On Wednesday 18 November, Gulwali Passarlay enlightened a packed audience at the Frontline Club into his journey as an unaccompanied child refugee from Afghanistan to the United Kingdom. Joined by former Afghanistan correspondent for the BBC David Loyn, and Nadene Ghouri who co-authored his book The Lightless Sky, Passarlay was keen to address the complexities of the refugee crisis from both a personal and political perspective.
“My mother sent me away- she saved me but she lost me too”- @GulwaliP who left Afghanistan aged 12, running for his life (@frontlineclub)
— Maeve McClenaghan (@MaeveMCC) November 17, 2015
Loyn began the discussion by offering context on the current refugee crisis. “There are many Gulwalis in the world. Almost 60 million people are displaced, between 10 and 15 million people a year move from their homes and Afghanistan is the second largest country people flee from – 800,000 people are internally displaced.”
Passarlay began his journey when his mother paid smugglers to help him escape from Afghanistan after his father and grandfather were shot by US soldiers. “For a mother to decide to send her 12 and 13 year-old children away is extraordinary. I am sure she did not understand the implications and the dangers that I would face along the way. Neither did I,” said Passarlay. “Throughout my journey, my biggest issue and fear was uncertainty.”
Loyn asked Passarlay: “Why do you think your mother trusted your life with smugglers? And what was in it for the smugglers to keep you alive?”
“Smugglers need to maintain their reputation. The system of smuggling is more effective and efficient than the government! She was faced with a difficult circumstance, and through family friends she found a smuggler that was her only hope in giving her sons a better life,” answered Passarlay.
During the harrowing journey Passarlay was separated from his brother, which he referred to as a significantly traumatic experience. “My mother said to not let go of each other, but in Peshawar we were so quickly separated. For the rest of my journey, I had three things to do: I wanted to look for my brother, I needed to get across and I desperately missed home.”
Even arriving in Italy after a life-threatening boat trip from Greece, Passarlay was determined to get to England and find his sibling. “I am forever grateful to the people of Italy who genuinely wanted to keep me safe and welcomed and wanted to help me. But I had to find my brother.”
Responding to Loyn‘s question on why many refugees and migrants have their sights set on the United Kingdom as their final destination, Passarlay said: “I would have loved to have settled in Italy, but the language barrier was far too difficult. Whenever I talk to people from the right-wing, I tell them it’s a great thing for people to want to come to seek refuge in their country. Why? England embodies ideals of hope and opportunity; English is an international language and holds a historical and cultural connection to many countries thanks to the British Empire. But some also believe that Britain was involved in the conflict that exists in their country, such as Afghanistan, so migrants feel Britain has a moral responsibility to take them in.”
Passarlay concluded that he eventually managed to reach England and survive his journey thanks to fellow refugees, who have become his “brothers.”
“As the youngest, I needed help more than anyone. I tried not to show my innocent side, so I acted tough and put on a brave face – but this was not the case. The thousands of people I met were all literally in the same boat as me. We needed each other’s companionship and partnership.”
Loyn then directed the discussion towards Passarlay‘s difficult journey into Greece by boat, when his vessel almost didn’t make it. “Hearing that 2,000 migrants sunk earlier this year kept me awake at night. I feel their pain. I know exactly what they are going through. We were stuck [in the overcrowded boat] for 49 hours.”
Speaking on her experience of writing The Lightless Sky with Passarlay, Ghouri said: “It was a privilege to work with him. The story of unaccompanied refugee children is one I have always wanted to tell, and Gulwali is amazing for deciding to give a voice to many others who have been in his situation.”
@frontlineclub thank you for giving us the opportunity to have this evening' event for #TheLightlessSky it was great pic.twitter.com/8iJKOtqKSZ
— Gulwali Passarlay (@GulwaliP) November 18, 2015
In response to a question from Loyn on his advice for the Home Office, Passarlay commented: “What we are doing right now is not enough.”
An audience member from the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England commended Passarlay for his courage in reporting his story, and said that his book should be used by the Home Office as a guide into how to better process unaccompanied child refugees. The audience member said: “I believe that things have gotten worse since you made your journey Gulwali. My organisation has churned numbers and figures to notice that since December 2014 to March 2015, over half of unaccompanied minors have their age disputed… Local authorities need to rise to the challenge.”
