Tag: InternationalNews

{Most dead as a result of torture or poor humanitarian conditions, says Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.}

More than 60,000 people have been killed through torture or died in dire humanitarian conditions inside Syrian government prisons throughout the country’s five-year uprising, according to a monitor.

The numbers were obtained from Syrian government sources, the United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday.

“Since March 2011, at least 60,000 people lost their lives to torture or to horrible conditions, notably the lack of medication or food, in regime prisons,” said the Observatory’s Rami Abdel Rahman.

Though the Syrian conflict started with popular protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, it quickly became a civil war between the government and rebel groups.

Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations special envoy to Syria, recently estimated that 400,000 people had died throughout the last five years. The number was his personal estimate and not an official UN statistic.

‘No progress on detainees’

Calculating a precise death toll is impossible, partially due to the forced disappearances of tens of thousands of Syrians whose fates remain unknown.

Nadim Houry, a Beirut-based Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch (HRW), accuses the Syrian government of “rampant torture”.

Explaining that HRW cannot verify the Observatory’s statistics, Houry told Al Jazeera: “We have known how bad the situation is in the detention facilities for a long time and that many people have died inside.”

In a report published in December, HRW concluded that the Caesar photographs – a photo cache documenting the deaths of more than 28,000 deaths in government custody which was smuggled out of the country – suggested that the government had carried out crimes against humanity.

“There has been no progress on detainees,” Houry said. “The entire world saw the large scale detention and death in the Ceasar photos, and despite all of this, there was no reaction.”

{{‘War crimes’ }}

The International Syria Support Group – the 17-country coalition that includes the United States and Russia – released a statement on Tuesday that urged the UN special envoy de Mistura to negotiate the release of detainees in government custody, as well as those held by armed groups.

Houry added: “Detainees deserve the same level of attention from the high level political actors, like the US and Russia, as all the other issues. It has been going on for too long and with too high a cost.”

In a February 2016 report, the UN Human Rights Council accused both government and opposition forces, including the al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), of subjecting detainees to torture.

The council accused the government and al-Nusra of war crimes, while it said ISIL has “committed the crimes against humanity of murder and torture, and war crimes”.

{The European Union could see its first far-right president if Norbert Hofer wins a second round run-off.}

Austria could elect the European Union’s first far-right head of state, with support for Freedom Party (FPO) candidate Norbert Hofer buoyed by security and employment fears sparked by the refugee crisis.

Opinion polls suggest Sunday’s presidential race between Hofer and former Greens leader Alexander van der Bellen will be close. A far-right victory would resonate throughout the 28-member bloc where refugee flows driven by conflict in the Middle East and Africa have become a major political issue.

Austria took in 90,000 asylum seekers last year, more than 1 percent of its population, many of them shortly after it and neighboring Germany open their borders last autumn to people arriving on the continent.

The government has since clamped down on immigration and asylum, but that decision only fueled support for the far right, which was already capitalising on widespread frustration with the country’s two traditional parties of government.

Sunday’s run-off election comes four weeks after Hofer unexpectedly won the first round with 35 percent of the vote.

The president traditionally plays a largely ceremonial role but swears in the chancellor, can dismiss the cabinet and is commander in chief of the military.

Whoever wins, the election is likely to be a new high-water mark for Europe’s resurgent far right, all the more significant for being in a relatively prosperous country with comparatively low, albeit rising, unemployment.

Van der Bellen, who came second in the first round on 21 percent, has accused his opponent of having an authoritarian view of the president’s powers, saying Hofer wants to dismiss the government so snap parliamentary elections can be held.

The next parliamentary election is due in 2018, but with the eurosceptic FPO running first in opinion polls on more than 30 percent, it would be well placed to win a snap vote.

Hofer has said he would, as president, already have dismissed the government over its handling of the refugee crisis, but would not do so immediately if he became head of state.

Tabloid newspaper reports of immigrants availing themselves of Austria’s generous benefits, as well as of crimes in which immigrants have been suspects, have played into the FPO’s hands.

“We do have a clash of two big arguments,” political analyst Thomas Hofer told Al Jazeera.

“The argument on the Freedom Party’s side is not so much the right wing argument but the anti-establishment argument. And on the other side you have the argument lets avoid a situation where we do have a Freedom Party President. Both play with emotions – play with fears and the question will be – who’s going to be stronger.”

