tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/human-rights-1314/articlesHuman rights – The Conversation2024-03-27T13:26:41Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2265342024-03-27T13:26:41Z2024-03-27T13:26:41ZArgentina: Javier Milei’s government poses an urgent threat to human rights<p>“Milei, you scumbag, you are the dictatorship.” This was among the defiant shouts that rang out across downtown Buenos Aires on Sunday March 24 as some 400,000 Argentinians <a href="https://buenosairesherald.com/society/hundreds-of-thousands-march-to-call-for-memory-truth-and-justice">filled</a> the Plaza de Mayo, the iconic square that has borne witness to pivotal moments in Argentina’s history. </p>
<p>People flock to Buenos Aires – and other cities across Argentina – on this date each year for an annual march to commemorate the victims of the country’s last military dictatorship. Between 1976 and 1983, an estimated <a href="https://jacobin.com/2020/06/argentina-dictatorship-dirty-war-military">30,000 people</a> were killed, imprisoned, tortured or forcibly disappeared in a state-led campaign that still haunts the country.</p>
<p>But this year the march felt a little different. Activists showed their palpable outrage at President Javier Milei’s administration for seeking to downplay the brutal legacy of the dictatorship.</p>
<p>And on March 21, Milei’s defence minister, Luis Petri, <a href="https://www.lacapital.com.ar/luis-petri-se-fotografio-cecilia-pando-y-esposas-condenados-lesa-humanidad-n10124703.html">reportedly</a> met with the wives of military officers convicted of crimes against humanity. The meeting occurred amid <a href="https://www.ambito.com/politica/la-respuesta-javier-milei-la-liberacion-genocidas-es-una-gran-mentira-n5969541">rumours of pardons</a> for human rights abuses that had been committed under the dictatorship.</p>
<p>Many human rights have been rolled back too. Activists have faced threats, funding for the country’s <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSefEd0YAyug3sNSnZPse43F2TvM34QDhhCtD6ur2GgdHzxlgg/viewform?pli=1">commemorative sites</a> has been withdrawn and their staff laid off, and workers in the Secretariat of Human Rights have been <a href="https://buenosairesherald.com/politics/nineteen-human-rights-secretariat-workers-laid-off-without-prior-notice">sacked</a>. Human rights, which have been hard won over decades in Argentina, are in danger.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A large crowd of people in a street holding banners and pictures aloft." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584410/original/file-20240326-22-bd6xlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584410/original/file-20240326-22-bd6xlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584410/original/file-20240326-22-bd6xlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584410/original/file-20240326-22-bd6xlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584410/original/file-20240326-22-bd6xlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584410/original/file-20240326-22-bd6xlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584410/original/file-20240326-22-bd6xlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People gather in cities across Argentina on March 24, the anniversary of a coup that installed a brutal military dictatorship in Argentina.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/buenos-aires-argentina-march-24-2017-611220890">AstridSinai/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Political violence</h2>
<p>Milei is a self-professed anarcho-capitalist. His policies are at best, nebulous, and at worst, dangerously chaotic. Since he was elected in November 2023, Milei has made <a href="https://theconversation.com/argentinas-anti-government-protests-offer-a-lesson-for-the-international-struggle-against-the-rise-of-the-far-right-222570">clear plans</a> for sweeping liberal economic reforms, cuts to funding for public services, and has opposed equal marriage and legal abortion.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/argentinas-anti-government-protests-offer-a-lesson-for-the-international-struggle-against-the-rise-of-the-far-right-222570">Argentina’s anti-government protests offer a lesson for the international struggle against the rise of the far right</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Milei’s human rights policy is <a href="https://medium.com/@observatorio/newsletter-03-2024-e78b73d578ce">worrying</a>. A number of active and retired military personnel have been appointed to various government positions, including chief of staff and to the Ministry of Defence. However, there would be worse to come in the run up to this year’s March 24 commemorations – an outright assault on human rights. </p>
<p>In early March, Sabrina Bölke, a member of <a href="https://hijos-capital.org.ar/">HIJOS</a> (Sons and Daughters for Identity and Justice against Oblivion and Silence), was <a href="https://buenosairesherald.com/human-rights/assaulted-argentine-rights-activist-speaks-out-i-thought-my-life-was-going-to-end">attacked</a> and sexually assaulted in her home. HIJOS is an Argentinian organisation founded in 1995 to represent the children of people who had been murdered, disappeared or imprisoned by the country’s military dictatorship</p>
<p>Before leaving, her attackers wrote “VVLC [viva la libertad, carajo] ñoqui” on one of the walls. This is <a href="https://buenosairesherald.com/politics/javier-milei-the-fringe-economist-pundit-turned-presidential-frontrunner">Milei’s catchphrase</a> and loosely translates as “Long live freedom, dammit”. Ñoqui (gnocchi) is a derogatory term for state workers, equivalent to “jobsworth” in English.</p>
<p>This is a lesson in what happens when radical “outsiders” like Milei (or Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and Donald Trump in the US) come in from the shadows. They not only tolerate political violence, but actively encourage it. Lacking political experience, their leadership is founded on creating an “us v them” mentality which emboldens their supporters. </p>
<h2>Revising history</h2>
<p>The day of commemoration brought one more disturbing turn of events. The government released a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/23/javier-milei-argentina-dictatorship-remembrance">video</a> straight out of the denialist playbook, presenting a false, alternative portrayal of the military dictatorship’s crimes.</p>
<p>The video advocates for a “complete memory” that shifts the focus to those killed by armed left-wing organisations in the 1960s and 1970s and calls for the end of the pursuit of justice for military perpetrators. It stars Juan Bautista Yofre, the ex-chief of the Secretariat of Intelligence, and María Fernanda, the daughter of Captain Humberto Viola, who was killed in 1974 by the revolutionary left. </p>
<p>The video resurrects the “two demons” trope. This is a theory that equates systematic state terrorism with the violence committed by the revolutionary left. It justifies the disappearances as the result of a conflict between two warring factions.</p>
<p>It’s a viewpoint that had, in recent years, lost much credibility. In 2006, the prologue to the National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons’ truth commission <a href="http://www.desaparecidos.org/nuncamas/web/english/library/nevagain/nevagain_001.htm">report</a>, which was originally published in 1983 to detail the extent of forced disappearance across Argentina, was <a href="https://jacobin.com/2020/06/argentina-dictatorship-dirty-war-military">rewritten</a> specifically to remove allusions to this myth.</p>
<p>Such rejection of historical facts is not surprising. During his presidential campaign debates, Milei <a href="https://elpais.com/argentina/2023-11-16/el-negacionismo-de-la-dictadura-que-propone-milei-no-cala-en-los-cuarteles-argentinos.html">disputed</a> the number that had disappeared at the hands of the dictatorship.</p>
<p>His vice president, Victoria Villarruel, the niece of a member of the armed forces under judicial investigation, has gone even further. She has <a href="https://elpais.com/argentina/2023-11-15/la-candidata-de-milei-a-la-vicepresidencia-propone-desarmar-el-museo-de-la-memoria-de-la-esma.html">called</a> for an end to human rights trials and has pushed for the closure of the memory museum on the grounds of what was once the notorious former Navy Mechanics School that became a clandestine detention centre during the dictatorship.</p>
<h2>What happens next?</h2>
<p>Milei and Villarruel may struggle to block human rights trials completely, certainly not without a stand-off with the Argentine courts. The <a href="https://buenosairesherald.com/politics/traitors-milei-rails-against-deputies-who-rejected-omnibus-bill-articles">opposition</a> of congress to Milei’s “omnibus law” (the collective name for his package of liberal reforms) in February 2024 is a reminder that he will undoubtedly face legislative roadblocks. </p>
<p>The Argentine Court of Appeal, which is responsible for ruling on human rights cases, has also been clear that it will <a href="https://www.pagina12.com.ar/723302-la-camara-de-casacion-desbarato-un-intento-de-los-genocidas-">prevent perpetrators</a> of human rights abuses benefitting from house arrest. However, we will probably see a gradual undermining of judicial processes via the release of defendants and the replacement of judges, accompanied by an emboldening of those who deny state terrorism. </p>
<p>It is still early days in Milei’s tenure. But human rights activists and international observers should be concerned about the future of human rights in Argentina.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226534/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cara Levey has received funding from Irish Research Council </span></em></p>Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Argentina to commemorate victims of the country’s military dictatorship amid renewed concerns for human rights.Cara Levey, Senior Lecturer in Latin American Studies, University College CorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2252392024-03-25T18:23:49Z2024-03-25T18:23:49ZBuying affordable ethical chocolate is almost impossible – but some firms are offering the next best thing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581436/original/file-20240312-24-tojl7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Transparency throughout the supply chains for cacao, the raw ingredient for chocolate, is required to ensure ethical sourcing and manufacture of products. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cacao-pods-cocoa-organic-chocolate-farm-1121861738">andysartworks/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With supermarket aisles piled high with assortments of chocolate treats, the choice can seem overwhelming. The array of ethical options – some with certifications, others with marketing claims about sustainability – can just add to the confusion.</p>
<p>Shoppers are becoming <a href="https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/sites/default/files/media-file/2023-12/EC-Markets-report-2023-web-final2.pdf">more eco-conscious</a>, with consumer spending on ethical products increasing from £17 billion in 1999 to more than £141 billion in 2023, according to Ethical Consumer magazine. In terms of chocolate, that usually means avoiding issues such as cocoa’s endemic reliance on <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/our-work/child-forced-labor-trafficking/child-labor-cocoa">child labour</a>, <a href="https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2020/11/25/cargill-deforestation-agriculture-history-pollution/">child trafficking</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00751-8">widespread deforestation</a>. </p>
<p>Lack of transparency along the whole supply chain is a major barrier to sourcing ethical cocoa and buying ethical chocolate. This makes it almost impossible to guarantee that any chocolate you buy is ethically sourced, even from companies that do their utmost to avoid buying from suppliers with harmful practices.</p>
<p>However, some new brands, such as the Netherlands’ Tony’s Chocolonely and Scotland’s UP-UP Chocolate, are trying to demonstrate their commitment to child labour-free products by doing more than claiming responsible sourcing of cocoa. </p>
<p>Tony’s <a href="https://online.flippingbook.com/view/287207390/8/">publishes the number of cases</a> of labour abuses it finds every year, and its packaging explains the issues of modern slavery in cocoa farming. UP-UP <a href="https://upupchocolate.com/pages/slavefreecocoa">surveys every worker</a> in its supply chains and states which single-estate plantation its cocoa comes from on its packaging.</p>
<h2>Why it’s so hard to guarantee ethical practices</h2>
<p>Without transparency, the origin of the cocoa – and therefore its impact on people and planet – cannot be known. Most of the world’s cocoa is grown <a href="https://www.icco.org/wp-content/uploads/Production_QBCS-XLIX-No.-4.pdf">in west Africa</a>, where more than 2 million farmers work on <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1573521415000160">around 800,000 farms</a>. </p>
<p>Many of these <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/SCM-11-2020-0583">farms are remote</a> and served only by motorcycle due to poor infrastructure. This contributes to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/SCM-11-2020-0583">long and fragmented</a> nature of cocoa supply chains. </p>
<p>Tracing actual shipments of cocoa is rare because it’s sold as a commodity on a mass balance basis. So, while the volume of ethical cocoa farmed is equal to that sold, most cocoa is mixed with cocoa of unknown origin from multiple sources.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581438/original/file-20240312-28-y9ka7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Wooden table background, cut open cocao pod with nibs, fragments of brown chocolate and green leaves laid out on surface" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581438/original/file-20240312-28-y9ka7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581438/original/file-20240312-28-y9ka7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581438/original/file-20240312-28-y9ka7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581438/original/file-20240312-28-y9ka7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581438/original/file-20240312-28-y9ka7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581438/original/file-20240312-28-y9ka7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581438/original/file-20240312-28-y9ka7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chocolate brands going to extreme lengths to ensure traceability of their raw raw ingredients pay the price - and shoppers often pay a premium for the most ethical chocolate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/composition-cocoa-pod-products-on-wooden-793125286">Africa Studio/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At various stages within the supply chain, from transport to processing, a company’s ability to track cocoa from known sources at specific farms is compromised. </p>
<p>While such complexity makes addressing child labour more difficult, it could be seen as convenient for large chocolate producers. Some have had <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/hershey-nestle-cargill-win-dismissal-us-child-slavery-lawsuit-2022-06-28/">legal claims against them dismissed</a> because of the lack of traceability between child labour on cocoa farms and their products. </p>
<p>Tony’s and UP-UP try to overcome transparency issues by buying from specific plantations or cooperatives. UP-UP sources its cocoa from a specific plantation in Colombia. Tony’s sources from a known cooperative in west Africa which makes monitoring labour conditions easier. </p>
<p>But this approach is not flawless. Tony’s doesn’t own the plantations it buys from, so while it can influence conditions, it cannot dictate to farmers. Tony’s removed 1,752 children from child labour in its last year of reporting, but identified another 1,072 cases on plantations from which it sources its cocoa. </p>
<p>Tony’s also works with cocoa processor Barry Callebaut, despite its <a href="https://www.slavefreechocolate.org/dark-side-of-chocolate">alleged links</a> to <a href="https://www.barry-callebaut.com/system/files/2023-09/Barry%20Callebaut%20Global%20Child%20Labor%20Position%20Statement%202023.pdf">child labour</a>. <a href="https://www.callebaut.com/en-GB/zero-child-labour-2025">Barry Callebaut states that</a> it has “a responsibility and a plan of action – built on full traceability and transparency – to stop any form of child labour by 2025 and make it something of the past”. Tony’s wants to act <a href="https://tonyschocolonely.com/uk/en/our-mission/news/why-we-are-not-on-all-lists-of-ethical-chocolate-brands">as a lever to change</a> from within the industry and scale up efforts to improve transparency in chocolate supply chains. </p>
<h2>Hollow chocolate claims</h2>
<p>The difficulties of building more transparent cocoa supply chains is only half the story. Big firms have routinely been criticised by charities such as Oxfam for <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/chocolate-giants-reap-huge-profits-promises-improve-farmers-incomes-ring-hollow">“hollow”</a> claims made about efforts to protect workers. </p>
<p>Environmental charity Mighty Earth has called Cargill, a major cocoa processor and chocolate producer, <a href="https://stories.mightyearth.org/cargill-worst-company-in-the-world/">“the worst company in the world”</a> for <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-court-fines-cargill-case-involving-child-labor-cocoa-farms-2023-09-26/">alleged links to</a> <a href="https://www.slavefreechocolate.org/dark-side-of-chocolate">child labour</a> and <a href="https://www.cargill.com/doc/1432239539226/cocoa-and-forests-initiative-progress-report-2022.pdf">deforestation</a>. <a href="https://www.cargill.co.uk/en/doc/1432103154643/slavery-and-human-trafficking-statement-pdf.pdf">Cargill states that</a> it does not tolerate the use of any form of forced labour and is “actively working towards eradicating child labour in the cocoa supply chain”.</p>
<p>Child and forced labour have long been a problem within cocoa supply chains and <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67530">Cadbury was aware of the problem over a century ago</a>. In 2001, eight of the industry’s major multinationals <a href="https://www.cocoainitiative.org/sites/default/files/resources/Harkin_Engel_Protocol.pdf">pledged to end</a> child labour in cocoa production by 2005. Signatories have repeatedly pushed that deadline back. </p>
<p>Many companies rely on third-party certification by organisations such as <a href="https://www.fairtrade.org.uk/">Fairtrade</a> and <a href="https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/">Rainforest Alliance</a>. But <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-international-stateless/2021/04/b1e486be-greenpeace-international-report-destruction-certified_finaloptimised.pdf">Greenpeace found</a> that a lack of consistency between standards means that claims can be misleading. </p>
<p>The most recent report from <a href="https://cocoabarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Cocoa-Barometer-2022.pdf">Cocoa Barometer</a>, a consortium of ethically minded and sustainability-focused organisations including Oxfam and WWF, claims that certification does not imply sustainability, because it doesn’t require much actual operational change. </p>
<p>While cocoa certification <a href="https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/JRC135044/JRC135044_01.pdf">helps restore biodiversity</a>, it doesn’t necessarily increase the money <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/mar/10/fairtrade-labels-certification-rainforest-alliance">farmers receive</a> for their crop. Large chocolate producers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-021-04808-1">prioritise short-term profit</a> over meaningful structural change and this can result in a benefit from poor cocoa farmer pay and <a href="https://cocoabarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Cocoa-Barometer-2022.pdf">low transparency</a> in their own self-certified reporting. </p>
<p>Consumers pay a premium for ethical chocolate. Both the separation of harvests that enables Tony’s Chocolonely to know the origin of its cocoa origin and the meticulous survey approach taken by UP-UP Chocolate incur additional costs. Buying at huge scale and without such rigour does not. </p>
<p>Evidence of single origin cocoa published on product packaging does not guarantee ethical sourcing, but it’s a sign of good practice. Sourcing single-origin cocoa enables checks of working conditions at known sites. It’s better for the environment and leads to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s43546-021-00051-y">substantially higher pay for farmers</a>. </p>
<p>Without genuine transparency about the source of cocoa, ethical chocolate claims are hard to take seriously. Smaller producers such as UP-UP, Divine and vegan chocolatier Pacari, source their cocoa from individual plantations and have that transparency. And by identifying child labour abuses, Tony’s is as much an activist brand highlighting cocoa’s ills as it is a chocolatier.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225239/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Rogerson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What makes a good egg? The ethics of chocolate is complicated and often hard to decipher with confusing marketing claims on some product packaging.Michael Rogerson, Lecturer in Operations Management, University of Sussex Business School, University of SussexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2176502024-03-20T19:21:50Z2024-03-20T19:21:50Z‘He just vanished’ − missing activists highlight Tajikistan’s disturbing use of enforced disappearances<p>“He just vanished; left his apartment for a meeting and disappeared. We’ve checked all the police stations, jails, the hospital and migration centers. We don’t know what to do.” </p>
<p>These were the words Tajik opposition leader Suhrob Zafar uttered to me in late February 2023, days after <a href="https://guruhi24.net/language/en/urgent-news/">Nasimjon Sharipov</a>, his colleague in the <a href="https://guruhi24.net/language/en/home/">political movement Group 24</a>, went missing.</p>
<p>The two of them had lived for almost 10 years in Turkey, having fled Tajikistan in 2014 because of the government’s repression of opposition groups, including the banning of Group 24. Zafar told me that both men had recently received anonymous threats on their phones, warning that they would be kidnapped and sent back to Tajikistan, where the government routinely uses <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/country/tajikistan/freedom-world/2023">torture and lengthy jail sentences to suppress opposition</a>.</p>
<p>Zafar and I stayed in touch until March 10, 2024, after which he stopped responding. I later learned that on that day Zafar <a href="https://guruhi24.net/language/en/the-leader-of-the-political-movement-group-24-suhrob-zafar-went-missing-in-istanbul-turkey/">too went missing</a>. An unconfirmed report in independent Tajik media on March 20 suggested that both men had been seen in handcuffs <a href="https://bomdodrus.com/2024/03/20/istochniki-bomdod-lidera-gruppy-24-suhroba-zafara-uzhe-privezli-v-dushanbe/">exiting a plane at an airport in Tajikistan’s capital on March 15</a> – but to date, there has been no official word on the two activists’ whereabouts.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A man in a white shirt." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582847/original/file-20240319-16-gtwyc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582847/original/file-20240319-16-gtwyc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582847/original/file-20240319-16-gtwyc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582847/original/file-20240319-16-gtwyc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582847/original/file-20240319-16-gtwyc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582847/original/file-20240319-16-gtwyc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582847/original/file-20240319-16-gtwyc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tajik democracy activist Suhrob Zafar went missing from his Istanbul home.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Group 24</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Alarm over <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/turkey-central-asia-dissidents-erdogan-disappearances/32861944.html">the fate of both men</a> is understandable. It tallies with <a href="https://crudeaccountability.org/wp-content/uploads/Enforced_Disappearances_Tajikistan.pdf">research I recently conducted</a> for the Washington, D.C.-based human rights group <a href="https://crudeaccountability.org/">Crude Accountability</a> documenting how Tajikistan has systematically engaged in the practice of enforced disappearances – deemed as one of the most pernicious <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-convention-protection-all-persons-enforced">crimes under international law</a>.</p>
<p>Drawing on primary interviews and profiling 31 cases of incommunicado detention or enforced disappearances over a 20-year period, I traced how enforced disappearances have become a mainstay in Tajikistan’s playbook for suppressing dissent in this nation of over 10 million people.</p>
<h2>A particular terror</h2>
<p>Enforced disappearances occur when a government <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-convention-protection-all-persons-enforced">detains, captures, imprisons or kills</a> while refusing to acknowledge a person’s whereabouts or their grave. In 2010, the U.N. General Assembly adopted The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-convention-protection-all-persons-enforced">which expressly states</a>: “No one shall be subjected to enforced disappearance.” But Tajikistan has never been a signatory.</p>
<p>The practice unleashes a particular terror on both victims and their families: removing someone entirely from the access of their loved ones, while inflicting anguish and uncertainty that may continue for years, even decades.</p>
<p>“Disappearances” entered the popular lexicon after becoming the hallmark of brutal juntas that violently took power in Latin America 50 years ago, such as in Argentina and notably Chile, where <a href="https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/posts/honoring-a-murderer-the-confusing-politics-surrounding-pinochet-s-dictatorship-in-chile-21-years-later">at least 1,248 people were disappeared</a> on the orders of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.</p>
<p>Half a century later, my research indicates that this pernicious practice is being committed with disturbing regularity by Tajikistan under the repressive rule of authoritarian President Emomali Rahmon.</p>
<p>Under Rahmon’s rule since 1992, Tajikistan has consistently been <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/FIW_2024_DigitalBooklet.pdf">ranked among the “worst of the worst</a>” when it comes to its political rights and civil liberties records.</p>
<p>The use of enforced disappearances by the Tajik authorities dates back to the <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/long-echo-of-tajikistan-s-civil-war/">1992-97 civil war</a> that ravaged the republic following the Soviet Union’s collapse, leaving anywhere from 20,000 to 150,000 dead.</p>
<p>Arriving at an accurate estimate of the number of Tajiks disappeared is extremely difficult.</p>
<p>Attempts by scholars and the United Nations working group on enforced disappearances, <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2019/07/enforced-disappearance-experts-urge-tajikistan-comprehensively-address">which visited the country in 2019</a>, have been thwarted by Rahmon’s resistance to allow any critical examination of his troops’ potential abuses.</p>
<p>The U.N. team was <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2019/07/enforced-disappearance-experts-urge-tajikistan-comprehensively-address">unable to get official figures</a>, noting an “unprecedented” indifference in shedding light on the matter in Tajikistan.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, they estimated that thousands of people were unaccounted for from the civil war period.</p>
<h2>Exporting repression</h2>
<p>After Rahmon’s troops emerged victorious from the civil war, the autocratic leader entered his second decade in power – a period that took the country <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/FIW_2024_DigitalBooklet.pdf">down an increasingly repressive route</a>.</p>
<p>Flouting a <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/2002/04/peace-agreements-tajikistan">peace deal he signed in 1997</a>, which would have guaranteed 30% of government posts to the opposition party, Rahmon chose a far cruder means of shoring up his rule than allowing competitive elections or a free press: <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/tajikistan/tajikistans-fight-against-political-islam">the detention and kidnapping of critics</a>.</p>
<p>Among those who disappeared was <a href="https://www.omct.org/en/resources/urgent-interventions/tajikistan-forced-disappearance-of-mr-shamsuddin-shamsuddinov">Shamsuddin Shamsuddinov</a>, a deputy chairman of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, who was seized at home on May 30, 2003. Shamsuddinov, denied access to a lawyer, was eventually tried and sentenced to 16 years in prison. He died behind bars in 2008 in what supporters say were suspicious circumstances.</p>
<p>By then, grinding poverty meant millions of Tajiks had made the journey to Russia in search of <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/tajikistan/news/tajik-migrants-return-home">work to support their families back home</a>. </p>
<p><iframe id="GJ9sT" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/GJ9sT/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>But this sizable diaspora also made Russia fertile ground for a nascent opposition to Rahmon’s increasingly repressive rule. Tajik authorities caught on to the growing popularity of the opposition in exile and expanded the scope of their disappearances.</p>
<p>Take the case of 24-year-old Ehson Odinaev, who employed his social media skills to Group 24. On May 19, 2015, Odinaev left his apartment in St. Petersburg and <a href="https://crudeaccountability.org/wp-content/uploads/Enforced_Disappearances_Tajikistan.pdf">disappeared</a>. Tajik authorities had earlier declared him wanted on charges of unspecified “cybercrimes,” registering his case with Interpol. Prior to his disappearance, Odinaev told friends and family he was being followed.</p>
<p>Nine years later, his family told me they have no idea whether Odinaev is alive, imprisoned in Tajikistan or in Russia, or was killed.</p>
<h2>Crackdown on Pamiris</h2>
<p>Since 2022, enforced disappearances have become a focus of Rahmon’s crackdown on perhaps the last bastion of domestic resistance to his rule: the <a href="https://www.specialeurasia.com/2023/03/24/geopolitics-gorno-badakhshan/">Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast</a>.</p>
<p>The region, which lies in the country’s southeast, is populated by ethnic minority Pamiris who speak a distinct language and are predominantly <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/tajikistan/">Shiite Muslims in a Sunni-majority country</a>.</p>
<p>As part of a bloody suppression of unrest in the region – framed by Tajik authorities as a “counterterrorism” operation – the government has allegedly <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur60/7218/2023/en/">arrested and imprisoned hundreds</a> of Pamiri intellectuals, journalists and religious and community leaders.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, dozens of prominent Pamiri individuals living in Russia have been taken by the state. One of those seized was <a href="https://crudeaccountability.org/wp-content/uploads/Enforced_Disappearances_Tajikistan.pdf">Amriddin Alovatshoev</a>, a youth migrant leader who was seized in the Russian city of Belgorod in January 2022.</p>
<p>In early February, Alovatshoev appeared on Tajik state television uttering what supporters say is an obviously forced confession to unspecified crimes. He received an <a href="https://crudeaccountability.org/wp-content/uploads/Enforced_Disappearances_Tajikistan.pdf">18-year sentence</a>.</p>
<p>While many people have been disappeared inside Tajikistan itself, my research documents numerous cases involving the disappearance of Tajik dissidents in the territory of a foreign country, with <a href="https://crudeaccountability.org/wp-content/uploads/Enforced_Disappearances_Tajikistan.pdf">Russia, Turkey and Belarus</a> being the leading three. </p>
<p>As a poor state with modest capabilities, Tajikistan has, it is claimed by human rights groups, partnered with Russia, Turkey and Belarus to <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2023/10/a-brief-chronicle-of-enforced-disappearances-in-tajikistan/">increase the reach</a> of its own security services.</p>
<p>While the <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/article/transnational-repression-2023-insecure-leaders-threaten-dissent-abroad">alleged complicity</a> of Russia, Turkey and Belarus in <a href="https://www.foreign.senate.gov/press/dem/release/chair-cardin-to-tajikistan-president-rahmon-end-your-governments-use-of-transnational-repression">transnational repression</a> is not surprising given that the countries share an authoritarian bent, the more shocking revelation, I believe, has been the involvement of <a href="https://crudeaccountability.org/wp-content/uploads/Enforced_Disappearances_Tajikistan.pdf">established democracies such as Poland, Germany and Austria</a> in the forced return of asylum-seekers to Tajikistan, where they could face incommunicado detention, torture and imprisonment on political grounds.</p>
<p>Tajikistan’s <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/country/tajikistan/freedom-world/2023">poor human rights record</a> – and use of enforced disappearances – is well known, prompting the European Parliament in January 2024 to <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2024-0039_EN.html">issue a resolution</a> calling on Tajik authorities to “unconditionally release those who have been arbitrarily detained.”</p>
<p>Absent any news of Suhrob Zafar or Nasimjon Sharipov, it is fair to assume that both now figure in that growing list.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217650/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steve Swerdlow does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Central Asian nation has long figured among the ‘worst of the worst’ in regards to political and human rights. A new report shines light on cases of activists being seized and then going missing.Steve Swerdlow, Associate Professor of the Practice of Political Science and International Relations, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2262192024-03-20T04:06:40Z2024-03-20T04:06:40ZTerrorist content lurks all over the internet – regulating only 6 major platforms won’t be nearly enough<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583026/original/file-20240320-17-wn83c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C241%2C2619%2C1761&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/burning-car-unrest-antigovernment-crime-581564755">Bumble Dee/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia’s eSafety commissioner <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-19/social-media-esafety-commissioner-terrorist-violent-extremist/103603518">has sent legal notices</a> to Google, Meta, Telegram, WhatsApp, Reddit and X (formerly Twitter) asking them to show what they’re doing to protect Australians from online extremism. The six companies <a href="https://www.esafety.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/tech-companies-grilled-on-how-they-are-tackling-terror-and-violent-extremism">have 49 days to respond</a>.</p>
