Day: September 12, 2023

As the continent faces an array of challenges, ranging from climate change to political instability and economic inequality, experts disagree on how big an impact G20 membership will have as the AU joins 20 of the world’s largest economies.

Robert Besseling, chief executive officer of Pangea-Risk, an intelligence advisory group based in South Africa and Britain, told VOA it is more of a symbolic development than a substantive event.

“The AU seat at the G20 will be meaningless,” Besseling said, if the African body cannot react decisively to events that include “the spree of military coups and irregular elections that have set back Africa’s democratic trajectory in recent months.”

Seven African countries have experienced military-led coups since 2020, most recently Gabon and Niger, raising questions about political stability, the lack of which makes it harder to address pressing issues like terrorism and food shortages in many countries.

Dennis Matanda, adjunct professor of American politics and international business at Catholic University, told VOA English to Africa Service’s TV program “Africa 54” that Africa’s membership in the G20 could pay dividends.

“There is a real opportunity here for the African Union to come to the table. And that is a strength, and that is the opportunity,” he said. He added that “the significance here is that for the first time, the African Union is being juxtaposed with the European Union.”

Besseling, however, has doubts about the AU’s ability to act cohesively.

He also said the AU’s membership in the G20 is mainly driven by tensions on the world stage between competing alliances.

“The G20 is increasingly becoming a counterweight to the China-led BRICS, and the AU’s entry should be viewed in that same context of geopolitical rivalry,” Besseling said.

On a more positive note, Besseling said the AU’s entry into the G20 may help diversify global alliances and open new avenues for cooperation.

Matanda said it is time for African nations to defend their own interests and not be used to further the objectives of global powers.

“I think we need to stop thinking about what the other places want, what China wants, what Europe wants, and start the process of generating Africa’s own narrative,” Matanda said. “Africa, the African Union, needs to undertake a comprehensive assessment of its opportunities. And the primary opportunity here is the region’s development finance institutions.”

As the G20 evolves into a forum of considerable influence, the AU’s presence amplifies the continent’s voice within this arena, he said.

“If they’re going to have global capital playing in Africa, you need to come to the table with the best people who can actually control the finances and basically channel those resources to the opportunities that achieve the most effective impact for the region,” Matanda said. “And from that perspective, we need to remember that the African Union can be all it wants to be, but it needs to have more power.”

This story originated in the Africa Division. English to Africa’s Esther Githui-Ewart contributed to the report.

The U.N. rights chief accused Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban on Tuesday of a “shocking level of oppression” of women and girls and said human rights in the country were in a state of collapse.

The Islamist Taliban regained power in August 2021 after a two-decade insurgency against the Western-backed government and have deeply restricted the rights and freedoms of women and girls through bans on education and work.

“Human rights in Afghanistan are in a state of collapse, acutely affecting the lives of millions of women, men, girls and boys,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“The shocking level of oppression of Afghan women and girls is immeasurably cruel,” he added.

The Taliban seized power in August 2021, following the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from the country. Amid the pullout, 13 U.S. service members were killed in an ISIS suicide-bombing, and the United States killed 10 civilians in Kabul in a botched drone strike.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday defended the administration’s “incredibly difficult” decision to withdraw, saying the White House would work to hold the Taliban accountable for women’s and girls’ rights .

A Taliban spokesperson was not immediately available for comment. The Taliban say they respect women‘s rights in line with their interpretation of Islamic law and local custom.

Turk’s speech coincides with the publication of a U.N. report covering the period March 2022-Aug 2023 which notes a “systematic regression of the rule of law and human rights in Afghanistan, particularly with regard to the rights of women and girls”.

It documents various alleged violations including 324 cases of violence against women and girls including murders—or so-called “honour killings”—as well as beatings and child marriages.

The report did not give a comparison with the pre-Taliban period under U.S.-backed President Ashraf Ghani, but such abuses have not been uncommon in Afghanistan’s recent history.

It also said it had frequently documented instances of women being harassed or beaten at checkpoints by Taliban authorities for not wearing the hijab (hair covering) correctly or sent home from the market for lacking a male “mahram” (guardian).

