A Chinese push to create civilian settlements along disputed borders in the Himalayan region has emerged as a major new concern for India as, analysts in India say, it replicates Beijing’s strategy to consolidate claims in the South China Sea.The latest red flag has been raised by a new village built by China in an area disputed by the two countries along the border in India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.The construction of the village in territory also claimed by India is a strategy to reinforce China’s claim to the area by altering facts on the ground, analysts say.“The border villages are the Himalayan equivalent of China’s artificially created islands in the South China Sea and let us not forget that in the South China Sea, China has redrawn the geopolitical map without firing a single shot,” Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies at New Delhi’s Center for Policy Research, said.“Beijing advanced the expansionism not by directly employing force but through asymmetrical and hybrid warfare. That success in the South China Sea has emboldened China and it has taken that playbook to the Himalayan borderlands,” he said.Contested borderThe new Chinese village is of particular concern to India because it lies along a sensitive, contested border. China claims the state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet, while India says the northeastern state is an integral part of India.After Indian broadcaster NDTV reported in January, based on satellite images, that a new village had appeared, China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry defended its construction, saying the country’s “normal construction on its own territory is entirely a matter of sovereignty,” and is “beyond reproach.”“We have never recognized the so-called Arunachal Pradesh illegally established on the Chinese territory,” spokesperson Hua Chunying said.The village of about 100 homes according to satellite images was built last year as the two countries were involved in a tense military standoff thousands of kilometers away, along the western Himalayan mountains in Ladakh. Although troops have pulled back, soldiers from both sides remain massed along other stretches of the Himalayas amid continuing territorial disputes on their 3,500-kilometer border.The construction of the new village that has raised concern in India is part of a program by China to build hundreds of settlements along its Himalayan borders, according to several analysts, who say their development has been officially linked by Beijing to poverty alleviation and defense of the borders.“They change the status of an area which was previously uninhabited to inhabited with people either from Tibet or mainland China. So they change the demography in a disputed area,” said Claude Arpi, a scholar on Tibet and an expert on India and China relations.“They bring infrastructure, they bring roads, optical fiber cable, electricity, which can be used for civilian purposes and military purposes also. For India it is really a huge challenge because it has no way to counter it.”Arpi said China’s development in remote mountain areas that have little economic activity shows they have a larger strategic purpose.’A village-building spree’Late last year, satellite images showed a new Chinese village close to the strategic junction of India, Bhutan and Nepal that some analysts said is inside Bhutanese-claimed territory. However, both Bhutan and China have denied that that is the case.“China is on a village-building spree coupled with a major buildup of new military installations in the Himalayan borderlands and it is targeting not just India, but also Bhutan and Nepal,” according to Chellaney. “It is a difficult strategy to counter as it does not involve armed aggression. What it is doing is using villagers and herders at the vanguard and they are backed by regular army troops.”Indian officials have made no specific mention of the new village along the Arunachal Pradesh border.However, in Parliament last week, India’s minister of state for external affairs, Vellamvelly Muraleedharan said that India is aware China is developing infrastructure in the border regions opposite India in Tibet and Xinjiang autonomous regions, and that it keeps constant watch on all developments having a bearing on the country’s security. He said India is also focusing on improving infrastructure in the border regions to facilitate economic development and meet the country’s strategic and security requirements.In recent years India has been speeding development of border roads and rail networks in a bid to catch up with China, which has rapidly increased connectivity to areas near its borders with India, Bhutan and Nepal.However, China’s new civilian settlement presents India with a difficult set of challenges.“It’s serious because it is what they call in strategic terms salami slicing. China always follows the same pattern – that is to present the neighbor or adversary with a fait accompli,” Arpi said.
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Month: April 2021
Haiti’s Effort to Overhaul Constitution Faces Opposition
Protests against Haitian President Jovenel Moise’s plan to reform the constitution are mounting in the Caribbean nation. As the Moise government prepares for a June referendum, the opposition is urging voters not to participate. VOA’s Sandra Lemaire reports.