<p>The notice comes at a time when governments are increasingly cracking down on major tech companies to address online harms like <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-fined-x-australia-over-child-sex-abuse-material-concerns-how-severe-is-the-issue-and-what-happens-now-215696">child sexual abuse material</a> or <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mark-zuckerberg-apologizes-parents-victims-online-exploitation-senate-hearing/">bullying</a>.</p>
<p>Combating online extremism presents unique challenges different from other content moderation problems. Regulators wanting to establish effective and meaningful change must take into account what research has shown us about extremism and terrorism.</p>
<h2>Extremists are everywhere</h2>
<p>Online extremism and terrorism have been pressing concerns for some time. A stand-out example was the 2019 Christchurch terrorist attack on two mosques in Aotearoa New Zealand, which was live streamed on Facebook. It led to the <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/nz-and-france-seek-end-use-social-media-acts-terrorism">“Christchurch Call” to action</a>, aimed at countering extremism through collaborations between countries and tech companies.</p>
<p>But despite such efforts, <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PEA1458-2.html">extremists still use online platforms</a> for networking and coordination, recruitment and radicalisation, knowledge transfer, financing and mobilisation to action.</p>
<p>In fact, extremists use the same online infrastructure as everyday users: marketplaces, dating platforms, gaming sites, music streaming sites and social networks. Therefore, all regulation to counter extremism needs to consider the rights of regular users, as well.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/christchurch-attacks-5-years-on-terrorists-online-history-gives-clues-to-preventing-future-atrocities-225273">Christchurch attacks 5 years on: terrorist’s online history gives clues to preventing future atrocities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The rise of ‘swarmcasting’</h2>
<p>Tech companies have responded with initiatives like the <a href="https://gifct.org/membership">Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism</a>. It shares information on terrorist online content among its members (such as Facebook, Microsoft, YouTube, X and others) so they can take it down on their platforms. These approaches aim to <a href="https://gifct.org/hsdb/">automatically identify and remove</a> terrorist or extremist content.</p>
<p>However, a moderation policy focused on individual pieces of content on individual platforms fails to capture much of what’s out there.</p>
<p>Terrorist groups commonly use a <a href="https://static.rusi.org/20190716_grntt_paper_06.pdf">“swarmcasting” multiplatform approach</a>, leveraging 700 platforms or more to distribute their content.</p>
<p>Swarmcasting involves using “beacons” on major platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Telegram to direct people to locations with terrorist material. This beacon can be a hyperlink to a blog post on a website like Wordpress or Tumblr that then contains further links to the content, perhaps hosted on Google Drive, JustPaste.It, BitChute and other places where users can download it.</p>
<p>So, while extremist content may be flagged and removed from social media, it remains accessible online thanks to swarmcasting. </p>
<h2>Putting up filters isn’t enough</h2>
<p>The process of identifying and removing extremist content is far from simple. For example, at a recent US Supreme Court hearing over internet regulations, <a href="https://law.stanford.edu/podcasts/the-netchoice-cases-reach-the-supreme-court/">a lawyer argued</a> platforms could moderate terrorist content by simply removing anything that mentioned “al Qaeda”.</p>
<p>However, internationally recognised terrorist organisations, their members and supporters do not solely distribute policy-violating extremist content. Some may be discussing non-terrorist activities, such as those who engage in humanitarian efforts.</p>
<p>Other times their content is borderline (awful but lawful), such as misogynistic dog whistles, or even “hidden” <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/isj.12454">in a different format</a>, such as memes.</p>
<p>Accordingly, platforms can’t always cite policy violations and are compelled to use other methods to counter such content. They report using various content moderation techniques such as redirecting users, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/google-to-expand-misinformation-prebunking-initiative-in-europe">pre-bunking misinformation</a>, promoting counterspeech and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57697779">offering warnings</a>, or <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-shadowbanning-how-do-i-know-if-it-has-happened-to-me-and-what-can-i-do-about-it-192735">implementing shadow bans</a>. Despite these efforts, online extremism continues to persist.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/disinformation-threatens-global-elections-heres-how-to-fight-back-223392">Disinformation threatens global elections – here's how to fight back</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What is extremism, anyway?</h2>
<p>All these problems are further compounded by the fact we lack a <a href="https://www.unodc.org/e4j/en/terrorism/module-4/key-issues/defining-terrorism.html">commonly accepted definition</a> for terrorism or extremism. All definitions currently in place are contentious.</p>
<p>Academics attempt to seek clarity by using <a href="https://www.ijcv.org/index.php/ijcv/article/view/3809">relativistic definitions</a>, such as</p>
<blockquote>
<p>extremism itself is context-dependent in the sense that it is an inherently relative term that describes a deviation from something that is (more) ‘ordinary’, ‘mainstream’ or ‘normal’. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, what is something we can accept as a universal normal? Democracy is not the global norm, nor are equal rights. Not even our understanding of <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/humanrights/2016/09/14/are-human-rights-really-universal-inalienable-and-indivisible/">central tenets of human rights</a> is globally established.</p>
<h2>What should regulators do, then?</h2>
<p>As the eSafety commissioner attempts to shed light on how major platforms counter terrorism, we offer several recommendations for the commissioner to consider.</p>
<p>1. Extremists rely on more than just the major platforms to disseminate information. This highlights the importance of expanding the current inquiries beyond just the major tech players.</p>
<p>2. Regulators need to consider the differences between platforms that resist compliance, those that comply halfheartedly, and those that struggle to comply, such as small content storage providers. Each type of platform <a href="https://ksp.techagainstterrorism.org/">requires different regulatory approaches</a> or assistance. </p>
<p>3. Future regulations should encourage platforms to transparently collaborate with academia. The global research community is well positioned <a href="https://gifct.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GIFCT-TaxonomyReport-2021.pdf">to address these challenges</a>, such as by developing actionable definitions of extremism and novel countermeasures.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226219/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marten Risius is the recipient of an Australian Research Council Australian Discovery Early Career Award funded by the Australian Government. Marten Risius has received project funding from the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stan Karanasios has received funding from Emergency Management Victoria, Asia-Pacific Telecommunity, and the International Telecommunications Union. Stan is a Distinguished Member of the Association for Information Systems.</span></em></p>Online extremism is a unique challenge – terrorists use methods that can’t be captured by standard content moderation. So, what can we do about it?Marten Risius, Senior Lecturer in Business Information Systems, The University of QueenslandStan Karanasios, Associate Professor, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2241702024-03-13T12:06:02Z2024-03-13T12:06:02ZCorrupt, brutal and unprofessional? Africa-wide survey of police finds diverging patterns<p>Africans generally have a low regard for the quality of policing on the continent. Perceptions of police misconduct, corruption and brutality are widespread, according to a new survey by <a href="https://www.afrobarometer.org/">Afrobarometer</a>. The independent research network surveyed 39 countries between 2021 and 2023. </p>
<p>Our survey offers <a href="https://www.afrobarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/PP90-PAP6-Africans-cite-corruption-and-lack-of-professionalism-among-police-failings-Afrobarometer-26jan24.pdf">new evidence</a> of how Africans experience and assess their police. It shows people often have to contend with demands for bribes from police officers. But assessments varied by country: in some, police were said to be helpful.</p>
<p>Afrobarometer currently surveys 39 of Africa’s <a href="https://au.int/en/member_states/countryprofiles2#">55 countries</a>.</p>
<p>As researchers at Afrobarometer, we have published on <a href="https://www.afrobarometer.org/publication/pp88-brutality-and-corruption-undermine-trust-in-ugandas-police-can-damage-be-undone/">police professionalism</a> and other <a href="https://www.afrobarometer.org/publication/pp37-are-africans-willing-pay-higher-taxes-or-user-fees-better-health-care/">government institutions</a> for several years. </p>
<p>Our analysis also reveals that negative perceptions of police professionalism and corruption go hand in hand with low public trust in the police, poor marks on government performance, and citizens’ sense of insecurity.</p>
<h2>Encounters with police</h2>
<p>While some citizens seek assistance from the police (to report a crime, for example), others might only encounter the police in less voluntary situations, such as at a checkpoint or traffic stop or during an investigation. Across the 39-country sample, only 13% of respondents said they had requested police assistance during the previous 12 months. Three times as many (40%) reported encountering the police in other situations.</p>
<p>Among respondents who asked for police assistance, more than half (54%) said it had been easy to get the help they needed. More than three-fourths found it easy in Burkina Faso (77%) and Mauritius (76%), though no more than half as many said the same in Malawi (37%), Madagascar (37%) and Sudan (33%). </p>
<p>Many respondents reported a police practice that was less than helpful: stopping drivers on the road without a valid reason. On average, 39% of Africans said the police “often” or “always” stopped drivers without good reason, in addition to 26% who said they “sometimes” did so (Figure 1). The practice is particularly widespread in Gabon (68% often/always) and Kenya (66%). In contrast, fewer than one in five respondents in Ethiopia (18%), Cabo Verde (16%) and Benin (16%) had this complaint.</p>
<p>Both seeking police assistance and being stopped on the road may be a prelude to being asked for money. Among respondents who said they had asked for police assistance during the previous year, 36% said they had had to pay a bribe, give a gift or do a favour to get the help they needed (Figure 2). This proportion reached astonishing levels in Liberia (78%), Nigeria (75%), Sierra Leone (72%) and Uganda (71%).</p>
<p>Similarly, among citizens who encountered the police in other situations, 37% said they had to pay a bribe to avoid a problem. Liberia (70%) again ranked worst, joined by Guinea (66%), Congo-Brazzaville (65%) and Uganda (64%).
Seychelles and Cabo Verde performed best on both counts (1%-4%).</p>
<p>Considering how many Africans personally experience having to bribe the police, it may not be surprising that on average across 39 countries, the police were more widely seen as corrupt than civil servants, officials in the presidency, or any other public institutions or leaders the surveys asked about. Almost half (46%) of respondents said that “most” or “all” police officials were corrupt.</p>
<h2>Police brutality</h2>
<p>One of the harshest criticisms levelled against some police officers was that they used excessive force in their interactions with the people they were meant to serve and protect. </p>
<p>As Figure 3 shows, almost four in 10 respondents (38%) said the police “often” or “always” used excessive force in managing protests or demonstrations. Another 27% said they “sometimes” did so. Only 29% said the police were “rarely” or “never” guilty of brutality in their handling of protesters. The perception of frequent police brutality against protesters was most common in Gabon (64% often/always) and was widespread in some countries that are scheduled to have national elections this year, including <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/three-dead-senegal-protests-over-delayed-presidential-election-2024-02-11/">Senegal</a> (60%), Guinea (51%) and Tunisia (45%).</p>
<h2>Police professionalism</h2>
<p>Do these popular perceptions add up to a police force that is seen as professional?</p>
<p>Only one-third (32%) of respondents said the police in their countries “often” or “always” operated in a professional manner and respected the rights of all citizens, while 32% said they “sometimes” and 34% said they “rarely” or “never” did (Figure 4).</p>
<p>In just five countries did more than half of the respondents think their police usually acted professionally: Burkina Faso (58%), Morocco (57%), Niger (55%), Benin (54%) and Mali (54%). Senegal ranked sixth, at just 50%. Fewer than one in five respondents saw police as usually professional in Sierra Leone (19%), Eswatini (19%), Kenya (18%), Congo-Brazzaville (17%) and Nigeria (13%).</p>
<h2>Significance of findings</h2>
<p>These findings raise questions about the quality of policing on the African continent, highlighting notably negative experiences and evaluations of the police in many – but not all – countries. For example, in Burkina Faso, Morocco and Benin, police scored relatively well across multiple performance indicators. </p>
<p>More broadly, our findings point to broad cross-country patterns of how police professionalism, integrity and respectful conduct are correlated with more positive citizen attitudes towards the police. </p>
<p>African governments looking to change the unfavourable public perceptions of the police – and of government performance in the fight against crime – might take a closer look at which dimensions of police performance matter in their country, and which better-performing police forces might have solutions to share.</p>
<p><em>All graphics have been redacted from showing 39 countries to 10 because of space constraints.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224170/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Matthias Krönke works for Afrobarometer. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Thomas Isbell works in International Development Cooperation. He is affiliated with Afrobarometer. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Makanga Ronald Kakumba is a researcher in the Afrobarometer Analysis Unit. He is affiliated with Uhasselt University. </span></em></p>Negative perceptions of police professionalism and corruption go hand in hand with low public trust in the police, poor marks on government performance, and citizens’ sense of insecurity.Matthias Krönke, Researcher, University of Cape TownThomas Isbell, Consultant, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2251262024-03-11T12:24:14Z2024-03-11T12:24:14ZI’m a political scientist, and the Alabama Supreme Court’s IVF ruling turned me into a reproductive-rights refugee<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580509/original/file-20240307-26-mc43ro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1095%2C1199%2C1403%2C1892&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Spencer and Gabby Goidel hadn't planned to become activists.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Spencer and Gabby Goidel</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The day before the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that <a href="https://apnews.com/article/alabama-supreme-court-from-embryos-161390f0758b04a7638e2ddea20df7ca">frozen embryos created and used for in vitro fertilization</a> are children, my wife, Gabby, and I were greenlighted by our doctors to begin the IVF process. We live in Alabama.</p>
<p>That Friday evening, Feb. 16, 2024, unaware of the ruling, Gabby started taking her stimulation medications, worth roughly US$4,000 in total. We didn’t hear about the decision until Sunday morning, Feb. 18. By then, she had taken four injections – or two doses – of each of the stimulation medications.</p>
<p>For those who don’t know, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-ivf-a-nurse-explains-the-evolving-science-and-legality-of-in-vitro-fertilization-224476">IVF process is a winding journey</a> full of tests, bloodwork and bills. An IVF patient takes hormones for eight to 14 days to stimulate their ovaries to produce many mature eggs. The mature eggs are then retrieved via a minor surgical procedure and fertilized with sperm in a lab. The newly created embryos are monitored, sometimes biopsied and frozen for genetic testing, and then implanted, usually one at a time, in the uterus. From injection to implantation, one round of IVF takes four to eight weeks. </p>
<p>IVF can be as stressful as it is exciting. However, the potential of having a successful pregnancy and our own child at the end of the process, we hoped, would make it all worth it. The decision by the Alabama Supreme Court threw our dreams up in the air.</p>
<p>I <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ow6DhIQAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">study politics</a> – I don’t practice it. I’m not involved in state or local government. I’m a scholar, not an activist or an advocate. But now one of the most intimate, personal events of our lives had been turned into a political event by the state’s highest court. As a result, I became something else, too, which I had not been before: an activist.</p>
<h2>Making sense of the ruling</h2>
<p>Throughout the process of creating, growing and testing embryos in a lab, as many as <a href="https://www.illumefertility.com/fertility-blog/ivf-attrition-rate">50% to 70%</a> of embryos <a href="https://theconversation.com/most-human-embryos-naturally-die-after-conception-restrictive-abortion-laws-fail-to-take-this-embryo-loss-into-account-187904">can be lost</a>. Similarly, in the preimplantation stage of natural pregnancies, <a href="https://doi.org/10.12688%2Ff1000research.22655.1">many embryos don’t survive</a>.</p>
<p>If embryos are children, as the court ruled, then fertility clinics and patients would be exposed to an immense amount of potential legal liability. Under this new framework, patients would be able to bring wrongful death suits against doctors for the normal failures of embryos in the testing or implantation phase. Doctors would either have to charge more for an already expensive procedure to cover massive legal-insurance costs or avoid IVF altogether.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580233/original/file-20240306-30-vi57hp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A screen shows a microscope's view of a needle and cells." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580233/original/file-20240306-30-vi57hp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580233/original/file-20240306-30-vi57hp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580233/original/file-20240306-30-vi57hp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580233/original/file-20240306-30-vi57hp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580233/original/file-20240306-30-vi57hp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580233/original/file-20240306-30-vi57hp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580233/original/file-20240306-30-vi57hp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lab staff at an in vitro fertilization lab extract cells from embryos that are then checked for viability.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/FrozenEmbryos/ebbb52ebd68b4ab691798f90b3319f05/photo">AP Photo/Michael Wyke</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The decision and its implication – that IVF could not continue in the state of Alabama – felt like a personal affront to us. We were infuriated to have this uncertainty injected into the process three days into injecting IVF medication. </p>
<p>While the decision clearly imperiled the future of IVF in Alabama, it was not clear to us whether we would be allowed to continue the process we had begun. We were left completely in the dark for the next four days. Gabby and I had no choice but to continue daily life and IVF as though nothing was happening. </p>
<p>For me, that meant teaching my <a href="https://bulletin.auburn.edu/coursesofinstruction/poli/">political participation course at Auburn University</a>.</p>
<h2>Teaching politics when it gets personal</h2>
<p>I’ll never forget walking into class on Monday, Feb. 19, and telling the students about the court’s ruling and how it – maybe? – was going to jeopardize Gabby’s and my IVF process. </p>
<p>Before starting IVF, Gabby and I had gone through three miscarriages together.</p>
<p>IVF doesn’t always work. Approximately <a href="https://nccd.cdc.gov/drh_art/rdPage.aspx?rdReport=DRH_ART.ClinicInfo&rdRequestForward=True&ClinicId=9999&ShowNational=1">55% of IVF patients</a> under the age of 35 – Gabby is 26 – have a successful pregnancy after one egg retrieval. We couldn’t imagine the pain of telling friends and family that our attempt at having a child had once again failed. So we had agreed we were going to tell as few people as possible about starting IVF. </p>
<p>Yet, here I was now, telling my entire class what we were going through and how the Alabama Supreme Court ruling could affect us. </p>
<p>I wasn’t alone in sharing our story. The night before my Monday morning class, Gabby published an <a href="https://www.al.com/opinion/2024/02/guest-opinion-alabama-supreme-court-embryo-ruling-may-make-it-difficult-for-us-to-have-children.html">opinion column</a> on our local news site about the ruling and our resulting fears and anxieties, which really resonated with people.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578418/original/file-20240227-26-7ak5sq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Clear batches of containers of eggs and embryos in a large, frozen circular container" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578418/original/file-20240227-26-7ak5sq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578418/original/file-20240227-26-7ak5sq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578418/original/file-20240227-26-7ak5sq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578418/original/file-20240227-26-7ak5sq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578418/original/file-20240227-26-7ak5sq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578418/original/file-20240227-26-7ak5sq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578418/original/file-20240227-26-7ak5sq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cryopreservation gives prospective parents more time to pursue pregnancy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/frozen-embryos-and-eggs-in-nitrogen-cooled-royalty-free-image/520157312">Ted Horowitz Photography/The Image Bank via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I was, that day and throughout the next few weeks, fixated on the conceptual gulf between the court’s ruling and public opinion. I wondered aloud, “Who’s against IVF? Surely, only 5% to 10% of the public agrees with this ruling.”</p>
<p>The actual numbers aren’t far off my in-class guess. <a href="https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/econTabReport_XLG2Z6p.pdf">Only 8% of Americans</a> say that IVF is immoral or should be illegal. But the story is more nuanced than that. Approximately <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2024-02/Axios%20Ipsos%20Alabama%20IVF%20Topline%20PDF%202.28.24.pdf">31% of Americans and 49% of Republicans</a> support “considering frozen embryos as people and holding those who destroy them legally responsible.” </p>
<p>In an attempt to tie our personal political experience into the class topic, I remarked that this court decision was a surefire way to get people involved in politics. I had no clue at the time how prophetic my comment would be.</p>
<h2>Fleeing to Texas for reproductive rights?</h2>
<p>On Wednesday, Feb. 21, the <a href="https://www.al.com/news/2024/02/uab-pauses-in-vitro-fertilization-due-to-fear-of-prosecution-officials-say.html">University of Alabama Birmingham’s fertility clinic</a> paused IVF treatments. That wasn’t our clinic, but the move sent us into a total panic. Our clinic’s closure seemed inevitable – and within 24 hours <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/university-alabama-pauses-ivf-services-court-rules-embryos-are-childre-rcna139846">it had paused IVF treatments as well</a>. </p>
<p>We didn’t know what we were going to do, but we knew we were likely leaving the state to continue IVF. I needed to tell my department chair what was going on.</p>
<p>I was walking out of my department chair’s office when my phone rang. Gabby told me, “We got in, we’re going to Temple.” I ran back into my department chair’s office, told her we were going to Temple, Texas, and then rushed home. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/22/us/alabama-embryos-ruling-ivf-treatment-leaving-state/index.html">A reporter from CNN</a> beat me there. It was one of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/02/24/alabama-ivf-treatment-ruling-abortion/">several</a> <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/ivf-doctors-patients-fearful-alabama-court-rules-embryos-are-children-rcna139636">interviews</a> with <a href="https://apnews.com/video/alabama-assisted-reproductive-technology-courts-legislation-gabby-goidel-8990ee5efaab450b940da1e6a39bf8d1">major</a> <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/katy-tur/watch/-thoughtless-ivf-patients-speak-out-on-alabama-embryo-decision-204655173631">media</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/22/alabama-fertility-pause-ivf-embryo-ruling">outlets</a> Gabby did in the wake of her opinion column. After the interview, we threw clothes in a suitcase, dropped our dogs off at the vet and drove to the Atlanta airport. We flew to Texas that night.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9MCbgW7i2I0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">One of the Goidels’ many media interviews in the wake of the Alabama ruling.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The thought of not completing the egg retrieval never seriously entered our minds. We were confident that we could get in with another IVF clinic somewhere, anywhere. But we’re affluent. We’re privileged. What if we weren’t so well off? We wouldn’t have wanted to give up, but we wouldn’t have been able to afford the fight.</p>
<p>We spent exactly one week at my parents’ house in Texas. Thankfully, my parents live an hour and a half away from the Temple clinic. We met our new doctor, <a href="https://www.bswhealth.com/physician/gordon-bates">Dr. Gordon Wright Bates</a>, and were immediately reassured. His cool expertise and confidence were calming to a stressed-out couple. The Alabama Supreme Court may have upended our lives, but we felt weirdly lucky to be in such a comfortable place.</p>
<p>The egg retrieval was Wednesday morning, Feb. 28. By all indications, it went well. IVF, however, is full of uncertainties. Now we are waiting on the results from preimplantation genetic testing. After that, there’s implantation and hoping the embryo continues to grow. We’re not in the clear: IVF is a stressful process even without a state court getting in the way. But today we are in a situation more like an average couple going through IVF than we have been in the past few weeks.</p>
<p>Late Wednesday night, March 6, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/06/us/politics/alabama-ivf-law.html">Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed into law a bill</a> providing legal protection to IVF clinics in the state. Gabby and I rejoiced at the news. Hopefully, we’re the last Alabamian couple to flee the state for IVF.</p>
<h2>A mobilizing moment</h2>
<p>When state politics directly interferes with your life, it feels like a gut punch, as if the community that you love is saying you’re not loved back. It’s easy to see how such an experience could either discourage or motivate you. Research shows that traumatic events, for the most part, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055422001010">depress voter turnout</a> in the following presidential election. By contrast, families and friends of 9/11 victims <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1315043110">became and remained more politically engaged</a> than their peers. </p>
<p>In this case, the Alabama Supreme Court ruling mobilized Gabby and <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2024/3/4/alabama_ivf_patients_warning_to_others">other</a> <a href="https://www.today.com/health/news/alabama-ivf-ruling-embryo-transfer-canceled-rcna140029">women</a> going through the IVF process. For better or worse, the women, couples and families mobilized by this decision will likely always be more engaged because of it.</p>
<p>“Oh, God,” I remarked to my dad, “we’re going to be activists now, aren’t we?”</p>
<p>“So?” he asked.</p>
<p>“No one likes activists,” I responded in jest. But if we’re going to have and raise the family we want, this is just the first of many decisions we’re going to make that someone’s not going to like.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225126/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Spencer Goidel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>I’m a scholar, not an activist or an advocate. But now one of the most intimate, personal events of our lives had been turned into a political event by the state’s highest court.Spencer Goidel, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Auburn UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2231382024-03-05T14:01:07Z2024-03-05T14:01:07ZDespite UN warnings, Iran’s execution of Kurds and political dissidents continues unchecked<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578993/original/file-20240229-20-8v75py.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=57%2C173%2C7571%2C4955&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Human rights activists gather in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 27, 2024, to condemn executions of political dissidents in Iran.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/washington-dc-united-states-iranian-members-of-the-diaspora-news-photo/1963642261?adppopup=true">Ali Khaligh/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since the 2022 death of Jîna Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman held in police custody for wearing her hijab inappropriately, Iranian demonstrators have protested against the repressive regime and the surge of executions of ethnic and religious political dissidents. </p>
<p>In the first 11 months of 2023, Iran <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/iran">had executed 746 people</a>, prompting United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to observe that Iran was carrying them out “<a href="https://thehill.com/policy/international/4289500-united-nations-iran-carrying-out-executions-at-alarming-rate/">at an alarming rate</a>.”</p>
<p>So far in 2024, Iran <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/01/iran-executions-of-protester-with-mental-disability-and-kurdish-man-mark-plunge-into-new-realms-of-cruelty/">has executed</a> at least eight Kurdish political prisoners, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-executes-four-people-it-says-are-linked-israeli-intelligence-state-media-2024-01-29/">including four</a> on Jan. 29, 2024, who were convicted on dubious charges such as <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-executes-3-protests-mahsa-amini-death/">waging war against God</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/iran-executions-the-role-of-the-revolutionary-courts-in-breaching-human-rights-197534">corruption on Earth</a>.</p>
<p>As a Kurdish-born scholar and <a href="https://cah.ucf.edu/languages/faculty-staff/profile/414">a professor of Middle Eastern studies at the University of Central Florida</a>, I have previously written about the <a href="https://theconversation.com/unrest-across-iran-continues-under-states-extreme-gender-apartheid-183766">“Women, Life, Freedom” movement</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/kurds-targeted-in-turkish-attack-include-thousands-of-female-fighters-who-battled-islamic-state-125100">the Kurdish female fighters</a> who focus on the protection of women’s rights and <a href="https://theconversation.com/unrest-in-iran-will-continue-until-religious-rule-ends-90352">protests by the Iranian people against</a> their government.</p>
<p>Those demonstrations includes protests against Iran’s use of the death penalty that, according to a 2022 the U.S. Department of State report, “<a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/iran/">disproportionately affected religious and ethnic minorities</a>.”</p>
<p>With hardliners maintaining their grip on parliament after the election held on March 1, 2024, the plight of ethnic and religious minorities remains <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/01/23/iran-2-detainees-executed-11-await-imminent-execution">an ongoing tragedy</a> with no end in sight. Because of a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/01/iran-elections-low-turnout-and-boycott-expected.html">nationwide boycott of the election</a>, voter turnout was estimated <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/04/middleeast/iran-low-turnout-election-intl/index.html">at less than 41%</a>, the lowest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.</p>
<p>As human rights organization Amnesty International <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/03/iran-chilling-execution-spree-with-escalating-use-of-death-penalty-against-persecuted-ethnic-minorities/">warned in 2023</a>, the Iranian authorities had embarked on an “execution spree.” </p>
