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Dozens giving accounts to people’s tribunal in London, which China has dismissed as a ‘clumsy public opinion show’.

In London, a peoples’ tribunal has gathered to determine whether the Chinese persecution of Uighurs constitutes a genocide. The tribunal commenced today with witness testimony detailing horrid abuses. One woman, Qelbinur Sidik, described how authorities forced her and others into crowded detention camps to take Mandarin language courses in shackles and spoke about her experiences both with forced sterilization and sexual abuse at the hands of guards.

Though this London peoples’ tribunal is in no way shape or form an authority over the Chinese government, the general consensus from Beijing is sharp anger at the tribunal that they have deemed a “machine producing lies.” Chinese authorities have refused to participate in any aspect of the tribunal and have claimed that the detention camps are “re-education centres,” in stark opposition to both the evidence and the international perspective on these events. Their insistence on denouncing a tribunal which has no actual authority and will only produce what amounts to an opinion piece based on the decisions of jurors exposes a sense of fear at what public hearings like this may lead to. These hearings are a type of sentimental education in themselves, and we can only hope that hearing directly from victims in such a setting will inspire a shift in how nations are dealing with China.

#pols470 #thank you for such a great course session everybody!

The Chinese government is called upon by the Human Rights Watch to immediately cease the censorship of discussions surrounding the Tiananmen Massacre of 1989. June 4th is widely regarded in China as the date of the People’s Liberation Army’s forceful suppression of student-led protests that had been going steady since mid-April of ‘89. Motivated in part by the death of political reform advocate Hu Yaobang, those who participated in these protests did so with grievances against the rapidly worsening state of post-Mao China. The immense distribution inequality resulting from the new market economy gave way to political corruption, inflation, and new suppressions of political participation that prevented the disadvantaged from addressing these problems effectively. After nearly two full months of protests in Tiananmen Square, members of the Chinese government politically maneuvered for permission to violently suppress the protests. The State Council declared martial law and the military opened fire in Beijing, murdering droves of demonstrators and bystanders alike.

A major result of the state-sanctioned massacre was the cementation of China’s limitations on political expression and censorship of material deemed threatening to the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party. That this censorship is alive and well is demonstrated clearly as the Chinese government has yet again begun forcefully putting down peaceful gatherings in remembrance of the victims, an annual occurrence around this time of year. As China continues to suppress speech and pose a danger to political dissidents who dare to remember the flagrant violation of human rights represented by the Tiananmen Massacre, the international community has a responsibility to pressure China at the very least into abandoning the arrests of protestors charged with organizing memorial vigils.

#pols470

Denmark has passed a law allowing it to relocate asylum seekers to third countries while their asylum claims are processed, in a move that has drawn sharp condemnation from human rights groups.

The Social Democrat-led parliamentary coalition of Denmark has officially green-lit legislation that would allow Danish government officials to forcibly relocate asylum seekers and those awaiting refugee status on Danish soil to a hypothetical third country outside of the EU while processing their claims. This development has been met by human rights groups both domestically and internationally with intense condemnation. The legislation package was passed by parliament prior to agreements of any sort with the hypothetical third countries in question, and without any regulation or safeguards in place. Even according to EU refugee and migration standards that are often criticized as being too thin and weak to protect asylum-seekers and immigrants, this legislation is dangerous and ineffectual.

In Denmark, asylum pleas are accepted less than half of the time. Government spokesperson Rasmus Stokland claims that the refusal of asylum to so many seeking refuge is an attempt to counter “issues of integration and criminality” in Denmark, citing zero evidence of the issues he claims are severe enough to warrant this legislation. The Social Democrat party at the head of the coalition comprising the current government is often seen by those in the US (who pay attention to Danish politics, that is) as a party of true rights-based liberalism that aims to promote social safety and opportunity while protecting individual freedoms and liberties. This new legislation is a perfect example of how the party has tended especially in recent years to rebrand and operationalize far-right talking points advocating in opposition to human rights in a way more palatable to parliamentary members and voters while achieving the same end-result.

#pols470

abiogeneticeel

Acting in the aftermath of the fighting in Gaza, a United Nations panel in Geneva approved a far-ranging inquiry into Israel’s actions.

