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Impunity in conflict has cast a dark shadow over aid work in 2015
by Reuters, Guardian News
 
Dec 2015
 
As political and development agendas overlap, there is a greater need than ever for a clear commitment to the principles of international humanitarian law, writes Clár Ní Chonghaile for The Guardian.
 
In this year “of turmoil and hope”, the global community was supposed to embark on the path to a more equitable future while tackling our most existential challenge: the survival of the planet. But 2015 might be best remembered for events that speak more to the basest elements of human nature.
 
Across cities from Aleppo to Maiduguri, from Bangui to Aden, civilians have borne the brunt of protracted conflicts that have raised grave questions over the enduring relevance of international humanitarian law (IHL) and the Geneva conventions. Homes are shelled, hospitals are bombed, markets attacked; and while each new tragedy is condemned, impunity seems to cast an ever darker shadow.
 
For aid organisations, the sheer number of simultaneous crises has stretched budgets, staffing and spirits to the limit. They have also found themselves being sucked into the complex geopolitics of the crisis that has overshadowed all others in 2015 – the war in Syria.
 
For Jan Egeland, former UN under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs and now head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, the expanding military campaign against Isis in Syria and Iraq is one factor driving the dangerous confluence between humanitarian and political agendas.
 
“I am afraid for access and I’m afraid for protection of civilians in an age of politicisation and militarisation of our work … I’m now a fundamentalist in reviving humanitarian principles because everybody is trying to instrumentalise our work,” he said, referring to the danger that governments or other actors might seek to make political gains from humanitarian assistance.
 
“It was catastrophic, in my view, when [some] western leaders said we will fight Isis with military, political, strategic, diplomatic and humanitarian means … How will it then be possible for us to help those poor souls in the so-called caliphate?” he says, referring to humanitarian work being carried out in areas controlled by Isis.
 
“It’s like we have to educate new generations of politicians and military leaders again and again to understand the importance of the humanitarian principles from 1863 and the first Geneva convention,” he adds.
 
For Egeland, who lies awake at night worrying about his staff in Yemen, Central African Republic, Afghanistan and elsewhere, action must be taken now to rein in the impunity that results from blatant flouting of international law.
 
“I am much more political than many colleagues in saying we’ve got to be more explicit in calling a spade a spade,” he says.
 
“President Joseph Kabila and the Democratic Republic of Congo leaders have to be held accountable for so few on their side having to stand trial for rape of women.
 
We should also demand that those countries that finally sit at the table … to discuss Syria, who are giving arms and money to opposing sides, are responsible for holding the armed actors accountable in these situations. More can be done and more should be done on this because we are paying an unacceptable price,” he says.
 
Stuart Gordon, of the department of international development at London’s School of Economics, says routine, impartial investigations into incidents like the bombing of the Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, should be considered, and he also suggests beefing up and reforming the international criminal court so that it can play a greater role in monitoring compliance with IHL.
 
While there has never been a golden age for international humanitarian law, Gordon says counterterrorism legislation, particularly in the US, has made things even more challenging for humanitarian groups today.
 
“There are things today that make it strikingly difficult to ensure this form of [humanitarian] law is upheld: the securitisation of assistance by the US, [and] the rise of counterterrorist legislation, which has really restricted the ability of humanitarians not only to access communities on both sides of the confrontation line but also to … gain neutral space in situations such as Afghanistan and Syria,” he says.
 
Access is already complicated by the fragmented nature of armed opposition groups.
 
“For an NGO to function in those circumstances, it needs to engage in very active forms of humanitarian diplomacy with very localised commanders, and many [NGOs] are concerned that that form of engagement will run counter to, particularly, US counterterrorism laws. That in effect erodes the neutral space guaranteed by IHL,” Gordon said. “This disciplines humanitarians to only work in areas that are politically acceptable to northern or western forces. That’s incredibly problematic.”
 
He believes counterterrorism legislation, which can be “restrictive and very ambiguous” needs to be re-examined.
 
“Creating more forms of clearly defined humanitarian exemption to allow negotiations to gain access to all sides … will almost certainly address some of the issues of co-option and rejection that face the humanitarian community.”
 
Muddying the humanitarian waters further are growing efforts to stretch countries’ aid budgets to deliver national security objectives or fund responses to the global refugee crisis.
 