<h2>Separate and unequal</h2>
<p>In late November 2023, human rights groups reported intense crackdowns on protesters in two Kurdish cities. In one of them, Mahabad, authorities have declared <a href="https://www.iranintl.com/en/202211206594">martial law</a>. In another, Javanrud, people have been found massacred and the government accused of ethnic cleansing, according to <a href="https://iranhumanrights.org/wp-content/uploads/Massacre-in-Javanrud-Iran-Violations-Report.pdf">the Center for Human Rights in Iran and Kurdistan Human Rights Network</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Several cars are unable to move through thousands of demonstrators." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486368/original/file-20220924-15747-3pw3xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486368/original/file-20220924-15747-3pw3xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486368/original/file-20220924-15747-3pw3xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486368/original/file-20220924-15747-3pw3xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486368/original/file-20220924-15747-3pw3xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486368/original/file-20220924-15747-3pw3xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486368/original/file-20220924-15747-3pw3xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Thousands of demonstrators stop traffic in Iran on Sept. 19, 2022, to protest the death of Jîna Mahsa Amini while in police custody.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-gather-in-protest-against-the-death-of-mahsa-amini-news-photo/1426271257?adppopup=true">Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This Kurdish region of Iran has been the epicenter for <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/21/middleeast/iran-mahsa-amini-death-widespread-protests-intl-hnk/index.html">nationwide protests</a> that erupted in September 2022 since Amini’s death.</p>
<p>Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini established <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34550377">the Revolutionary Courts</a>
which have supreme power over the general courts and were designed to protect the revolution from any and all perceived enemies of the state. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of men with rifles kneel in front of several men who are wearing blindfolds." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578070/original/file-20240226-30-ji0y3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578070/original/file-20240226-30-ji0y3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578070/original/file-20240226-30-ji0y3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578070/original/file-20240226-30-ji0y3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578070/original/file-20240226-30-ji0y3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578070/original/file-20240226-30-ji0y3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578070/original/file-20240226-30-ji0y3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this 1979 image, an Iranian government firing squad executes 11 Kurdish men.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/government-firing-squad-executed-nine-kurdish-rebels-and-news-photo/1155287072?adppopup=true">Jahangir Razmi/ Bettmann Archive/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most death sentences of the regime’s opponents have been carried out by these courts. The executions are often based on vague charges and forced confessions, many of which are broadcast on state-owned national television. A study by <a href="https://www.fidh.org/en/region/asia/iran/iran-new-report-demands-end-to-the-rampant-use-of-forced-confessions">the International Federation for Human Rights</a> revealed that between 2009 and 2019, Iranian media broadcast 355 such forced confessions.</p>
<h2>Ethnic and religious persecutions</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, the discrimination against the Kurds and other minorities in Iran remains overlooked, and it is even enshrined in the constitution. </p>
<p>In Iran, where people of non-Persian ethnicities constitute more than half of the population and speak nearly <a href="https://iranatlas.net/index.html">100 different languages and dialects</a>, <a href="https://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/ir00000_.html">Article 15</a> of the Iranian Constitution recognizes only Persian/Farsi as “the official language” and script of Iran. </p>
<p>As a result, ethnic minorities like the Kurds are prohibited from learning or teaching their own languages. </p>
<p>The law is strictly enforced. In 2020, for instance, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Courts sentenced <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/north-africa-west-asia/iran-how-kill-language/">Zara Mohammadi</a> to 10 years in prison for teaching Kurdish, her native tongue. </p>
<p>Ten years earlier, Kurdish primary school teacher <a href="https://barricadejournal.org/volume-5/heirs-of-poetry-and-rain/?fbclid=IwAR2Ef4eDZXNn1351sSIiIfvc3gMMv8M5uyBxz6Wnp2SJ1oFA7o01f8wpobI">Farzad Kamangar</a> was executed for advocating for greater cultural and political self-determination for the Kurds. </p>
<p>Criminalizing religious minorities is also permitted in the constitution of the Islamic republic. </p>
<p>Iran’s <a href="http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/ir00000_.html">Constitution names</a> the Twelver Ja’fari School of Shi’a Islam as the state religion. This excludes the Sunni Kurds, Baha’is and other religious minorities from the minimal protections granted by Iran’s Constitution. Not surprisingly, the <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2023/country-chapters/iran">Baha’is and Sunnis</a> remain <a href="https://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/releases-statements/uscirf-releases-report-religious-freedom-iran#:%7E:text=In%20its%202023%20Annual%20Report,and%20egregious%20religious%20freedom%20violations">the most persecuted</a> religious minorities in Iran. </p>
<h2>Ending ‘hell on earth’</h2>
<p>Jîna Mahsa Amini’s death unleashed a wave of nationwide protests in Iran that <a href="https://theconversation.com/unrest-across-iran-continues-under-states-extreme-gender-apartheid-183766">called for dismantling the state’s gender apartheid</a> as well as systemic ethnic, racial and religious discrimination, particularly in Sunni- and Kurdish-dominated cities.</p>
<p>Human rights organizations <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iran-execution-gaza-war-hamas-b2457548.html">have accused Iran</a> of exploiting the current international focus on Gaza to exact revenge on dissidents.</p>
<p>“Since the start of the war, there has been little international focus on the human rights situation in Iran, and there has been no substantial response to the significant increase in executions,” said <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/dec/02/iran-using-gaza-conflict-as-cover-to-step-up-executions-of-protesters">Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam</a>, the director of Iran Human Rights, a nonprofit human rights organization. </p>
<p>Amiry-Moghaddam explained that his organization <a href="https://www.iranhr.net/en/articles/5594/">has compiled data</a> that shows the Iranian regime’s brutal crackdown has disproportionately targeted ethnic and religious minorities.</p>
<p>In my view, the current “killing spree” defies the demands of the Iranian people and the Kurds to end the executions and to expel Iran from the U.N. under <a href="https://legal.un.org/repertory/art6.shtml">Article 6, Chapter II</a> of the U.N. charter for the regime’s persistent violation of human rights principles since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. </p>
<p>As former U.N. Secretary-General <a href="https://www.daghammarskjold.se/publication/dealing-crimes-humanity/">Dag Hammarskjöld</a> once said, the U.N. “was created not to lead mankind to heaven but to save humanity from hell.” </p>
<p>For the long-suffering, stateless Kurdish nation, the U.N. has so far failed to rescue them from their hell on earth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223138/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Haidar Khezri does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the wake of the death of Jîna Mahsa Amini in police custody in 2022, Iranian authorities have executed political dissenters at what the UN chief described as ‘an alarming rate.’Haidar Khezri, Assistant Professor of Modern Languages, University of Central FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2241912024-03-05T13:14:17Z2024-03-05T13:14:17ZThe African Union is weak because its members want it that way – experts call for action on its powers<p>The <a href="https://au.int/">African Union (AU)</a> comes in for a lot of criticism. Most recently this is from within its own ranks. The AU Commission chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, <a href="https://au.int/en/pressreleases/20240217/speech-he-moussa-faki-mahamat-chairperson-african-union-commission-thirty">set out his frustrations after an AU summit</a> in February 2024. The commission is the executive organ which runs the AU’s daily activities. Mahamat accused member states of getting in the way of the commission doing its work, and failing to match rhetoric with action:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Over the last three years, 2021, 2022 and 2023, 93% of African Union decisions have not been implemented.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We think many of the criticisms of the AU are justified. This is based on more than 15 years of researching its <a href="https://academic.oup.com/afraf/advance-article/doi/10.1093/afraf/adad026/7333637">political</a> and <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-12451-8">legal</a> development.</p>
<p>The AU was formed <a href="https://au.int/en/overview">in 2002</a> to replace the <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/organisation-african-unity-oau">Organisation of African Unity</a> (OAU). Its institutions include the <a href="https://au.int/en/commission">AU Commission</a>, the <a href="https://au.int/en/pap">Pan-African Parliament</a> and the <a href="https://www.african-court.org/wpafc/">African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights</a>, but the real power lies in the hands of its assembly, composed of heads of state and government. </p>
<p>The assembly has refused to transfer meaningful powers to any of the AU organs. For example, the Pan-African Parliament does not exercise any binding legislative powers. And the AU Commission cannot compel member states to comply with AU rules. Most member states <a href="https://theconversation.com/successes-of-african-human-rights-court-undermined-by-resistance-from-states-166454">refuse to comply</a> with the decisions of the human rights court. </p>
<p>The AU differs in this regard from the European Union (EU), where supranational, binding powers are exercised by organs such as the European Commission and the European Parliament. </p>
<p>The AU’s aim of deepening continental integration in Africa is not matched by the powers of its organs. As various AU-mandated reports have shown, the organisation is <a href="https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/RO%20Audit%20of%20the%20AU.pdf">dysfunctional</a> and not <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/pages/34915-file-report-20institutional20reform20of20the20au-2.pdf">fit for purpose</a>. </p>
<p>We have previously argued that the <a href="https://unisapressjournals.co.za/index.php/SAPL/article/view/11284">AU has come a long way in its first 20 years</a>. But we believe its <a href="https://theconversation.com/pan-african-integration-has-made-progress-but-needs-a-change-of-mindset-183541">long-standing weakness</a> lies with member states, not its executive, the AU Commission. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/toothless-pan-african-parliament-could-have-meaningful-powers-heres-how-87449">Toothless Pan-African Parliament could have meaningful powers. Here's how</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Fixing the problem requires political willingness by member states to gradually sacrifice their sovereignty for the greater good of continental integration. Also, more innovative and creative ways are needed to see how powers can be transferred to weak AU organs. </p>
<h2>Structural weaknesses</h2>
<p>Member states have little trust in the AU. Since its creation in 2002, there has been more talk about what is needed to make it effective than actually fixing its many problems. The <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/pages/34873-file-constitutiveact_en.pdf">AU Constitutive Act</a> allows the assembly to transfer some of its functions to organs such as Pan-African Parliament and AU Commission. Very little has been done about this, though. </p>
<p>Rather than granting the parliament the ability to make binding laws, the amended <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/7806-treaty-0047_-_protocol_to_the_constitutive_act_of_the_african_union_relating_to_the_pan-african_parliament_e.pdf">PAP Protocol</a> only gave it the powers to make “model laws”. These are no more than recommendations. The same applies to the AU Commission. It can’t compel member states to comply with its decisions. So the AU has no way to exercise supranational powers (binding over its member states). </p>
<p>The AU is only as strong as member states allow it to be. African leaders have a worrying track record of putting narrow domestic gains ahead of transferring higher powers to the AU. </p>
<p>This is unfortunate because African regional integration does not, as is often assumed, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/27800540">come at the cost of national sovereignty</a>. </p>
<p>In 2016, African leaders mandated Rwandan president Paul Kagame to provide a report on how to reform the AU. The report was submitted to the AU Assembly <a href="https://au.int/en/documents/20170129/report-proposed-recommendations-institutional-reform-african-union">in 2017</a>. It called for better coordination between AU organs and the regional economic communities, and enhancing the capacity of AU organs to achieve continental integration. After eight years, Kagame is <a href="https://www.theafricareport.com/337642/frustrated-kagame-hands-au-reform-over-to-ruto/">frustrated with the lack of results</a>. </p>
<p>Though proponents of ambitious AU reforms are disappointed, the reforms suggested by Kagame have produced some tangible progress. They have prompted a welcome rethink of the institutional structures. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/not-yet-uhuru-the-african-union-has-had-a-few-successes-but-remains-weak-187705">Not yet uhuru: the African Union has had a few successes but remains weak</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>One example is the decision on self-funding, which has revialised the <a href="https://au.int/es/node/43455">AU Peace Fund</a> and the <a href="https://au.int/es/node/43455">UN peacekeeping budget available</a> for requests to support AU peace support operations. However, <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/decisions/43077-EX_CL_Dec_1217-1232_XLIII_E.pdf">61% of the overall AU budget</a> is still financed by the AU’s <a href="https://ecdpm.org/application/files/7216/6074/7083/DP240-Financing-the-African-Union-on-mindsets-and-money.pdf">external partners</a> – including the EU, the US, China, India, Turkey and South Korea. Member states still pay <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/43203-doc-2022_AU_Consolidated_Final_Audit_Report_and_financial_statements_E_Signed-merged-1.pdf">on average only 80%-90%</a> of the contributions they owe. </p>
<h2>Poor leadership and weak empowerment</h2>
<p>The AU’s situation is not helped by some aspects of its leadership. Mahamat’s stewardship of a number of key projects and issues has been controversial. Notably, he largely remained silent about <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/2/14/addis-summit-raises-questions-about-ethiopias-many-conflicts">atrocities</a> committed by Ethiopian forces in Tigray during the two-year Ethiopia war which broke out in November 2020.</p>
<p>More hands-on, principled leadership would have been desirable. At the same time, member states haven’t created an environment in which the chairperson could operate as an effective change-maker. </p>
<p>AU member states and international partners have become <a href="https://www.devex.com/news/exclusive-audit-finds-nepotism-corruption-and-worse-at-the-african-union-commission-99181">frustrated</a> with the AU Commission’s performance, often attributing the AU’s problems to Mahamat’s personal leadership. </p>
<p>But blaming the chairperson is to ignore the deep-rooted structural deficiencies of the organisation. Without addressing these structural problems, whoever is <a href="https://assodesire.com/2024/02/19/outcomes-of-the-african-union-summit-in-7-points/">elected when Mahamat’s term ends in February 2025</a> will fall into the same inefficiency trap.</p>
<h2>Pathways to supranationalism</h2>
<p>The AU’s exercise of binding powers over its member states will require separating personal from institutional politics, ratifying existing legal instruments, and showcasing instances of good pan-African governance.</p>
<p>AU member states should commit to coming up with a feasible plan that shows how, in the short to medium term, they intend to transfer meaningful powers to the AU Commission and the Pan-African Parliament.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-african-union-at-20-a-lot-has-been-achieved-despite-many-flaws-175932">The African Union at 20: a lot has been achieved despite many flaws</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For example, member states that are willing and able to move ahead with endowing the parliament with supranational legislative powers should be encouraged. The amended <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/7806-treaty-0047_-_protocol_to_the_constitutive_act_of_the_african_union_relating_to_the_pan-african_parliament_e.pdf">PAP Protocol</a> does not prevent this as it encourages member states to experiment with direct elections of membership to the parliament. </p>
<p>Also, the AU <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36403-treaty-protocol_on_free_movement_of_persons_in_africa_e.pdf">Protocol on Free Movement</a> encourages willing member states and regional economic communities to take action. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-african-unions-panel-of-the-wise-an-unfulfilled-promise-184488">The African Union's Panel of the Wise: an unfulfilled promise?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Nothing prevents such member states from getting into an arrangement with the Pan-African Parliament and AU Commission to provide guidelines and even monitor the way they implement these objectives. Along the example of the <a href="https://au.int/en/treaties/agreement-establishing-african-continental-free-trade-area">African Continental Free Trade Area</a>, national ratifications of AU instruments should be public and transparent to speed up action on agreed decisions. </p>
<p>Member states should encourage the inclusion of wider civil society in framing the terms and conditions of moving forward with the AU supranational project. In this way, the sense of popular ownership and legitimacy of the organisation will be guaranteed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224191/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ueli Staeger has received funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Babatunde Fagbayibo receives funding from the National Research Foundation of South Africa. </span></em></p>African leaders have a worrying track record of prioritising narrow domestic gains over transferring supranational, binding powers to the AU.Ueli Staeger, Assistant Professor of International Relations, University of AmsterdamBabatunde Fagbayibo, Professor of International Law, University of PretoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2248882024-03-01T18:33:43Z2024-03-01T18:33:43ZGhana’s new anti-homosexuality bill violates everyone’s rights, not just LGBTIQ+ people - expert<p>Ghana’s new <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/28/africa/ghana-passes-anti-homosexuality-bill-intl/index.html">anti-homosexuality bill</a> infringes several rights and freedoms, not only of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) people but of heterosexuals too. The bill has been in the works since 2021 when it was tabled in parliament as a <a href="https://www.graphic.com.gh/features/opinion/private-member-s-bill-key-to-parliamentary-effectiveness.html">private member’s bill</a>.</p>
<p>The objective of the <a href="https://cdn.modernghana.com/files/722202192224-0h830n4ayt-lgbt-bill.pdf">Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill</a> is</p>
<blockquote>
<p>to provide for human sexual rights and family values and for related matters.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>At the heart of the contention about the proposed law is the question of discrimination, its purpose and its effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by all persons, on an equal footing, of all rights and freedoms.</p>
<p>The title of the bill, obviously, is ironic because the law rather sets out to deny the right to sexuality and related rights to LGBTIQ+ people and to criminalise their actions. The key action which is criminalised is consensual sexual relations between two homosexual adults.</p>
<p>The bill defines such practices, linking them to similar provisions in the <a href="https://ir.parliament.gh/bitstream/handle/123456789/2433/ACT%2030.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">Criminal and Other Offences Act of Ghana</a>. Interestingly, it also criminalises and denies other acts, such as oral sex, which heterosexual couples also do to homosexuals and lesbians. The LGBTIQ+ community is also prohibited from marriage and from adopting or fostering.</p>
<p>If the president signs the legislation, Ghana will join <a href="http://www.globalequality.org/component/content/article/166">36 African countries</a> where homosexuality is illegal. It’s punishable by death in <a href="https://www.fairplanet.org/story/death-penalty-homosexualty-illegal/">some countries </a>, including Nigeria and Mauritania. So, Africa remains a tough place for LGBTIQ+ people. But there has been some progress in countries like South Africa and <a href="https://healthpolicy-watch.news/mauritius-supreme-court-throws-out-colonial-anti-gay-law/">Mauritius </a> where colonial era laws have been repealed.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mauritius-is-the-latest-nation-to-decriminalise-same-sex-relations-in-a-divided-continent-215270">Mauritius is the latest nation to decriminalise same-sex relations in a divided continent</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As a scholar of international human rights law, I believe this bill will infringe the right to privacy, right to health, freedom of association and expression, and press freedom. It will also impinge on the rights of teachers, lecturers, civil society activists and citizens who share content on social media platforms that the bill deems illegal. </p>
<h2>Compromising key freedoms</h2>
<p>The bill’s criminalisation of consensual sexual relations between two homosexual adults and imposition of sentence of three years on violators of that provision of the law is prohibitive and disproportionate. The practice should not be criminalised, but if at all, violation should at best attract a non-custodial sentence, for example a fine or community work. The LGBTIQ+ community has the right to be treated with dignity. The fact that someone is gay should not lead to a loss of his/her humanity.</p>
<p>Moreover, since the only way the criminalisation of consensual sex can be enforced is by “peeking through the window”, this will infringe on the right to privacy.</p>
<p>There has been many instances where members of the LGBTIQ+ community, and even those who the society consider as such but are not, have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/jul/13/arrested-abused-and-accused-wave-of-repression-targets-lgbt-ghanaians">arrested </a>and subjected to acts of molestation, abuse, torture and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/09/20/ghana-lgbt-activists-face-hardships-after-detention">other forms of violence</a> and <a href="https://www.losangelesblade.com/2024/02/05/man-in-ghana-assaulted-for-being-gay/">extrajudicial measures</a> which constitute a violation of their right to dignity. Some are even killed. The vigilante groups that effect these arrests also have the habit of extorting money from the alleged perpetrators of LGBTIQ+ practices. Where the “suspects” end up at the police station, the police have also resorted to extortion of large sums of money from the suspects before letting them go. </p>
<p>The law seeks to avert such occurrences by imposing a term of imprisonment of between six months to three years for anyone who harasses someone accused of being LGBTIQ+. However, this is a feeble attempt by the sponsors of the bill to appease or assure the LGBTIQ+ community. </p>
<p>The forced disbandment of LGBTIQ+ associations in Ghana, will constitute a violation of the right to freedom of association and freedom of expression, among others. It has been abused in a number of instances and is likely to be further abused even more. The provision that seeks to make owners of digital platforms or physical premises in which LGBTIQ+ groups organise guilty of promoting LGBTIQ+ activities violates the right to freedom of association and expression, among others. </p>
<p>Also, the provision on imposing harsh sentences on teachers and other educators who talk about LGBTIQ+ in the classroom is likely to infringe on the right to academic freedom and the right to education. Further, the imposition of six to 10 years of imprisonment for anyone who produces, procures, or distributes material deemed to be promoting LGBTIQ+ activities is likely to lead to the abuse of the right to freedom of expression, information and education and even press freedom. The same goes with the provision on criminalising the “public show of romantic relations” between people of the same sex, even including cross-dressing.</p>
<p>What is important to also note is that the law is not made to restrict or violate the rights of the LGBTIQ+ community only. Teachers, lecturers, media personnel and civil society activists, people who share content over social media platforms, or broadcast content on LGBTIQ+ are also going to be held criminally responsible.</p>
<h2>Presidential or constitutional challenge</h2>
<p>I propose that President Nana Akufo-Addo should not assent to the law as it is, relying on <a href="https://lawsghana.com/constitution/Republic/constitution_content/113">article 108</a> of the 1992 Constitution since, being a private members bill, it has likely financial implications for the state. Thus, relying on <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/09/20/ghana-lgbt-activists-face-hardships-after-detention">article 106</a>, he can refer the bill to his highest advisory body (<a href="https://cos.gov.gh/">Council of State</a>) for its advice. Otherwise, he has the power to state in a memo to the Speaker of Parliament any specific provisions of the bill which in his opinion should be reconsidered by Parliament. </p>
<p>If he does not, the matter can be taken to a Human Rights Court by a citizen, relying on <a href="https://lawsghana.com/constitution/Republic/constitution_content/38#:%7E:text=(5)%20The%20rights%2C%20duties,freedom%20and%20dignity%20of%20man.">article 33(5)</a>of the Constitution, which provides that “the rights, duties, declarations and guarantees relating to the fundamental human rights and freedoms specifically mentioned in this Chapter shall not be regarded as excluding others not specifically mentioned which are considered to be inherent in a democracy and intended to secure the freedom and dignity of man.” </p>
<p>The other option is to go straight to the Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of the bill.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224888/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ghana’s anti-gay bill will affect heterosexual’s tooKwadwo Appiagyei-Atua, Associate Professor of Law, University of GhanaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2243922024-03-01T13:54:55Z2024-03-01T13:54:55ZThe world’s business and finance sectors can do much more to reverse deforestation – here’s the data to prove it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578638/original/file-20240228-18-y5cg7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rainforest jungle in Borneo, Malaysia, is destroyed to make way for oil palm plantations</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/deforestation-aerial-photo-rainforest-jungle-borneo-1098811376">Rich Carey/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Big corporations could drive a worldwide shift towards more <a href="https://forest500.org/sites/default/files/forest_500_financial_institution_selection_methodology_2022.pdf">sustainable supply chains</a> that limit damage caused by deforestation. But progress is being slowed down by weak or non-existent commitments to ensure that supply chains for commodities such as soy, palm oil and beef have not contributed to tropical deforestation, according to analysis recently published by the environmental organisation <a href="https://globalcanopy.org/about-us/">Global Canopy</a>.</p>
<p>Based on ten years of <a href="https://forest500.org/publications/2024-a-decade-of-deforestation-data/">data</a>, the <a href="https://forest500.org/">Forest 500</a> report assessed 350 companies, from high-street supermarkets and food producers that might use soy or beef in their supply chains to firms using tropical timber to build furniture. It also looked at 150 financial institutions that provide <a href="https://forest500.org/publications/2023-watershed-year-action-deforestation/">US$6.1 trillion</a> (£4.8 trillion) of investment to these companies each year. </p>
<p>Nearly one-third of the assessed companies still haven’t committed to avoiding deforestation when trading in commodities such as beef and leather, palm oil, soy, timber and paper pulp. </p>
<p>But progress varies depending on the product. While a majority (76%) of companies assessed for palm oil have a deforestation commitment, 65% of those assessed for beef do not. Conversion to beef pasture is driving a surge in deforestation in Brazil’s Cerrado savannah where, last year, deforestation increased <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68272643">by 43%</a>. </p>
<p>New laws, such as the <a href="https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/forests/deforestation/regulation-deforestation-free-products_en">EU Deforestation Regulation</a> and <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/forest-act">US Forest Act</a>, aim to prevent trade in products that contribute to illegal deforestation. But these <a href="https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/the-cerrado-crisis-brazils-deforestation-frontline/">may not protect habitats such as the Cerrado savannah</a>, for example, which <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68272643">falls out of scope of the new EU regulation</a> because the trees aren’t tall enough to count as forest.</p>
<p>Unless deforestation regulations are strengthened to stop trade in products that have caused the loss of any type of vital natural habitat, companies will not stop trading in products such as beef that are sourced from forests like the Cerrado savannah. </p>
<p>In the UK, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/supermarket-essentials-will-no-longer-be-linked-to-illegal-deforestation">proposed regulations</a> will stop trade in products associated with illegal deforestation, but not those defined as legal under local law. Regulation has a part to play in halting deforestation, but only if it includes all conversion of natural habitats, both legal and illegal, and includes regulation of the finance sector.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Short green trees and brown grass burning with flames and smoke" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578632/original/file-20240228-26-ubavq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578632/original/file-20240228-26-ubavq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578632/original/file-20240228-26-ubavq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578632/original/file-20240228-26-ubavq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578632/original/file-20240228-26-ubavq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578632/original/file-20240228-26-ubavq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578632/original/file-20240228-26-ubavq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Cerrado forest vegetation in Brazil is being burnt to make way for livestock farming.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/burning-cerrado-vegetation-typical-biome-central-2033322188">Sergio Willian fotos/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>International collaborations such as the <a href="https://forestclimateleaders.org/#about">Forest and Climate Leaders Partnership</a> seek to address government and public sector ambition. But steps to reduce deforestation from within the <a href="https://accountability-framework.org/">private sector</a> are just as crucial, because global trade in forest commodities drives loss. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/what-are-drivers-deforestation">greatest drivers</a> of tropical forest loss are conversion to cropland and pasture, building of infrastructure such as mines and roads, and logging for timber. <a href="https://theconversation.com/forests-are-vital-to-protect-the-climate-yet-the-world-is-falling-far-behind-its-targets-216703">Climate change and wildfires</a> add further pressures, <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abp8622">degrading forests</a>. </p>
<p>Trade in products such as coco, coffee, palm oil, soybeans, beef and leather, timber and wood pulp all expose companies to deforestation risk. The raw trade value of these products – defined as “freight on board” by <a href="https://comtradeplus.un.org/">UN Comm Trade</a> – in 2022 alone was more than US$32 billion.</p>
<p>It’s hard to move away from deforestation to make valuable products when the practices are supported by <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2023/06/15/trillions-wasted-on-subsidies-could-help-address-climate-change">huge subsidies</a>. Those to the soy, palm oil and beef industries support <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2023/06/15/trillions-wasted-on-subsidies-could-help-address-climate-change">14% of annual global forest loss</a>. The annual funding for forests is <a href="https://www.wwf.org.uk/learn/landscapes/forests/pathways-report-summary">less than 1%</a> that which funds environmentally harmful subsidies, so progress in reducing deforestation is undermined by an enormous financial gap. This needs to be closed in order to start financially incentivising forest protection. </p>