A Gallup poll for the Oesterreich newspaper last weekend found Hofer ahead by a 53-47 margin based on 600 people surveyed. But it was a dead heat among those who said they were certain to vote, a key factor after nearly a third of eligible voters failed to cast ballots in the first round.

{Pentagon confirms that it tried to kill Akhtar Mansoor with several drone strikes in a remote part of Pakistan.}

The Afghan Taliban has denied reports that its leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor was killed in a US air strike in Pakistan.

Earlier on Saturday, US officials briefed the media that a drone attack authorised by President Barack Obama had likely killed him and another Taliban member.

The office of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani confirmed the strike but could not confirm Mansoor’s death. Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said that Mansoor was “more than likely” dead.

Officials said the strike happened at about 1000 GMT, which would have put it late on Friday night in the target area.

The Taliban has a history of denying reports that could hurt its standing.

False rumours on the deaths of the group’s officials, though, have circulated before. In December, Afghan officials said Mansoor had died after a gunfight. The Taliban later released an audio message from him in which he denied he had been killed.

Several drones targeted the men as they travelled in a vehicle in a remote part of Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan, southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal, one US official said.

The Pentagon confirmed the US army had tried to kill Mansoor, but gave no information about his condition.

“We are still assessing the results of the strike and will provide more information as it becomes available,” spokesman Peter Cook said.

“Mansoor has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict.”

Al Jazeera’s Mohammad Vall, reporting from Kabul, said the timing of the strike was significant because the Afghan government warned it would take action against the group for not participating in the talks .

“They refused to show at the negotiating table, so the Afghan President recently said that now its time for us to act and go after them. The Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG), made up of representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States were urged to show their military role,” he said

“If it is proved that Mullah Mansoor has died in the strike, it would be a major blow to the Taliban.”

Omar Samad, a former Afghan ambassador to France and Canada, said the report had to be taken seriously.

“There has been an increase in the Taliban’s casualties,” Samad told Al Jazeera. “This particular news, if confirmed, is going to be a double blow to the Taliban – not only from a political leadership point of view, but I also think it will be translated on the battlefield.”

Mansoor was appointed Taliban leader last year after the death of Mullah Omar. He joined the Taliban in 1995, a year after it was founded, going on to hold important positions within the group.

{{Who is Mullah Akhtar Mansoor?}}

Mullah Mansoor was born in around 1965 in a small village called Kariz in the Maiwand district of Kandahar. He belongs to Afghanistan’s Ishaqzai tribe.

He fought against Soviet forces in Afghanistan for a brief period and was a member of Harakat-i-Inqilab-i-Islami, a former paramilitary group formed by Maulana Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi to fight them.

One of his first jobs for the group was overseeing the security of Kandahar airport.

In 1996-2001, when the Taliban was in power, he oversaw ministry of civil aviation.

He rose to the upper echelons after Mullah Akhtar Osmani, a senior Taliban military leader and a close associate of Mullah Omar, was killed by US-led coalition forces in 2006 and Mullah Dadullah Akhund, the group’s top military commander, was killed in 2007 by British special forces.

Between 2007 and 2010 he was able to stake a claim for higher office when Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the deputy of Mullah Omar, and Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, the Taliban government defence minister, were captured by the Pakistan Intelligence agency ISI.

In July 2015, Afghan intelligence said that Mullah Omar had been dead for two years. Within hours of that announcement, the Taliban reportedly held a meeting and elected Mullah Mansoor as leader. But his appointment appeared to expose fissures in the group.

A few months after his appointment, Taliban fighters seized the capital of Kunduz province after launching a daring raid from multiple directions. The attack was the biggest blow to President Ashraf Ghani since he took office a year before.

In December 2015, Afghan officials said Mansoor had died after a gunfight. The Taliban later released an audio message from him in which he denied he had been killed.

Mansoor refused to join any of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) meetings, made up of representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States and aimed at reviving a peace process.

After his persistent refusal to join talks, Afghan officials told Al Jazeera that action against the Taliban would be on the agenda for the fifth round of peace talks in early May.

US officials briefed the media on May 21 that a drone attack authorised by President Barack Obama had “likely killed” him and another Taliban member.

{Heavy rains have killed a least 71 this week.}

Foreign aid has begun arriving in Sri Lanka, bringing help to half a million people forced out of their homes by heavy rains and landslides that have killed at least 71 in a week.

As the heaviest rains in a quarter of a century battered Sri Lanka, Cyclone Roanu barrelled into the Bangladesh coastline leaving six people dead and forcing the evacuation of 500,000 as it unleashed winds as strong as 88 kilometres per hour and downpours.