The 47-member Human Rights Council agreed in 2021 to appoint a U.N. independent expert to examine rights violations in Afghanistan and the European Union hopes to renew the mandate at the ongoing session in Geneva that runs through to Oct. 13.

(Reporting by Emma Farge; editing by Mark Heinrich)

The post Afghan Human Rights in ‘State of Collapse’ Two Years After Biden’s Bungled Withdrawal appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

A New Mexico sheriff on Monday refused to enforce Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s ban on the right to carry firearms in the state’s largest city and the surrounding county, saying it was unconstitutional and could spark political violence.

In response to the recent shooting deaths of children, Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, on Friday imposed the 30-day suspension of the right to carry guns, either concealed or openly, in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County in a bid to curb shootings.

The move enraged gun-rights proponents across the United States. At a rally on Sunday in downtown Albuquerque, protesters openly carried rifles and pistols.

Bernalillo County sheriff John Allen said he did not want to endanger his deputies by making them enforce the ban.

“This order will not do anything to curb gun violence other than punish law-abiding citizens who have a constitutional right to self defense,” Allen said at a press briefing.

Some Democrats, including Rep. Ted Lieu of California, also voiced opposition to the order as a violation of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right to bear firearms.

Lujan Grisham last week declared gun violence a public health emergency after an 11-year-old boy was shot dead in Albuquerque, apparently in an act of road rage. Albuquerque has suffered record numbers of homicides two years running.

The second-term governor said concealed and open carry of firearms were state laws she had jurisdiction over, giving her the right to issue a civil order to address a rise in gun violence across the state. Her order was immediately challenged in U.S. district court by a Colorado gun rights group.

Albuquerque police chief Harold Medina said state police, rather than his officers, would be responsible for civil violations of the order which carry a fine of up to $5,000.

New Mexico State Police has not issued any citations, spokesman Ray Wilson said.

(Reporting by Andrew Hay; editing by Lincoln Feast.)

The post New Mexico Sheriff Refuses To Enforce Governor’s Gun Ban appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

The U.S.-Mexico border is the world’s deadliest land migration route, according to U.N. migration agency figures published on Tuesday, with hundreds losing their lives attempting to make perilous desert crossings.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) documented 686 deaths and disappearances among migrants on the frontier last year, but the actual figure is likely higher due to missing data, including from the Texas border county coroner’s offices and the Mexican search and rescue agency.

In a landscape of sweeping desert, canyons, and cactus-studded hills, migrants fall prey to heat stroke in summer and hypothermia in winter, U.S. border officials have said. Some bodies are never found.

Paul Dillon, spokesperson for IOM, said that the figures recorded “represent the lowest estimates available.”

“The alarming figures are a stark reminder of the need for decisive action to create regular legal migration pathways,” he told reporters in Geneva.

IOM said that nearly half of the deaths recorded last year were linked to the crossing of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts.

The number of deaths and disappearances documented by IOM along the border represents nearly half of the 1,457 cases recorded throughout the Americas last year.

“One of the most concerning trends that IOM has seen in the Americas was the increase in deaths on migration routes in the Caribbean,” Dillon said.

He said that 350 deaths had been documented in 2022, compared with 245 in 2021 and less than 170 recorded in prior years. Most of the victims on Caribbean migration routes were people from the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba.

The Darien Gap, a jungle border crossing between Panama and Colombia, saw 141 documented migrant deaths last year, according to IOM.

“The remote and dangerous nature of this area and the presence of criminal gangs along the route means that this figure likely does not represent the actual number of lives lost,” Dillon said.

Panama announced new measures last week to curb rising migrant crossings through the Darien Gap, which reached an all time high this year.

(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; editing by William Maclean)

The post US Southern Border Is World’s Deadliest Land Migration Route, UN Finds appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Texas’ Court of Impeachment reconvened Tuesday morning for the second week of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton’s trial, leading off with testimony from Brandon Cammack — the outside counsel Paxton hired to help investigate campaign donor Nate Paul’s claims that are central to the articles of impeachment.

The session began about an hour late, after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said both defense and prosecution were settling some issues before the day could begin. Patrick reminded parties of how much time is left, with House managers starting day six with about nine hours left and Paxton’s team starting with about 12 hours left.