<p>Human rights issues and deforestation go hand-in-hand because many Indigenous peoples and local communities are <a href="https://www.wwf.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-10/WWF-Forest-Pathways-Report-2023.pdf">denied land rights to their forests</a>. It is vital that companies ensure their supply chains do not exacerbate land rights denial – but here the new report highlights a global blind spot. </p>
<p>Only 1% of Forest 500 companies had a policy for all of the human rights issues relating to at least one of the highest-risk commodities they were assessed for. And most of the companies assessed (91%) did not have a published commitment to ensuring that all rights-based conflicts are resolved before they finalise new developments or acquisitions in their supply chains.</p>
<h2>Global forest goals</h2>
<p>2023 was a landmark year for the planet’s forests. For the first time, the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cop26-world-leaders-summit-on-action-on-forests-and-land-use-2-november-2021/world-leaders-summit-on-action-on-forests-and-land-use">global goal</a> to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030 was formally adopted <a href="https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/cma2023_L17_adv.pdf">by the UN</a>. </p>
<p>Yet despite everything forests do for <a href="https://theconversation.com/forests-are-vital-to-protect-the-climate-yet-the-world-is-falling-far-behind-its-targets-216703">nature, people and the climate</a>, forest loss continues almost unabated. In 2022, an area of forest <a href="https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?9899941/Forest-Pathways-Report-2023">the size of Denmark</a> was lost. The new report shows there is still a huge gap between ambition and action. </p>
<p>There is no legally binding international framework convention on forests, so most forest commitments are voluntary. <a href="https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/markets/deforestation_conversion_free/">Advice to companies</a> on how to accelerate and scale up deforestation and conversion-free supply chains is widespread, but the <a href="https://forest500.org/analysis/insights/major-companies-and-financial-institutions-are-persistently-ignoring-their-role-in-driving-deforestation/">Forest 500 assessment</a> concludes that the private sector isn’t taking voluntary action fast enough.</p>
<p>Only 3% of Forest 500 companies are fully and publicly reporting deforestation in their supply chains, and <a href="https://forest500.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Forest500_Annual-Report-2024_Final.pdf">63% fail to publish adequate evidence</a> of the implementation of their deforestation commitments. This makes it difficult for consumers to be sure that the products they buy are not contributing to any form of forest loss.</p>
<p>As the report concludes, new regulations to address deforestation must be ambitious and cover both legal and illegal deforestation. They must also address the conversion of natural ecosystems for forest commodities that result in environmental destruction, and any associated human rights abuses. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
<br><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeTop">Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead.</a> Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeBottom">Join the 30,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.</a></em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224392/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary Gagen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A recently published report sheds light on how 350 big companies and 150 financial institutions are falling behind with goals to halt and reverse deforestation.Mary Gagen, Professor of Physical Geography, Swansea UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2228262024-02-21T12:29:46Z2024-02-21T12:29:46ZFree movement in west Africa: three countries leaving Ecowas could face migration hurdles<p>For Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, a recent decision to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68122947">withdraw</a> from the <a href="https://www.ecowas.int/">Economic Community of West African States</a> (Ecowas) has thrown up questions about how they will navigate regional mobility in future. </p>
<p>Ecowas covers a variety of sectors, but migration is a major one. The bloc’s protocols since 1979 have long been seen as a <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-97322-3_2">shining example</a> of free movement on the continent. They gave citizens the right to move between countries in the region without a visa, and a prospective right of residence and setting up businesses.</p>
<p>As multidisciplinary scholars we have previously researched <a href="https://www.arnold-bergstraesser.de/en/political-economy-west-african-migration-governance-wamig-2">migration governance in west Africa</a>, at the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10220461.2022.2084452">regional level</a>, and in particular contexts like <a href="https://ecdpm.org/work/what-does-regime-change-niger-mean-migration-cooperation-eu">Niger</a>. </p>
<p>We argue that Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have much to lose if their departure from Ecowas curtails mobility. But it is likely that informal mobility will continue anyway. </p>
<h2>Why free movement matters</h2>
<p>In September 2023, the three countries created a <a href="https://theconversation.com/burkina-faso-mali-and-niger-have-a-new-defence-alliance-an-expert-view-of-its-chances-of-success-215863">mutual defence pact</a>, named <a href="https://apnews.com/article/sahel-coups-niger-tchiani-mali-burkina-faso-insecurity-e96627c700aa4fcf8d060dd9d2d16667">the Alliance of Sahel States</a>. This indicated their solidarity in dealing with insecurity. </p>
<p>Yet they also depend on neighbouring countries in the region, which puts these three countries in a difficult position.</p>
<p>The three countries that announced their withdrawal from Ecowas are connected in a web of mobility. Notably, Niger, seen as a key transit country for refugees and other migrants on their way to Europe, received <a href="https://www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journals/migration-and-society/3/1/arms030107.xml">major funds and support</a> from the European Union to prevent onward migration to Libya and beyond. </p>
<p>One central measure was <a href="https://www.refworld.org/legal/legislation/natlegbod/2015/fr/123771">Loi 2015-36</a>, a law which punished people transporting migrants with fines and prison sentences. The law was <a href="https://www.ifw-kiel.de/publications/european-dominance-of-migration-policy-in-niger-31383/">mostly developed</a> by external actors and had detrimental effects on the <a href="https://www.clingendael.org/sites/default/files/2018-09/multilateral-damage.pdf">local economy</a>. It also made migration journeys across the Sahara desert even <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ahrc4138add1-visit-niger-report-special-rapporteur-human-rights-migrants">more dangerous</a>. </p>
<p>In November 2023, the law, which <a href="https://www.arnold-bergstraesser.de/sites/default/files/medam_niger_jegen.pdf">arguably violated</a> the principles of free movement under Ecowas, was repealed by the Nigerien coup leaders. </p>
<p>Mali is another major transit country in the region, as well as a country of origin for regional migration. It has a complicated history of <a href="https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/handle/1887/72355">migration cooperation</a> with Europe. </p>
<p>Of less relevance to Europe, but more for regional dynamics, <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-39814-8_11">Burkina Faso</a> is at the centre for <a href="https://www.mideq.org/en/migration-corridors/burkina-faso-cote-divoire/">regional migration</a>, often seasonal. Labour migration supports Côte d'Ivoire’s cocoa industry. After withdrawal from Ecowas, such labour migration may be difficult unless people resort more to informal migration. </p>
<p>As we have shown in our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10220461.2022.2084452">previous research</a>, informal mobility has always existed along with formal mobility governance. Official border crossing points are often not used, despite the legal requirement to do so. </p>
<p>Hence, leaving Ecowas may increase corruption and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/imig.12766">problems of harassment</a> at formal border crossings as well as <a href="https://mixedmigration.org/resource/human-rights-migrants-smuggling-mali-niger/">increased use of mobility facilitators</a>, or “passeurs”. These are people who negotiate passage through formal border crossings and organise journeys through other routes. </p>
<p>The legal gaps that the current situation creates could be very expensive for businesses and individuals. People may in the near future require visas. And for those who have migrated regionally, the right to stay in a country of residency may soon be under threat. </p>
<h2>An immediate exit</h2>
<p>Days after they <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68122947">announced</a> their withdrawal from <a href="https://www.ecowas.int/">Ecowas</a>, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger <a href="https://www.ewn.co.za/2024/02/08/burkina-mali-and-niger-reject-one-year-period-to-quit-ecowas">insisted</a> they were not bound by <a href="https://ecowas.int/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Revised-treaty-1.pdf#page=53">rules stipulating</a> a one year notice period before their final exit. </p>
<p>The announcement about leaving Ecowas outside the normal regulations was dramatic, but not unexpected. Military governments that took power in a series of coups in August 2020 and May 2021 in <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/sahel/mali/mali-un-coup-dans-le-coup">Mali</a>, September 2022 in <a href="https://africacenter.org/spotlight/understanding-burkina-faso-latest-coup/">Burkina Faso</a> and July 2023 in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/26/armed-troops-blockade-presidential-palace-in-niger-mohamed-bazoum">Niger</a> rule the three countries.</p>
<p>Ecowas has exerted political and economic pressure on the three countries to return to constitutional rule, through sanctions and the <a href="https://studies.aljazeera.net/en/policy-briefs/military-intervention-niger-imperatives-and-caveats">threat</a> of military intervention. </p>
<p>In Niger, for example, Ecowas <a href="https://apnews.com/article/niger-bazoum-coup-sanctions-ecowas-c7bdfd06559f1cfbfb856bea5b11a55f">closed</a> official border crossings, cut off more than <a href="https://punchng.com/niger-nigeria-cuts-power-supply-ecowas-vows-to-confront-junta/">70% </a> of electricity, and suspended financial transactions with other countries in the region. </p>
<p>International assets <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/31/nigers-planned-51-mln-bond-issuance-cancelled-due-to-sanctions">were frozen</a> and international aid halted. Even before the coup, <a href="https://www.wfp.org/news/thousands-children-niger-risk-severe-nutritional-crisis-border-closures-leave-trucks-stranded#:%7E:text=Furthermore%2C%20prior%20to%20the%20political,least%20one%20form%20of%20malnutrition.">3.3 million people</a> in Niger experienced acute food insecurity. </p>
<p>The Ecowas sanctions made daily life even worse and in all likelihood added to the <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/sahel/niger/ecowas-nigeria-and-niger-coup-sanctions-time-recalibrate">popularity</a> of the coup leaders. </p>
<p>Similar sanctions were applied in Mali. The population has suffered as a result and the <a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/why-arent-sanctions-preventing-coups-in-africa">effectiveness</a> of the sanctions is questionable. </p>
<p>Sanctions in Burkina Faso included <a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/why-arent-sanctions-preventing-coups-in-africa">travel bans</a> against members of the military government.</p>
<h2>Potential ways ahead</h2>
<p>For Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, there are several considerations when it comes to regional mobility in their post-Ecowas era. These may include exploring the provisions of the <a href="https://www.uemoa.int/en">West African Economic and Monetary Union</a>; a return to bilateral agreements with individual neighbours; or relying on the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10220461.2021.2007788">African Union Protocol on Free Movement</a>. </p>
<p><strong>Monetary union:</strong> The three countries are still part of the <a href="https://www.uemoa.int/en">West African Economic and Monetary Union</a> (Waemu), a union around the common currency, the CFA franc.</p>
<p>The regional monetary union also has provisions for free movement of people and goods across its member countries. With this option, access to seaports, a major issue for all three landlocked countries, is ensured through other members of the monetary union, including, for example, Senegal. </p>
<p>On the downside is the fact that a major argument for leaving Ecowas was the perceived role of external influence over the regional bloc. The strong anti-imperialist discourse of the military governments does not bode well for the regional monetary union either. The union is the institutional framework for regional monetary policy over which France <a href="https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745341798/africas-last-colonial-currency/">continues</a> to exert significant influence. </p>
<p>Burkina Faso has already <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/burkina-may-quit-west-african-currency-union-not-mali-2024-01-31/">announced</a> its intention to leave the monetary union too. </p>
<p>The West Africa Economic and Monetary Union also excludes major trading partners like Nigeria – of major importance to landlocked <a href="https://www.inter-reseaux.org/en/publication/51-special-issue-nigeria/nigerias-role-in-nigers-food-security/">Niger</a> for food supplies. Trade and commerce between Nigeria and Niger provides a lifeline and is among the most intense areas of cross-border activity in west Africa. </p>
<p>For these reasons, the regional monetary union option seems an unlikely alternative.</p>
<p><strong>Bilateral agreements:</strong> Another option for the three countries could be a return to bilateral agreements with individual countries to facilitate free movement. This can be likened to what former Ecowas member <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00083968.2014.936696">Mauritania</a>, which left in <a href="https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2000/12/28/mauritania-pulls-out-ecowas">2000</a>, did. </p>
<p>However, at the moment, given the sanctions, this option is off the cards, and could take many years to work out. </p>
<p><strong>African Union protocol:</strong> At a continental level the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10220461.2021.2007788">African Union Protocol on Free Movement</a> may offer a distant way forward. So far only <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36403-sl-PROTOCOL_TO_THE_TREATY_ESTABLISHING_THE_AFRICAN_ECONOMIC_COMMUNITY_RELATING_TO_FREE_MOVEMENT_OF_PERSONS-1.pdf">32 countries</a> have signed it and four have ratified it, among them Mali and Niger (Burkina Faso is a signatory). </p>
<p>One way to move forward would be for countries to ramp up ratifications of this document, to ensure that cooperation on free movement can continue whatever happens to Ecowas. </p>
<p>Of course, other countries within Ecowas could also unilaterally open up for visa-free entry like <a href="https://www.africanews.com/2023/11/03/rwanda-announces-visa-free-travel-for-all-africans//">Rwanda</a> or Kenya have done, though the process has had its <a href="https://www.africanews.com/2024/01/09/kenya-backlash-over-new-visa-free-entry-policy-many-describe-as-hectic//">hiccups</a>. </p>
<p>Such visa arrangements are also unlikely to include the rights of residence and establishment guaranteed under the Ecowas framework.</p>
<p>Given the current political context, an institutionalised option seems unlikely in the near future. The most likely option would be that migration will simply continue – informally.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222826/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Franzisca Zanker received funding from the Mercator Stiftung for a research project "The Political Economy of West African Migration Governace" in 2019 which provided relevant background for this piece.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda Bisong is a policy officer at the ECDPM, Maastricht, The Netherlands.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leonie Jegen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have much to lose if they cannot migrate to and from neighbouring countries in Ecowas.Franzisca Zanker, Senior research fellow, Arnold Bergstraesser InstituteAmanda Bisong, PhD candidate, Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamLeonie Jegen, PhD Candidate, University of AmsterdamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2215042024-02-20T14:27:38Z2024-02-20T14:27:38ZLagos: drugs, firearms and youth unemployment are creating a lethal cocktail in Nigeria’s commercial capital<p>Lagos is the <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1218259/largest-cities-in-africa/#:%7E:text=Lagos%2C%20in%20Nigeria%2C%20ranked%20as,living%20in%20the%20city%20proper.">most populous</a> city in Africa and a regional economic giant, having west Africa’s busiest seaport. It is the centre of commercial and economic activities in Nigeria.</p>
<p>The city’s <a href="https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/april-2019-july-2019/africa%E2%80%99s-megacities-magnet-investors">population</a> is estimated to be 20 million people. The existence of informal settlements makes it difficult to come up with a more precise number.</p>
<p>Lagos has <a href="https://www.african-cities.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/ACRC_Lagos_City-Scoping-Study.pdf">grown</a> rapidly since Nigerian independence in 1960, when its estimated population was 763,000 people. In the 1980s, its population reached 2.7 million. The government of Lagos state estimates that <a href="https://insidebusiness.ng/18245/rapid-urbanization-86-migrants-enter-lagos-every-hour-ambode/">86 young migrants</a> arrive every hour.</p>
<p>This rapid urbanisation has been poorly managed. The result is crumbling public infrastructure, poor sanitation, poverty, and shortages of employment opportunities, food, social services, housing and public transport. </p>
<p>These challenges combine to make the city susceptible to criminal activities. Organised crime and violent conflicts are a public safety and security challenge. </p>
<p>The issue of crime has been with Lagos for years. In 1993, the Nigerian government <a href="https://ludi.org.ng/2023/07/10/crime-prevention-through-public-space-design-a-lagos-story/#:%7E:text=The%20rapid%20population%20growth%20without,leading%20to%20high%20crime%20rates.">described</a> Lagos as the “crime capital of the country” with the emergence of the “<a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/nigeria-area-boys-growing-menace-streets-lagos">Area Boys</a>”, a group of social miscreants. </p>
<p>The 2017 <a href="https://nigerianstat.gov.ng/elibrary/read/786">statistics</a> on reported crime incidences in Nigeria by the <a href="https://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/">National Bureau of Statistics</a> shows that Lagos has remained in a class of its own. Lagos State had the highest percentage share of total cases reported with <a href="https://nigerianstat.gov.ng/elibrary/read/786#:%7E:text=Lagos%20State%20has%20the%20highest,205(0.2%25)%20cases%20recorded.">50,975</a> (37.9%) cases recorded. </p>
<p>I have been <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=jDncA6MAAAAJ&hl=en">researching</a> various aspects of crime and insecurity in Nigeria, particularly in the country’s south-west. I currently lead the <a href="https://www.african-cities.org/">African Cities Research Consortium</a> safety and security domain research in Lagos.</p>
<p>I contributed to a recent <a href="https://www.african-cities.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ACRC_Working-Paper-7_February-2024.pdf#page=26">paper</a> about residents’ experiences and perceptions of safety in six African cities: Nairobi, Bukavu, Freetown, Mogadishu, Lagos and Maiduguri. </p>
<p>My research identified various drivers of insecurity in Lagos. They included youth migration and unemployment; inequality and poverty; the visible network of organised youth criminal groups; proliferation of small arms and drugs; inadequate preparedness of the city government; police corruption; the high rate of out-of-school children; and poor urban planning.</p>
<p>I argue that for residents to feel secure, the government needs to include these drivers in approaches to solving security challenges in Lagos. </p>
<h2>Unemployment, firearms and drugs</h2>
<p>In my African Cities Research Consortium safety and security domain research in Lagos, unemployment and the proliferation of small firearms and drugs stand out as trends. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://medium.com/@olaoyeleye09/navigating-unemployment-in-lagos-nigeria-1a55c2a5e0b5">survey</a> on Navigating Unemployment in Lagos, Nigeria revealed that 48.31% of the respondents were unemployed and the majority were between 25 and 34 years old.</p>
<p>In Lagos, youth of 18-40 years make up about half of the <a href="https://www.urbanet.info/youth-employment-in-lagos/#:%7E:text=In%20Lagos%2C%20youth%20are%20believed,equalling%20over%2010%20million%20people.">population</a>, equalling over ten million people facing high rates of unemployment. I do not have current unemployment data but in its fourth quarter 2020 nationwide survey, the National Bureau of Statistics <a href="https://mepb.lagosstate.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2022/02/MACRO-ECONS-FLYER-DECEMBER-2021-edition-1.pdf">estimated</a> a 37.14% unemployment rate in Lagos, and 4.52% underemployment rate.</p>
<p>According to my research participants, drug abuse and illicit arms have become serious issues. Some of the city precincts in communities such as Ikorodu, Somolu, Agege, Bariga, Ojo, Oshodi, Mushin and Badagry have become warehouses and destinations for firearms and drugs. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://enactafrica.org/research/ocwar-t/silencing-the-guns-in-cities-urbanisation-and-arms-trafficking-in-bamako-and-lagos">recent survey</a> published by <a href="https://enactafrica.org/research/organised-crime-index#:%7E:text=The%20ENACT%20Africa%20Organised%20Crime,organised%20crime%20across%20the%20continent.&text=The%20ENACT%20Index%20is%20a,organised%20crime%20on%20the%20continent.">ENACT Transnational</a> on organised crime in Africa has shown that between 2010 and 2017, the largest supply of live ammunition transported into Nigeria illegally was intercepted at Lagos. This was made up of 21,407,933 items of live ammunition and 1,100 pump action guns.</p>
<p>Most of the illegal weapons pass through ports in west Africa; some are imported over land borders. While the country’s <a href="https://omaplex.com.ng/an-overview-of-the-gun-regulations-in-nigeria-the-current-stance-and-the-way-forward/">law forbids</a> random possession of firearms, my research respondents say it is surprisingly common for young miscreants to carry firearms in Lagos.</p>
<p>The police have <a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/ssouth-west/409520-blacksmith-two-others-arrested-for-illegal-firearms-fabrication.html">confirmed</a> that hooligans acquire illicit firearms from local blacksmiths who make them, and from corrupt security officers. </p>
<p>In 2022, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency <a href="https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2022/09/23/the-lagos-drug-bust">discovered</a> a warehouse in a residential estate in Ikorodu with 1.8 tonnes of cocaine. This was the largest single cocaine seizure in the country’s history.</p>
<p>In November 2023, security agents <a href="https://leadership.ng/navy-intercepts-boats-with-n200m-illicit-drugs-in-lagos/">intercepted</a> cannabis in Ibeshe, Iworoshoki and Badagry, and in January 2024, the drug law enforcement agency <a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/656790-nigerian-authorities-intercept-hard-drugs-from-us-arrest-suspect-official.html">intercepted</a> cannabis at Ikeja.</p>
<h2>Impacts of unemployment, small arms and drugs in Lagos</h2>
<p>Findings from <a href="https://www.african-cities.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ACRC_Working-Paper-7_February-2024.pdf#page=26">my research</a> in Lagos show respondents perceive high levels of violent crime in the city. Youth aged 13 to 40 are mostly the perpetrators.</p>
<p>While there are no accurate statistics of daily violent crime incidences, residents are <a href="https://punchng.com/daredevil-daylight-robbers-return-to-lagos-streets/">complaining</a>. </p>
<p>In 2022, the police <a href="https://securityandsafetymatters.wordpress.com/2022/11/24/lagos-police-says-over-three-hundred-people-brutally-murdered/">reported</a> that no fewer than 345 people were murdered in Lagos – the highest number in years. </p>
<p>Young people have formed themselves into street gangs. My research respondents spoke of violent encounters in which their assailants used firearms and were often under the influence of alcohol or drugs or both. This was the experience of 18 respondents, out of a sample of 50 randomly selected respondents.</p>
<p>Some respondents described street gangs in Lagos who are constantly high on drugs and have no regard for human life. Other respondents said drugs were accessible and affordable even for unemployed youth. Respondents believed that a combination of a large youth population, unemployment and easy access to drugs and illicit firearms was proving deadly.</p>
<h2>Preventing and treating the issues</h2>
<p>The crime triangle in Lagos – youth unemployment, drugs and illicit arms – requires urgent attention. </p>
<p>My study in Lagos shows that a widespread sense of economic hopelessness exacerbates the use of drug and firearms by young people in Lagos. Youth who embrace this culture of violence are those who feel that they have no stake in the city and no trust in the government to provide opportunities for them.</p>
<p>Thus, the state and communities must address the lack of opportunities and alternatives, reaching out to marginalised youth and providing them with an environment in which they can lead a fulfilling life. An effective strategy is one that provides legitimate activities and job opportunities for them. </p>
<p>Government action is required to ensure that opportunities exist for training in a trade or life skill. This would enable youth to make better choices and find productive employment. They could be socially responsible and play an active role in the city rather than becoming a threat in their communities.</p>
<p>Government has the authority to control the supply and use of firearms and drugs. </p>
<p>Special operations should be directed at drug addicts and unlicensed firearms carriers. The approach should be to disrupt the market for illicit arms and drugs. </p>
<p>Security agencies can work with communities to discover new dealing locations and make buyers feel vulnerable and uncomfortable through sting operations – pretending to be dealers or users. </p>
<p>Urban planning approaches could also be applied such as inclusive planning of informal settlements, installation of security cameras and street lighting, limiting access to problematic streets through road changes, removal of transport stops used by drug and firearms users and their dealers, and improved signage.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221504/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adewumi I. Badiora does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Youth migration, unemployment, proliferation of small arms and drugs are some of the drivers of violent crimes in Lagos.Adewumi I. Badiora, Senior Lecturer, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Olabisi Onabanjo UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2238412024-02-19T21:08:32Z2024-02-19T21:08:32ZWho was Robert Badinter, the most important Frenchman of whom you never heard?<p>At the end of a class on the fundamental principles of law that I was teaching to first-year law students, a group of students approached me and asked: “But who is this Robert Badinter you speak of so often?”</p>
<p>Every time I bring up Badinter, I know I am about to teach them about values such as the right to life, respect for individuals, human dignity, equality, and individual freedom. As a legal historian, such moments are a chance for me to introduce the younger generation of the early 21st century to a rare man who, throughout his life, fought against injustice. On 9 February, he died in Paris, aged 95.</p>
<h2>A national homage</h2>
<p>To say that Badinter’s death marked the end of an era for France is not an overstatement. The next day, not a single national daily failed to dedicate its front page to Badinter. <em>Le Monde</em> printed a black and white picture of him, striding confidently out of the council of ministers in 1981, his head seemingly crowned with a chandelier. <em>Libération</em> opted for a portrait in his later years, titled “Peine absolue” – a pun on a French phrase that means at once “capital punishment”, but also “Absolute sadness”. Others hailed “Un homme juste” (“A man of justice”). Even the conservative <em>Le Figaro</em>, a staunch opponent for most of his life, bowed to his “passion for justice”.</p>
<p>On Wednesday 14 February, the government held a ceremony of national homage Place Vendôme, Paris, where the Justice Ministry is located. His widow, the French feminist and Enlightenment historian Elisabeth Badinter, sat at the front row close to their three children. Hundreds of people stood under the drizzle to watch the coffin draped with the French flag, as French president Emmanuel Macron <a href="https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2024/02/14/hommage-national-a-robert-badinter">announced</a> his entry to the Pantheon, in which the remains of distinguished French citizens lay.</p>
<h2>A very French upbringing</h2>
<p>The son of Russian Jewish immigrants, Badinter was born on 30 March 1928 in Paris. In 1989, <a href="https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/podcasts/radioscopie-par-jacques-chancel/robert-badinter-du-15-06-89-4783850">he described his father</a>, who died following deportation during the Second World War, as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“one of those young intellectual Russian students of before 1914, who loved France with an intensity that we find difficult to conceive. When I was a boy, he would tell me how poor students in Moscow, each possessed by the revolutionary ideal, would head to the French embassy, which was the only place where one could protest because it was an ally country. There, they would sing the <em>Marseillaise</em> [the French national hymn] and cry out ‘Long live France, long live the Republic’. Around the embassy there were Cossacks, whip in hand.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Badinter would grow up in a household steeped in the ideals of the French Republic, in which it was forbidden to speak any other language than French. Reading of 19th-century French writers such as Emile Zola or Stendhal was mandatory. Such ideals would also form the backbone of his relationship to his wife, Elisabeth. Fiercely reserved about their relationship and reluctant to appear in the media as a couple, they would go on to write one book together on French revolutionary philosopher, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicolas-de-Caritat-marquis-de-Condorcet">Nicolas de Condorcet</a>.</p>
<p>Following a doctorate in law in 1952, Badinter worked first as an attorney, then a professor, and finally in politics.</p>
<h2>Consigning the guillotine to museums</h2>
<p>In France and abroad, Badinter is first and foremost known as the man who abolished the death penalty in 1981.</p>
<p>There had been talk of abolishing the capital punishment <a href="https://enseignants.lumni.fr/fiche-media/00000005058/une-revolution-dans-la-justice-partie-2-la-peine-capitale-depuis-la-revolution-francaise.html">since the French Revolution</a>. Already in 1791, deputies had debated on whether to include it in the country’s first criminal code. Politician and jurist Louis-Michel le Peletier, Marquis of Saint-Fargeau (1760-1793), believed its gruesome spectacles perverted society, accustoming it to the sight of violence and blood, while French lawyer and revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794) sought to refute the very principle of the death penalty.</p>
<p>In the following century, French novelist Victor Hugo would take up the baton, devoting two novels to the subject, <em>The Last Day of a Condemned Man</em> (1829) and <em>Claude Gueux</em> (1834). Badinter, who called him the “great” Hugo, would go on to adapt the second <a href="https://www.opera-lyon.com/fr/programmation/2012-2013/opera/claude">as an opera, <em>Claude</em></a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1UxrY2iA5sA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Robert Badinter filmed at his home in October, 2021.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>True to that intellectual heritage, Badinter always stood against the death penalty. Despite this, in 1972 he was unable to save a client, Roger Bontems. While Bontems did not have any blood on his hands, he was found guilty for complicity in the murder of a nurse and porter, and went to the guillotine. As Dominique Missika and Maurice Szafran recount in their biography, Bontems’ death transformed Badinter from a “partisan against the death penalty” into an “activist”.</p>
<p>In 1977, his defence of Patrick Henry, who is convicted for the kidnapping and murder of 7-year-old Philippe Bertrand, is seen as a turning point in the history of the abolition of the death penalty. Haunted by Bontems’ death, for 90 minutes Badinter weighed in with all his might on the conscience of the juries. “You are alone, and there will not be any presidential pardon,” <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/2024/02/09/la-plaidoirie-de-robert-badinter-au-proces-de-patrick-henry-en-1977-moi-je-vous-dis-si-vous-le-coupez-en-deux-cela-ne-dissuadera-personne_6215669_1819218.html">he said</a>, appealing to every one of them “You, you, and you”. </p>
<p>On 14 February, Emmanual Macron <a href="https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2024/02/14/hommage-national-a-robert-badinter">described him as</a> “a soul crying out, a force wrenching life from the clutch of death.” Badinter saved Henry’s life, and would go on to save five more until becoming Justice Minister under President François Mittérand in 1981.</p>