Camera: Renan Toussaint and Matiado Vilme
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Survivors From Mozambique Attack Stream Into Pemba Safe Haven
More than a week after jihadis staged a deadly raid on the northern Mozambican town of Palma, survivors streamed Thursday into the port of Pemba, the capital of gas-rich Cabo Delgado province.Scores of relatives huddled outside the port, straining to spot family members disembarking from boats arriving from Palma, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) away.More than 8,000 were displaced, dozens killed and many more are still missing following a coordinated attack on the town of Palma on March 24.The jihadis reportedly beheaded residents and ransacked buildings in a rampage that forced thousands to seek safety in surrounding forests.The attack is seen as the biggest escalation of the Islamist insurgency ravaging Cabo Delgado province since 2017.Internally displaced people arrive in Pemba on April 1, 2021, from the boat of evacuees from the Palma.‘No sense of normalcy’On fishing boats or on foot, thousands of survivors fled the city of 75,000 inhabitants, more than 40,000 of whom had already been displaced from their original homes and were living in Palma.Hundreds more were still arriving in Pemba, the U.N. said Thursday.There is “no sense of normalcy returning, unfortunately,” the U.N. refugee agency’s Juliana Ghazi told AFP in Johannesburg from Pemba on Thursday.A woman wearing a blue denim pinafore and pink face mask sat on the ground at the port, with a vacant stare, one hand clutching a fence, waiting for her son.Another woman consoled her as she broke down in sobs.A ferry carrying almost 1,200 passengers, mainly women and children, had docked at the port overnight.The most vulnerable escapees, including unaccompanied and injured children, are being flown to the city. The U.N. said nearly half of the 8,166 people who are registered as displaced are children.’Utmost concern’The attack launched last Wednesday was the latest in a string of more than 830 organized raids by the Islamist militants over the past three years, killing more than 2,690 and uprooting nearly 700,000.A South African man was among those killed when a convoy of cars trying to evacuate survivors from a hotel was ambushed, his family said.Britain’s Times newspaper Thursday reported that a Briton also died in the ambush and that his remains had been handed to the Special Air Services rescue team.The defense ministry could not confirm or deny the death.The African Union has called for urgent and coordinated international action to jointly address the “urgent threat to regional and continental peace and security.”In a statement, AU Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat expressed “utmost concern” at the presence of international extremist groups in southern Africa.The regional Southern African Development Community (SADC) held emergency talks Wednesday in Harare to discuss the violence.”This has heightened insecurity in the area, leading to a serious humanitarian crisis,” the SADC chair, Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi, said in a statement Thursday. “It is our fervent hope that the perpetrators will be quickly arrested and brought to justice.”But Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi on Wednesday played down the attack as “not the biggest,” despite its unprecedented proximity to Africa’s single biggest investment project.Gas project protectedFrench oil giant Total and other international companies have invested in a multibillion-dollar gas exploration scheme off the Afungi Peninsula, about 10 kilometers (six miles) away from Palma.Total evacuated some staff and suspended construction work in late December following a series of jihadi attacks near its compound.Army spokesman Chongo Vidigal said the gas project was protected.”We are currently in the special area in Afungi and never had a terrorism threat,” he told reporters in Palma.The aid-dependent country has sent troops to Palma to try to recapture the town. On Tuesday, Mozambique’s former colonial master, Portugal, announced plans to send about 60 troops to back them up.Cabo Delgado’s jihadis have wreaked havoc across the province with the aim of establishing a caliphate. The insurgents are affiliated with the Islamic State group, which claimed the attack on Palma this week.