Ghouri agreed that the response to the refugee crisis by both the government and the media had been far from acceptable. “The British press do not report the full picture on the migrant crisis, so people in this country do not understand what is happening. There are only 3,000 people in Calais, but the press makes it feel like there are much more.”
More information about The Lightless Sky is available here.
]]>Conflict, economic crisis, and depleting environmental resources are driving increasing numbers of people to attempt the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe. At least 1,500 migrants have died so far in 2015 on route to Europe – at least 30 times higher than last year’s equivalent figure.
Those Who Feel the Fire Burning, Morgan Knibbe‘s innovative and genre-blurring film, places viewers in the perspective of a person who has begun a dangerous and desperate journey to Europe. From its opening seconds, the film throws us into chaos as a boat carrying families of hopeful migrants plunges into rough waves during the night. While death is presumed for all aboard, one man continues his journey onto European shores as a ghost. Through his narration and observations of immigrants navigating new lives in Europe, we are faced with the reality that even those who survive the voyage arrive to a hostile world.
Skillfully shot and edited by Knibbe, Those Who Feel the Fire Burning includes swooping, dreamlike drone cinematography to capture the everyday lives of immigrants struggling in Greece and Italy. By employing unconventional documentary methods, Knibbe creates a humanistic and conscious-raising portrait of the individual lives at stake in the migration crisis.
Directed by Morgan Knibbe
Produced by BALDR Film
Duration: 71′
Year: 2014
On Friday 27 March, the Frontline Club partnered with the London School of Economics to host a series of films for the 7th annual LSE Literary Festival. The external screening, at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, was packed out with members of the public for a night of short films exploring the foundations of identity and place. The five films took the audience on a journey to far flung corners of the earth, from rural Turkey to the Arctic Circle. While striking in their different visual styles, each shared a common thread by providing intimate snapshots of the lives of displaced individuals, traumatised and trapped in alien landscapes.
“You have nowhere to go. Nowhere to go,” whispers Habib Aydin as he captures a wild bird in a crude wooden cage on the outskirts of his village in south-east Turkey. This is one of the most symbolic scenes in Reber Dosky’s The Call, which follows the story of Habib and his determination to call his only son Ramazan back to settle in the village they fled in 1989. While Habib returned 7 years ago to remarry, his first family remained in Istanbul. “What does this village have to offer?” Ramazan asks during a short visit to see his father. Habib replies: “animals, rocks… what does it not have?” Touched with humour and a soundtrack of birdsong and bleating goats, Dosky presents a story about loss of tradition across a generational divide, where the disconnect between love of family and land is felt keenly.
Xenos, a short by Mahdi Fleifel, follows a group of impoverished Lebanese youths trapped in Greece which is in the grip of economic disaster. Their hopeless existence unfolds in a telephone conversation, played over shots of streets lined with drug addicts cowering in shuttered shop porches. The camera is grainy and uncomfortably intrusive, reflecting the desperate measures they take for money to buy hard drugs. “I’ve tried to mingle with the Greeks,” one youth says, “but when you do, they assume you are gay. They say ‘you want sex?’” Speaking of how they sell their bodies to strangers in a nearby park, another reflects. “This country ruins your soul.”
Tuna Kaptan and Felicitas Sonvilla offers a different perspective of the conventional refugee narrative in Two at the Border, by focusing on the plight of two smugglers stationed at the Turkish city of Edirne near Greece. Ali, from Syria, and Naser, from Palestine, form a strong bond through their shared financial hardship and longing for home. “I thought about returning to Palestine,” Naser admits in the confines of his apartment. “My parents are seriously ill. They cry on the phone for me to come home. I haven’t been able to send a single lira back.” Stuck in their own limbo, their lives consist of traversing the distance between their apartment and the heavily patrolled borders.
In October 2013, a boat carrying 500 Eritrean refugees sunk off the coast of the Italian island Lampedusa. More than 360 people drowned. Morgan Knibbe’s Shipwreck is a testament to the horrors faced by those who resort to crossing into Europe by sea. The camera sways and lurches as hundreds of coffins are loaded onto a military ship at the harbour. Between the hysteria and silence of loss, one survivor, Abraham, whispers his story as he walks through a graveyard of shipwrecks.
