France saw a rise in all types of racism in 2023, report

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Written by Super User

Category: Europe

Published: 27 June 2024

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PARIS - Racism and intolerance are rising in France, fuelled by the war in Gaza and far-right ideas in public debate, France’s human rights commission, the CNCDH, said in an annual report published on Thursday.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

The far-right National Rally (RN) is leading in the polls for upcoming legislative elections, running on a platform that proposes restricting the rights of immigrants in France, which the CNCDH has said is in "frontal opposition to the principles of equality, fraternity and freedom" enshrined in the French constitution and will embolden racist opinions.

CONTEXT

The RN won 88 seats in the 2022 legislative elections, becoming the second-largest party in parliament, and 30 seats in the European parliament in the EU vote earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Emmanuel Macron's government has shifted to the right on security, identity and immigration issues.

The Gaza war has triggered a rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia in France, as in other parts of the world.

KEY QUOTES

"The year 2023 was marked by a strong progression in the rejection of the Other, whether in opinions or in acts," the CNCDH report said.

"The Israel-Palestinian conflict regularly triggers (antisemitic) acts, which peak in relation to the operations carried out by the Israeli army in Palestinian territories. But this level is unprecedented," CNCDH said.

"The immigration law that was proposed by the government in February 2023 and contained echoes of (the RN's idea) the 'national preference' and the debates surrounding it amplified this xenophobic trend," it said.

BY THE NUMBERS

- Reports of antisemitic and anti-Muslim acts increased by 284% and 29% respectively, while other types of racist acts increased by 21%.

- 51% of survey respondents from the general population don't feel at home in France anymore, compared to 43% of French citizens in 2022, which the report authors link to a rejection of immigration. This sentiment rises to 91% among RN supporters.

- 43% of French residents surveyed think that insecurity is mainly due to immigration, compared to 83% of RN supporters.

- 69% do not support the RN's "national preference" idea that French people should be favoured for jobs, benefits and housing over foreigners.

Julian Assange released from prison after reaching plea deal with US

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Written by Super User

Category: Europe

Published: 25 June 2024

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LONDON - Julian Assange has been released from prison on bail and will return to Australia after reaching a plea deal with the US government over his WikiLeaks disclosures.

Papers filed in the US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, an American territory in the Pacific Ocean, on Monday revealed Mr Assange will plead guilty to one felony charge in exchange for his immediate freedom.

The US Justice Department has agreed to drop 18 espionage charges against him – instead charging him only with conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information.

Under the terms of the deal, the journalist will be sentenced to 62 months in prison, but the five years he has already spent incarcerated in HMP Belmarsh in the UK will count against that period.

The agreement must be approved by a federal judge before it can take effect.

Mr Assange left Belmarsh on Monday morning and boarded a flight at Stansted Airport to leave the UK, WikiLeaks said.

A video posted on X by WikiLeaks showed Mr Assange dressed in a blue shirt and jeans, signing a document before boarding a private jet.

Mr Assange is scheduled to appear in a US federal court on Wednesday at 9am local time (Tuesday 11pm, GMT) in Saipan, the capital of the US-controlled Northern Mariana Islands. The case is being heard outside of the continental United States because of Mr Assange’s opposition to travelling there.

He will return to Australia after the hearing, the Wikileaks statement added.

“This is the result of a global campaign that spanned grass-roots organisers, press freedom campaigners, legislators and leaders from across the political spectrum, all the way to the United Nations,” the group said.

“This created the space for a long period of negotiations with the US Department of Justice, leading to a deal that has not yet been formally finalised.”

It added: “As he returns to Australia, we thank all who stood by us, fought for us, and remained utterly committed in the fight for his freedom.”

His mother, Christine Assange, in a statement to Australian media said she was “grateful” her son’s ordeal was finally coming to end.

“This shows the importance and power of quiet diplomacy,” she said.

“Many have used my son’s situation to push their own agendas, so I am grateful to those unseen, hard-working people who put Julian’s welfare first.

“The past 14 years has obviously taken a toll on me as a mother, so I wish to thank you in advance for respecting my privacy.”

Mr Assange’s father, John Shipton, congratulated and thanked his son’s supporters.

“It looks as though Julian will be free to come back to Australia and my thanks and congratulations to all his supporters in Australia who made that possible and of course Prime Minister Anthony Albanese,” he told ABC News.

“The appearance is that Julian will be able to enjoy ordinary life with his family and his wife Stella, that is my understanding.”

Stella Assange, a lawyer and one of her husband’s most staunch supporters, celebrated the announcement and her husband’s impending freedom.

In a video recorded on 19th June, she said: “This period of our lives, I’m confident now, has come to an end.”

She added: “If everything goes well, Julian will be on a plane and on his way to freedom.”

Deal to end lengthy stand-off

The decision to allow Mr Assange to leave jail without facing spying charges in the US follows years of wrangling between at least four countries over his case.

In 2018, the US brought 18 charges against Mr Assange, 52, over the online release of hundreds of thousands of classified military documents from 2009 onwards.