The United Nations’ top commission on human rights voted late on Thursday to put together a “commission of inquiry” to investigate the recent events in the Gaza Strip between Hamas and Israeli Defense Forces. In response, the Israeli government denounced the commission and cited it as a “one-sided sham” of an investigation. Though this is not the first time that the Human Rights Council has voted to put together such a commission, this particular commission maintains two privileges that the two previous ones have not. First, the investigation is ongoing and indefinite with no specific time-limit or parameter in which to complete its work. Second, the geographical scope has been extended to investigating incidents and root causes everywhere in the state of Israel and the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank. Critics of this commission range from Israeli government officials who plainly do not believe their actions constitute violations of international humanitarian law to British officials who believe without a doubt that they do but that a commission of this sort would only further tensions between Hamas and the Israeli government.

bootzwithfur

I think it is interesting how this new commission does not have a time limit on this EXTREMELY time sensitive situation. At any moment the cease-fire could end and we could go right back into the state of destruction that we were in just last week. Time moves extremely fast. But I am glad that they are expanding past the Gaza and looking at root causes everywhere. Although I am curious to see how the Israeli government will react to this once the UNRC starts looking deep into these causes. I stated in a post last week that I wish that the UNHRC would look at how to help the people currently in the midst of this crisis, but after further thinking about the situation I am hopeful that the UNHRC finds these causes (which I feel like are pretty obvious) and look at how to work for peace and rehabilitation.

abiogeneticeel

By not having a time limit I think the intention is for this commission to have the ongoing ability to investigate new situations in Israel/Palestine as they arise instead of having to vote yet again in the future to make more investigative commissions. It doesn’t allow them to dawdle on the investigation but my wording definitely gives rise to that interpretation; I should have been more clear, that’s on me! :) I agree with you completely and I hope (perhaps too optimistically) that we will see some measure of peace and reconciliation in our lifetime.

Acting in the aftermath of the fighting in Gaza, a United Nations panel in Geneva approved a far-ranging inquiry into Israel’s actions.

The United Nations’ top commission on human rights voted late on Thursday to put together a “commission of inquiry” to investigate the recent events in the Gaza Strip between Hamas and Israeli Defense Forces. In response, the Israeli government denounced the commission and cited it as a “one-sided sham” of an investigation. Though this is not the first time that the Human Rights Council has voted to put together such a commission, this particular commission maintains two privileges that the two previous ones have not. First, the investigation is ongoing and indefinite with no specific time-limit or parameter in which to complete its work. Second, the geographical scope has been extended to investigating incidents and root causes everywhere in the state of Israel and the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank. Critics of this commission range from Israeli government officials who plainly do not believe their actions constitute violations of international humanitarian law to British officials who believe without a doubt that they do but that a commission of this sort would only further tensions between Hamas and the Israeli government.

#pols470

Until protections around the use of such technologies are in place, the Australian Human Rights Commission has asked for a moratorium on the use of biometrics, including facial recognition, in 'high-risk' areas. It has also recommended the creation of an AI Safety Commissioner.

The Australian Human Rights Commission has called for an immediate stop to facial recognition in areas deemed high risk. Citing a need for stronger laws surrounding the use of facial recognition and other biometric technologies, the AHRC argues that tech should be “safe, fair, and reliable.” Many are concerned about the implicit biases baked into the technology of artificial intelligence technologies and the consequences these biases may have in serving agendas that are antithetical to both Australian law and human rights protections. The Commission puts forth several proposals for regulating AI and guaranteeing human rights protections in an ever-evolving technological world; many such proposals are laid out in the latter portion of this article. The entire issue underscores a major topic in the actual practice of human rights: holding space for new issues and perhaps new specific human rights to arise as technological progress diffuses.

#pols470

On May 8, 2021, explosions targeting the Sayed ul-Shuhada school in Kabul killed 90 people, most of them girls from Afghanistan’s Shia Hazara c

This article released by Human Rights Watch explores the question of how the United States might seek to protect human rights in Afghanistan after committing to withdraw troops. Though the US in part justified intervention in Afghanistan by promising to protect the human rights of women in particular, author Patricia Gossman brings to light the littered history of US troops doing exactly the opposite. A wholesome look at the actions and objectives of US intervention reveals a constant subjugation of human rights to short-term, self-serving political objectives that include partnering with Afghan warlords to counter the Taliban. This pattern reached breaking point when the local Uruzgan community was forced to partner with the Taliban to rid their community of a US-funded militia intent on raping and abusing local women and girls, the Afghan Local Police.