Torrential rains have deluged Sri Lanka since last weekend, triggering landslides that have buried victims in up to 15 metres of mud and left 127 people missing.

As aid began to arrive on a military plane from India and a commercial flight from Japan, Sri Lankan authorities said their priority was preventing diseases such as diarrhoea, with many areas still under water.

“We have sent a large number of doctors and nursing staff to ensure there is no outbreak of waterborne diseases,” Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said.

In Colombo, residents clung to ropes as they battled to cross torrents of water pulsing through the streets of the flooded capital, with some forced to take shelter in rickshaws.

The Indian Government has provided inflatable boats, outboard motors, diving equipment, medical supplies, electricity generators and sleeping bags, officials said.

The first of two Indian naval ships arrived at Colombo port while Australia and the US have made cash donations.

Floodwaters in parts of the capital subsided slightly overnight but heavy downpours on Saturday prevented many from moving back to their homes on the banks of the Kelani river. (AFP)

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{Agent says man approached a White House checkpoint with a firearm and refused to drop it, prompting the shooting.}

A US Secret Service agent shot a man carrying a firearm near the White House, after the man refused to drop his weapon, the agency said.

The man was taken into custody and transported to a local hospital, agency spokesman David Iacovetti said on Friday.

“When the subject failed to comply with the verbal commands, he was shot once by a Secret Service agent and taken into custody,” he said.

“The Secret Service recovered a firearm at the scene. Secret Service Uniformed Division Officers and an agent provided medical aid to the subject.”

The man did not enter the White House complex and no law enforcement personnel or innocent bystanders were injured.

The checkpoint is on the outside perimeter of the secure area around the executive mansion in Washington DC, and is accessible on that side to the public.

The White House security alert was lifted soon after everyone inside was accounted for.

{The move paves the way for the trials of several pro-Kurdish and other legislators.}

Turkey’s parliament has ratified a bill that will strip some legislators of immunity from prosecution – a move members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) say targets them.

Championed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the bill will amend the constitution, adding a temporary clause to remove immunity from a total of 138 deputies – the exact number who are currently facing criminal investigations.

Currently, 51 opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) members of parliament, 50 HDP MPs, 27 AKP MPs, nine Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) MPs and one independent are facing investigations.

In a secret ballot on Friday, the bill gained the backing of 376 of the 550 parliamentarians.

AKP and MHP have been accusing pro-Kurdish MPs of taking advantage of their parliamentary immunity to support the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group the government accuses of “terrorism”.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has previously called for members of the HDP to face prosecution, accusing them of being the PKK’s political wing.

The HDP strongly denies this claim, accusing the government of engineering this law in an effort to empty parliament of pro-Kurdish voices.

“This is an attack on us. The immunity bill is targeting the HDP because we’re getting stronger,” Meral Bestas, a member of HDP, told Al Jazeera. “After the elections, we saw that Turkey was on the road to a real democracy which included everyone.

“The HDP is supported by millions of voters and that’s why it is seen as an obstacle to the ruling party.”

Before the vote, the pro-Kurdish party, which has 59 MPs in the Turkish parliament, also carried the issue to the European Parliament in an open letter.

“If passed, this motion would suspend Article 83 of the Constitution, which guarantees parliamentary immunity, through addition of a provisional clause,” wrote Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, co-leaders of the HDP.

“Lifting parliamentary immunity with such an anti-constitutional move would extend the Erdogan-AKP bloc’s monopolistic grip on the legislative body.”

OPINION: Turkey’s war on the PKK

The ruling AKP points to the fact that 27 of its own members have lawsuits against them and lifting immunity shows that no one is above the law.

According to the members of the party, it is a step that furthers Turkish democracy.

“If we wanted to target HDP MPs we could have, but we didn’t,” Ayhan Ustun, an AKP parliamentarian who himself is facing criminal charges, told Al Jazeera.

“Instead this bill applies to all MPs, including AKP, CHP, MHP and the HDP. If we wanted we could have limited the bill to terrorism cases and the people would have supported us.”

“Supporters of this bill are hoping it will help in the fight against the PKK,” said Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal, reporting from Ankara.

“But even if it does pass, the reasons behind the rise in violence still exist – combating those will require a lot more work.”

{Presumptive Republican nominee slams rival Hillary Clinton as “heartless” for backing restrictions on gun ownership.}

Donald Trump has slammed Hillary Clinton as “heartless” for backing restrictions on gun ownership that he said would leave Americans in high-crime areas unable to protect themselves.