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Russian Spies Augment Effort to Grab NATO Secrets, Say Western Officials
Russia’s espionage agencies are redoubling efforts to penetrate NATO, Western intelligence officials say, and are focusing on recruiting moles in the defense ministries of the pact’s member states.Italy expelled two Russian diplomats this week after they were caught in a parking lot in Rome handing cash to an Italian naval captain in exchange for sensitive military documents, which included NATO files.The 54-year-old Italian naval officer, Walter Biot, had been working at the Italian Ministry of Defense in Rome for a decade and was attached to the policy unit within the office of the Chief of the Defense Staff. According to the Corriere della Sera newspaper, Biot’s unit handled “all confidential and classified documents,” including NATO dossiers.The Carabinieri, one of Italy’s main law enforcement agencies, said Biot, a father of four, was caught “red-handed” exchanging the documents stored on a flash drive and was being detained on “serious crimes linked to spying and state security.”This wasn’t Biot’s first meeting with his Russia handlers, according to Italian investigators, and he was paid more than $5,000 each time he met with them.His arrest followed months of surveillance by Italy’s domestic intelligence agency AISI, according to an Italian official who spoke to VOA on the condition of anonymity. He compared the surveillance to the painstaking 2001 counterespionage operation in the United States that unearthed Robert Hanssen, a top FBI counterintelligence agent, as a Russian mole.Timing was key“Senior defense staff were informed of the suspicions about Biot, but it was important that there wasn’t a premature arrest and that he was caught actually handing over classified documents,” he added. “The Russians seemed mainly interested in NATO secrets.”Biot’s arrest came just weeks after Bulgaria broke up a military spy ring and expelled a pair of Russian diplomats. The half-dozen Bulgarians arrested, some of them Defense Ministry employees, have been charged with leaking classified NATO and European Union information.One of the six Bulgarians detained on March 18 made a full confession, according to local media, and reported he was paid $3,000 each time he handed over classified information. The most senior Bulgarian recruit was Ivan Iliev, a former chief of Bulgarian military intelligence. His wife, who is a dual Bulgarian-Russian citizen, was also a member of the ring.FILE – Italian Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio speaks in Tripoli, Libya, March 25, 2021.The Italian government denounced the Russian spying. Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio described the incident as a “hostile act of extreme gravity.” He summoned Russian Ambassador Sergey Razov and ordered the expulsion of the diplomats who handed the cash to Biot.British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab expressed midweek his “solidarity” with Rome and criticized “Russia’s malign and destabilizing activity that is designed to undermine our NATO ally.”Kremlin accents ‘positive’ tiesThe Kremlin played down the possibility that the spying allegation could disrupt relations with Italy. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters he hoped “the very positive and constructive nature of Russian-Italian relations will continue and will be preserved.”Moscow is currently negotiating with the Italian government of Mario Draghi to sell Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. The Russian Embassy in Rome said it “regretted” the expulsions of the two diplomats but withheld threat of any tit-for-tat expulsions of Italian diplomats, despite Russian media reporting that the Kremlin might retaliate.Eleonora Tafuro, a Russia expert at the ISPI research organization in Milan, told Agence France-Presse the incident “really takes us back to the Cold War period.”Biot’s wife, Claudia Carbonara, a psychotherapist, told Italian reporters Thursday that her husband was “desperate” because of the family’s economic situation and said any material he handed over wouldn’t have compromised national security.“He had truly been in crisis for some time because he was afraid that he would not be able to face up to all the spending we have,” she said.She added, “I assure you that he gave the minimum he could give to the Russians. Nothing compromising — he is not stupid or irresponsible. He was just desperate, desperate about our future and that of our children.” She said the family had “been impoverished by COVID.”’Dazed and disoriented’If convicted, Biot faces a minimum of 15 years in prison. On Thursday, he appeared before a magistrate but declined to answer questions.“He said he was dazed and disoriented but ready to clarify his position. He asked for time to collect his thoughts,” Roberto De Vita, Biot’s lawyer, said.The court declined Biot’s request to be released from jail and to be placed under house arrest.The Kremlin’s more muted response to the Biot incident contrasted with its reaction to the expulsion last month of Russian diplomats by Bulgaria and to the expulsion in December by the Dutch government of a pair of Russian diplomats.Dutch officials alleged the diplomats were spies and had been targeting the high-tech sector and building a “substantial network of sources” in the industry. The two diplomats were working for Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the officials said.According to Dutch Interior Minister Karin Ollongren, the Russians targeted companies dealing with artificial intelligence, semiconductors and nanotechnology. Ollongren said the spy network had “likely caused damage to the organizations where the sources are or were active and thus possibly also to the Dutch economy and national security.”The Russian Foreign Ministry described the accusations as “unfounded” and warned the decision to expel the diplomats was “provocative.”The Biot incident came just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin bemoaned “the unsatisfactory state of Russia-EU ties.” He blamed tense relations on the “often confrontational policies” of Brussels.