Catch up on highlights from Monday’s session, day five of the trial, below:

Former chief of staff says Paxton’s alleged fair hurt office morale

House prosecutors’ sixth witness, Katherine “Missy” Cary — the former chief of staff in the attorney general’s office — was the first to testify at length about Paxton’s alleged affair. She shared with the jury how she became aware of the affair and testified that the attorney general first identified the woman, Laura Olson, as his realtor.

Paxton’s alleged affair is mentioned in one of the articles of impeachment, accusing Paxton of accepting bribes because he “benefited from Nate Paul’s employment of a woman with whom Paxton was having an extramarital affair.”

Cary said “my heart broke for her,” referring to Paxton’s wife — state Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney — who listened intently from the floor as a member of the impeachment court, although she is barred from voting in the trial.

Texas State Sen. Angela Paxton, right, receives a supportive hug from Sen. Borris Miles during a break of the impeachment trial for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, her husband, in the Senate Chamber at the Texas Capitol, Monday, Sept. 11, 2023, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Cary said before Paxton confessed the affair to his wife and other staff, it had become a topic of contention in the attorney general’s office. Cary testified that staff were “uncomfortable” heeding questions from Angela Paxton about her husband’s whereabouts. Ultimately, she said Paxton admitted the affair in a September 2018 meeting after Cary told Paxton about her ethical and legal concerns about a secret affair.

“There’s political risks. There’s legal risks…these things can open one up to bribery, misuse of office, misuse of state time. Things like that,” Cary said.

In an aggressive cross examination of Cary, lead defense attorney Tony Buzbee pressed her on her memory of how she first became aware of the affair. He went on to discuss religious themes without directly naming Paxton’s alleged affair, making the case that “sometimes people make stupid mistakes.”

“Just because somebody has an affair doesn’t mean that they’re a quote ‘criminal,’ does it?” Buzbee asked, to which Cary said she “would not associate that directly.”

Whistleblower thought Nate Paul’s requests were “suspicious”

House prosecutors called Mark Penley to the witness stand as their fifth witness of trial. Penley was the deputy attorney general for criminal justice in Paxton’s office before Paxton fired him. Penley filed the wrongful termination lawsuit that led directly to Paxton’s impeachment, after whistleblowers claimed they were fired for reporting Paxton to the FBI for criminal conduct including bribery and abuse of power.

Penley described a concerning relationship Paxton had with Nate Paul, the real estate investor and Paxton campaign donor at the core of the prosecutors’ case. Penley testified Paxton pressured him to intervene in a federal investigation facing Paul.

“I thought it was very suspicious that someone who was the target of a federal investigation was reaching out to the attorney general for legal help,” Penley said. “My initial reaction was ‘this is crazy…’ we hoped to slow-walk it and see if the attorney general would drop it.”

Verdict timeline

The court could return a verdict as soon as Thursday or Friday. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick advised the court Monday morning that each side has about 14.5 hours left to present their case. They intend to deliberate through at least 6:30 each evening until time has expired. The court will not take a day off until a verdict is reached.

If Paxton is found guilty by two-thirds of the Senate on any of the 16 impeachment charges, he will be removed from office. Senators would then determine whether to prohibit him from running for office in the future.

The EU & US (the “Collective West”) and Nikol Pashinyan did one smart thing: they INTERNATIONALIZED the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict. Now it is not about Armenia vs Azerbaijan, it is the World (and UN) against the violations of the rights of the ethnic minorities, and, by association all Human Rights by the certain forces of Azerbaijan. Now, it is a different kind of the geopolitical balance, also spurred by the apparent stalemate (smelling of Russia’s defeat) in the Ukraine war. 

South Caucasus News #SouthCaucasus #News #SouthCaucasusNews #Armenia #Azerbaijan #Georgia The #INTERNATIONALIZATION of the #NagornoKarabakh (#Artsakh) conflict: And Azerbaijan has to follow the international laws. https://t.co/e0Ysv2Gkuq pic.twitter.com/fbrNgCHgdz

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) September 12, 2023