The journalist and campaigner was accused of working with Chelsea Manning, a former US Army soldier, to obtain and release papers relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, in what has been dubbed the largest leak of sensitive material in American history.

The WikiLeaks website later released more documents from the Democratic National Committee and from the CIA.

American officials argued that his actions endangered national security and the lives of US personnel working overseas, but press freedom campaigners said the WikiLeaks documents had exposed US government wrongdoing and that he should be released.

The US charges, which were brought against Mr Assange under Donald Trump’s presidency, could have resulted in a custodial sentence of 175 years.

However, the case was complicated by the fact that Mr Assange lived at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, with political asylum status, for seven years from 2012 to 2019.

The Ecuadorian government refused British police access to Mr Assange, arguing that any officer who entered the building to arrest him would be in breach of the Vienna Convention on diplomacy.

The relationship between Mr Assange and the embassy eventually broke down, and he left in April 2019 to be arrested by British police on charges of breaching his bail conditions from an earlier case in Sweden, and on behalf of the US authorities.

He was sent to HMP Belmarsh, in southeast London, where his planned extradition was further delayed by a series of legal challenges. In 2021, he had a small stroke while in prison.

Mr Assange’s legal team brought a variety of appeals against the extradition order, including that would likely face the death penalty if convicted in the US, in what he argued would amount to a breach of his human rights.

In April, Joe Biden’s administration provided “binding assurances” to the UK government that Mr Assange would not face the death penalty if he stood trial.

However, the US Justice Department soured on the idea of bringing espionage charges against Mr Assange in recent months.

Both Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister, and the Australian parliament urged Mr Biden to construct a plea deal that would allow Mr Assange to return home. The US president said earlier this year that he was “considering” that deal.

Last month, Mr Assange fought off the threat of an immediate extradition to the US while his lawyers worked on an agreement with the American authorities.

A spokesperson for the Australian prime minister on Tuesday said: “We are aware Australian citizen Mr Julian Assange has legal proceedings scheduled in the United States.

“The Australian Government continues to provide consular assistance to Mr Assange.

“Prime Minister Albanese has been clear - Mr Assange’s case has dragged on for too long and there is nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration.”

Gunmen kill at least 19 in attacks on churches, synagogue in Russia’s Dagestan

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Written by Super User

Category: Europe

Published: 24 June 2024

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DAGESTAN, RUSSIA - Gunmen opened fire in two cities in Russia’s north Caucasus region of Dagestan, targeting a synagogue, two Orthodox churches and a police post and killing at least 19 police officers and a priest, Russian media reported.

“This is a day of tragedy day for Dagestan and the whole country,” Sergei Melikov, governor of the Dagestan region, said in a video published early on Monday on the Telegram messaging app.

In the city of Derbent, gunmen attacked a synagogue, home to a Jewish community in the predominantly Muslim region. Russia’s state media Tass said the attackers also shot at two nearby Orthodox churches, killing a police officer and a priest.

Footage published on social media from Derbent showed a group of gunmen engaged in heavy fire with police. Officials said the Derbent synagogue was set on fire and a clip from the scene appeared to show flames coming out of the building, which is listed as a Unesco heritage site.

In a separate shooting which occurred simultaneously, a group opened fire on police in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, located about 75 miles north along the Caspian Sea coast. According to local authorities, at least one police officer was killed and six others injured.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks in the volatile region. “We understand who is behind the organisation of the terrorist attacks and what goal they pursued,” Melikov said, without disclosing further details.

Russia’s state media cited law enforcement as saying that among the attackers had been two sons of the head of central Dagestan’s Sergokala district, who it said had been detained by investigators.

Melikov said that among the dead, in addition to the police officers, were several civilians, including an Orthodox priest who worked in Derbent for more than 40 years.

Six of the gunmen were shot and killed as the incidents unfolded, Melikov said, however a Russian state news agency, citing the National Anti-Terrorist Committee, put the number at five.

It was not possible to independently verify the reports on how many people or gunmen were killed in the attacks.

Russia’s investigative committee classified the shooting as a terrorist attack and has opened an investigation.

June 24-26 have been declared days of mourning in Dagestan, Melikov said, with flags lowered to half-staff and all entertainment events cancelled.

The restive region was in the 2000s hit by an Islamist insurgency spilling over from neighbouring Chechnya, with Russian security forces moving aggressively to combat extremists in the region.

In recent years, attacks had become rarer, with Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) saying it in 2017 that it had defeated the insurgency in the region.

But Russia has experienced a series of Islamist terrorist attacks recently, prompting questions about whether its extensive security agencies have been distracted by the invasion of Ukraine and the internal crackdown on anti-war dissent.

In March, the Afghan branch of Islamic State, known as Islamic State Khorasan Province, claimed responsibility for the mass shooting at a Moscow concert hall, the deadliest terror attack in years, which left 139 people dead.

Last week, Russian special forces freed two guards and killed six men linked to IS who had taken them hostage at a detention centre in the southern city of Rostov.

Dagestan has also experienced a series of antisemitic incidents. Most notably, last year a mob stormed the airport in Makhachkala, searching for Jewish passengers arriving from Israel.