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Ukraine: Russia Massing Troops on Border; US Warns Moscow
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday accused Moscow of building up troops on his country’s border as the United States warned Russia against “intimidating” Ukraine.Kyiv has been locked in a conflict with Russian-backed separatists since 2014, and this week Ukrainian officials reported Russian troop movement in annexed Crimea and on the border, near territories controlled by Moscow-backed separatists.On Thursday, Zelensky’s ministers discussed the escalating security situation with Western allies, including U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.Zelensky said in a statement that “military exercises and possible provocations along the border are traditional Russian games.” He accused Moscow of seeking to create “a threatening atmosphere” as Kyiv hopes to resume a cease-fire brokered last year.The U.S. State Department said it was “absolutely concerned by recent escalations of Russian aggressive and provocative actions in eastern Ukraine.””What we would object to are aggressive actions that have an intent of intimidating, of threatening, our partner Ukraine,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.Some observers said the reported Russian troop buildup was a test for the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, who caused an uproar in Moscow last month by calling his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a “killer.”This week, Moscow and Kyiv blamed each other for a rise in violence between government forces and Kremlin-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, which has undermined the cease-fire.Zelensky said 20 Ukrainian servicemen had been killed and 57 wounded since the start of the year.Separately, the military announced that a Ukrainian soldier had been wounded in an attack it blamed on separatists.FILE – U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks to Defense Department personnel at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, Feb. 10, 2021..’Ready for an offensive’On Thursday, U.S. defense chief Austin called his Ukrainian counterpart, Andriy Taran, Ukraine’s defense ministry said.Austin said during the call that Washington would “not leave Ukraine alone in the event of escalating Russian aggression,” the ministry said.Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, for his part, discussed the “aggravation by the Russian Federation of the security situation” on the front line with his Canadian counterpart, Marc Garneau.Ukraine’s military intelligence accused Russia of preparing to “expand its military presence” in the separatist-controlled eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk.In a statement, the intelligence service said it “does not rule out” an attempt by Russian forces to move “deep into Ukrainian territory.”A high-ranking Ukrainian government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed that the Russian army was practicing “military coordination” with separatists.”From mid-April their combat units will be ready for an offensive,” the official told AFP.FILE – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov listens during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual end-of-year news conference in Moscow, Russia, Dec. 19, 2019.West shouldn’t ‘worry’Moscow has repeatedly denied sending troops and arms to buttress the separatists, and Putin’s spokesman stressed on Thursday that Moscow was at liberty to move troops across its territory.”The Russian Federation moves its armed forces within its territory at its discretion,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, but he did not directly confirm a troop buildup on the Ukrainian border.He added that “it should not worry anyone and does not pose a threat to anyone.”The war in eastern Ukraine broke out in 2014 when Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula following a bloody uprising that ousted Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president, Viktor Yanukovych.On Wednesday, the Pentagon said U.S. forces in Europe had raised their alert status following the “recent escalations of Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine.”Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, also spoke with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, Valery Gerasimov and Ruslan Khomchak.Khomchak said this week that 28,000 separatist fighters and “more than 2,000 Russian military instructors and advisers” were currently stationed in eastern Ukraine.On Thursday, the deputy head of Zelensky’s office, Roman Mashovets, called for joint drills with NATO forces to “help stabilize the security situation.”Zelensky was elected in 2019 promising to end the years-long conflict, but critics say a shaky cease-fire was his only tangible achievement.The fighting has claimed more than 13,000 lives since 2014, according to the United Nations.
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Zimbabwe’s Food Insecurity Escalates During COVID-19 Lockdowns
A new report from Zimbabwe’s government says hunger and food insecurity have increased during the coronavirus pandemic. The World Food Program says the problem is especially acute for unemployed residents of the cities. The government report, called the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment, says about 2.4 million people in the country’s urban areas are struggling to meet their basic food needs because of lockdowns to contain the spread of COVID-19. Murambiwa Simon Mushongorokwa, 61, used to get casual jobs in the factories before the lockdowns began.“I used to get about $30 a week,” he said. “It was not enough for my needs. But when the lockdown came, it got worse, until I started growing mushrooms. It’s slowly improving my life, if the market prices improve, we will survive.” He uses forage from his backyard corn and sorghum field to grow the mushrooms. He says he now gets about $5 a week from selling them and uses some for consumption with his wife and five dependents.Simon Julius Kufakwevanhu, an official from a local NGO, has been teaching people in a poor suburb to grow mushrooms.“Before the introduction of mushroom farming in this place, it was very tough for people in this community to survive because of the lockdowns and so forth. But when The Future of Hope [a nonprofit committed to skills empowerment] brought in mushroom growing, it’s changing because you can now buy something, able to go to shops and buy mielie meal [coarse flour], sugar and so forth. Even if I fall sick I can go to the hospital after selling mushrooms,” he said.The World Food Program says it is looking for more ideas and resources to help 550,000 people like Mushongorokwa in urban areas get basic food for survival.FILE – A woman with a baby strapped on her back carries firewood for cooking on the streets of Harare, Zimbabwe, March 2, 2021.Tomson Phiri, head of communications at the World Food Program, speaking from his base Geneva, said, “COVID-19 has not only wiped out lives, it has wiped out livelihoods as well. The number of people who are unable to put food on their table in Zimbabwe’s urban areas has increased from 30 percent during the same period in 2019 to 42 percent right now.”Zimbabwe’s government says it is giving about $12 a month to families affected by lockdowns. That’s nowhere near the $500 an average family of five to seven people needs to survive each month.People like Mushongorokwa hope that with the lockdowns recently eased, jobs and livelihoods will come back.In the meantime, the WFP is seeking $32 million to feed food-insecure urbanites.