<p>The abolition would represent one of his first tasks in government. On 18 September of that year, the French parliament ended capital punishment, with 363 votes against 117. It took Badinter courage to advocate for such a cause: during the 1981 presidential campaign, <a href="https://www.liberation.fr/societe/police-justice/robert-badinter-lepris-de-justice-20240209_7L4W23X6PBCMBFISMYCPEWKTFU/">a survey</a> revealed 63% of French people opposed its abolition.</p>
<h2>Making prison conditions more humane</h2>
<p>It was also Badinter who decriminalised homosexuality in August 1982. He would go on to repeal a set of other repressive legislations, including the “Anti-troublemakers” law (December 23, 1981), which held protest organisers responsible for any damage caused and was widely perceived as targeting trade unions. Also dismantled was the “Security and Freedom” law (June 10, 1983), which extended police powers to demand IDs and restricted the scope of convicts’ defence.</p>
<p>To Badinter, prison was not meant to replace the death penalty. Every individual, regardless of his or her actions, was redeemable, and hope for release should never be taken away. As minister of justice, Badinter introduced several reforms to humanise inmates’ living conditions, such as TVs in cells and the end of screens in visitation booths. To combat delinquency, relieve overcrowded prisons, provide alternatives to imprisonment for minor offences, he proposed non-custodial sentences such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day-fine">day fines</a> or community service.</p>
<p>One of his other great accomplishments was improving citizens’ access to justice. He expanded the right for associations to become civil parties in cases of crimes against humanity, war crimes (June 10, 1983), and racially motivated crimes. He paved the way for greater recognition of victims, long neglected by the justice system, by creating the first victim-support service within his ministry, providing them with a more prominent role during trials. He also worked toward France’s recognising the right for any litigant to appeal to the European Commission and Court of Human Rights.</p>
<h2>The duty of remembrance</h2>
<p>As the son of Holocaust victims, Badnter cared intensely about history. As minister of justice, he once requested the file of notorious criminal <a href="https://www.histoire-et-civilisations.com/thematiques/epoque-contemporaine/landru-lassassin-aux-petites-annonces-90418.php">Henri Désiré Landru</a>, who was sentenced to death in 1921 for the murder of 10 women, only to find that the file had not been archived. In a ministry that showed little concern for its memory and heritage, he established the French Association for the History of Justice. The two were thus linked, and with this objective in mind, in 1985 he authorised the audiovisual recording of certain trials.</p>
<p>In 1983, Bolivia extradited to France the head of the Lyon Gestapo, Klaus Barbie, who in 1943 arrested and tortured French resistant Jean Moulin. The preamble of the law indicates that trials with “eventful, political, or sociological dimensions deserving preservation for history” should be recorded. Preserving filmed records of major trials for history has filled in, through images, what procedural archives do not reveal. These images enrich written accounts and provide new dimensions for research, capturing not only pleadings but also what only images can convey: gazes, gestures, silences, emotions.</p>
<p>Human dignity knows no borders or limits. It is one of the most important fundamental rights, which continues uninterrupted even after the death of individuals. Robert Badinter knew that humanity’s march toward human rights would never be complete. This is what he leaves to future generations because he never ceased to believe in the universality and indivisibility of human rights. This is his accomplished work of justice; it is up to us to ensure its continuation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223841/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sylvie Humbert ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>The death in February of the man who abolished the death penalty inspired a national homage in France. Yet, Robert Badinter remains little known outside of the country.Sylvie Humbert, Historian of justice and law , Institut catholique de Lille (ICL)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2237742024-02-16T18:21:08Z2024-02-16T18:21:08ZNavalny dies in prison − but his blueprint for anti-Putin activism will live on<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576225/original/file-20240216-26-sb3w3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5946%2C3574&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The legacy of Alexei Navalny lives on.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/portrait-of-alexei-navalny-candles-and-flowers-are-left-at-news-photo/2008366667?adppopup=true">Ian Langsdon/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Long <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/27/world/europe/russia-putin-election-boris-nadezhdin.html">lines of Russians endured subzero temperatures</a> in January 2024 to demand that <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-anti-war-candidate-nadezhdin-says-he-has-enough-signatures-run-president-2024-01-31/">anti-Ukraine war candidate Boris Nadezhdin</a> be allowed to run in the forthcoming presidential election. It was protest by petition – a tactic that reflects the legacy of Alexei Navalny, the longtime Russian pro-democracy campaigner. Authorities say Navalny, a persistent thorn in the side of Russian President Vladimir Putin, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/16/world/europe/aleksei-navalny-dead-russia.html">died in prison</a> on Feb. 16, 2024.</p>
<p>For more than a decade, Navalny fought Russian authoritarianism at the ballot box and on the streets as the most recognizable face of anti-Putinism, filtering support to candidates brave enough to stand against the Kremlin’s wishes. </p>
<p>Often opposition does not translate into electoral success. Nadezhdin supporters did not expect that their man could actually defeat Putin in the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russias-putin-run-again-president-2024-2023-12-08/">vote scheduled for March 20, 2024</a>. Given how tightly the Kremlin controls politics in Russia, the result of the presidential election is a foregone conclusion.</p>
<p>But for many Russians, the opportunity to support Nadezhdin’s candidacy was the only legal means they had to communicate their opposition to Putin and the war. The fact that authorities ultimately <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/08/boris-nadezhdin-antiwar-candidate-putin/">barred</a> Nadezhdin from participating suggests that the Kremlin remains cautious about any candidate who punctures official narratives of a nation united behind Putin’s war in Ukraine.</p>
<p>That effort to protest the election seems all the more poignant following Navalny’s death. It reflected the heart of a strategy that Navalny developed over more than a decade and that <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=4HseTkMAAAAJ&hl=en">I have written about</a> since 2011.</p>
<h2>The movement remains</h2>
<p>Navalny understood that opposition in Russia was about exposing the <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/united-russia-party-of-crooks-and-thieves-and-then-some/">corruption</a> in Putin’s party, United Russia; shining a light on <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/elections-protest-and-authoritarian-regime-stability/51A474C37A1671C885CC5F90091EDBC0">electoral manipulation</a>; and alerting the world to growing <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/russian-repression-of-dissidents-civil-society-reaches-unprecedented-levels/7279656.html">political violence</a>. </p>
<p>Navalny highlighted the very real opposition to Putin and authoritarian rule that exists in Russia despite attempts to hide it from the world.</p>
<p>To achieve these goals, team Navalny – and it is important to remember that while Navalny the man is dead, the <a href="https://acf.international">movement he sparked</a> remains – repeatedly used elections to make the opposition visible and spark political debate.</p>
<p>Navalny <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russian-blogger-alexei-navalny-in-spotlight-after-arrest/2011/12/06/gIQA5tZPZO_story.html">emerged as a political force</a> in 2011, when he kicked off a large national protest movement ahead of the 2012 parliamentary election by labeling Putin’s United Russia the “Party of Crooks and Thieves.” He held contests to create memes to illustrate the slogan and mobilized voters who did not support Putin’s party.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A protester wearing a hat stands in front of a sign in Russian that translates to 'We did not vote for crooks and thieves!'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576222/original/file-20240216-16-d4pt1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Opposition activists in 2011 declare, ‘We did not vote for crooks and thieves!’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/opposition-activists-protest-in-the-siberian-city-of-news-photo/135444601?adppopup=true">Valery Titievsky/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Putin inevitably won the election, with the head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe observer mission commenting that <a href="https://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/88661">due to irregularities and abuses</a> the winner “was never in doubt.”</p>
<p>But nonetheless, Navalny’s efforts meant that a new opposition was in place and ready to take to the streets to fight election fraud.</p>
<h2>Getting out of the electoral ‘ghetto’</h2>
<p>Despite his arrest and conviction on fraud charges in 2013, Navalny <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/perspective/russian-mayoral-election-white">ran for mayor</a> of Moscow that year. In the campaign, he innovated electoral politics, recruiting young volunteers who met voters on the streets and in their apartment blocks. </p>
<p>Navalny <a href="https://www.lai.lv/viedokli/navalnys-i-have-a-dream-moment-in-moscows-mayoral-election-313">won almost 30%</a> of the vote – double that expected – and claimed that the only reason Putin’s hand-picked candidate, Sergei Sobyanin, had got above the 50% needed to secure a first-round victory was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/moscows-mayoral-race-rattles-the-kremlin/2013/09/09/458edb8a-1986-11e3-8685-5021e0c41964_story.html">due to a falsified vote</a>.</p>
<p>Navalny later <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43555051">articulated</a> the real success, as he saw it, in an interview with fellow opposition figure <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/russia-jails-putin-critic-vladimir-kara-murza-for-treason/a-65343380">Vladimir Kara-Murza</a>: “We have shown that ordinary people – with no administrative resources, no corporate sponsors, no public relations gurus – can unite and achieve results at the ballot box,” he said. “We have shown that we are no longer confined to a 3% electoral ‘ghetto.’”</p>
<p>Navalny concluded: “For me, the most important result of this campaign is the return of real politics to Russia.”</p>
<p>During that 2013 campaign, my research team <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/rupo/1/4/article-p347_2.xml">interviewed Navalny activists</a> and observed the work in campaign headquarters. </p>
<p>These interviews underscored Navalny’s relationship with the people. Many of the volunteers rejected the idea that they were working for him. Instead, they were volunteering because they admired Navalny’s tactics. They liked his political style. They wanted change in Russia.</p>
<p>Navalny brought Russians alienated by Russian politics together and empowered them. As one campaign volunteer <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/rupo/1/4/article-p347_2.xml">interviewed</a> in our study argued, “We all were frightened before the first protest and even left a will before we joined the movement. But it was not a mob. There were people like us. The feeling we had in Navalny’s office was the feeling of being with people like me.” </p>
<p>Through the next decade, Navalny and his team continued to return political competition to Russia’s politics. They built local organizations that attracted support and <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200914-kremlin-set-for-victory-in-local-elections-navalny-s-allies-make-symbolic-gains-in-siberia">found some success</a> in Siberian cities Tomsk and Novosibirsk, despite the <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/10/25/how-kremlin-learned-to-defeat-its-opposition-pub-85620">endless obstacles</a> the Kremlin placed in their way.</p>
<h2>Return from exile</h2>
<p>The culmination of these efforts is a system Navalny developed in 2018 called <a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-russia-elections-media-voting-cec43110142e7ce362b2d4f9acd9b1f0">Smart Voting</a>. Through an <a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-russia-elections-media-voting-cec43110142e7ce362b2d4f9acd9b1f0">online tool</a>, the Navalny team encourages Russians to support any reform-minded candidates in elections and in particular directs voters to the candidate most likely to beat Putin’s United Russia party.</p>
<p>Research by Russian scholars Mikhail Turchenko and Grigorii Golosov <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2022.2147485">shows that the tool</a> has had a very significant effect on voters and increasing turnout, opposition votes and popular attention on elections.</p>
<p>Navalny’s efforts seemingly irked the Russian state and may have been the impetus of an assassination attempt against him by Russia’s domestic security agency, known as the FSB, in 2020.</p>
<p>Navalny survived <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/14/alexei-navalny-in-critical-situation-after-possible-poisoning-says-ally">Novichok poisoning</a> only because <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/06/navalny-poisoning-germany-raises-pressure-on-russia-with-sanctions-talk">international pressure</a> forced the regime to allow him to be <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53865811">airlifted to Germany</a> for treatment. During his recovery, Navalny used the attack on him to further his political activism and convey the regime’s growing brutality. He famously <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwvA49ZXnf8">interviewed his would-be assassin</a> to uncover the details of the operation.</p>
<p>Navalny’s <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/why-alexey-navalny-returned-to-russia">return to Russia</a> under threat of arrest in February 2021 kicked off the largest street protests – in support of the opposition leader – since the collapse of the Soviet Union.</p>
<p>These protests inspired a new generation of activists. They also <a href="https://en.ovdinfo.org/suppression-rallies-support-alexei-navalny-january-17-and-18-2021">marked</a> new levels of police brutality against pro-democracy demonstrators in the streets and in the years since.</p>
<h2>Handing on the baton</h2>
<p>Since 2022, I have led a research team that has interviewed Russians who left the country in opposition to the war in Ukraine. Many participated in the anti-war protests of late February and early March 2022 and point to Navalny’s return to Russia as the origin of their own political engagement and activism.</p>
<p>As one respondent argued: “My civic position began to emerge. All this was close to Navalny, his movement, and his encouragement to notice something, to pay attention … I began to go to rallies, and became much more interested and aware of politics.”</p>
<p>While Navalny <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/25/europe/alexey-navalny-russian-opposition-found-prison-intl/index.html">languished in prison camps</a> following his arrest on charges of <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/02/02/russian-court-rules-jail-navalny">violating parole</a> during his recovery in Germany, many of these activists in exile <a href="https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/democracy/democracy-exile-political-action-anti-war-russian-migrants-facilitates-possible-democratization">continued</a> to operate outside of Russia, our <a href="https://outrush.io/eng">research partners</a> have found.</p>
<p>They <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/underground-networks-russians-helping-ukrainian-refugees-2022-05-11/">support Ukrainian refugees and war efforts</a> and participate in tracking down children who have been taken to Russia. They are active in anti-war demonstrations and <a href="https://www.zois-berlin.de/en/press/press-releases/russian-migrant-activists-try-to-mobilise-diasporas-in-georgia-and-germany">support</a> each other in exile.</p>
<p>This new generation of Russian activists – whether those in exile advocating for change or those risking their well-being in Russia to support anti-war candidates – is Navalny’s legacy, and I believe it is powerful. </p>
<p>Before his death, Navalny <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-alexei-navalny-had-a-message-for-russians-if-he-died-2024-2">spoke directly to the generation of activists he inspired</a>: “Listen, I’ve got something very obvious to tell you. You’re not allowed to give up. If they decide to kill me, it means that we are incredibly strong.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223774/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Regina Smyth does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Alexei Navalny, a persistent thorn in the side of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died on Feb. 16, 2024, in prison, authorities said.Regina Smyth, Professor of Political Science, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2221682024-02-12T14:14:27Z2024-02-12T14:14:27ZKenya’s sex workers have solutions to their problems, but international NGOs aren’t hearing them<p>In Kenya, rights organisations run by sex workers have gone into numerous partnerships with international organisations over the past decade. In <a href="https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/making-noise-sex-worker-led-organising-and-knowledge-politics-in-">recent research</a>, I set out to understand whether these relationships worked in favour of the sex workers and their organisations. My research focused on an organisation in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, that supports male sex workers. </p>
<p>Kenya’s laws punish activities related to <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Migration/CallEndingImmigrationDetentionChildren/CSOs/RefugeeConsortium_of_Kenya_Annex2.pdf#page=57">sex work</a> and <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Migration/CallEndingImmigrationDetentionChildren/CSOs/RefugeeConsortium_of_Kenya_Annex2.pdf#page=59">same-sex relationships</a>. These laws, along with societal prejudice, force the men in my study to <a href="https://www.northumbriajournals.co.uk/index.php/IJGSL/article/view/1264">operate in the shadows</a>. </p>
<p>This exposes them to various types of violence. In response to their everyday experiences, more than 70 Kenyan organisations led by sex workers are doing what they can to achieve social justice. </p>
<p>Following interviews and conversations with 99 sex workers between 2018 and 2022, I found that in most cases, sex workers’ knowledge – based on their daily experiences – was sidelined. Donor organisations, despite having good intentions, sometimes fell short of their objectives because they didn’t draw on the knowledge held by marginalised communities. </p>
<p>By ignoring sex workers’ knowledge, development partnerships keep power imbalances unchanged. This leaves many issues that sex workers face – including insecurity, poverty and mental health – unresolved.</p>
<p>My findings illustrate that policies, services and support should include sex workers’ experiential knowledge and needs. </p>
<h2>The research</h2>
<p>Between 2018 and 2022, I conducted a 10-month study as part of my PhD project. I investigated how international NGOs worked with a community-based organisation led by Kenyan sex workers. Their collaborations were aimed at improving health and human rights outcomes. </p>
<p>My focus was how more powerful organisations, such as international NGOs, include sex workers’ knowledge and expertise in these partnerships.</p>
<p>I identified two primary issues affecting the relationship. </p>
<p>Firstly, international development agencies prioritised their own expertise over that of the communities they set out to help. This was despite NGO employees believing they had taken the perspectives of sex workers into account. They didn’t realise they weren’t listening to what sex workers were telling them. </p>
<p>Secondly, because it relied on statistics and frameworks, the development aid system made it difficult to incorporate other kinds of knowledge into intervention programmes. </p>
<h2>The gaps</h2>
<p>Development partnerships tend to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/dech.12758">sideline the perspectives of sex workers</a>. </p>
<p>For example, NGOs asked the sex workers in my study to provide input on outreach strategies for HIV prevention. But they had already decided what they thought would work best – peer educators and a drop-in centre.</p>
<p>As one respondent in my research put it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(We ask them), ‘How do you plan to do outreach work; how do you plan to make the DICE (drop-in centre) more attractive to peer educators?’. And then we work around that. So, they get the idea, and then we fine-tune it with the team.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This approach limits sex workers to providing local contacts rather than shaping the agenda based on their priorities. </p>
<p>This tokenistic approach leaves sex workers frustrated. They recognise their crucial role in the success of programmes but <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13691058.2020.1842499?role=tab&tab=permissions&scroll=top">are excluded</a> from the decision-making. </p>
<p>This has led to a strong programmatic focus on sex workers’ sexual health and HIV. But they’d like to address other issues too, like insecurity and mental health. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Can the community get more services on mental health … condoms and lubes we can buy; you have empowered us enough. Now get to know our story, our sad moments, the violence we have faced and how it has affected us. How trying to make a living, get a job, a house has been the struggle and how we cope. That’s what we need.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The focus on scientific evidence, professional knowledge and statistical data makes it difficult to discover and share what sex workers know. This knowledge comes from the experience of what it means to do sex work and <a href="https://theconversation.com/queerphobia-in-kenya-a-supreme-court-ruling-on-gay-rights-triggers-a-new-wave-of-anger-against-the-lgbtiq-community-204575">live as queer in Kenya</a>. </p>
<p>One respondent said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Now, most (of what) they are doing is health services, but you see the sex worker has been beaten, has been raped, so still the HIV prevalence wouldn’t really go down … They are talking about how to reach targets but this sex worker is still being violated, still being raped, still being beaten.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It’s difficult to integrate such perspectives into the evidence-based policies typical of the international development aid system. Interviews with NGO employees illustrate that requirements for accountability add to the challenge.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>They (headquarters) have set out goals and strategies towards epidemic control and everything we do is guided in that context. We work within the context … and then we try … to take into account the more structural issues.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>What can be done</h2>
<p>The sex workers in my study wanted their knowledge to be included in development partnerships. They identified three things they’d want development organisations to consider.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Take sex workers’ experiential knowledge more seriously. Acknowledge that their insights are as important as academic and professional knowledge. </p></li>
<li><p>Acknowledge the leadership, creativity and expertise of marginalised communities. Allow these groups to design programmes based on their unique desires and needs. <a href="https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/60520/9781000843309.pdf?sequence=1#page=58">Community-led research methods</a> can help make this a reality. Support communities to address what they – instead of others – consider important and liberating.</p></li>
<li><p>Recognise and disrupt the power dynamics in the international aid system. Dominant actors need to unlearn the power differences in their relationships with communities, which are often uncritically perceived as natural. Critically examine assumptions and practices. Question the legitimacy of the expertise of donors in community collaborations, and see whether there are gaps created by sidelining sex work-related knowledge.</p></li>
</ol><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222168/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lise Woensdregt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sex workers have a deep understanding of their needs but development partnerships tend to prioritise scientific knowledge.Lise Woensdregt, Assistant Professor in Sociology, Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2194372024-02-02T16:25:23Z2024-02-02T16:25:23ZHow the Universal Declaration of Human Rights can guide governments through the turmoil of 2024<p>In a landscape of seemingly increasing global crises, the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights">Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a> (UDHR) celebrated its <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/get-involved/campaign/udhr-75">75th anniversary</a> in December 2023.</p>
<p>With the horrors of the second world war a recent memory, the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt3fhrpm">UDHR was created</a> as a set of international standards offering more protection for people in times of difficulty, and in the hope that “atrocities like those of <a href="https://www.un.org/en/about-us/udhr/history-of-the-declaration%22">that conflict [would never] happen again</a>”. </p>
<p>However, 75 years on, the world is facing major human rights challenges again. Human rights violations are being regularly reported in conflicts, most recently in Ukraine and Gaza. For instance, in Ukraine, summary executions, torture, sexual violence and enforced disappearances are among the issues that have been <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session55/advance-versions/a-hrc-55-crp-2-en.pdf">noted by the UN</a>. In Gaza, the <a href="https://www.un.org/unispal/document/unlawful-killings-in-gaza-city-ohchr-press-release/">UN has commented</a> on unlawful killings of civilians.</p>
<p>Human rights barrister Baroness Helena Kennedy is co-chairing a high level group looking at <a href="https://www.ibanet.org/Ukraine-IBAHRI-Director-Baroness-Helena-Kennedy-to-co-chair-task-force-on-deported-children">enforced disappearances of Ukrainian children</a> by Russian occupying forces, a mechanism for them to be returned, as well as a new international legal basis for the protection of children’s rights in armed conflict.</p>
<p>Commenting on this work, Baroness Kennedy said: “The requirement to establish a mechanism in line with international human rights standards is clear, as is the necessity for collaboration at [the] international level among legal experts, organisations – including the United Nations – and states, which must better enforce existing UN mechanisms on the protection of children in conflict.”</p>
<p>In this context, it is apt to consider more of what the UDHR is, how states have engaged with it across history, and the hurdles that it faces in 2024.</p>
<h2>What is the UDHR?</h2>
<p>Adopted by the UN general assembly on <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/617875?ln=en">December 10 1948</a> in a vote of 48 in favour and 8 abstaining, the UDHR outlines a range of human rights that states agreed were to be universally protected.</p>
<p>These include the right to life, the right to be free from slavery, the right to an adequate standard of living, and the right to education, <a href="https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/10598">to name a few</a>. While not legally binding, the document aims to provide a “common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations”. It has proved significant in the intervening decades, laying down provisions that have informed the binding international human rights treaties, subsequently enacted by the UN.</p>
<p>Following the UDHR’s adoption, in 1950 the general assembly invited all of its then 60 member states and wider interested organisations to mark December 10 annually as <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/210559?ln=en">Human Rights Day</a>. Celebration of Human Rights Day has taken place ever since across the world.</p>
<p><a href="https://academic.oup.com/hrlr/article/23/2/ngad003/7083766">Research reveals</a> that on these anniversaries the document was used by states to discuss and support legally binding rights such as <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/760745?ln=en">freedom from torture</a>, the <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/178944?ln=en">rights of women and children</a> and <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/750122?ln=en">protection from discrimination</a>, coinciding with the drafting of new legal documents on these topics.</p>
<p>When wider discussions started to happen around <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/731905?ln=en">decolonisation in the 1950s and 60s</a>, <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/664255?ln=en">cold war tensions and détente in the 1970s-80s</a>, and the challenges of <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/265727?ln=en">technological change</a> from the 1990s onwards, the UDHR was used as a reference point to map human rights and discuss where they needed to develop further. This was also the case for <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/508283?ln=en">global security</a> as well as <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/763289?ln=en">environmental and financial crises</a> in the 1990s and 2000s. </p>
<p>During these times, the UDHR offered guidance and a vehicle for analysis. One example is the human rights implications of the cold war arms race. The UDHR both signalled towards the need for commitment to peace – as <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/60804/a-world-made-new-by-mary-ann-glendon/">Eleanor Roosevelt</a>, who chaired the drafting committee, <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/617875?ln=en">commented during its adoption</a>, “the declaration was inspired by a sincere desire for peace” – as well as highlighted where states were placing human rights under threat through nuclear policies.</p>
<p>Over the years, the UDHR has been consistently referred to as a steadfast cornerstone of human rights internationally. It has been likened to <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/749885?ln=en">“a code of life for our modern world”</a>, the <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/54977?ln=en">“20th-century Magna Carta”</a> and an “international yardstick with which governments can measure progress <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/265555?ln=en">in the field of human rights”</a>. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, continuing effort has been necessary to <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/nyls24&div=10&id=&page=">implement the rights</a> that the UDHR protects. In 1973, the UN secretary-general, Kurt Waldheim, <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/749885?ln=en">reflected on this</a>, stating: “It is well that we remind ourselves of the realism, as well as the idealism, of those who created that great Declaration … it would be wrong to say that the fundamental freedoms set out in the Declaration have been universally achieved.”</p>
<h2>The UDHR today</h2>
<p>As in earlier decades in times of emergency, conflict and global change, states do not always fully implement the rights contained in the UDHR. Examples recently highlighted by the UN include the the right to participate in <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/elections">elections</a>, effective <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/topic/administration-justice-and-law-enforcement">administration of justice and law enforcement</a>, and the right to an adequate standard of living, such as access to <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/topic/water-and-sanitation">water and sanitation</a>.</p>
<p>The UDHR’s recognition and protection of the “the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family”, as outlined in its preamble, is still highly relevant, especially because of the contemporary crises facing human rights.</p>
<p>The fundamental protections outlined in this document, adopted in 1948, still have an enduring and guiding role, although significant challenges to these protections remain. They require the ongoing attention of the international community.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219437/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn McNeilly has received funding from the Leverhulme Trust. </span></em></p>Seventy five years after the creation of the UDHR, the world is facing major human rights challenges again.Kathryn McNeilly, Professor of Law, School of Law, Queen's University BelfastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2212972024-02-01T17:04:20Z2024-02-01T17:04:20Z3 years on from coup, economic sanctions look unlikely to push Myanmar back to democracy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572880/original/file-20240201-21-z6rg6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=39%2C377%2C4427%2C2551&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sanctions have failed to prevent Myanmar's military from obtaining hardware.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/military-hardware-is-displayed-during-a-parade-to-celebrate-news-photo/1249572841?adppopup=true">STR/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/myanmar-news-protests-coup.html">Myanmar’s military seized back control</a> of the country in February 2021 after a decade-long democratic interlude, the international community reached for a familiar tool: economic sanctions.</p>
<p>The coup led several countries, <a href="https://ofac.treasury.gov/sanctions-programs-and-country-information/burma">including the United States</a> and <a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2023/12/11/myanmar-burma-council-adds-4-persons-and-2-entities-to-eu-sanctions-list-in-eighth-round-of-sanctions/#:%7E:text=The%20Council%20has%20imposed%20restrictive,February%20and%2020%20July%202023.">European Union member states</a>, to impose or reinstate trade embargoes and other financial proscriptions against Myanmar’s military.</p>