Trump’s remarks came at the National Rifle Association convention in Louisville, Kentucky on Friday.

The gun rights organisation endorsed the presumptive Republican nominee ahead of his remarks, despite Trump’s previous support for measures like an assault weapons ban that the NRA vigorously opposes.

But the business mogul-turned-politician has taken a far less restrictive stance on guns during the Republican presidential primary.

His call for ending “gun-free zones” across the country was enthusiastically welcomed by the NRA crowd.

Trump attacks Hillary

Trump centered his remarks on Clinton, claiming she would seek to “abolish” the Second Amendment through the Supreme Court and release violent criminals if elected president.

He also challenged Clinton to follow his lead and release a list of potential Supreme Court nominees.

In his speech, Trump referred to her as “Heartless Hillary” – a new nickname from the branding expert for his potential Democratic opponent – for backing restrictions aimed at reducing gun deaths, saying her proposals would instead leave law-abiding citizens exposed to criminals.

“She’s putting the most vulnerable Americans in jeopardy,” Trump said. He added that women in particular would be at risk, a nod to what he’s said will be a security-focused appeal to women in the general election.

Trump heads into the fall campaign with stunningly high disapproval ratings with women. The supremely confident Trump appeared to acknowledge that weakness, saying that while his poll numbers with men are strong, “I like women more than men.”

“Come on women, come on,” he said.

Hillary’s stance on guns

Clinton’s campaign called Trump’s gun policies “radical and dangerous”.

Senior policy adviser Maya Harris said Clinton believes “there are common-sense steps we can take at the federal level to keep guns out of the hands of criminals while respecting the Second Amendment.”

Among the measures Clinton supports are expanding background checks to sales at gun shows and online purchases, and reinstating a ban on assault weapons.

NRA leaders were blistering in their condemnation of Clinton, accusing her of threatening Americans’ freedom and being driven by personal greed. During one speech, an NRA leader briefly played a video showing Clinton barking like dog.

The organisation’s leaders were less robust in their endorsement of Trump, mentioning him by name only briefly and saying little about his record on guns.

Trump backed an assault weapons ban, as well as slightly longer waiting periods for gun purchases, in a 2000 book. He’s since said such bans don’t work and has also called for making it easier for law-abiding citizens to carry guns for self-protection.

{Security forces open fire after protesters break into high security area that houses PM’s office and foreign embassies.}

Iraqi security forces opened fire and used tear gas on protesters, who stormed into Baghdad’s heavily-fortified Green Zone on Friday for the second time within a month.

Dozens of demonstrators were injured by tear gas and live fire, witnesses told Reuters news agency.

Some security personnel were stabbed, according to a military statement. Authorities could not immediately verify reports that several civilians had been killed.

“Oh army, the country is hurt! Don’t side with the corrupt!” the demonstrators chanted.

The thousands of protesters included supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and people from other groups upset with the government’s failure to approve anti-corruption reforms and provide security.

“Infiltrators exploited our forces’ preoccupation with preparations for the Falluja battle to penetrate state institutions and cause chaos,” the military said, referring to a city 50km west of Baghdad controlled by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) for more than two years.

The government briefly imposed a curfew on Baghdad and authorities later said order had returned after what they called rioting at the Green Zone, which houses parliament, government buildings and many foreign embassies.

Al-Sadr, who did not explicitly call for Friday’s demonstration, expressed support for protesters and condemned security forces’ use of force against them.

“I respect your choice and your peaceful spontaneous revolt,” Sadr said in a statement. “Curse the government that kills its children in cold blood.”

Protesters occupied the cabinet building for several hours. Some held Iraqi flags and flashed peace signs near the insignia of the prime minister’s press office and inside a meeting room.

The protesters eventually withdrew to Tahrir Square, but witnesses said security forces and unidentified gunmen opened fire there as well.

Supporters of al-Sadr and other groups have been protesting for months to demand reforms and an end to corruption and provide security. They had stormed the Green Zone on April 30.

They have added to their grievances the government’s failure to provide security after a wave of bombings claimed by ISIL, which is also known as ISIS, in Baghdad this month which killed more than 150 people.

Iraq’s political crisis broke out in February, when Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced plans to appoint a cabinet of independent technocrats, threatening to uproot a system of political patronage that makes the public administration open to corruption.

He has warned that the impasse could hamper Iraq’s fight against ISIL, which continues to control territory in northern and western Iraq.