In the last film of the evening, Adrift, Frederik Jan Depickere follows the story of Simu, a Ugandan who fled political persecution. He now works as a construction site cleaner 150km above the Arctic Circle. With all his family dead or missing, Simu stares out over the ghostly tundra landscape. “I used to dream of being a pop singer,” he says. “But according to my situation now, I think that dream is dead.” The camera pans over a field of snow peppered with bare black trees. “I don’t belong here. But at home they would just make me disappear.”
For more information on the LSE Literary Festival 2015, click here.
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For March’s members’ BookNight, we are delighted to welcome an award-winning author and foreign correspondent specialising in the countries of the Mediterranean, John Hooper, who will present his new book The Italians, over an intimate dinner with Frontline Club members.
The Italians is the ideal companion for anyone seeking to understand contemporary Italy. Digging deep into the history, culture and religion, John offers the key to understanding everything, from their bewildering politics to their love of life and beauty.
Looking at the facts that lie behind the stereotypes, John sheds new light on many aspects of Italian life: football and Freemasonry, sex, symbolism and the reason why Italian has twelve words for a coat hanger, yet none for a hangover.
Guests will be expected to have read the book and be ready and willing to contribute to the discussion. This will not be a standard format Q&A but an in-depth discussion.
The evening will start with drinks at 7:00 PM, following by a sit-down dinner at 7:30 PM. We will get to know one another over starters before the introduction of the evening’s guest author. John will then make his presentation and open the floor to discussion.
The evening will be hosted by Frontline Club director, Pranvera Smith, and a founding member and senior correspondent at The Guardian and The Observer, Ed Vulliamy.
Menu £25 per person excluding drinks.
]]>Following the success of Girlfriend in a Coma, director Annalisa Piras brings us an artfully constructed depiction of how Europe is sleepwalking toward disaster, starring Angus Deayton in fiction scenes from a post-EU future. Piras pairs an imagined view from a dystopian future with insightful analysis by ordinary Europeans and economic and political experts on how and why things are going so wrong.
With an innovative form that combines playful narrative and hard facts, the film examines the identity crisis of current-day Europe and the complex challenges that are mounting against the Union’s survival. Beset by growing nationalism, seven years of economic crisis and an increasing dissatisfaction with its undemocratic political structure, will Europe sleepwalk into catastrophe as it did one hundred years ago?
Using beautiful photography, expert interviews, personal stories, and archival footage, Piras constructs a picture of a Europe that is worth fighting for, but which, if things carry on as they are, looks destined for disintegration. Through 5 different European stories – in Britain, Sweden, Germany, Spain and Croatia – the film creates a unique, choral portrait of the “European dream” and how it could be lost forever.
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Monday 15 April
China, meanwhile is scheduled to release its GDP data for the first quarter of the year, with analysts predicting robust growth of approximately 8%.
In Oslo, the Norwegian government will host, in conjunction with the United Nations, a major two-day conference on LGBT issues.
In France the government is due to publish a list of the wealth and assets of its ministers in the wake of the scandal surrounding disgraced former Budget Minister Jérôme Cahuzac and his secret bank account.
Finally, a four-day motions hearing will open in the case of Guantanamo detainee Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, who is charged over the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen that killed 17 sailors back in 2000.
Tuesday 16 April
On Tuesday, the German parliament’s budget committee is scheduled to consider legislation authorising the €10bn bailout of Cyprus, with reports suggesting the bill will reach the floor of the Bundestag on Thursday.
In the United States, the Commander of US (and NATO) forces in Afghanistan, General Joseph Dunford, is due to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The focus is likely to be the country’s preparedness for the handover next year.
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg will hand down its judgment in the case of Haroon Aswat, who is fighting his extradition from the UK to the US on terror charges.
Finally in London, the Lord Mayor’s Easter Banquet takes place, which traditionally features an address from the British Foreign Secretary.