Britain has been open about refocusing its aid budget to reflect national security concerns. The prime minister, David Cameron, said in November that Britain would target at least half its aid budget on stabilising broken and fragile states, as well as do more to help refugees closer to their homes. He placed aid firmly within the overall strategy “to keep this country safe”.
 
Britain has also seen a broadening of the government departments that can gain access to aid money. With aid now situated in a delicate area where security and development overlap, there is a greater need than ever for a clear commitment to the principles of neutrality and impartiality and a firm respect for IHL, Gordon says.
 
“A golden age of humanitarianism … has never really existed. There have always been phenomenal challenges. I just think the challenges this decade are probably more severe and they come from the politics of co-option by the west and the politics of rejection from conservative Islamic groups in a limited number of countries, but that number is growing.”
 
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/dec/28/impunity-conflict-cast-dark-shadow-over-aid-humanitarian-work-in-2015 http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/dec/08/conflict-what-should-we-do-world-burning-restoring-laws-of-war-geneva-conventions
 
* The Thomson Reuters Foundation polled 15 leading aid agencies, asking them to name their top three humanitarian priorities for 2016:
 
http://www.trust.org/item/20151228000312-o9841/?source=fiHeadlineStory


 


Turkish Government detains Academics for calling for reconciliation with Kurds
by AFP, Guardian News, agencies
Turkey
 
Mar. 2016 (AFP)
 
Turkish riot police have fired plastic bullets and tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters who gathered outside an opposition newspaper the day after it was seized by authorities in a violent raid. "Free press cannot be silenced," the protesters shouted.
 
Police used tear gas, water cannons and plastic bullets to disperse the crowd of around 500 protesters outside the Istanbul premises of Zaman daily, witnesses said.
 
The Zaman newspaper with the largest circulation in Turkey, was critical of government policies and was linked to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan''s rival Fethullah Gulen, was ordered into administration by Istanbul prosecutors yesterday.
 
It today published a defiant warning of the "darkest days" in the history of the press after authorities seized control of its headquarters in a dramatic late-night raid by riot police.
 
"The Constitution is suspended," the newspaper, which managed to print its latest issue after the violent takeover, said on its front page.
 
"The Turkish press has experienced one of the darkest days in its history. "Turkey''s mass circulation newspaper was seized despite Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu''s assurance that ''free press is our redline''."
 
EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn said he was "extremely worried" about the move "which jeopardises progress" made by Turkey in other areas.
 
"The EU has repeatedly stressed that Turkey, as a candidate country, needs to respect and promote high democratic standards and practices, including freedom of the media," the EU''s diplomatic service said in a statement.
 
"Free, diverse and independent media constitute one of the cornerstones of a democratic society by facilitating the free flow of information and ideas, and by ensuring transparency and accountability. "Any country, and in particular those negotiating EU accession, needs to guarantee fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, and due judicial process, in line with the European Convention on Human Rights."
 
The United States said the action against the newspaper was "the latest in a series of troubling judicial and law enforcement actions taken by the Turkish government targeting media outlets and others critical of it".
 
"We urge Turkish authorities to ensure their actions uphold the universal democratic values enshrined in their own constitution, including freedom of speech and especially freedom of the press," State Department spokesman John Kirby said.
 
The daily Cumhuriyet newspaper''s editor-in-chief Can Dundar and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul were released on an order from Turkey''s top court last week after three months in jail on charges of publishing "state secrets". But they still face trial on March 25.
 
Independent pro-Kurdish television channel IMC TV was taken off air in Turkey last weekend following accusations that it broadcast "terrorist propaganda" for militants.
 
Meanwhile almost 2,000 journalists, bloggers and ordinary citizens, including high school students, have found themselves prosecuted on accusations of insulting President Erdogan.
 
http://gfmd.info/en/site/news/942/Distinctive-political-choice-Journalist-Union-of-Turkey-gets-Silver-Rose-Award.htm http://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/enemy-state
 
Jan. 2016
 
Turkish Government detains Academics for calling for reconciliation with Kurds
 
Global outcry over academic freedom and human rights erupted following news on Friday that the Turkish government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has arrested at least 18 academics and scholars for signing an open letter last week calling for an end of Turkey''s conflict with the country''s Kurdish people who make up over 10% of the population.
 
The controversy has been elevated internationally by the involvement of Noam Chomsky and other high-profile academics who have also expressed public contempt for Turkey''s policies towards the Kurds as well as Erdogan''s double-standards on fighting "terrorism" both inside his own country and in neighboring Syria.
 