While there have certainly been gains in terms of women’s rights and opportunities particularly in the form of education for women, many of these advances have been the work and responsibility of Afghans in both direct and indirect opposition to local US interests and operations. It has been the work of individuals like Feroz, our guest speaker, that has helped enrich the region in terms of women’s rights and educational rights; we should not be so quick to ascribe credit to an invading force that has in many instances become more of an empty front for human rights than an actual cultivator and enforcer of them.

#pols470

Ten days ago, the Sudan armed forces organized using lethal tactics in order to suppress a peaceful protest in Khartoum. The protest was a commemoration of the victims of a deadly event in 2019 in which a government crackdown on protests led security forces to kill over 120 individuals and injure hundreds. The army set up blockades on May 10 around SAF headquarters which protesters gathered directly outside of. As the crowd grew, they decided to advance through the blockade and break the army line. The soldiers reluctantly moved away from the area and allowed protesters through to hold a peaceful iftar in solidarity with their fallen neighbors. Soon thereafter, soldiers were seen by witnesses advancing on the iftar in an attempt to encircle protesters in order to kettle them with both lethal and less-lethal forces. As the iftar ended and protesters attempted to disperse from the area, soldiers began indiscriminately beating them and assaulting individuals by bashing them with the butt-end of their rifles. As protesters tried to flee, soldiers opened fire on the crowd, killing two and injuring 15 with bullets. This is a clear example of how organized militaries can and do commit unconscionable human rights abuses against their citizens when the state’s guns are aimed internally. Ensuring the right to peaceful protest is paramount both in maintaining civility and respecting the agency of state subjects.

#pols470

Egypt: Prisoner’s Family Detained for Torture Complaints

In Egypt, mother Hoda Abdel Hamid has been detained by authorities for filing a complaint regarding sexual assault and torture that her son endured in Egyptian prison. Her son, Abdelrahman Gamal Metwally al Showeikh, has been detained in a maximum security prison for nearly 15 months. When his mother came to visit him, Abdelrahman was able to pass her a letter detailing harrowing experiences in which his fellow inmates committed sexual crimes against him with the complicity of prison guards in addition to his being beaten and abused on multiple occasions by both inmates and officers. After Abdelrahman’s mother complained to the prison warden and later formally to the Minya public prosecution headquarters, Hoda and Abdelrahman were both interrogated without lawyers about the situation. Later on, Hoda, her daughter, and her husband were arrested in a raid on their home in Cairo. This situation, with many more brutal details than I found myself capable of sharing in a brief summary, is a flagrant example of how important it is not only for us to pay attention to the state of human rights internationally, but to act as an international community in direct opposition to such abuses by the state.

#pols470

Activists and lawmakers of both parties have called on President Joe Biden to bow out of the 2022 Olympics in protest.

Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for a “diplomatic boycott” of the Beijing 2022 Olympics, citing the immense human rights violations against Uyghur people and Turkic Muslims by the Chinese government. Pelosi brought into the discussion a devastating criticism of the 2022 Olympics corporate sponsors, many of which actively lobby against American policy that targets forced labor and servitude practices in the region. Her remarks indicate an understanding that, as history shows, her calling for a diplomatic boycott may not be successful and may not affect actual change even if it is. Pelosi previously called on now-former president George W. Bush to boycott the games in 2008 when they were also held in China, though Bush attended the opening along with numerous other heads of state. It doesn’t seem like this call to action (or inaction) is likely to be more successful, if current Press Secretary Jen Psaki’s comments on the matter are any indication. According to her, such a move is currently “not being discussed.”

#pols470

Three people were lightly injured while running toward bomb shelters, including a woman in her 30s and a man in his 50s.

On Wednesday, Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile technology intercepted two rockets fired from Gaza on their way in. This was directly following a week characterized by what this article deems a “tense silence” along the border. Sirens blared in the city of Kissufim early in the morning, alerting the city’s residents to an impending strike and warning them to take shelter where they can find it. The two strikes intercepted near Kissufim coincided with an overall crescendo of tensions between Palestinians and Israelis in Jerusalem, made more severe by the estimated 40 strikes that struck over the prior weekend. Luckily, only minor injuries were suffered, all of them suffered by individuals whilst running toward shelter.