Wednesday 17 April
Wednesday also marks the deadline for British Home Secretary Theresa May to lodge an appeal in the case of radical preacher Abu Qatada, whom she is seeking to extradite to Jordan. Previous rulings have gone against the Home Secretary amid concerns about the Jordanian judicial process.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to give public testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Although the hearing is nominally concerning Kerry’s departmental budget proposal, lawmakers traditionally take the opportunity to probe their top diplomat on the most pressing issues of the day, such as North Korea, Syria and Iran.
Lastly, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the long-awaited proposed comprehensive immigration reform legislation.
Thursday 18 April
On Thursday, Italian lawmakers are scheduled to begin the process of electing a new President to replace incumbent Giorgio Napolitano. The selection process is being complicated by squabbling between Pier Luigi Bersani and Silvio Berlusconi over whose faction should occupy the largely ceremonial position.
In Moscow, Bolshoi ballet dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko is due back in court over his alleged role in masterminding the brutal acid attack against the ballet’s artistic director Sergei Fillin back in January.
Meanwhile, IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings begin in earnest on Thursday with press briefings from Christine Lagarde and Jim Yong Kim on the global economic outlook.
Incoming Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, in town for the meetings, is scheduled to discuss the global economy and financial reform at an event organised by Thomson Reuters at the Canadian embassy in Washington DC.
Friday 19 April
On Friday, Time magazine is due to publish its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Nancy Pelosi, currently House Minority Leader in the US, will be in the UK where she is due to give a lecture at the London School of Economics.
Weekend
On Saturday, Turkey will play host to the latest meeting on Syria, which US Secretary of State John Kerry will attend.
Sunday will see Paraguayan’s go to the polls for presidential and legislative elections. Paraguay has been somewhat isolated since the impeachment of its then-President Fernando Lugo in the summer of 2012, considered by regional critics – understandably sensitive about such political interventions – a ‘soft coup’.
Finally, US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel will (reportedly) arrive in Israel for what would be his first visit since taking up the post earlier this year. The Iran threat, as well as the security implications of the Syria conflict, will be top of the agenda, assuming the visit goes ahead.
]]>Monday 25 February
In Seoul, South Korea’s first female president, Park Geun-hye, will be inaugurated following her victory over Moon Jae-in in last December’s election. Ms Park takes office amid heightened regional tensions, in particular given Pyongyang’s recent decision to test a third nuclear device, provoking widespread international condemnation. Ms Park has vowed to take a more conciliatory approach toward her country’s neighbour to the north than that of her predecessor, Lee Myung-bak.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, meanwhile, will kick off his first international travel since taking up the post with a stop in London on Monday, where he will meet with his British counterpart William Hague. Kerry’s trip will see him visit a number of European and Middle Eastern capitals, though he will not travel to Israel this time around.
Finally, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will host Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Muallem in Moscow for talks on Monday. Russia ‘s continued support for the Assad regime has frustrated many, particularly the United States.
Tuesday 26 February
Meanwhile, international talks on Iran’s nuclear programme will take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Political directors from France, Britain, Germany, the US, the EU, Russia and China will meet with representatives for the first time since last June. Indications about the prospects for progress during the talks are positive.
Finally, in New York City, a court will hear an appeal from Argentina’s government after a court there ruled in favour of billionaire Paul Singer’s hedge fund NML Capital, and others who are suing Argentina for $1.3bn in sovereign bonds owed to them since the country defaulted on its debt in 2001.
Wednesday 27 February
In the US, oral arguments are scheduled in the Supreme Court a case challenging a key element of the Voting Rights Act. Specifically, justices will hear a challenge to Section 5 of the act which which requires state and local governments in certain, mainly southern, US states to obtain federal permission before making changes that affect voting. Critics of the provision say it is outdated and unfairly singles out certain states, while supporters say it provides important protections.
Finally, delegations from rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah are expected in Cairo on Wednesday for further reconciliation talks.
Thursday 28 February
An international meeting on Syria will take place in Rome on Thursday, attended by the US Secretary of State John Kerry as well as representatives of the Syrian National Coalition, including its head Mouaz al Khatib.
In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin will host his French counterpart Francois Hollande for talks on a range of bilateral and multilateral international issues, likely to include Syria.
In India, Finance Minister P Chidambaram will present his budget for 2013/14 before the country’s parliament.