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UN: Crippling Debt Keeps Developing Countries Mired in Poverty
A new study warns developing countries will have difficulty recovering from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic without relief from crushing debt burdens keeping them mired in poverty. The U.N. Development Program (UNDP) is releasing the study ahead of next week’s World Bank-International Monetary Fund meetings.
The study finds 120 low- and middle-income economies will owe more than $1 trillion in debt service payments this year. It reports 72 countries, classified as vulnerable, are responsible for more than half that accumulated debt.
UNDP administrator Achim Steiner says these 72 countries are facing sovereignty or liquidity challenges that will crowd out important socioeconomic expenditures crucial for the well-being of their people.
“We need bold new mechanisms. These are urgently needed to help low- and middle-income countries address crippling debt, which has been sharply worsened by COVID-19 and which will prevent vital investments to tackle poverty and climate change for years to come. Investments that we are seeing in a number of wealthier countries now playing out and unfolding. … The service of public debt crowds out room for these investment in developing countries,” he said.
Steiner said most of the advanced economies are looking forward to a rapid recovery from the pandemic this year. However, the same cannot be said for the poorer countries. He said they are facing increasing poverty as COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc with the physical and economic health of their societies.
Steiner said a number of wealthier countries are investing significant amounts of money in stimulus packages to tackle the pandemic and boost their economies. He said similar investments are needed in developing countries, adding they would be transformative.
For example, he said, funding in Africa could help the continent recover from the pandemic based on green energy technology.
“There are, as of this year, still 600 million people on the African continent that have no access to electricity. Nothing would be simpler than to drive their recovery and an energy transition with a significant investment in renewable energy infrastructure — helping to both accelerate development on the continent and accelerate the transition towards clean energy infrastructure for what will soon be 2 billion people on the African continent by the middle of the century,” Steiner said.
UNDP economists say debt distress and vulnerability do not just threaten the poorest countries. They say middle-income countries and small island states also are buckling under heavy debt burdens.
They urge delegates attending next week’s World Bank-IMF meeting to agree to provide liquidity support to all seriously indebted countries. Given the magnitude of the crisis, they say a combination of debt restructuring, additional financing and reforms are needed.
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Uzbek Blogger Who Called for Gay Rights Hospitalized After Attack
Uzbekistan has opened a criminal investigation after a blogger who advocated for gay rights was beaten outside his Tashkent home.Miraziz Bazarov was left hospitalized by Sunday’s attack, in which three masked men, including one with a baseball bat, beat him.Bazarov, known for his criticisms of the government and his social media commentary on corruption, was left with a broken leg, a concussion and internal bruising, according to Human Rights Watch.The attack is believed to be connected to Bazarov’s defense of gay rights and calls for same-sex relationships to be decriminalized. Bazarov has said previously that he doesn’t view himself as a gay activist, but that he believes it is a personal issue that should not be regulated by law. The blogger said he had received threats previously for his commentary.Consensual same-sex relations between men are criminalized in Uzbekistan, with prison terms of up to three years. As well as the risk of arrest, Uzbeks can face threats and extortion for their relationships.Gay rights activists opposedThe attack on Bazarov came the same day that around 100 people held a rally against activism for gay rights in the capital.Some reports said that the demonstration was organized in response to a gathering Sunday of fans of Japanese-style anime, some of whom were beaten by protesters. The Interior Ministry said the anime fans were suspected of being LGBTQ activists.Security intervened in that case and 12 people were detained for initiating or taking part in the attack, according to Tashkent police.The U.S. ambassador to Uzbekistan, Daniel Rosenblum, described the violence on Sunday as “disturbing” and called for the government to investigate the attack on Bazarov “who exercised his [freedom of expression] in support of the LGBTI community.”Very disturbing to see violence in the streets of Tashkent this past weekend. I urge the Govt of Uzbekistan to investigate the beating of blogger Miraziz Bazarov, who exercised his #FreedomofExpression in support of the LGBTI community.— U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan (@UsAmbUzbekistan) March 29, 2021The issue of gay rights in Uzbekistan has been debated in the wake of Human Rights Watch’s call on the Uzbek government to decriminalize “homosexuality.” Uzbekistan is debating reforms to the criminal code, but Article 120, which bans same-sex relationships, has not been updated, according to Human Rights Watch.