#pols477

This article from the Middle East Eye is about the far-right organization called Lehava, an acronym in Hebrew for “Prevention of Assimilation in the Holy Land.” Among their primary goals is the prevention of Jewish assimilation and “miscegenation.” Founded on the ideologies of former Knesset member Rabbi Meir Kahane, this organization prides itself on incredibly inhumane ideals regarding Palestinians stemming from the kind of religious fanaticism we tend to hear about in the aftermath of catastrophic terrorism events. They advocate for a number of incredibly controversial positions, such as the full destruction of the Al-Aqsa mosque and the reconstruction of the Second Temple which they believe once resided in its place. They call for the full ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the occupied territories and Israel as a whole in the pursuit of a homogenous Jewish state.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-lehava-extremist-group-marching-jerusalem

Canadian Jewish scholars have released a statement to express alarm at attempts to intervene in campus activities relating to Israel and Palestine.

In Canada, more than 150 Jewish faculty banded together to release a statement denouncing the unilateral adoption of a definition of antisemitism put forth by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. This definition offers an ambiguous understanding of antisemitism as a “certain perception of Jews which may be expressed as hatred,” yet continues to give examples that equate valid criticism of Israel with antisemitism and equate Judaism and Jewish identity with the state of Israel. To make matters worse, this definition and its examples have been invoked by actors wishing to interfere with campus and governmental activities. This article reports that on campuses that have adopted this definition from the IHRA, it has been used in efforts to silence campus speech and intimidate the academic freedoms of students and faculty.

#pols477

Anti-Defamation Commission: 'Displacing Israel and replacing it with the yet-to-be-established state of Palestine is misleading, unacceptable and offensive'.

This article describes an event in Australia in which a Jewish man purchased a globe that forewent the label of “Israel” altogether, instead representing the entire region as Palestine. When he noticed the error, he immediately contacted the Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) and returned the product. Produced by the Discovery company, this globe contained an additional problem in labeling the territory directly above the region labeled Palestine as Israel, though the border of Lebanon cuts off the full word. The Australia Post has since denounced the sale of this product and committed to cessation of importation and sales, though physically pulling the globes off the shelves is bound to take some time.

#pols477

Experts document 771 incidents of settler violence causing injuries to 133 Palestinians.

Human rights experts in the United Nations have begun warning that violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank has “increased substantially” in recent months. The experts claim that the majority of the violence has been ideologically motivated and intended to terrorize and prevent Palestinians from accessing rural land. A reported 771 incidents of violence resulting in harm to around 130 Palestinians were recorded in 2020, leading experts to urge the Israeli military and police to launch investigations and prosecute those responsible. Experts have invoked the Fourth Geneva Convention to urge Israel to protect the population under occupation in adherence with international law. Experts also noted the extensive number of Palestinians in East Jerusalem newly facing the threat of eviction—this is namely an issue in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, home to over 3,000 refugees as a result of the 1948 Nakba.

#pols477

The Middle East foes are engaged in brinkmanship on several fronts.

This news article details an incident in which an Iranian uranium enrichment facility at Natanz had its power knocked out by mysterious explosion, which the country has since blamed on Israel. Though Israel has not taken public responsibility for the incident, officials in Israeli news are being quoted as attributing the act of sabotage to the Mossad. This kind of action is not isolated and not harmless—both countries have been slowly stepping up their antagonisms of each other. Israel has long claimed that Iran is working under the table to develop ballistic missiles with the intention of sending them Israel’s way, and has used this inference as justification for carrying out a series of actions in an attempt to stop or slow Iran’s nuclear program. The author of this article dubs the overall collection of interactions between the two countries a “shadow war,” one that is characterized most heavily by a desire on both sides to avoid an all-out war. Actions like this make the potential for risk much realer, and it’s possible the tension will come to a head.

#pols477

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Bezalel Smotrich, chairman of the far-right Religious Zionism party, has come under attack for incredibly anti-Arab statements made via Twitter on the eve of Yom HaShoah, International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In his statements, he asserts that all Muslims must recognize that the whole of Israel belongs to the Jewish people, and any Muslim who does not will, over time, “not remain here.” His statements come in the midst of shameful rhetoric regarding Israeli Arabs’ voting in the recent Israeli election. The Anti-Defamation League countered his remarks by stating that the historical connections Jews have to Israel do not and should not negate any other group’s histories, and should absolutely not be used to fuel a “politics of Jewish supremacy.” Other domestic groups such as the Democratic Majority for Israel denounced Smotrich’s comments as well, calling his party and his rhetoric “disputable.”

#pols477

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