Friday 29 February
Assuming a last-minute deal is not reached during the week, drastic across-the-board cuts to federal spending – known as a sequester – are scheduled to take effect Friday. Last week, the US Department of Defense, which would be particularly hard-hit by the measure, announced plans to furlough 800,000 members of its civilian staff, should sequestration occur. Barack Obama has repeatedly warned that the cuts threaten the US economic recovery.
Lastly, former Italian Prime Minister is expected to appear in person on Friday in Milan’s court of appeal, where he is challenging his conviction last October on tax evasion charges. A verdict in the appeal is tentatively expected on 23 March.
Weekend
In Switzerland, on Sunday, a referendum is scheduled that includes a vote on whether to strengthen shareholders’ influence on the remuneration of directors and management of listed companies in order to prevent excessive pay. The outcome is likely to have international implications.
Finally, the annual policy conference of the powerful American Israeli Public Affairs Committtee (AIPAC) opens on Sunday. The three-day conference traditionally features addresses from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama, though these have yet to be confirmed this year. Obama, of course, is scheduled to visit Israel from 20 March.
Images courtesy of Katherine Welles / vipflash / Shutterstock.com
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Exploring the past 20 years of Italy’s history, Girlfriend in a Coma argues that the current economic predicament is part of a wider political, social and moral failure.
Writers Annalisa Piras and Bill Emmott, former editor-in-chief of the Economist, try and unravel both “Mala Italia” and “Buona Italia” – and ask what needs to change to put Italy back on track and restore its credibility as one of Europe’s “highly-touted emerging economies”.
Blending animation and interviews with experts that include Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti; philosopher and novelist Umberto Eco and author of Gomorrah Roberto Saviano, Girlfriend in a Coma is a fusion of “Michael Moore, Adam Smith, Bunga Bunga with a dash of Dante”.
Directed by Annalisa Piras
Written by: Annalisa Piras and Bill Emmott
Duration: 100′
Year: 2012
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By Nicole Hunt
Foreign Secretary William Hague visits Moscow on Monday for talks with Sergey Lavrov. The meeting, which always has the potential to be a bit awkward when it comes to Syria and bilateral issues, will likely focus primarily on Iran, as Moscow agreed last week to host the next round of P5+1 nuclear talks on 18-19 June.
Back in London, radical cleric Abu Qatada faces a bail hearing as he continues to fight against attempts to deport him to stand trial in Jordan. Qatada was arrested on 17 April after Home Secretary Theresa May received assurances from Jordan regarding his trial there in order to bring his deportation in line with the European Convention on Human Rights. The ECHR ruled in January that Qatada could not be deported because there was a risk that evidence obtained through the torture of a third party would be used at his trial, but rejected claims that he also faced risk of ill-treatment and lengthy pre-trial detention.
The African National Congress has called for a demonstration outside the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg on Tuesday to protest the gallery’s display of Brett Murray’s painting The Spear, which depicts President Jacob Zuma’s genitalia. The gallery actually closed on 22 May after two men destroyed the painting by slathering it in red and black paint, but Zuma is continuing legal action in an attempt to ban the painting from being reproduced in newspapers and online. The Sudanese and South Sudanese governments are due to resume negotiations in Addis Ababa on border security, ongoing violence in border regions, citizenship and oil revenues, under the auspices of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), chaired by former South African President Thabo Mbeki. Sporadic negotiations have been interrupted and delayed by ongoing military action by both sides, which have threatened to reignite the countries decades-long civil war less than a year after South Sudan gained independence.
What do Madeleine Albright, Bob Dylan and Toni Morrison have in common? All of them will be among those awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama at a ceremony in Washington, honouring their contributions to the security and national interests of the United States, world peace, or culture. Israeli President Shimon Peres is also honoured, but will not be in attendance.
To the courts on Wednesday: the Special Court for Sierra Leone, sitting at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, hands down the sentence for former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who was convicted on 26 April of 11 charges, including crimes against humanity, violations of Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, and other serious violations of humanitarian law. The prosecution has called for an 80-year sentence for the 64-year-old, while his defence team have argued against him serving any sentence in a British jail, which they say would constitute a ‘punishment within a punishment’.