<p>On Feb. 1, 2024 – coinciding with the third anniversary of the military coup – the U.S. <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/us-marks-anniversary-of-myanmar-coup-with-new-sanctions/7465629.html">announced a fresh round of sanctions</a>. It comes as the Myanmar government continues to be embroiled in a <a href="https://theconversation.com/military-violence-in-myanmar-is-worsening-amid-fierce-resistance-and-international-ambivalence-203646">grinding civil war</a> with <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/burma-myanmar/could-myanmar-come-apart">ethnic minority insurgent groups</a>. But to date, sanctions have not encouraged the ruling generals back toward a democratic path or tipped the war in favor of pro-democratic resistance groups.</p>
<p>Moreover, as experts on <a href="https://cnwillis.com/">East and Southeast Asia</a> and <a href="https://poliscikeith.com/">economic sanctions</a>, we know that the history of Myanmar – and our own research – suggests that economics sanctions are unlikely to have that impact any time soon.</p>
<h2>Current sanctions against Myanmar</h2>
<p>The current sanctions against Myanmar share much in common with those imposed prior to 2010, when the country began a <a href="https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/battle-democracy-myanmar_en?s=110">process to restore democratic government</a>. The actions taken since 2021 by the U.S., EU and others – which include targeted and sector-specific sanctions – are aimed at undermining the military junta’s ability to <a href="https://www.state.gov/sanctions-against-the-myanma-oil-and-gas-enterprise-and-concerted-pressure-with-partners/">violently repress the country’s pro-democracy movement</a>.</p>
<p><iframe id="6JbEj" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/6JbEj/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>At the same time, those imposing sanctions appear to be more cognizant than in previous periods of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10357718.2013.764581">potential negative impacts on the Burmese people</a>.</p>
<p>The sanctions imposed after the 2021 coup are more targeted and designed to affect the military government and its enterprises. In earlier periods, the <a href="https://poliscikeith.com/">financial measures were broader</a> and affected the entire Myanmar economy.</p>
<p>This is by design. The legal basis for post-2021 U.S. economic sanctions on Myanmar, <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/02/12/2021-03139/blocking-property-with-respect-to-the-situation-in-burma">Executive Order 14014</a>, serves as the foundation for a multitude of targeted measures, which include restrictions on individuals and businesses connected to supplying Myanmar’s air force with jet fuel. </p>
<p>Signed on Feb. 11, 2023, the new U.S. sanctions regime reflects changes in how the <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/Treasury-2021-sanctions-review.pdf">Biden Administration intends</a> to use financial penalties to target Myanmar’s generals, not its people. </p>
<p>The U.S. has also made it a priority to work collaboratively with international partners on imposing complementary rather than competing sanctions.</p>
<p>Evidence of this coordination emerged <a href="https://www.state.gov/the-united-states-promotes-accountability-for-human-rights-violations-and-abuses/">on Dec. 10, 2021</a>, coinciding with <a href="https://www.un.org/en/observances/human-rights-day">Human Rights Day</a>, with the U.S. rolling out a package of measures in conjunction with the United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union. For example, the EU’s “<a href="https://finance.ec.europa.eu/eu-and-world/sanctions-restrictive-measures_en">restrictive measures</a>” – the bloc’s parlance for economic sanctions – include many of the same sanctions imposed by the U.S., such as restrictions on the export of military and dual-use equipment, asset freezes, visa and travel restrictions, and restrictions on the export of telecommunications equipment.</p>
<p>The U.S. has also imposed targeted sanctions via the <a href="https://ofac.treasury.gov/faqs/topic/1631">Specially Designated Nationals list</a>, a blacklist of people with whom U.S. citizens and firms are banned from doing business. Listed entities in Myanmar include military leaders, business people and their families. The idea is to focus the economic pain on individuals and entities involved in the coup and subsequent repression of democracy campaigners, rather than on the country as a whole.</p>
<h2>Past sanctions against Myanmar</h2>
<p>Certainly, history suggests that the U.S. needed to update its sanctions policy. Myanmar observers have long debated the effectiveness of the old Myanmar sanctions regime, with <a href="https://www.newmandala.org/busting-myth-myanmar-sanctions-success-story/">many concluding</a> that it had little impact on the junta’s decision to return to democracy. Rather, Myanmar’s democratic elections <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10357718.2013.764581">were part of the military’s road map</a> and not the result of sanctions pressure.</p>
<p>One reason for this skepticism over earlier sanctions was that they targeted imports from key sectors of Myanmar’s economy, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/9797/chapter-abstract/157012800?redirectedFrom=fulltext">such as garments and textiles</a>, that were not connected to the junta. These economic sanctions harmed private enterprises in Myanmar.</p>
<p>The latest sanctions <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0078?_gl=1*1mmoid*_gcl_au*MTYyMjQ3ODI3OC4xNzA1MDgyMDky">target military-owned or -linked enterprises</a>, such as Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company, Myanmar Economic Corporation Limited, Myanma Gems Enterprise, Myanma Timber Enterprise and the Myanmar Pearl Enterprise. </p>
<p>The post-2021 sanctions, though, are still plagued by some of the same problems of their predecessors. </p>
<p>They lack the weight of the United Nations, which has not called for sanctions against Myanmar. This stands in contrast to sanctions against other countries flouting international norms, like <a href="https://armscontrolcenter.org/fact-sheet-north-korea-sanctions/">North Korea</a> and <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/international-sanctions-iran">Iran</a>. </p>
<p>The U.N. Security Council is <a href="https://theconversation.com/sanctions-against-myanmars-junta-have-been-tried-before-can-they-work-this-time-158054">unlikely to sanction Myanmar</a> as permanent members <a href="https://apnews.com/article/un-myanmar-military-killing-rights-suu-kyi-029f8503bf1eb6ec0e97e8521775184a">China and Russia refuse to condemn</a>, let alone sanction, Myanmar’s military rulers.</p>
<p>As a result, the international community has been split in its response to Myanmar’s democratic backsliding and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2023/country-chapters/myanmar">human rights violations</a>. While Western countries have decided to isolate Myanmar through targeted trade and financial sanctions, countries in East and Southeast Asia have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02185370600832497">maintained diplomatic and trade ties</a> with the military government. </p>
<p>And there is an incentive for countries in Southeast Asia to not take part in any sanction regime. As we show in our forthcoming book, “<a href="https://poliscikeith.com/">Trading with Pariahs</a>,” Myanmar’s trade ties tend to be strongest within its region. </p>
<p>During the first sanctions regime from 1988 to 2015, Southeast Asian economic ties with Myanmar became stronger as the country’s trade with sanctions-imposing Western states declined. </p>
<p>For countries in East and Southeast Asia, maintaining ties with Myanmar provided not only economic opportunities but also a strategy for monitoring and perhaps ameliorating Myanmar’s internal situation. For example, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, <a href="https://asean.org/asean-10-meeting-the-challenges-by-termsak-chalermpalanupap/">admitted Myanmar</a> in 1997 despite the refusal of the junta to allow democratic elections and address human rights abuses. The approach favored by Myanmar’s neighbors was to try and bring Myanmar’s generals in from the cold rather than ostracizing them internationally.</p>
<p>And despite Singapore’s recent declaration that it <a href="https://eastasiaforum.org/2023/06/22/whats-next-for-sanctions-on-myanmar/">will stop arms transfers to Myanmar</a>, ASEAN member countries and those in East Asia continue to refrain from sanctioning Myanmar, preferring engagement to isolation.</p>
<h2>Can sanctions work?</h2>
<p>While U.S. sanctions have the potential to hurt the military, there are reasons to believe that they won’t be able to bring the government to its knees. It is likely that the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00223433221087080">uneven termination of the United States’ earlier sanctions</a> provided insufficient time for American firms to fully engage and invest in Myanmar’s market, limiting the potential for future leverage now.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Men in uniform take part in a military parade." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572854/original/file-20240201-23-vx77gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C276%2C5241%2C3228&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572854/original/file-20240201-23-vx77gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572854/original/file-20240201-23-vx77gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572854/original/file-20240201-23-vx77gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572854/original/file-20240201-23-vx77gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572854/original/file-20240201-23-vx77gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572854/original/file-20240201-23-vx77gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Myanmar’s military are bogged down in civil war, but not yielding to sanctions pressure.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MyanmarUSSanctions/8798420feac44ad88a7359ff1e70a23f/photo?Query=myanmar%20sanctions&mediaType=photo&sortBy=creationdatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=346&currentItemNo=1">AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Those countries that do have significant leverage are unlikely to sanction Myanmar. And this undermines efforts by the U.S. or the West to isolate the country. </p>
<p>The challenge for the West can be seen in its sanctions on jet fuel trade. Amnesty International’s “<a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/03/myanmar-new-shipments-of-aviation-fuel-revealed-despite-the-militarys-war-crimes/">Deadly Cargo” report in 2023</a> highlighted how Myanmar’s military can still secure reliable shipments of jet fuel despite the U.S. sanctions on the product.</p>
<p>The reason is more than 95% of Myanmar’s refined petroleum oils – needed for jet fuel – come from regional trading partners. Since 2021, China, Thailand, Singapore and Russia have <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/11/myanmar-amnesty-aviation-fuel/">provided much of the Myanmar’s military’s jet fuel</a>, enabling it to continue bombing campaigns throughout the country.</p>
<p>Even though the U.S. Treasury <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1701?_gl=1*nc1bho*_gcl_au*MTYyMjQ3ODI3OC4xNzA1MDgyMDky">has expanded its sanctions on jet fuel</a> to include both military and commercial, the impact of these sector-wide sanctions remains unclear. </p>
<p>While the nature of the current U.S. sanctions is starkly different from prior efforts to pressure Myanmar’s generals, the effectiveness and potential for success appear quite similar. Given the dearth of economic ties between Myanmar and countries outside its region, the potential for change in Myanmar seems unlikely without significant efforts by those countries with an ability to weaponize their extensive economic interdependence: China, Japan and ASEAN member states. </p>
<p>ASEAN is not blind to the erosion of human rights, and it has signaled its awareness of the regime’s atrocities and support for civilians by <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/06/myanmar-wont-be-allowed-to-lead-asean-in-2026-in-blow-to-generals.html">denying Myanmar its turn as ASEAN’s chair in 2026</a>. </p>
<p>However, the regional bloc is unlikely to impose economic sanctions on Myanmar in the foreseeable future, casting further doubt on the ability of Western sanctions to improve human rights and democracy meaningfully.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221297/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Economic proscriptions by the US and EU are hampered by lack of support among Myanmar’s major trading partners in the region.Charmaine N. Willis, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science, Skidmore CollegeKeith A. Preble, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science, Miami UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2177022024-01-30T10:09:59Z2024-01-30T10:09:59ZBurundi’s quota for women in politics has had mixed results, but that’s no reason to scrap it<p>Since 2005, Burundi has <a href="https://adsdatabase.ohchr.org/IssueLibrary/BURUNDI_Constitution.pdf#page=23">set quotas</a> to ensure that the country’s three ethnic groups (Hutu, Tutsi and Twa), as well as women, are represented in its parliament, central government and municipal administrations. Its constitution states that women should make up at least <a href="https://adsdatabase.ohchr.org/IssueLibrary/BURUNDI_Constitution.pdf#page=23">30% of these institutions</a>. </p>
<p>The senate, Burundi’s highest chamber of parliament, recently started a <a href="https://constitutionnet.org/news/review-constitutionalized-ethnic-quotas-burundi-turning-point">process of evaluating</a> ethnic quotas in political institutions. This <a href="https://www.voaafrica.com/a/burundi--ethnic-quota-system-under-senate-evaluation/7210281.html">process</a> is expected to lead to recommendations on whether quotas should continue to be used. Regrettably, the evaluation lacks methodological rigour and transparency.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=fr&user=hAOjiu8AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">researchers</a> with a focus on <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=fr&user=9Gwdmm8AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">gender representation</a> in <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/search?q=Stef%20Vandeginste">politics</a>, we believe this is a missed opportunity. Gender and ethnic quotas have been adopted in Burundi as a forward-looking solution to sustainable peace. A decision about removing them should be based on whether they have met (or can meet) their goals. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/00020397231203021">recent paper</a>, we examined whether gender quotas foster Burundian women’s political representation. </p>
<p>We drew on data covering the period between October 2001 and June 2020 to determine three things:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>whether Burundian political actors abide by the gender quotas</p></li>
<li><p>the relative importance of ministerial portfolios allocated to women </p></li>
<li><p>whether these gender quotas have had an effect on government positions where they aren’t mandated. </p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/political-representation-ethnicity-trumps-gender-in-burundi-and-rwanda-104146">Political representation: ethnicity trumps gender in Burundi and Rwanda</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We found that gender quotas have gradually resulted in women being assigned to prominent ministerial portfolios. The impact of this, however, has been mixed. </p>
<p>Women have remained confined to typically “feminine”, care-giving ministerial portfolios, such as health and education, over nearly two decades. They have been excluded from portfolios such as defence, security and foreign affairs. Their representation as senior advisers to the president or as CEOs of parastatals has remained marginal. </p>
<p>Our research illustrates that embedding gender quotas in the constitution can fast-track representation. But it doesn’t necessarily spiral beyond the targeted positions and institutions. This implies that any policy targeting an increase in women’s representation needs to take into account the broader political setting. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13537113.2022.2047248">formal mechanisms</a> to enforce gender quotas in government and parliament in Burundi are in place, they are absent in other important and sought-after positions, such as parastatal CEO or provincial governor.</p>
<h2>Meeting the gender quota</h2>
<p>Gender quotas have been consistently respected in Burundi since 2005. </p>
<p>The country has one of the highest shares of women in parliament. It ranks <a href="https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2023.pdf#page=18">41st</a> out of 145 countries in the 2023 global political empowerment metric. </p>
<p>This is mostly because gender quotas are compatible with clientelistic politics. Most women positions are <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/00020397231203021#page=4">allocated</a> to people related to key regime figures. This has led to the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/00020397231203021">increasing assignment</a> of women to key portfolios like justice, health and education. </p>
<p>In theory, one might <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/CBA8C55CF243B6364C5DCE5D0D0AAAC6/S1743923X15000434a.pdf/div-class-title-rules-of-ministerial-recruitment-div.pdf">expect</a> that gender quotas would affect both the supply and demand side of women political elites, triggering an upsurge in women’s representation. </p>
<p>Burundi’s cabinet ministers, of whom 30% are women, nominate individuals to head departments under their jurisdiction. The pool of qualified candidates for such positions has increased as more women take on political responsibilities. Ideally, this should facilitate the nomination of women, even when there are no quotas.</p>
<p>But the gender quotas in Burundi have <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/burundi/burundian-women-want-greater-say-running-country">fallen short</a> of spilling over into quota-free positions. Women are still under-represented as senior advisers to the president, permanent secretaries in ministries or CEOs of parastatals.</p>
<p>Our interviews with political elites and women civil society activists revealed two ways women are sidelined.</p>
<p>First, women are not fully embedded in the formal and informal structures that decide who to appoint where and when. </p>
<p>For instance, women are not in the ruling party’s main decision-making body, <a href="https://brill.com/display/book/9789004355910/B9789004355910_031.xml">Conseil des Sage</a> (council of the wise). They are also not part of the ruling party’s Cercle des Généraux (circle of generals). This is a group of former army and police generals who enjoy a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13698249.2017.1381819">de facto veto right</a> to any important decisions. Equally important, women aren’t appointed as provincial and municipal party executive secretaries. These are the career brokers and connectors between grassroots ruling party structures, the party’s leadership and the president.</p>
<p>Second, the ruling party has increasingly <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13698249.2016.1205561">relied on coercion</a> to maintain its dominance in politics since 2005. It relies heavily on hardliners, most of whom are former combatants in Imbonerakure, the party’s youth league, or Abahumure, party veterans. </p>
<p>In the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13698249.2016.1205561">paramilitary power configuration</a> that has prevailed in Burundi since the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pierre-Nkurunziza">ruling party’s accession to power</a>, the ability to wage violence has become a valued “skill set”. This is a comparative disadvantage for women, leading to their under-representation in appointed positions where gender quotas don’t apply.</p>
<h2>Opportunistic use of quotas</h2>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/00020397231203021#page=11">Our research found</a> that women made important gains in high-value ministerial positions, in cabinet positions and in provincial governor positions in the 2015-2020 legislature. Their representation in high-visibility ministries increased, growing their political role. </p>
<p>On the surface of it, it may appear to be due to the gender quota policy. However, this would have taken a longer time to produce the desired effects. In our view, the 2015-2020 legislature resulted from a <a href="https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=hrbregionalcoverage-spring2016#page=2">chaotic and contested electoral process</a> in 2015 that was marred by massive human rights violations. </p>
<p>This election prompted key donors, such as the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/mar/15/eu-suspends-aid-to-burundi-government">European Union</a>, to withdraw support to the government. We see what resulted as an <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/2CB1F142F6235323B08B506601376DE9/S0017257X2200032Xa.pdf/div-class-title-the-appointment-of-women-to-authoritarian-cabinets-in-africa-div.pdf">opportunistic use</a> of gender quotas as a window dressing strategy. It was an effort to sanitise a regime that had become an international pariah. </p>
<h2>What next</h2>
<p>Gender quotas have the potential to increase women’s representation in decision-making positions. However, to lead to sustainable change, governments need to take into account informal political practices. These include the role played by multiple layers of clientelistic networks in accessing key political positions. Women’s integration in political parties’ formal and informal structures would better level the playing field.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217702/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Any state policy looking to increase women’s representation must take into account formal and informal political practices.Reginas Ndayiragije, Associate researcher, University of AntwerpPetra Meier, Professor of Politics, University of AntwerpStef Vandeginste, Associate Professor, University of AntwerpLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2200222024-01-24T20:58:25Z2024-01-24T20:58:25ZCanada lags behind on efforts to address human rights abuses in seafood supply chains<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/canada-lags-behind-on-efforts-to-address-human-rights-abuses-in-seafood-supply-chains" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Seafood has become a source of concern for consumers who pay attention to the environmental and social impacts of what they buy. Climate change is <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-challenges-marine-conservation-efforts-in-atlantic-canada-211580">adversely affecting ocean ecosystems</a>, and a series of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2016.02.009">widely publicized scandals</a> have exposed <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28916-2">widespread illegal fishing</a> and awful working conditions in both fishing and seafood processing.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104796">Seafarers in fishing</a> often work 18 hours a day in <a href="https://www.the-human-cost-of-fishing.org/">what is widely considered to be the world’s most dangerous profession</a>. Many are at sea for months or even years at a time, and most have <a href="https://globallaborjustice.org/wifinowforfishersrights/">no access to Wi-Fi</a>. <a href="https://www.law.georgetown.edu/human-rights-institute/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2019/05/Georgetown-THE-PRICE-OF-PARADISE-5-4-19-WEB-2.pdf">They are often excluded from labour laws</a> and <a href="https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/gsc/view/journals/gscj/2/2/article-p146.xml">all are paid very low wages</a>, despite producing food for high-income consumers. </p>
<p>Similarly, those working in seafood processing are also poorly paid, and <a href="https://www.dal.ca/news/2023/03/01/migrant-workers-new-brunswick-conditions.html">many are migrant workers</a> who lack basic labour rights.</p>
<p>In response to these concerns, governments in many seafood importing countries have taken action. The <a href="https://oceans-and-fisheries.ec.europa.eu/fisheries/rules/illegal-fishing_en">European Union</a> and <a href="https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/supply-trade/japanese-legislature-passes-law-to-curb-iuu-fishing">Japanese government</a> have banned imports of seafood produced by illegal fishing, while the <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/comply-chain/steps-to-a-social-compliance-system/step-6-remediate-violations/key-topic-information-and-resources-on-withhold-release-orders-wros">United States’ program to ban imports produced by forced labour</a> includes seafood. </p>
<p>The EU is also instituting a <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20231205IPR15689/corporate-due-diligence-rules-agreed-to-safeguard-human-rights-and-environment">corporate due diligence</a> approach that holds corporations accountable for human rights abuses and environmental impacts in their supply chains.</p>
<p>The Canadian government has yet to implement similar policies for seafood sold in Canada and is an outlier in its failure to hold buyers and retailers accountable for labour abuse in seafood supply chains. In the meantime, many Canadian seafood buyers and retailers have turned to private schemes that certify for sustainability, and less commonly for worker rights.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.loblaw.ca/en/loblaws-journey-to-a-sustainable-seafood-future/">Loblaws</a>, for example, is prioritizing wild-caught seafood that is sourced from fisheries that are certified by the <a href="https://www.msc.org/en-us?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA44OtBhAOEiwAj4gpObPhf7KMXOD6_yH6enKQvw-0LvkGx1BqbUbvBTHwBi6VpXEH0k0RSRoCUnUQAvD_BwE">Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)</a>, as well as organic standards or fisheries making progress toward these or other private standards.</p>
<p>The MSC is the world’s premier sustainability certification for fishing, <a href="https://www.seachoice.org/certification-verification-or-fabrication-a-seachoice-report/">praised by ocean conservation groups</a>. What Canadian seafood consumers do not know is that evidence is mounting that even gold standard certifications like MSC fail to address terrible working conditions in seafood supply chains.</p>
<h2>Seafood supply chains</h2>
<p>To start, we need to recognize seafood supply chain complexity. The freezer sections in Canadian supermarkets are full of frozen seafood labelled “product of China,” while in the canned seafood section, most tuna is labelled as a “product of Thailand.” </p>
<p>In reality, most of this seafood is caught by fisheries around the world and shipped to China, Thailand or other seafood processing hubs, where it is transformed into seafood products and exported — mostly to higher income countries.</p>
<p>China is the world’s <a href="https://www.fao.org/3/cc0461en/online/sofia/2022/trade-of-aquatic-products.html">largest seafood processing hub</a>, importing, transforming and exporting <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abl4756">pollack, cod, shrimp, salmon, herring</a> and other species, as well as processing raw material caught by Chinese fishing vessels. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.theoutlawocean.com/investigations/china-the-superpower-of-seafood/reach/#the-globe-and-mail">Investigative journalism</a> by the non-profit <a href="https://www.theoutlawocean.com">Outlaw Ocean Project</a> has revealed the use of <a href="https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/supply-trade/bombshell-outlaw-ocean-report-finds-evidence-of-seafood-processed-by-forced-labor-in-us-supply-chain">forced Uyghur labour in many of China’s seafood processing facilities</a>, as well as human rights violations and illegal fishing in <a href="https://www.theoutlawocean.com/investigations/china-the-superpower-of-seafood/findings/">China’s global squid fishery</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1729893072530534477"}"></div></p>
<p>Many of the seafarers who work in this fishery are from Indonesia and the Philippines. They are paid a few hundred dollars a month to work under conditions that would be considered unacceptable on land.</p>
<p>Outlaw Ocean investigators found that many Chinese seafood factories had been audited for labour standards, and that importers were relying on these audits to assure consumers that the seafood was ethical.</p>
<p>But these audits — including the independent audits <a href="https://www.theoutlawocean.com/investigations/china-the-superpower-of-seafood/discussion/#marine-stewardship-council">required by MSC for its sustainability certified seafood</a> — failed to detect the use of forced labour found by the Outlaw Ocean Project.</p>
<p>The Outlaw Ocean’s <a href="https://www.theoutlawocean.com/investigations/china-the-superpower-of-seafood/bait-to-plate/#!">Bait-to-Plate tracing tool</a> has identified many <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canadian-seafood-company-high-liner-cuts-ties-with-supplier-following/">Canadian seafood importers</a> and supermarkets that source from processing plants accused by the Outlaw Ocean of using forced labour.</p>
<h2>Poor working conditions worldwide</h2>
<p>These findings are not unique to China. Our <a href="https://workatsea.info.yorku.ca/">Work at Sea</a> project has found that unacceptable working conditions are ubiquitous in transnational seafood supply chains. This includes Thailand’s tuna canning industry, which is the world’s <a href="https://www.fao.org/3/cc7781en/cc7781en.pdf">largest</a>. </p>
<p>Thailand’s seafood processing industry relies on <a href="https://thailand.iom.int/news/new-report-highlights-opportunities-protect-migrant-workers-thailands-fishing-and-seafood-processing-sector">over 160,000 migrant workers</a> from Myanmar and Cambodia. Workers are not guaranteed a minimum number of working days per month, meaning they are more likely to work excessive overtime hours and/or fall into debt. </p>
<p>This situation is made worse by <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/documents/publication/wcms_848445.pdf">inadequate labour inspections</a> and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/06/10/mscs-revised-chain-custody-certification-fails-adequately-address-forced-labor-and">audits</a>, <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/documents/publication/wcms_848445.pdf">ineffective grievance mechanisms</a> and the lack of unions. It is <a href="https://mekongmigration.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Book_Agents-of-Change.pdf">illegal in Thailand</a> for migrant workers to participate in organizing unions, although they can be members of unions.</p>
<p>The raw materials for Thailand’s canned tuna industry are imported as frozen whole fish from fisheries across the Pacific and Indian Ocean. The vessels are owned and operated from Taiwan and other East Asian countries, and are mostly crewed by workers from the Philippines and Indonesia. </p>
<p>These seafarers have told our research team that work on Taiwanese vessels is preferable to Chinese vessels, partly because their pay, at a minimum of US$550 per month minus agency fees, is better.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104685">working conditions still fall short of standards</a> set out in private certifications schemes, government fishing labour regulations or the <a href="https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C188">Work in Fishing Convention</a>, which is meant to ensure fishers have decent working conditions. The reality of this transnational supply chain is not visible on canned tuna labels.</p>
<h2>Canada is lagging behind</h2>
<p>Canada is falling behind in addressing labour abuse and sustainability in seafood supply chains. Although the <a href="https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/cntrng-crm/frcd-lbr-cndn-spply-chns/index-en.aspx">Forced Labour and Supply Chain Reporting Law</a> came into effect in January 2024, this law has been <a href="https://cnca-rcrce.ca/2023/05/03/canadas-new-law-on-forced-and-child-labour-in-supply-chains-wont-work/">criticized for serving as a mere checkbox exercise</a> for companies and lacking effectiveness in <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-why-canada-will-continue-to-be-a-dumping-ground-of-products-made-with/">curbing forced labour in Canadian supply chains</a>. </p>
<p>To address these shortcomings, Canada needs human rights and environmental <a href="https://cnca-rcrce.ca/campaigns/mhredd/">due diligence legislation</a> — policy that mandates Canadian companies to substantially address human rights abuses and environmental harm in their supply chains.</p>
<p>It is also critical that Canada go beyond private audits and government inspections to work with international institutions to help create a robust system that monitors and enforces standards for work in global fishing, one that meaningfully involves workers. </p>
<p>Canada has not even ratified the International Labour Organization’s <a href="https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C188">Work in Fishing Convention </a> — that would be a good start. For inspection and monitoring, the <a href="https://www.itfseafarers.org/en/focs/about-the-inspectorate">ITF inspectorate</a>, working in some 140 ports around the world to monitor working conditions in the shipping sector, is a potential model.</p>
<p>By taking these steps, Canada can play a pivotal role in fostering ethical and sustainable practices in its seafood supply chains, ensuring the well-being of workers and the environment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220022/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Vandergeest receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carli Melo receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the York Centre for Asian Research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melissa Marschke receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p>Canada is an outlier in its failure to hold buyers and retailers accountable for labour abuse in seafood supply chains.Peter Vandergeest, Emeritus Professor, Geography, York University, CanadaCarli Melo, PhD Candidate in Geography, York University, CanadaMelissa Marschke, Professor, School of International Development and Global Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2204492024-01-21T12:59:15Z2024-01-21T12:59:15ZWestern moral credibility is dying along with thousands of Gaza citizens<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/western-moral-credibility-is-dying-along-with-thousands-of-gaza-citizens" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The western world’s <a href="https://aje.io/f6eanz">feeble response</a> to Israel’s attack on Gaza has severely damaged the West’s already tenuous moral credibility in the Global South and undermined the foundations of the human rights regime and international law developed after the Second World War.</p>