According to the Guardian: Police have detained at least 12 academics over alleged “terror propaganda” after they signed a petition together with more than 1,400 others calling for an end to Turkey’s “deliberate massacre and deportation of Kurdish people”.
 
In a crackdown, condemned by the US ambassador as “chilling”, police are also still processing the paperwork of nine other academics who also face arrest.
 
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has severely criticized the signatories, including political scientist Noam Chomsky and the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek, and called on the judiciary to act against their alleged treachery.
 
Prosecutors launched an investigation into the academics over possible charges of insulting the state and engaging in terrorist propaganda.
 
Staff from 90 Turkish universities calling themselves “Academicians for Peace” signed the petition last week calling for an end to the military campaign against the Kurds and accusing the government of breaching international law.
 
The state-run Anadolu Agency reported that 15 academics from Kocaeli University in northwestern Turkey and three from Uludag University in the neighboring province of Bursa were among those detained for questioning.
 
Chief Prosecutor Mustafa Kucuk accused the group of spreading terrorist propaganda and "insulting the moral integrity of the state." Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu implied the academics had chosen to "align" themselves with terrorists.
 
On Friday, students protested the arrests under the banner "don''t touch my teacher."
 
Citing signatories that asked not to be named, the Guardian reported that some of the academics who signed the petition have been the subject of a backlash by nationalist students and the government. One accused Erdogan of a launching a witch hunt against the group while denying charges that the letter demanding reconciliation with the Kurdish population, and re-committing to peace negotiations with the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), should be interpreted as "sympathizing with terrorists."
 
"Students and extreme rightwing groups have been circulating our pictures on social media or pamphlets, accusing us of being PKK terrorist teachers," said one. "They have said we won’t let you breathe in this city or this university. So the threats are very direct."
 
The petition letter signed by those now detained and posted online reads in part (see link below):
 
"The Turkish state has effectively condemned its citizens in Sur, Silvan, Nusaybin, Cizre, Silopi, and many other towns and neighborhoods in the Kurdish provinces to hunger through its use of curfews that have been ongoing for weeks. It has attacked these settlements with heavy weapons and equipment that would only be mobilized in wartime. As a result, the right to life, liberty, and security, and in particular the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment protected by the constitution and international conventions have been violated.
 
This deliberate and planned massacre is in serious violation of Turkey’s own laws and international treaties to which Turkey is a party. These actions are in serious violation of international law.
 
We demand the state to abandon its deliberate massacre and deportation of Kurdish and other peoples in the region. We also demand the state to lift the curfew, punish those who are responsible for human rights violations, and compensate those citizens who have experienced material and psychological damage. For this purpose we demand that independent national and international observers to be given access to the region and that they be allowed to monitor and report on the incidents.
 
Chomsky, the MIT linguistics professor and one of the world''s most prominent intellectuals, has been entangled in a very public debate with Erdogan an in recent days as he defended both the signers of the petition and its contents.
 
After Erdogan publicly invited Chomsky to visit the country and allow the government to "host" him with a tour of various regions, the suggestion was rebuffed. "If I decide to go to Turkey," Chomsky wrote in an email to the Guardian on Thursday, "it will not be on his invitation, but as frequently before at the invitation of the many courageous dissidents, including Kurds who have been under severe attack for many years."
 
Chomsky did not back down from his critiques of the Turkish government and echoed the message of the original letter by calling on authorities to end the deaths of the Kurdish people and lift the siege imposed on their communities. Chomsky also repeated his accusation that in addition to waging a war against his own people, Erdogan continues to bolster various military factions across the border in Syria, including ISIS and the al Nusra Front.
 
"Turkey blamed ISIS (for the recent attack in Istanbul), which Erdogan has been aiding in many ways, while also supporting the al-Nusra Front, which is hardly different," Chomsky wrote in his email. "He then launched a tirade against those who condemn his crimes against Kurds, who happen to be the main ground force opposing Isis in both Syria and Iraq. Is there any need for further comment?"
 
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/15/turkey-rounds-up-academics-who-signed-petition-denouncing-attacks-on-kurds http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/14/chomsky-hits-back-erdogan-double-standards-terrorism-bomb-istanbul http://www.opendemocracy.net/stop-global-crackdown-on-academic-freedom-act-now


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