Speaking of the British justice system, the Supreme Court issues its ruling on the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who was arrested in December 2010 on a European Arrest Warrant requested by Swedish police, who want to question him about allegations of sexual misconduct. Assange has been slowly making his way through the UK courts ever since, having had his extradition to Sweden approved by lower courts and appeals rejected.
The European Commission issues its annual economic recommendations for member states in Brussels, which include structural reforms to be implemented within the next 12-18 months. The recommendations come on the same day that France releases its latest unemployment data, another indicator for new President Francois Hollande of the economic situation he’s just taken over.
Neither of those is likely to be the big EU story of the week though, with Ireland’s referendum on the new Fiscal Stability Treaty taking place on Thursday. Though polls show that the ‘Yes’ campaign is in the lead, between a quarter and a third of voters are still undecided, with Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Brian Hayes recently saying that the vote will be ‘much tighter than people think’. The result is announced on Friday.
The annual four-day Bilderberg Conference – which, despite its extremely secretive nature seems to always have at least its date and venue leaked to the transparency activists and conspiracy theorists that hound it – kicks off in Chantilly, Virginia on Thursday. Mario Monti, Bill Gates, Henry Kissinger and the Queens of Spain and the Netherlands are among guests rumoured to be attending, as well as Josef Ackermann, who steps down from his 10-year role as chief executive of Deutsche Bank on the same day.
Russian President Vladimir Putin makes his first official foreign visits since taking office, meeting with Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus on Thursday before travelling to Germany and France for meetings with Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande on Friday. Putin raised eyebrows by choosing not to go to the G8 and NATO summits in the US earlier this month, opting instead to send Dmitry Medvedev, so his first meetings with Barack Obama and David Cameron won’t come until the G20 summit in Mexico on 18 June.
Bulgaria’s recently-approved smoking ban comes into effect Friday, prohibiting smoking in all indoor public spaces, including restaurants, bars, cafes, and stadiums during sporting and cultural events, as well as outside nurseries and schools. The ban has been criticised by restaurateurs and bar owners, who say it will hurt business and cause job losses as smokers stay away, but heath authorities are hoping it contributes to a drop in the number of smokers in the country, which includes around 40% of all adults.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies’ annual Shangri-La Dialogue begins in Singapore, bringing together defence ministers from the US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono delivers the keynote address, while US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta uses the meeting a springboard for a week-long Asian trip, which will see him visit Vietnam and India.
The verdict in the trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his sons Alaa and Gamal is due on Saturday. The former leader was tried for premeditated murder and attempted murder in connection with the deaths of over 800 protesters during the country’s January 2011 revolution, while his sons were charged with profiteering, using th
eir positions for illicit gains, and squandering public funds. The prosecutor in the case has asked for the death penalty if Mubarak is convicted, though delays and accusations of stalling from the interior ministry during the trial mean that the outcome of the case is anything but certain.
Italy’s three largest trade unions have called for a mass demonstration against the government’s economic policy in Rome. The protest coincides with Republic Day, which the unions say marks the birth of a Republic ‘founded on labour’ a concept which has been ‘disregarded’ by the government.
The Organization of American States’ annual General Assembly begins in Cochabamba, Bolivia on Sunday. It is currently unclear whether Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will attend, as he’s been keeping a low profile while undergoing and recovering from cancer treatments; but if he does, he’s unlikely to be very popular, having recently called for Venezuela to withdraw from the OAS’ Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, likening it to a ‘sword of Damocles’.
]]>By Nicole Hunt
The World Health Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review both open in Geneva on Monday. The WHA, which runs until 26 May, is due to agree on a Draft Global Vaccine Action Plan, while the UNHRC, which runs until 4 June, is due to consider the human rights situation in Bahrain, Tunisia, Morocco, India, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia and the UK, among others.
Following talks between the IAEA and Iranian officials last week, IAEA Director General Yukia Amano heads to Tehran to meet with Secretary of the Supreme National Council Saeed Jalili and other senior government officials. The visit comes two days before Iran is due to resume talks with its P5+1 partners in Baghdad on Wednesday.
Imprisoned Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko’s trial for embezzlement resumes in Kharkiv. Tymoshenko’s appeal trial for her earlier conviction on abuse of power charges was abruptly postponed last week to give the court more time to study new material. Awkwardly for Ukraine, that decision means that her next hearing on 26 June will take place during the Euro 2012 tournament, guaranteeing even more international attention.