<p>The West claims it champions a liberal <a href="https://www.cigionline.org/articles/maintaining-the-rules-based-international-order-is-in-everyones-best-interests/">rules-based international order</a> and human rights on the global stage. This rhetoric now appears <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/1/16/israels-war-on-gaza-and-the-wests-credibility-crisis">completely disingenuous</a> to most of the Global South. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/ukraine-russia-war-looks-very-different-outside-west-n1294280">The West’s inability to rally the world against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reflects the Global South’s rejection of what it views as western hypocrisy</a>. Few states supported Russia, but fewer accepted the West’s claim that punishing Russia was a “<a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/moral-imperative-supporting-ukraine">moral imperative</a>” when the western commitment to morality is so selective. </p>
<p>This has been particularly exemplified by <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2004/9/16/annan-us-invasion-of-iraq-was-illegal">the illegal invasion of Iraq</a> by the United States in 2003 and Israel’s <a href="https://www.un.org/unispal/document/ceirpp-legal-study2023/">illegal occupation</a> of Palestine.</p>
<h2>Russia condemned, Israel supported</h2>
<p>The West’s position on Gaza has done even more consequential damage to the notion of western global “leadership.” Even as Russia <a href="https://onu.delegfrance.org/russia-is-once-again-targeting-civilian-infrastructure">escalates its violence against civilians</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russias-new-missile-attacks-target-ukraines-arms-makers-and-logistics-2024-1">infrastructure in Ukraine</a>, most Global South states find the American condemnation of Russia <a href="https://thenewamerican.com/world-news/middle-east/turkey-accuses-west-of-hypocrisy-on-ukraine-and-gaza/">grotesquely hypocritical</a> as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/26/why-us-double-standards-on-israel-and-russia-play-into-a-dangerous-game">the United States supports Israel’s war in Gaza</a> an attacks on civilians that are even more devastating than Russia’s. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/why-hamas-and-israel-are-both-alleged-to-have-broken-international-rules-of-war">Hamas launched a brutal attack</a> on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. But one war crime shouldn’t justify another. <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/27/how-does-international-humanitarian-law-apply-israel-and-gaza">What Israel has done to Gaza in response</a> is exponentially worse in terms of the loss of human life and the widespread infliction of human suffering.</p>
<p>Israel is <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/12/18/israel-starvation-used-weapon-war-gaza">using starvation</a>, dehydration and disease as weapons of war against a captive population of <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/25/over-2000-children-killed-in-gaza-a-stain-on-our-collective-conscience#:%7E:text=Children%20make%20up%20roughly%2050,Middle%20East%20and%20North%20Africa.">2.3 million people, half of whom are children</a>. </p>
<h2>Long list of atrocities</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/29/health-organisations-disease-gaza-population-outbreaks-conflict">American public health researcher Devi Sridhar projects that 500,000 Palestinians</a> may die of preventable diseases in 2024 if the war continues. More than 400,000 Gazans are <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/children-skeletons-rising-hunger-gaza-famine/">experiencing severe hunger now</a>, with the entire population at risk of famine. <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/intensifying-conflict-malnutrition-and-disease-gaza-strip-creates-deadly-cycle-threatens-over-11-million-children-enar">Rates of diarrhea in children under four</a> are 100 times the norm. </p>
<p>Israel is indiscriminately bombing civilians <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/israel-gaza-bombing-hamas-civilian-casualties-1.7068647">with an intensity not seen since the Second World War</a>. It’s <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/31/israeli-bombardment-destroyed-over-70-of-gaza-homes-media-office#:%7E:text=War%20on%20Gaza-,Israeli%20bombardment%20destroyed%20over%2070%25%20of%20Gaza%20homes%3A%20Report,most%20destructive%20in%20modern%20history.">destroyed more than 70 per cent of the homes in Gaza</a> and has bombed areas that it declared safe for refugees. </p>
<p>Gaza’s health-care system has collapsed. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/08/middleeast/gaza-children-losing-legs-disease-intl-hnk/index.html">Children’s limbs are being amputated</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-29/being-pregnant-in-gaza-unsafe-women-paying-heaviest-price-in-war/103241724">pregnant women are enduring Caesarean sections without anesthetic</a>. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/08/the-numbers-that-reveal-the-extent-of-the-destruction-in-gaza">On average, Israel is killing 160 civilians a day</a>, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/23/gaza-media-office-says-100-journalists-killed-since-israeli-attacks-began#:%7E:text=Journalists%20working%20in%20areas%20of,them%20to%20silence%20their%20stories.">including journalists</a>, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/5/gazas-entrepreneurs-are-being-killed-by-israel">and the</a> <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/program/upfront/2023/12/22/israel-gaza-war-why-are-culture-and-society-targets">cultural and intellectual elites of Gaza are being targeted</a>. </p>
<p>This list of atrocities goes on and on. International aid workers say Israel’s attack on Gaza is <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/heads-of-humanitarian-groups-say-gaza-nightmare-is-worst-theyve-ever-seen/">the worst situation they have ever seen</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1734386240777048555"}"></div></p>
<h2>Violations of international law</h2>
<p>The West’s failure to protect the rights of Palestinians under international law contributed directly to this disaster.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2019/01/chapter-3-israeli-settlements-and-international-law/">For decades, Israel has blatantly violated international law in its treatment of Palestinians.</a> In contravention of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel settled occupied Palestine and employed progressively more violent and oppressive instruments of control to consolidate that settlement. </p>
<p>Israel kept Gaza under a 16-year <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2020/07/israels-collective-punishment-palestinians-illegal-and-affront-justice-un">illegal blockade</a> that created mass poverty and left <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1172086/">Gazan children malnourished</a> and without access to potable water. </p>
<p>Today, Jewish settlers and the Israeli military are using the distraction of the Gaza war to displace Palestinians from <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/west-bank-settlers-violence-israel-palestinians-1.7019263">large parts of the occupied West Bank</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-scene-in-the-west-banks-masafer-yatta-palestinians-face-escalating-israeli-efforts-to-displace-them-221104">The scene in the West Bank's Masafer Yatta: Palestinians face escalating Israeli efforts to displace them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If the West had held Israel to account, Oct. 7 might never have happened. Palestinians may have had their own state. Instead, the U.S. <a href="https://globalaffairs.org/bluemarble/how-us-has-used-its-power-un-support-israel-decades">has used its veto in the United Nations 45 times since 1972</a> to protect Israel from the consequences of its actions.</p>
<p>The West’s leaders have effectively sided with the occupier against the occupied, leaving Palestinians at the mercy of an <a href="https://www.amnesty.ca/human-rights-news/israels-apartheid-against-palestinians-a-cruel-system-of-domination-and-a-crime-against-humanity">increasingly brutal apartheid state</a>. </p>
<h2>Valuing the rule of law</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/01/11/1224273842/south-africa-outlines-genocide-case-against-israel-at-international-court-of-jus">South Africa recently accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza before the International Court of Justice (ICJ)</a>. <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/read-the-full-application-bringing-genocide-charges-against-israel-at-un-top-court">South Africa’s turn to international law to stop the war</a> illustrates that states in the Global South value the rule of law. </p>
<p>Most states understand their self-interest in maintaining the legitimacy of the international legal system. <a href="https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3248642/gaza-its-all-black-and-white-and-very-simple">It’s the West, led by the U.S.</a>, <a href="https://mg.co.za/thought-leader/opinion/2022-01-11-us-makes-a-mockery-of-international-law/">that has most frequently abused</a> <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/ukraine-russia-war-looks-very-different-outside-west-n1294280">the rules it claims to support</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/14/namibia-condemns-germany-for-defending-israel-in-icj-genocide-case">Namibia has condemned Germany’s support for Israel</a> at the ICJ, asserting that Germany has learned nothing from its genocide of the Herero and Nama peoples between 1904 and 1908. The Israel-Hamas conflict is presented in the West through a <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/12/21/the-anatomy-of-zionist-genocide">European, colonial mindset</a> that <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3011576">rationalizes the history</a> of <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/world/palestinian-demands-for-liberation-must-never-be-ignored-again/">the displacement of Palestinians</a>.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/10/us-islamophobia-antisemitism-hate-speech-israel-hamas-war-gaza">the U.S.</a>, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/1/7/why-is-germany-so-viciously-anti-palestinian">Germany</a>, the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/1/17/israels-war-on-gaza-triggered-a-war-on-free-speech-in-the-west">United Kingdom</a> and <a href="https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3248079/yes-mainstream-media-are-biased-against-palestinians">elsewhere in the West</a>, <a href="https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/12/29/steinberg-weaponizing-antisemitism/?fbclid=IwAR1tW8prmPEBaWlxQIcNzEYH-z4XGggMxQXeuB7oM7fmgNlmvgqnhmfU9aM">anti-Semitism has been weaponized</a> to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/nov/22/harvard-law-pro-palestinian-letter-gaza-israel-censorship">silence pro-Palestinian voices</a>. <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/16/high-profile-hosts-sacking-from-australian-broadcaster-sparks-outrage">Numerous reporters have been fired</a> for offending pro-Israel sensibilities. </p>
<h2>Disillusionment grows</h2>
<p>Nonetheless, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/live-blog/israel-hamas-war-live-updates-rcna133799">protests against the war continue unabated</a> and Israel <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/16/israel-palestine-quinnipiac-poll-00127726">is losing the youth of America</a>. Eventually, this could have serious political consequences, but that won’t save Palestinians today.</p>
<p><a href="https://thenewamerican.com/world-news/middle-east/turkey-accuses-west-of-hypocrisy-on-ukraine-and-gaza/">Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, recently said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“What happened in Gaza has caused the West and Europeans to suddenly lose all their reputation and all the credit they had accumulated. They have spent all their credit in the eyes of humanity, and especially our generation. It won’t be easy for them to get it back.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The West no longer has credibility when it criticizes Russia, China, Iran, Myanmar or any other state for human rights abuses or breaches of international law. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/1/17/gaza-will-be-the-grave-of-the-western-led-world-order">Disgust</a> and <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/1/16/israels-war-on-gaza-and-the-wests-credibility-crisis">disillusionment with the West</a> is growing in the Global South. <a href="https://odi.org/en/insights/humanitarian-hypocrisy-double-standards-and-the-law-in-gaza/">Western hypocrisy in Gaza</a> is having real geopolitical implications.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220449/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shaun Narine has contributed to Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East and Jewish Voice for Peace.</span></em></p>The West no longer has credibility when it criticizes Russia, China or any other state for human rights abuses or breaches of international law due to its feeble response to Israel’s assault on Gaza.Shaun Narine, Professor of International Relations and Political Science, St. Thomas University (Canada)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2191552024-01-21T08:55:26Z2024-01-21T08:55:26ZSouth Africa’s ageing population comes with new challenges. How best to adapt to them<p><em>Young people – under the age of 15 – currently make up 29% of South Africa’s population. But this will soon change: the aged portion of the population is forecast to rise from 2030, bringing many challenges. Lauren Johnston, an economics and political economy expert, recently published a <a href="https://saiia.org.za/research/poor-old-brics-demographic-trendsand-policy-challenges/">paper</a> on the subject. We asked her to put the developments into perspective.</em></p>
<h2>What is South Africa’s current population profile?</h2>
<p>South Africa is “young” among the Brics countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), but “old” by African standards. For example, seniors make up 5.9% of South Africa’s population and children 28.6%. This <a href="https://saiia.org.za/research/poor-old-brics-demographic-trendsand-policy-challenges/">compares</a> with Russia’s 15.8% seniors and 17.2% children, and China’s 13.7% seniors and 17.7% children. </p>
<p>The sub-Saharan average is 3.0% for seniors and 41.8% for children. </p>
<h2>What’s up ahead?</h2>
<p>South Africa faces no fears of a substantially diminished working-age population, unlike a number of high-income countries. Nonetheless, population structure estimates suggest that it will be home to a rising number of seniors. </p>
<p><strong>Projected population structure, South Africa</strong></p>
<p>In general, the increase in population share of seniors is driven by falling rates of mortality and birth, leading to fewer younger people relative to elders. In South Africa’s case, a falling fertility rate <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN">from over six births per woman in 1960 to just over two today</a> is a key driver. </p>
<p>An ageing population is statistically defined as a population with 7% or more of people aged 65 and over. </p>
<p>In 2022, seniors made up 5.9% of South Africa’s population. So, it is not yet home to an ageing population. But the <a href="https://population.un.org/wpp/">United Nations</a> forecasts it will join the “population ageing” club as early as 2030. By around 2060 it will be home to an “aged” population – with seniors accounting for 14% of the population. </p>
<h2>What unique challenges lie ahead?</h2>
<p>In general, an ageing population puts added pressure on the working-age population. Each worker has to be more productive, just to maintain total output. Fiscal resources also come under pressure because there are fewer people of working age – net contributors to the economy. There are also more seniors requiring resources for their health and welfare. </p>
<p>For developing countries this can be especially precarious because budgets are often under strain. So are the resources needed for pursuing basic national development. Moreover, a trend of population ageing arising in developing countries is relatively new – just a few decades old. </p>
<h2>How prepared is South Africa for the challenges?</h2>
<p>One challenge for “young” South Africa is that the slower pace of demographic change reduces imminent and more obvious demographic change pressure. The very steady increase in the share of elders alongside pressing broader socioeconomic challenges gives the government little incentive to prioritise social or economic ageing-related issues on its policy agenda.</p>
<p>The array of socioeconomic challenges, including <a href="https://www.parliament.gov.za/storage/app/media/1_Stock/Events_Institutional/2020/womens_charter_2020/docs/19-02-2021/20210212_Womens_Charter_Review_KZN_19th_of_Feb_afternoon_Session_Final.pdf">poverty</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-police-are-losing-the-war-on-crime-heres-how-they-need-to-rethink-their-approach-218048">crime</a>, entrenched <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-cant-crack-the-inequality-curse-why-and-what-can-be-done-213132">inequality</a> and <a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/news-insights/shedding-the-load-power-shortages-widen-divides-in-south-africa/">energy access</a>, means that the need to respond to the demographic transition is less of an immediate priority. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/millions-of-young-south-africans-are-jobless-study-finds-that-giving-them-soft-skills-like-networking-helps-their-prospects-202969">Millions of young South Africans are jobless: study finds that giving them 'soft' skills like networking helps their prospects</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As a result, very few older South Africans benefit from aged care services, and then only the very frail, with inconsistent reach across provinces. Moreover, according to an October 2023 University of Cape Town study, there is little support for older persons who have high care needs and are at home, <a href="https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2023-10-02-funding-elder-care-in-south-africa-new-report#:%7E:text=Based%20on%20estimates%2C%20it%20is,older%20persons%20who%20need%20it.">or for active older persons</a>. Most elders do not have access to services that support their needs, but also fear rising healthcare costs, owing to the rising incidence of non-communicable diseases. These include strokes, cancer and diabetes.</p>
<p>Overall the basic national social welfare net is inadequate. For example, retirees living off less than 16% of their pre-retirement salaries are among those with the highest risk of <a href="https://theconversation.com/retired-women-in-south-africa-carry-a-huge-burden-of-poverty-177379">living in poverty</a>. This group is three times more at risk of poverty than any other group in South Africa. Black female widows are most at risk.</p>
<p>While the economic value of support to older persons has grown over time, the increase has been insufficient to <a href="https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2023-10-02-funding-elder-care-in-south-africa-new-report#:%7E:text=Based%20on%20estimates%2C%20it%20is,older%20persons%20who%20need%20it.">meet the needs of this growing population</a>. Statistics South Africa estimates that population ageing alone is already adding around 0.3% to <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=13445">expected health-related expenditures annually</a>. These trends suggest that without change, South Africa’s seniors will become even less adequately served with time.</p>
<h2>What needs to be done to prepare better?</h2>
<p>South Africa has committed to establishing frameworks for healthy ageing based on the <a href="https://www.who.int/initiatives/decade-of-healthy-ageing#:%7E:text=The%20United%20Nations%20Decade%20of,communities%20in%20which%20they%20live.">United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing from 2020 to 2030</a>. The agenda has four core areas of priority – age-friendly environments, combating ageism, integrated care, and long-term care. To realise these goals, difficult political decisions would need to be made around taxation and redistribution, as more revenue is required to ensure basic dignity for South African seniors. </p>
<p>Guided by the <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/acts/2006-013_olderpersons.pdf">Older Persons Act</a> and the <a href="https://social.desa.un.org/issues/ageing/madrid-plan-of-action-and-its-implementation-main/madrid-plan-of-action-and-its">Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing</a>, the Department of Social Development in partnership with other departments, and the <a href="https://saopf.org.za/">South African Older Persons Forum</a> should further implement <a href="https://www.gov.za/news/media-advisories/government-activities/minister-lindiwe-zulu-officially-opens-2022-active">South Africa’s Active Ageing Programme</a> to empower senior citizens to stay physically and intellectually active, to continue to enjoying healthy, purposeful lives. This should help reduce pressure on more intensive care sectors and needs. </p>
<p>As explained in my <a href="https://saiia.org.za/research/poor-old-brics-demographic-trendsand-policy-challenges/">paper</a>, South Africa should take advantage of the Brics grouping’s new population structure and <a href="https://brics2023.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Jhb-II-Declaration-24-August-2023-%201.pdf">development cooperation agenda</a>. That way, state officials, civil society and entrepreneurs may be better positioned to take advantage of opportunities to reduce healthcare and aged care costs. </p>
<p>To direct sustain the economy as the population ages, South Africa needs to ensure that the economy is robust enough to accommodate a worsening dependency burden. For example, young people must be proportionately empowered to drive productivity growth and innovation. That way, the increasing costs associated with the ageing population could be accommodated while <a href="https://www.uneca.org/stories/eca-discusses-african-middle-income-countries%E2%80%99-challenges-and-solutions-to-accelerate">continuing to drive national development</a>. </p>
<p>Digitisation trends and the Brics population and development agenda may, as examples, also foster opportunities for education and training among not only young South Africans, but all working-age people. This will help raise productivity potential per worker and <a href="https://saiia.org.za/research/poor-old-brics-demographic-trendsand-policy-challenges/">extend productive working lifespans</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/drc-has-one-of-the-fastest-growing-populations-in-the-world-why-this-isnt-good-news-209420">DRC has one of the fastest growing populations in the world – why this isn't good news</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>South African policy makers and entrepreneurs should also be cognisant of how population ageing affects <a href="https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/OP-351-AGDP-Johnston-FINAL-WEB.pdf">not only other Brics economies</a>, but also patterns of trade and investment. For example, over the coming decades, population decline in middle-income China, and the rapid decline of its working-age population, is likely to push China away from labour-intensive industries, and <a href="https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/222235/1/GLO-DP-0593.pdf">towards capital-intensive industries and sectors</a>.</p>
<p>In other words, population ageing at home and abroad will shift economic demography-weighted opportunities and challenges at home. The more responsive South Africa can be to these changes, the better off will the nation be.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219155/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren Johnston does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In general, an ageing population puts added pressure on the working-age population to be more productive – just to maintain total output – amid growing fiscal constraints.Lauren Johnston, Associate Professor, China Studies Centre, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2211532024-01-19T09:44:01Z2024-01-19T09:44:01ZWhat is genocide? Six western countries want a broader application of the law – experts unpack why it matters<p>In November 2023, six western states filed a <a href="https://icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/178/178-20231115-wri-01-00-en.pdf">joint application</a> before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) arguing for an ample and expansive understanding of genocide. This intervention, as it is legally termed, was made by Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK in relation to the genocide case The Gambia filed against Myanmar in 2019. The still on-going case revolves around the <a href="https://theconversation.com/myanmar-charged-with-genocide-of-rohingya-muslims-5-essential-reads-128742">violent expulsion of Rohingya</a> people from Myanmar into Bangladesh.</p>
<p>Our research focus is on international law and transitional justice. Our view is that the intervention is interesting and significant, both because of how it interprets past genocide cases, and in terms of what this could mean for the ICJ’s future determinations regarding states’ commission of genocide. </p>
<h2>Consolidating genocide law</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/israel-gaza-what-the-term-genocide-means-under-international-law-podcast-218844">Genocide</a> concerns the destruction of a people. It is called <a href="https://legal.un.org/avl///pdf/ls/Schabas_outline.pdf">“the crime of crimes”</a> because of its collective significance; it diminishes our humanity. The Genocide Convention, which grew out of the horrors of the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/the-holocaust">Holocaust</a>, was introduced in 1948 and has since been <a href="https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/genocide-convention.shtml">joined by 153 states</a>. Its <a href="https://theconversation.com/both-israel-and-palestinian-supporters-accuse-the-other-side-of-genocide-heres-what-the-term-actually-means-217150">definition of genocide</a> requires the demonstration of an intent to destroy a group in whole or in part. The Genocide Convention addresses states, which can either carry out or refrain from genocidal policies. It was <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-01-12/icj-israel-south-africa-genocide-case-gaza-civilians">designed to prevent genocide</a> and should be forward-looking. </p>
<p>The ICJ, which hears claims between states, has only decided two genocide cases to date, and has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/11/icj-case-against-israel-could-finally-empower-the-genocide-convention">never held a state responsible</a> for genocide. This has contributed to discussions of the Genocide Convention as a “<a href="https://theconversation.com/genocide-70-years-on-three-reasons-why-the-un-convention-is-still-failing-108706">failure</a>”. </p>
<p>While the ICJ’s record is sparse, there are many genocide findings produced by international criminal courts in cases against individuals. For example, the <a href="https://ijrcenter.org/international-criminal-law/ictr/case-summaries/akayesu/">Akayesu case</a> before the International Tribunal for Rwanda found a Rwandan major guilty of genocide in relation to sexual violence. And the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia found several individuals guilty of genocide in relation to the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Bosnian men and boys at Srebrenica. </p>
<p>This law is developed not under the Genocide Convention but rather through international criminal law. International criminal courts have produced far-reaching and inclusive definitions of the kinds of violent crime that can constitute genocide. This is the jurisprudence that the joint intervention consolidates to argue for a more expansive construction of genocide than the ICJ has so far employed.</p>
<p>The joint intervention makes three key interpretive points. First, genocide concerns “destruction”, which need not be death. Indeed, the Genocide Convention itself recognises that killing is not a necessary aspect of genocide and that other forms of violence may also be genocidal. </p>
<p>Second, the joint intervention examines how sexual and gender-based crime can contribute to a finding of genocide. It connects these crimes both to the intent standard in the crime of genocide, as well as to the group destruction standard.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/genocide-70-years-on-three-reasons-why-the-un-convention-is-still-failing-108706">Genocide: 70 years on, three reasons why the UN Convention is still failing</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Finally, the joint intervention argues that the threshold for how genocide is constituted should be lowered when considering crimes against children. These crimes affect an individual for the rest of their life, defining entire generations. It also matters that children are more vulnerable than adults, and therefore easier to harm or to kill. The joint intervention reasons: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Given the significance of children to the survival of all groups, evidence of harm to children may contribute to an inference that the perpetrators intended to destroy a substantial part of the protected group.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In legal terms, the joint intervention is progressive because it draws from existing case law to show patterns in how genocide can be established. These legal conversations are part of how jurisprudence develops and can be integral to judicial decision making. In political terms, the joint intervention is enterprising because it may lock the six states into a more ample understanding of genocide. This is because one of the characteristics that distinguish law from politics is its relative stability of meaning.</p>
<p>Therefore the joint intervention suggests ways the ICJ can apply genocide jurisprudence to better realise the Genocide Convention’s forward-looking mandate. </p>
<h2>Significance beyond The Gambia v Myanmar</h2>
<p>The Genocide Convention makes all states that are parties to it responsible for the prevention of genocide anywhere in the world. Before The Gambia’s 2019 case against Myanmar, however, this “erga omnes” jurisdictional mandate had never been realised. The Gambia’s case against Myanmar <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-gambias-plea-for-the-rohingya-matters-for-international-justice-129365">is the first time</a> that the Genocide Convention has been raised not by states in conflict with each other, but rather between two unrelated states. The alleged genocide does not target The Gambia or its citizens. </p>
<p>The collective responsibility signalled by erga omnes jurisdiction is why the six states were allowed to intervene in The Gambia v Myanmar. This is also why South Africa, in its recent case against Israel alleging genocide in Gaza, characterised its actions as <a href="https://icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240111-ora-01-00-bi.pdf">“seeking interim measures against itself as well as against Israel</a>”. </p>
<p>So far, the six states who submitted the joint intervention in The Gambia case <a href="https://theconversation.com/canada-is-being-hypocritical-by-failing-to-support-south-africas-genocide-case-against-israel-220531">have not expressed</a> support for South Africa in its case against Israel. Regardless of what they do or don’t say regarding South Africa’s case, however, their November 2023 intervention in The Gambia v Myanmar speaks for them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221153/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Genocide is called ‘the crime of crimes’ because of its collective significance.Kerstin Bree Carlson, Associate Professor International Law, Roskilde UniversityLine Engbo Gissel, Associate Professor, Global Political Sociology, Roskilde UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2201432024-01-17T04:33:05Z2024-01-17T04:33:05ZA new year means new fitness goals. But options for people with disability are few and far between<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569758/original/file-20240117-19-y64dwz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/african-american-senior-using-resistance-band-2263427617">Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Around <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/australias-disability-strategy/technical-resources/data-sources/australian-bureau-of-statistics-sdac">4.4 million Australians</a>, or 18% of our population, live with disability. This number is likely to rise as our population ages. </p>
<p>Adults living with disability can experience a range of benefits from participating in community-based physical activities such as dance, Tai Chi and yoga, our recently published <a href="https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2023/12/21/bjsports-2023-107123">review</a> found. </p>
<p>Yet adults with disability are <a href="https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/7/1/e000991">less physically active</a> than those without disability, with inclusive community-based physical activities few and far between. This puts people with disability at increased risk of further disability. </p>
<p>People with disability should be able to join a local club or group to participate in physical activity they enjoy, just like the rest of us. So how can we provide more physical activity options?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/thinking-of-using-an-activity-tracker-to-achieve-your-exercise-goals-heres-where-it-can-help-and-where-it-probably-wont-219235">Thinking of using an activity tracker to achieve your exercise goals? Here's where it can help – and where it probably won't</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Benefits of physical activity</h2>
<p>Our <a href="https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2023/12/21/bjsports-2023-107123">systematic review</a> included 74 trials with 2,954 men and women living with mild-to-moderate physical and intellectual disability.</p>
