British air pollution expert, noted a “striking link” between Ella’s emergency hospitalizations and the recorded peaks of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and airborne particles, the most harmful pollutants. The investigation will examine possible failures by the authorities to take measures to reduce pollution and inform the public about the health risks. Officials from the British Ministries of Transport, Environment and Health will be heard, as well as Holgate. Ella’s mother, Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, will testify during the second week of the investigation. “It has been almost eight years since Ella passed away and it has been a long and difficult struggle to get this investigated, with obstacles in the way. I want justice for Ella and the true cause of her death written on her death certificate,” Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said in a statement, before the opening of the second investigation. “She was the life and soul of our home, always playing music, dancing with my other daughter, Sophia. She had a lot of influence on her younger siblings, encouraging them to succeed, their doing sports,” she said. According to figures from the city of London, 99% of the city exceeds the limits recommended by the WHO in terms of air pollution. Last month, the executive director of the Clean Air Fund, Jane Burston, noted “that children in London age 4 were .2% more likely to be hospitalized with asthma on days when nitrogen dioxide pollution is high.” London Mayor Sadiq Khan said last month, citing supporting figures, that air quality had improved since 2016. He highlighted the measures put in place since his election, including enforcement last year of an “ultra-low emission zone” (ULEZ) that forces the drivers of the most polluting vehicles to pay a daily tax on entry.
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Hospitals in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region Running Low on Supplies, Says Aid Group
Local hospitals in Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray region, were running out of medical supplies to treat the injured, aid workers said Sunday, a day after the prime minister declared “victory” in the embattled region and the army announced it had taken control of the area. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Saturday that Mekelle had been “captured,” after giving forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, a 72-hour ultimatum to surrender to the national government. Abiy announced a military offensive against the regional government in Tigray on November 4, saying it was in response to an attack by Tigray forces on a federal military base. Authorities have not confirmed whether there were any deaths in an offensive Saturday, but the International Committee of the Red Cross noted that the Ayder Referral Hospital in Mekelle was lacking body bags for the deceased According to the ICRC, roughly 80% of patients at the hospital were suffering from trauma injuries. “The hospital is running dangerously low on sutures, antibiotics, anticoagulants, painkillers and even gloves,” Maria Soledad, the head of operations for the ICRC in Ethiopia, was quoted as saying in a Sunday press release from the ICRC. “The influx of injured comes more than three weeks after supply chains were disrupted into Mekelle,” she added. Telecommunication and internet services in the Tigray region have been cut for weeks, making it nearly impossible for journalists and aid workers to confirm reports of violence. Tens of thousands have fled the area for neighboring Sudan. Some reports say thousands have been killed since violence broke out earlier this month. “God bless Ethiopia and its people!” Prime Minister Abiy said in a statement. “We have entered Mekelle without innocent civilians being targets.” But the leader of the TPLF forces told the Reuters news agency they were not giving up. “Their brutality can only add [to] our resolve to fight these invaders to the last,” TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael said in a text message. Asked by Reuters if that meant his forces would continue fighting, he replied, “Certainly. This is about defending our right to self-determination.”
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