“Article 120, and abuses linked to it, has placed gay and bisexual men in Uzbekistan in a deeply vulnerable and marginalized position, leaving them with almost no protection from harassment by police and others,” Hugh Williamson of Human Rights Watch said in statement.Williamson, director of the Europe and Central Asia division at the rights group, called on Uzbekistan to “definitively turn a page from its abusive past” and repeal the law.Law defendedSome officials and members of parliament have defended the decision to retain the law against same-sex relationships.Rasul Kusherbayev, a member of parliament, said sexuality had nothing to do with human rights, and Alisher Kadyrov of the Uzbekistan National Revival Democratic Party said the law should be amended to include “compulsory treatment, revocation of citizenship and expulsion from the country.”Komil Allamjonov, a former head of the Agency of Information and Mass Communication, released a video in which he said that the Muslim majority country “does not tolerate” or allow same-sex relationships.The U.N. resident coordinator in Uzbekistan, Helena Fraser, described the events at the weekend as “disturbing” and said the U.N. condemned all forms of discrimination and violence against any person.“The U.N. also condemns hate speech, which is an attack on tolerance, inclusion, diversity and the very essence of universal human rights norms and principles,” Fraser said in a statement, adding that Uzbekistan should investigate the attacks.Fraser also called on the country’s media, bloggers and civil society to work together to counter violence rooted in hatred and all forms of discrimination.This story originated in VOA’s Uzbek Service.
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Report on France’s Role in Rwanda’s Genocide Fails to Lay to Rest a Dark Past
French President Emmanuel Macron will reportedly visit Kigali in coming weeks, following a report he commissioned which sheds a harsh light on France’s alleged role in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.If Macron hoped the report would put the controversy over French actions to rest, it now seems to be doing the opposite.Sounds of a Paris ceremony a few years ago, commemorating a new memorial to the roughly 800,000 victims of Rwanda’s genocide.The memorial wasn’t enough to end a dark chapter in French-Rwandan relations. Today, it’s uncertain whether a new report by French historians can do so either.Reactions have been trickling in this week to the so-called Duclert report on France’s role in the genocide.The report, based on two years of research, is named after Vincent Duclert, who headed the fact-finding commission of 14 historians. It found Paris, under former President Francois Mitterrand — who was close to the Hutu-led government that carried out the genocide — bears serious responsibility in the mass slaughter of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda between April and July of 1994.But, it concluded there was no evidence France was an accomplice in the killing spree.Historian Duclert told France 24 that Mitterrand was blinded by an effort to extend France’s post-colonial influence in Rwanda, and saw events though an ethnic prism. Mitterrand had close ties with Rwanda’s Hutu president Juvénal Habyarimana, whom the report described as racist, corrupt and violent. His death in a helicopter crash unleashed the genocide.The commission’s members were historians, not judges, Duclert said. Although no documents showed France wanted a genocide, it was important to question the country’s blindness and heavy responsibility.France and Rwanda have long traded accusations over the killings. Former president Nicolas Sarkozy earlier conceded France had made mistakes.Now, Rwanda describes the Duclert report a step forward. France’s leading newspaper, Le Monde, called it a “decisive step on the path to truth.”Based on cables, documents and other material from government archives, the roughly 1,000-page report looks at France’s role before and during the genocide — including its controversial military and humanitarian Operation Turquoise. Kigali is expected to shortly release its own report on the genocide.But instead of putting this chapter to rest, the Duclert report has unleashed mixed reactions and soul searching here.France’s former foreign minister Hubert Vedrine, a top Mitterrand aide during the genocide, calls the report important. But in a Radio France International interview, he disputed France was blind to warnings of an impending slaughter. He said the country was just trying to preserve peace.Others said the report doesn’t go far enough. Genocide-era documents are missing or destroyed, they said, and the commission has left many questions unanswered.Survie Association, a French group highly critical of France’s colonial rule, slams it as superficial.Spokesman David Martin: “First what’s needed is a recognition of complicity from France and apologies to the Rwandan people, the Rwandan government. Second there should be trial for people who have taken decisions (during 1994), have assisted in decisions. There are still people who are alive today … It is very important that justice is done.”Martin’s association has filed several judicial complaints related to the genocide. But the process is slow and expensive, he says. He doubts French courts have the appetite to take on the country’s controversial past.