<p>We looked at studies of Tai Chi, Qigong (which is similar to Tai Chi but more straightforward, using more repetitive movements), yoga, dance, water exercise, gym training, boxing, horse riding, Nordic walking and running. All but one of these physical activities were delivered in condition-specific groups (for example, a group for people with Parkinson’s disease). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People doing Tai Chi in a park" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569742/original/file-20240117-15-l075wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569742/original/file-20240117-15-l075wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569742/original/file-20240117-15-l075wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569742/original/file-20240117-15-l075wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569742/original/file-20240117-15-l075wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569742/original/file-20240117-15-l075wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569742/original/file-20240117-15-l075wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Poses in Tai Chi can be modified to suit people with a range of abilities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/elderly-asian-people-practicing-tai-chi-381172381">Dragon Images/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>People found benefits from participating in these recreation activities. Benefits included improvements in walking, balance and quality of life, and reductions in fatigue, depression and anxiety. </p>
<p>Dance was particularly beneficial for improving walking. Tai Chi, yoga, dance and water exercise were beneficial for balance. Yoga and water exercise were beneficial for fatigue and Tai Chi for depression. </p>
<h2>Considerations for physical recreation in the community</h2>
<p>Some people with disabilities prefer to be active with others who have similar conditions and abilities. Others prefer to be active locally with family and friends. </p>
<p>Travel to a disability-specific activity may increase the cost and time involved. The lack of choice puts people with a disability at a disadvantage compared to non-disabled people. </p>
<p>Some physical recreation activities included in the review used adjustments and extra equipment to be suitable for people with disability. These adjustments were usually only small (for example, seated options or spending a shorter time in a certain pose or position) and equipment was low cost (for chairs, exercise bands, and so on). </p>
<p>Most local community-based recreation groups should be able make simple adjustments to meet the needs of people living with mild to moderate disability. However this doesn’t routinely happen. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sport-and-physical-activity-play-important-roles-for-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-communities-but-there-are-barriers-to-participation-168263">Sport and physical activity play important roles for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, but there are barriers to participation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the review, few activity leaders (37%) had experience and/or training working with people with disability. This may limit the confidence of the activity leader to include a person with disability in the class. It may also limit the confidence of the person with disability to join a local class. </p>
<h2>Access to services is a basic right</h2>
<p>Australia is a signatory on the <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/disability-rights/united-nations-convention-rights-persons-disabilities-uncrpd">Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities</a>. Australia also has a <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/disability-rights/disability-discrimination#:%7E:text=The%20Disability%20Discrimination%20Act%201992,places%2C%20because%20of%20their%20disability.">Disability Discrimination Act</a> (1992). But this seems to provide little incentive for services to take active measures to prevent disability discrimination. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/">Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability</a> confirmed people with disability were still excluded from many areas of society because of their disability. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman dances in a class" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569745/original/file-20240117-27-8fb39c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569745/original/file-20240117-27-8fb39c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569745/original/file-20240117-27-8fb39c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569745/original/file-20240117-27-8fb39c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569745/original/file-20240117-27-8fb39c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569745/original/file-20240117-27-8fb39c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569745/original/file-20240117-27-8fb39c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People with disability often face greater costs, more travel and fewer choices for physical activity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/old-lady-dancing-other-women-during-2059280225">BearFotos/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The commission’s <a href="https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report">final report</a> recommended strengthening laws to protect people with disability, prevent discrimination, and build a more inclusive society. </p>
<p>Momentum and expectation is growing in Australian society for better inclusion for people living with disability. </p>
<h2>So what can we do for better physical activity inclusion?</h2>
<p>First, more physical activity options suitable for people with disability are needed in the community. Guided by the <a href="https://www.inclusivesportdesign.com/blog-posts/the-inclusion-spectrum-planning-sport-activities-for-everyone">inclusion spectrum</a>, there should be options for both disability-specific and inclusive mainstream activities. People with disability will then be able to choose an activity that suits their needs and preference. </p>
<p>A handful of <a href="https://coablefitness.com.au/story/">organisations</a> are leading the way, often led by a person with disability or disability advocate, but more are needed.</p>
<p>Second, community-based physical activities need to enable the person with disability to access the setting safely and have equipment suitable to use. Community organisations can audit their service using online tools, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09638280410001711432">AIMFREE</a> (Accessibility Instruments Measuring Fitness and Recreation Environments), to evaluate and improve their accessibility. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-beach-access-for-everyone-and-that-includes-people-with-a-disability-154158">We need beach access for everyone, and that includes people with a disability</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A welcoming environment can help ensure a positive experience for the person with disability. Disability Sports Australia offers a free online <a href="https://www.sports.org.au/accessibility-champion">Accessibility Champion course</a> for sporting clubs and recreation providers. This aims to improve staff and volunteer knowledge and confidence to welcome people with disability. All clubs and service providers should commit to completing this type of training.</p>
<p>Finally, we can all do better to ensure we are accepting and welcoming of people of all abilities in the community, especially in recreation or sporting activities we’re involved in. When this happens, Australia will take an important step to being a more inclusive society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220143/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leanne Hassett receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and Medical Research Future Fund. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne Tiedemann has received funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Medical Research Future Fund. She is an Executive Committee Member of the Australia and New Zealand Falls Prevention Society and the World Falls Prevention Society. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cathie Sherrington has received funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Medical Research Future Fund. She is the voluntary secretary of the Cerebral Palsy Sport and Recreation Association of NSW and she is an executive member of the Australian and NZ Falls Prevention Society. </span></em></p>People with disability gain many benefits from being physically active, from greater movement to improved mental health. But options for community-based physical activity are limited.Leanne Hassett, Associate Professor in Physiotherapy, University of SydneyAnne Tiedemann, Professor of Physical Activity and Health, University of SydneyCathie Sherrington, Professor, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2207612024-01-10T13:30:13Z2024-01-10T13:30:13ZPope Francis called surrogacy ‘deplorable’ – but the reasons why women and parents choose surrogacy are complex and defy simple labels<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568467/original/file-20240109-17-1nw9j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=137%2C31%2C6938%2C4678&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope Francis baptizes 16 infants in the Sistine Chapel on Jan. 7, 2024, in Vatican City.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pope-francis-baptises-16-infants-in-the-sistine-chapel-on-news-photo/1914446578?adppopup=true">Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pope Francis made headlines on Jan. 8, 2024, when he called for a global surrogacy ban, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/08/world/europe/pope-francis-surrogacy-ban.html">stating</a>, “I deem deplorable the practice of so-called surrogate motherhood, which represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother’s material needs.”</p>
<p>The use of surrogacy, in which a woman carries and delivers a child for someone else, has grown exponentially in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2016.03.050">recent years</a> and is expected to <a href="https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/surrogacy-market">continue to do so</a>. While headlines often surface when celebrities like <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/style/paris-hilton-on-why-she-chose-surrogacy-for-her-children">Paris Hilton</a> grow their family using the technology, it also gets attention on the rare occasion a surrogate <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1356176/Surrogate-mother-wins-case-baby-giving-birth.html">refuses to relinquish the child they carried</a>, or when <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-red-market-scott-carney?variant=32123686453282">surrogates experience exploitation</a>.</p>
<p>Such human rights violations appear to be the reason that Francis condemned the practice. But in so doing, I argue, the pope is failing to recognize how varied and nuanced the experiences of intended parents, surrogates and children are.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481310567/conceiving-family/">I have researched surrogacy</a> <a href="https://candler.emory.edu/faculty-profiles/danielle-tumminio-hansen/">for over a decade</a> and have learned many things: Some women indeed become surrogates out of desperation and <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/wombs-in-labor/9780231169905">are abused in the process</a>, as the pope says. But others, like the Christian ethicist <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=31699">Grace Kao</a>, are thriving professionals who make the choice for altruistic reasons and never accept remuneration.</p>
<p>The complex reasons why women become surrogates and why parents choose to create families in this way <a href="https://oneill.law.georgetown.edu/a-lack-of-consensus-around-surrogacy-regulation-at-the-national-level/">make it nearly impossible</a> to issue a universal conclusion about it. Instead, like many technologies, surrogacy’s ethical value is dependent upon the people and systems who use it. </p>
<h2>Catholicism and surrogacy</h2>
<p>While the pope framed his condemnation of surrogacy as a human rights abuse, the Catholic tradition has <a href="https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19870222_respect-for-human-life_en.html">consistently opposed</a> <a href="https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20081208_dignitas-personae_en.html">surrogacy, in vitro fertilization</a> and <a href="https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/abortion/respect-for-unborn-human-life">abortion</a> on the grounds that they violate natural law. </p>
<p>Natural law is a philosophy that states there are certain unchangeable parts of human nature that God endows. Catholic theologians who support this basic view extrapolate that intercourse within heterosexual marriage is the only acceptable way to reproduce, that life begins at conception, and that an embryo has a right to life from conception until natural death.</p>
<p>Hence, the Roman Catholic Church only encourages reproduction within the confines of heterosexual marriage, and when a heterosexual couple cannot conceive via intercourse, they are encouraged to adopt or remain childless.</p>
<p>The church has consistently condemned IVF because conception takes place outside of heterosexual intercourse. IVF results in the destruction of embryos and involves conception via a test tube. The church likewise has never supported surrogacy, so the pope’s recent assessment of surrogacy as “despicable” is consistent with the church’s overall views of reproduction.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, surrogacy is the only form of assisted reproduction documented in the Bible, unless one considers Mary’s conception of Jesus to be a form of assisted reproduction. In the <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2016-18&version=NRSVUE">Book of Genesis</a>, the wife of Abraham begs her husband to have sex with <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301577539_Hagar_the_Egyptian_Wife_Handmaid_and_Concubine">her slave Hagar</a> in order to procreate. Sarah abuses the slave and orchestrates both sex and procreation without Hagar’s consent. </p>
<p>Hagar eventually bears a son <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/religion/articles/2008/01/25/why-scholars-just-cant-stop-talking-about-sarah-and-hagar">named Ishmael</a>. Later, Sarah demands that both Hagar and Ishmael be cast out into the wilderness. Muslims regard Ishmael as a prophet and believe he and Abraham built <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/introduction-cultures-religions-apah/islam-apah/a/the-kaaba">the Kaaba</a> in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.</p>
<h2>Myths and fears</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Four women standing together wearing masks, with two of them holding new-born babies." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424528/original/file-20211004-13-1ggnsgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=47%2C31%2C5176%2C3554&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424528/original/file-20211004-13-1ggnsgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424528/original/file-20211004-13-1ggnsgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424528/original/file-20211004-13-1ggnsgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424528/original/file-20211004-13-1ggnsgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424528/original/file-20211004-13-1ggnsgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424528/original/file-20211004-13-1ggnsgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nurses with babies born to Ukrainian surrogate mothers in Kyiv.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/nurses-hold-babies-as-foreign-couples-gather-to-collect-news-photo/1219071333?adppopup=true">Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Fast forward to modern times, and surrogacy is now performed predominantly in high-priced in vitro fertilization centers in one of two ways. In “traditional surrogacy,” the fertilized egg belongs to the surrogate. In “gestational surrogacy,” which is <a href="https://surrogate.com/about-surrogacy/types-of-surrogacy/what-is-traditional-surrogacy/">more common today</a>, the fertilized egg comes from either the intended mother or a donor.</p>
<p>In both cases, that egg combines with a sperm to become an embryo that grows in the surrogate’s womb and not the intended mother’s.</p>
<p>Gestational surrogacy may be preferable because it allows intended mothers to maintain a genetic connection with their child. Others may prefer it because of fears that a surrogate could lay claim to the child with whom <a href="https://www.americansurrogacy.com/blog/the-legal-and-emotional-risks-of-traditional-surrogacy/">she had a biological connection</a>.</p>
<p>The concern that a surrogate will try to steal or adopt a child is one of many legal and ethical fears surrounding surrogacy. In the 1980s, the <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/supreme-court/1988/109-n-j-396-1.html">Baby M Case</a> in the United States attracted much media attention because it tapped into these fears. In this situation, the surrogate, named Mary Beth Whitehead, attempted to retain custody of the baby she birthed. </p>
<p>The case <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deu339">fueled a stereotype</a> of surrogates as emotionally unstable, defying the reality that surrogates undergo psychological testing before participating in a procedure.</p>
<p>Documented instances of surrogates retaining children are also rare. Research shows that surrogates often experience pregnancy and birth differently than they did with their <a href="https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/33/4/646/4941810">own children</a>. They also often see themselves as <a href="https://academic.oup.com/california-scholarship-online/book/17848">heroes or gift givers</a> instead of mothers. </p>
<p>If the public perceives surrogates negatively, intended parents often fare no better. They are often categorized as selfish, desperate and rich, especially when they choose surrogacy <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/may/25/having-a-child-doesnt-fit-womens-schedule-the-future-of-surrogacy">without a medical reason</a>. </p>
<p>Those popular images of intended parents fail to account for the <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/reproductive-trauma-second-edition">reproductive trauma</a> many of them experience prior to turning to surrogacy. The decision to hire a surrogate is <a href="https://syndicate.network/symposia/theology/conceiving-family/#:%7E:text=In%20Conceiving%20Family%3A%20A%20Practical,class%20and%20are%20often%20white">often the last option</a> for parents who have tried everything else and are, as <a href="https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481310567/conceiving-family/">I’ve proposed in my own research</a>, attempting to write a happy ending to the story of their reproductive lives.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.filia.org.uk/latest-news/2023/4/19/dont-buy-adopt-stop-surrogacy-now">Critics</a> counter that individuals who use surrogates should be turning to adoption instead. However, this logic fails to recognize that adoption can be traumatic <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105309">for the child</a> and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2276293/">the birth mother</a>. Adoption, therefore, isn’t a cure-all for individuals who can’t conceive via heterosexual intercourse.</p>
<h2>Ethical concerns about surrogacy</h2>
<p>It is true that surrogacy is expensive, at least in the U.S., where use of the technology routinely costs over <a href="https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/family-finance/articles/how-much-surrogacy-costs-and-how-to-pay-for-it">US$100,000</a>. The cost is so extreme because intended parents pay health care fees for both themselves and the surrogate, many of which aren’t covered by insurance. </p>
<p>They also have to pay legal and agency fees and compensate the surrogate, which alone can range from <a href="https://www.westcoastsurrogacy.com/become-a-surrogate-mother/surrogate-mother-compensation">$45,000 to $75,000</a>. Contrast that price tag to the one in India prior to its ban on international surrogacy in 2015: Couples who traveled there could expect to spend <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/04/surrogacy-tourism-india-nayna-patel/">$15,000 to $20,000</a> in total for their surrogacy journey. The extreme costs of surrogacy in the U.S. also limit its availability to the wealthy. </p>
<p>In addition, feminists are divided on how surrogacy affects women. Some feminists feel that surrogates have a right to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3174860">choose what to do with their bodies</a>. Others object to surrogacy on the grounds that systemic oppression drives women into surrogacy, or that it’s unethical for people to <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/wombs-in-labor/9780231169905">buy women’s bodies</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/04/surrogacy-tourism-india-nayna-patel/">Cases documented in India</a> support these concerns. Investigative journalist <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-red-market-scott-carney?variant=32123686453282">Scott Carney</a> found one prominent Indian surrogacy clinic where surrogates were kept in crowded bedrooms on restricted diets and forced to have Cesarean sections in order to streamline the labor and delivery process. </p>
<p>Scholars also worry about surrogacy’s <a href="https://cbc-network.org/issues/making-life/surrogacy/?fbclid=IwAR13wlHiYvqQ_crLOiatzk6XpkFvp0WKXBWOYfi4BURgMLm00aY4EZDC9Sk">impact on children</a>.
Extensive research hasn’t been conducted with children of surrogates, but research by social scientists studying children born via egg and sperm donation largely mirrors the findings of adoption research: Children have questions about their identity, and they find answers from individuals who are <a href="https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/15/9/2041/2915461">part of their birth story</a>.</p>
<p>Yet agencies and governments rarely regulate how surrogates, intended parents and children interact following the baby’s birth. </p>
<h2>The case for surrogacy</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman in a green shirt stands in front of colorful red and orange flowers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424575/original/file-20211004-12705-rfkwei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424575/original/file-20211004-12705-rfkwei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424575/original/file-20211004-12705-rfkwei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424575/original/file-20211004-12705-rfkwei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424575/original/file-20211004-12705-rfkwei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424575/original/file-20211004-12705-rfkwei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424575/original/file-20211004-12705-rfkwei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Actress Gabrielle Union has talked openly about her surrogacy journey.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/gabrielle-union-attends-the-veuve-clicquot-polo-classic-at-news-photo/1344504189?adppopup=true">Frazer Harrison/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Such objections might lead to the conclusion that there is never a reason to hire a surrogate. But this might be too simplistic. Even with the documented struggles on the parts of both intended parents and surrogates, many are profoundly grateful for the technology.</p>
<p>Intended parents often feel surrogates are “<a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520259645/birthing-a-mother">gifts from God</a>” who help them reach their dream of parenthood. Meanwhile, some surrogates believe their powers of procreation provide them with a unique opportunity to help others. Many surrogates see their ability to create life as a source of power, a profound act of altruism that is part of their legacy.</p>
<p>When I spoke with a group of surrogates in Austin, Texas, while conducting research for my book, I found that their stories aligned with <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Surrogate-Motherhood-Conception-In-The-Heart/Ragone/p/book/9780367289249">the findings of other researchers</a> who discovered that many surrogates had positive experiences in which they <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520259645/birthing-a-mother">experienced themselves as heroes</a>. These women felt empowered because they helped infertile heterosexual couples and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rbms.2018.10.019">gay couples</a> create families. Without surrogacy, these individuals would have no way to have a genetic connection with their children. </p>
<p>The surrogates acknowledged that sometimes intended parents could be difficult, that pregnancy and labor could be challenging, and that it could be confusing when a checkout clerk at the grocery store asked what they were planning to name the baby.</p>
<p>Becoming a parent through surrogacy can be awkward and humbling, confusing and miraculous all at the same time.</p>
<p>But when surrogates and intended parents can act freely, with <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520259645/birthing-a-mother">appropriate regulations and the support of society</a>, there is the potential for them to discover that family is not just biological but also social and relational. In those encounters, many experience the technology as life-giving, both metaphorically and literally.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an <a href="https://theconversation.com/becoming-a-parent-through-surrogacy-can-have-ethical-challenges-but-it-is-a-positive-experience-for-some-167760">article first published on Oct. 6, 2021</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220761/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Danielle Tumminio Hansen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Surrogacy can exploit women, but others may choose to be involved for altruistic reasons. A scholar points out that surrogacy’s ethical value is dependent upon the people and systems who use it.Danielle Tumminio Hansen, Assistant Professor of Practical Theology & Spiritual Care, Emory UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2204182024-01-01T03:26:03Z2024-01-01T03:26:03ZThe world has lost a dissenting voice: Australian journalist John Pilger has died, age 84<p>John Pilger, a giant of journalism born in Australia in 1939, has died at the age of 84, according to a statement released online by his family.</p>
<p>His numerous books and especially his documentaries opened the world’s eyes to the failings, and worse, of governments in many countries – including his birthplace.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1741430497581109422"}"></div></p>
<p>He inspired many journalists, and journalism students, with his willingness to critique the damaging effects on ordinary people’s lives of capitalism and Western countries’ foreign policies, particularly the United States and the United Kingdom.</p>
<p>But his campaigning approach to journalism also regularly provoked controversy. That was partly because of his trenchant dissent from official stances, and partly because in aiming to reach the broadest possible audience, he tended to oversimplify issues and overstate his views.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-than-one-journalist-per-day-is-dying-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict-this-has-to-stop-217272">More than one journalist per day is dying in the Israel-Gaza conflict. This has to stop</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>‘I am, by inclination, anti-authoritarian’</h2>
<p>The English journalist, Auberon Waugh, who clashed with Pilger on more than one occasion, invented the verb “to pilger” which he <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/185430.In_the_Name_of_Justice">defined</a> as “to treat a subject emotionally with generous disregard for inconvenient detail, always in the left-wing cause and always with great indignation”.</p>
<p>Whatever the merits of Waugh’s criticism, they are, in my view, outweighed by the breadth and depth of Pilger’s disclosures in the public interest.</p>
<p>Pilger never hid behind the safety of the “he said, she said” approach to journalism, which New York University professor Jay Rosen has famously <a href="https://pressthink.org/2010/11/the-view-from-nowhere-questions-and-answers/">called</a> the “view from nowhere”.</p>
<p>Pilger, however, rejected the label of crusader, telling Anthony Hayward for his book, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/185430.In_the_Name_of_Justice">In the Name of Justice: The Television Reporting of John Pilger</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am, by inclination, anti-authoritarian and forever sceptical of anything the agents of power want to tell us. It is my duty, surely, to tell people when they’re being conned or told lies.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1741453972391551380"}"></div></p>
<h2>Telling the stories of ordinary people</h2>
<p>Pilger was <a href="https://johnpilger.com/biography">born in Bondi</a>, Sydney. Like many of his generation, he moved to the UK in the early 1960s and worked for The Daily Mirror, Reuters and ITV’s investigative program World in Action.</p>
<p>He reported on conflicts in Bangladesh, Biafra, Cambodia and Vietnam and was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/dec/31/john-pilger-campaigning-journalist-dies-aged-84">named</a> newspaper journalist of the year in Britain in 1967 and 1979. </p>
<p>He made <a href="https://johnpilger.com/videos">more than 50</a> documentaries. His best known is <a href="https://johnpilger.com/videos/year-zero-the-silent-death-of-cambodia">Year Zero: the Silent Death of Cambodia</a>, which in 1979 revealed that as many as two million of the seven million population of the country had died as a result of genocide or starvation under Pol Pot’s brutal regime.</p>
<p>His documentaries garnered numerous prizes, including the prestigious Richard Dimbleby award for factual reporting, a <a href="https://johnpilger.com/biography">Peabody award</a> for <a href="https://johnpilger.com/videos/cambodia-year-ten">Cambodia: Year Ten</a> and a Best Documentary Emmy <a href="https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/journalist-and-filmmaker-john-pilger-dies-aged-84-20231231-p5eufs.html">award</a> for <a href="https://johnpilger.com/videos/cambodia-the-betrayal">Cambodia: The Betrayal</a>.</p>
<p>He also made several documentaries about Australia, including one in 1985, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0438974/">The Secret Country</a>, about historic and continuing mistreatment of First Nations people that thoroughly irritated the then Labor prime minister, Bob Hawke.</p>
<p>When the US government of George W. Bush reacted to al-Qaeda’s murderous 9/11 terrorist attacks by invading first Afghanistan, in late 2001, then Iraq in March 2003, Pilger made <a href="https://johnpilger.com/videos/breaking-the-silence-truth-and-lies-in-the-war-on-terror">Truth and Lies: Breaking the Silence on the War on Terror</a>. </p>
<p>It sharply criticised not only Bush’s actions but those of the most ardent members of the “coalition of the willing”: UK Labour prime minister, Tony Blair, and Australian coalition prime minister, John Howard.</p>
<p>No doubt, if Pilger was still alive he would condemn the absence of the National Security Committee’s papers from the 2003 cabinet papers<a href="https://theconversation.com/cabinet-papers-2003-howard-government-sends-australia-into-the-iraq-war-217812"> released today</a> by the National Archives of Australia. </p>
<p>They <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/01/australia-went-to-war-in-iraq-based-on-oral-reports-to-cabinet-from-john-howard">show</a> Howard’s cabinet signed off on the controversial – in hindsight disastrous – decision to endorse the Bush administration’s plan to invade Iraq based on “oral reports” from the prime minister, rather than full cabinet submissions.</p>
<p>Pilger wrote or edited 11 books, including <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/tell-me-no-lies-9781407085708">Tell Me No Lies</a>, an anthology of outstanding investigative journalism, and perhaps his best regarded book, <a href="https://johnpilger.com/books/heroes">Heroes</a>, which hewed to what one of his favourite journalists, Martha Gellhorn, called “the view from the ground”. </p>
<p>He did this by telling the stories of ordinary people he had encountered, whether miners in Durham, England, refugees from Vietnam, or American soldiers returning from the Vietnam War – not to parades, but to lives dislocated by the silence and shame surrounding the war’s end.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1741458541356208461"}"></div></p>
<h2>The world has lost a resolutely dissenting voice</h2>
<p>Phillip Knightley, a contemporary of Pilger who was also born in Australia and went to Fleet Street to become a celebrated investigative journalist and author himself, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/185430.In_the_Name_of_Justice">summed up</a> his compatriot’s work in 2000:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>He was certainly among the first to draw international attention to the shameful way in which Australia has treated the Aborigines [sic] […] John has a slightly less optimistic view than I have. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://johnpilger.com/videos/welcome-to-australia">Welcome to Australia</a> [Pilger’s 1999 film], he concentrated on the bad things that were happening but not the good. He would say that’s not part of his brief and it’s covered elsewhere. He’s a polemicist and, if you want to arouse people’s passions and anger, the stronger the polemic, the better.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Pilger made fewer films in the 2000s, focusing much of his energy on supporting Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks. Assange continues to suffer in Belmarsh prison in England while appeals against his extradition to the US to answer charges under the 1917 Espionage Act grind interminably on.</p>
<p>Whatever flaws there are in Pilger’s journalism, it feels dispiriting that on the first day of a new year clouded by wars, inaction on climate change and a presidential election in the US where democracy itself is on the ballot, the world has lost another resolutely dissenting voice in the media.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-time-of-anxiety-the-depressing-new-reality-for-local-journalists-in-conflict-zones-95878">'A time of anxiety': The depressing new reality for local journalists in conflict zones</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220418/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Ricketson is the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance’s representative on the Australian Press Council.</span></em></p>Pilger inspired many with his willingness to critique the damaging effects on ordinary people’s lives of capitalism and Western countries’ foreign policies. But he also provoked global controversy.Matthew Ricketson, Professor of Communication, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.