Italy’s national statistics agency releases its annual report on the state of the nation on Tuesday, which in all likelihood is not going to be particularly positive. The report looks at socio-economic developments in the past 20 years, focusing on inequalities in the economic system, and considers prospects for the country’s economic future.
Other than that, Tuesday is all about big court dates. The European Court for Human Rights issues its judgement in the long-running case of Scoppola v. Italy, which considers prisoners’ voting rights in the EU. In Port Louis, Mauritius, two men go on trial for the January 2011 murder of Northern Irish honeymooner Michaela McAreavey, daughter of Tyrone Gaelic football manager Mickey Harte.
In Ventersdorp, South Africa, the verdict is due in the case of two men, one of them an unnamed teenager, who are charged with the April 2010 murder of Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) leader Eugene Terre’blanche. And in Manama, a court hearing is scheduled in the re-trial of 21 activists charged with attempting to overthrow the monarchy, including hunger striker Abdulhadi al Khawaja,
After months of protests over military rule and weeks of legal wrangling over candidates and the election itself, Egypt’s presidential election is finally set to go ahead on Wednesday. Former Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa and moderate Islamist Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh are front-runners in the campaign, which has seen several candidates disqualified. Voting continues on Saturday, with a second round scheduled for 16-17 June.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy hosts an informal meeting of EU leaders in Brussels, the first for French President Francois Hollande and presumably the only meeting for Greece’s caretaker Prime Minister Panagotis Pikrammenos, who is keeping an eye on things while Greece prepares for new elections on 17 June. EU growth and ongoing political uncertainty are expected to dominate the agenda.
The European Parliament wraps up its four day session in Strasbourg on Thursday with a vote on a resolution regarding the situation in Ukraine and Yulia Tymoshenko. MEPs actually debate the resolution on Tuesday, but any official censure of the Ukrainian government will have to wait until today’s vote. Parliametnarians also vote on a resolution on the fight against homophobia in Europe.
Amnesty International launches its annual State of the World’s Human Rights report in London. Last year’s report focused on the use of new technologies to combat human rights abuses throughout the world, and particularly in the Middle East. This year’s update will allow us to see how or if human rights have progressed in those same countries, many of them under new governments or constitutions.
The Square Kilometre Array Organisation, which is responsible for deciding whether the €1.5bn telescope will be built in Australia or South Africa, meets in Amsterdam on Friday. A decision on the site had been expected in April, but the SKA instead set up a working group to look at maximising value from the investments made by both candidates. A final decision could be made at Friday’s meeting…or the members could instead decide to go away and think about it some more.
The UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries wraps up a five-day visit to Libya, the first to the country by independent experts designated by the UN Human Rights Council. A press conference is planned in Tripoli to discuss the Group’s preliminary findings regarding allegations about the use of mercenaries during last year’s conflict and an assessment of the measures taken by the Libyan government to address the issue and its aftermath.
The African nation of Lesotho is holding parliamentary elections on Saturday, hoping to choose a functioning government and avoid the years of political deadlock that followed polls in 2007. Prime Minister Mosisili Pakalitha recently made waves by defecting from the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy, opting instead to create the Ntsu Democratic Congress.
Fans of Europop, Engelbert Humperdinck, and Central Europe are in for a treat, as Baku, Azerbaijan hosts the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest. Organisers have come under fire for holding this year’s contest in Baku despite strong criticisms of Azerbaijan’s human rights record and allegations that a park adjacent to the Baku Crystal Palace (where the contest is held) was created by illegally evicting homeowners and expropriating the land.
Nepal’s MPs have until Sunday to promulgate a new constitution, which was originally due in May 2010. The deadline has been repeatedly extended over the past two years, but lawmakers recently announced that they had come to an agreement on some of the most contentious issues, raising hopes that Sunday’s deadline may be the last.
In other international parliamentary news, Iran’s new parliament is sche
duled to begin a new session, with a customary opening speech from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini. Following elections in March, the new parliament includes nearly 200 new MPs and is dominated by conservatives, many of them opposed to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which means Ahmadinejad could once again find himself hauled before parliament for questioning.