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5 Killed in South Sudan Road Attack
Five people were killed and three others injured in South Sudan Thursday when gunmen ambushed a convoy of trucks returning to Uganda on the Juba-Nimule Road.
A military spokesman blamed National Salvation Front (NAS) rebels for the attack.
A military officer at a check point on the Juba-Nimule Road reported the three trucks were ambushed about 6 a.m. in the Kit 2 area.
The passengers and driver in the first truck survived the attack, said deputy army deputy spokesperson Colonel Santo Domic.
“The leading truck was shot but managed to escape the ambush with three wounded… but the other two trucks were burned, and within those trucks, five civilians were burned to death,” Domic told South Sudan in Focus.
Domic said the identities of the victims could not be confirmed because their bodies were burned beyond recognition.
“There are measures being taken for specialized forces to go there and try to evacuate the burned bodies and try to understand exactly what happened,” said Domic.
The South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) said it believes the National Salvation Front forces are responsible for the deadly attack because the rebel group allegedly carried out similar attacks on the same road in the past.
“According to SSPDF, they want to give a signal that they are there, and they wanted to confirm their presence in the area, but if there is any other reason, then they should talk for themselves,” Domic told VOA.
The NAS has repeatedly violated the cessation of hostilities agreement the group signed with the government, added Domic.
Last week, the SSPDF accused the NAS of attacking people along the Juba–Kajokeji Road, a claim NAS spokesperson Suba Samuel denied.
In a statement released Thursday, Samuel accused the SSPDF and its allied militia of looting, burning houses, raping women and killing civilians. In the last two weeks SSPDF attacked NAS forces that were crossing into NAS-controlled areas, according to Samuel.
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Rights Court Backs RFE/RL Journalist in Case to Protect Phone Data From Ukrainian Officials
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled in favor of a journalist from RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service who has battled against the handover of her smartphone data to authorities in what the court agreed is an essential defense of a free press and privacy in democratic society. Natalia Sedletska, who hosts the award-winning investigative TV program “Schemes,” has been locked in a three-year effort to protect her phone data from seizure by Ukrainian prosecutors investigating a leak of state secrets nearly four years ago. Natalia Sedletska hosts the award-winning investigative TV program Schemes. (RFE/RL Graphics)The ECHR concluded that Sedletska should be protected from the data search under Article 10 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and stressed the importance of protection of sources for a functioning free press. “[T]he court is not convinced that the data access authorization given by the domestic courts was justified by an ‘overriding requirement in the public interest’ and, therefore, necessary in a democratic society,” the decision read. Sedletska turned to the European rights court after a Ukrainian court ruling in 2018 gave authorities unlimited access to 17 months of her smartphone data. Schemes had reported on several investigations involving senior Ukrainian officials, including Prosecutor-General Yuriy Lutsenko, during the period in question. Sedletska has argued that the Ukrainian ruling contravened domestic law and Kyiv’s commitments to a free press. Her application to the ECHR sought protection from the seizure of her communications data as such judicial action was not “necessary in a democratic society,” and was grossly disproportionate and not justified by any “overriding requirement in the public interest.” The ECHR agreed and stressed that “the protection of journalistic sources is one of the cornerstones of freedom of the press.” “RFE/RL applauds this ruling, which protects the confidentiality of journalistic communications and sets limits for executive power,” RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said in connection with the April 1 decision. “The work of investigative journalists, by its nature, is hard and often dangerous. “Credible investigative journalism cannot be done in an atmosphere of official impunity, and without the certainty that exchanges between source and journalist will remain private.” The prosecutors pressed for access to Sedletska’s phone data in connection with a criminal investigation into the alleged disclosure of state secrets to journalists in 2017 by Artem Sytnyk, director of the country’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau. On August 2018, Kyiv’s Pechersk district court approved a request by the Ukrainian Prosecutor-General’s Office to allow investigators to review all of Sedletska’s mobile-phone data from a 17-month period. The European Parliament in 2018 passed a resolution expressing “concern” at the Ukrainian ruling and stressing the importance of media freedom and the protection of journalists’ sources. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the watchdog groups Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders have also backed Sedletska’s arguments. “Schemes” is a corruption-focused TV program produced by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service and Ukrainian Public Television. It had a combined audience across its two channels of more than 10 million last year.
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Traveling Kenyan Music Producer Gives Hope to Rural Artists
A Kenyan music producer is taking his work to remote villages to record up-and-coming artists on location to offer something new and different for Kenya’s competitive music industry. Juma Majanga caught up with producer Presta George in Awendo, Kenya, and filed this report.Camera: Jim Makhulo, Producer: Henry Hernandez
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German Health Minister Calls for COVID-19 Vaccine Stockpile
Germany’s health minister, Jens Spahn, Thursday stressed the need for Germany to stock up on COVID-19 vaccine for possible repeat shots next year, and said the nation should do so with or without the rest of the European Union.Spahn made the remarks during a Berlin virtual news briefing on the countries COVID-19 vaccination program and to mark the opening of BioNTech’s plant in Marburg, Germany. He said the new plant provides Germany with an opportunity to plan for the possible need for additional doses of vaccine. Germany’s Merkel Says Europe Needs More Vaccine Independence Chancellor tells German lawmakers Europe must have enough COVID-19 vaccine for Europeans Spahn said at this point no one has been vaccinated for longer than a few months and no one knows how long protection will last, and there may be a need for third and fourth shots next year. He said Germany would be obtaining those vaccine doses on its own if EU members did not see the urgency. The health minister said BioNTech would be a logical source for that vaccine, as opposed to importing vaccine. He said, “AstraZeneca is due to supply 15 million vaccine doses for Germany in [the second quarter of 2021]; BioNTech plans to supply 40 million doses. That shows that our main component is indeed BioNTech. And with that this factory in Marburg, as the production of BioNTech in general is very important to us in the vaccine campaign.” Spahn also announced it was stepping up its vaccination program, by administering vaccine through doctor offices. He said in the next week, 940,000 doses will be delivered to 35,000 practices around the country. By the end of April, he expects more than three million vaccine doses will be available for doctors to administer. Spahn said the move to allow doctors to deliver vaccine “will not be a big step yet, but it will be an important one,” as it will provide yet another structure through which more people can get vaccinated faster.
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Tigray, Ethiopia: From Conflict to Humanitarian Crisis
VOA traces the beginnings of the conflict that grew into a humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. In early November 2020, the federal government of Ethiopia — led by Nobel Peace Prize-winning Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed — launched a military campaign to regain control of the contested region from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front fighters. We explore the human cost of the armed clashes, which have reverberated across neighboring countries, destabilized communities, and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
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Mexico to Become Largest Legal Marijuana Market
Mexico is about to legalize marijuana for recreational use, turning the Latin American nation into the world’s largest market for the drug. The move comes after Mexico’s lower house of Congress passed a legalization bill early in March; the country’s Senate is expected to approve a similar measure in coming weeks. Mike O’Sullivan looks at what legalization of the cannabis plant means for Mexico and the United States, the country’s northern neighbor.
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UN: 2 Women, 3 Children Drown in Shipwreck off Libya’s Coast
Two women and three children drowned when a boat carrying dozens of Europe-bound migrants capsized off Libya, a U.N. official said Wednesday. It was the latest shipwreck involving migrants seeking a better life in Europe.Safa Msehli, spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, said the incident took place late Tuesday. A fishing boat and Libya’s coast guard managed to rescue some 77 migrants and returned them to shore, she said.A total of 400 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya late Tuesday and taken to detention centers in the North African country, Msehli said. At least 480 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya over the weekend, according to the IOM.Tuesday’s deadly shipwreck was the latest along the Central Mediterranean migration route. More than 55 migrants were reported dead last month off Libya.Libya has emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East. The oil-rich country plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.Smugglers often pack desperate families into ill-equipped rubber boats that stall and founder along the perilous Central Mediterranean route. Over the last several years, hundreds of thousands of migrants have reached Europe either on their own or after being rescued at sea.Thousands have drowned along the way. Others were intercepted and returned to Libya to be left at the mercy of armed groups or confined in squalid detention centers that lack adequate food and water, according to rights groups.
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