Dealing with the Past: Truth and Reconciliation Commissions in Eastern Europe

by Emancip8 Project

Addressing the legacies of conflict and human rights violations remain a significant challenge for many Eastern European countries. Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRCs) have been established in various global contexts to facilitate healing and promote justice, offering a valuable model for conflict-affected nations. This article will examine the potential role of TRCs in Eastern Europe, highlighting the importance of addressing the past to foster sustainable peace, and the challenges and opportunities associated with this process.

TRCs operate under the premise that revealing the truth about past human rights abuses is essential for reconciliation and social repair (Hayner, 2011). These commissions often conduct public hearings, collect testimonies, and produce comprehensive reports that document historical injustices. They may also recommend reparations, institutional reforms, and other measures to prevent the recurrence of violence (Bloomfield et al., 2003).

Eastern Europe has a complex history of armed conflicts, ethnic tensions, and human rights violations. The establishment of TRCs in the region could provide a crucial platform for addressing these issues, facilitating dialogue, and promoting understanding between divided communities (Minow, 1998). For example, the TRC in South Africa has been widely regarded as a successful model, contributing to a peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy (Gibson, 2004).

However, the implementation of TRCs in Eastern Europe is not without challenges. Establishing a TRC requires political will and commitment from all stakeholders, including governments, civil society, and affected communities (Lederach, 1997). The process must be sensitive to local cultural and historical contexts and should prioritize the needs and expectations of victims and survivors (Laplante & Theidon, 2007).

The role of international actors and the broader international community in supporting TRCs in Eastern Europe is also crucial. External assistance can provide necessary resources, technical expertise, and political support, but must be balanced with local ownership and agency (Brahm, 2007). Collaboration between local and international stakeholders can enhance the effectiveness and legitimacy of TRCs, ensuring that they are tailored to the specific needs and contexts of Eastern European countries.

In conclusion, TRCs hold significant potential as a tool for addressing the past, promoting reconciliation, and fostering sustainable peace in Eastern Europe. While challenges remain, the successful implementation of TRCs in the region will depend on strong local ownership, international support, and a commitment to truth, justice, and healing.

References:

Bloomfield, D., Barnes, T., & Huyse, L. (Eds.). (2003). Reconciliation after violent conflict: A handbook. Stockholm: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.

Brahm, E. (2007). Uncovering the truth: Examining truth commission success and impact. International Studies Perspectives, 8(1), 16–35.

Gibson, J. L. (2004). Overcoming apartheid: Can truth reconcile a divided nation? The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 601(1), 201–215.

Hayner, P. B. (2011). Unspeakable truths: Transitional justice and the challenge of truth commissions. Routledge.

Laplante, L. J., & Theidon, K. S. (2007). Truth with Consequences: Justice and reparations in post-truth commission Peru. Human Rights Quarterly, 29(1), 228–250.

Lederach, J. P. (1997). Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press.

Minow, M. (1998). Between vengeance and forgiveness: Facing history after genocide and mass violence.

Read more at Emancip8 Project.

Why the US is accusing Russia of crimes against humanity and what that means | CNN Politics

A version of this story appeared in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here. CNN  —  A year into Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the US has seen enough. “In the case of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, we have examined the evidence, we know the legal standards, and there is no doubt: These are crimes against humanity,” Vice President Kamala…

View On WordPress

Russian Missile Strike: 30 Dead in Apartment Building Attack - Breaking News

i posted this once here and my personal but seeing the comments it seems it needs repeating

1- THERE IS NOTHING ANTI-SEMTIC ABOUT BEING ANTI-ZIONISTS

it isn't antisemitic to call actual monsters out on their human rights violations. by that logic criticizing the nazis would be racist towards Germans. you see how ridicules that is?

the target here is Zionism, not jewdism

2- zionism(and by extention israel) doesn't represent jewdism

Zionism is a nationalistic movement originating in eastern and central Europe that emerged in the latter part of the 19th century with the goal of founding a Jewish national state in Palestine

the ideology, goals, and actions of Zionists stand in stark contradiction to Jewish law.

the formation of a "jews state" is strictly forbidden according jewish law, as attested in talmud and midrash literature. and as attested by rabbis across time. according to which the return of the children of israel only happens by the hands of the messiah, not by forming an ethno-state

the actions of the state of israel ever sense it's foundation, from forcible evacuation of Palestinians, to continues murder and bloodshed are strictly outlawed by god's covenant as outlined in the books of the torah

3- most jews are NOT zionists. most zionists are NOT jewish

as outlined above: the laws of jewdism strictly forbids the idiology and actions. anyone not blinded by propaganda or bigotry can see this manifest it's self through the actions of groups like "jewish voices for piece", the public stands and talks by figures like Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, RABBI DOVID FELDMAN, and others. as well as the countless jew around the world who have been for decades and to this day protesting against the illegal colonist occupation by israel, and protesting for the return of the land of palestine to Palestinians.

israel is, and has been for decades, using antisemtism as a shield for criticism, while not caring for jewdism, it's practitioners, nor it's laws

Israel is a white settler colony, a continuation of the expansionist greed that led to the genocide, oppression, and land theft against the indigenous peoples of the Americas(be it america, canada, or the south American counties), of Australia, of new Zealand, of congo, of iraq, of afganistan, and of every single country, land, and people who suffered through europian colonialism

might regret engaging with this topic but I find the question “are jewish people indigenous to the land of israel?” to be at best irrelevant to the current geopolitical situation and at worst antisemitic for real, and it’s very frustrating to see people fall into its hole again and again. being indigenous doesn’t make it okay to bomb hospitals. there is a lot to say about the diverse ethnic groups living in israel and how they each came to live there, but it wouldn’t change the reality of human rights violations one way or another.

so when I see people spend their time and energy trying to argue that jews—or at least, some kinds of jews—actually have no ancestral connection to israel, I find that suspect. what does your position gain by asserting that jews are secretly white people in funny hats? well, I guess it makes the argument that israel is a colonial project more straightforward. but if you need jewish people to be alien invaders to strengthen your support for palestinian liberation, I question what is actually pulling on your moral compass. yes, the connection between the people and the land is something that is important and honored in many indigenous peoples movements. but I think there is a tendency for those with a more superficial understanding of the concept (and a certain cultural predilection) to revert to a blood-and-soil impulse that holds the nomadic and diasporic in contempt. violence is more justified if it’s against aliens. violence is more contemptible when perpetrated by aliens. it’s an impulse that, no exaggeration, has been one of the primary killers of jews for hundreds of years.

wherever you believe the jews “really” came from, the people of that place probably disagree with you. my jewish ancestors came to states to escape persecution in eastern europe.* they were considered aliens there, despite their long history in the region. and in gentile imaginations jews are frequently not only aliens but some sort of deceitful, nefarious changelings who merely pretend to belong—who must be rooted out and expelled for the health of the nation.

so, do you see why leaning on “the jews don’t belong there” as a pillar of your understanding props up an antisemitic ideology? do you at least see why many people are going to judge you to be antisemitic no matter how strenuously you insist you do not personally have any problem with jews living in your country? this is not an argument that will lead you anywhere productive. at best you will waste your time on pseudoscientific inquiries into the genetic history of the jewish people. at worst you will find yourself platforming actual nazis.

It has been around six months since the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine. During this time, the world has keenly witnessed seismic shifting trends across economic, geopolitical and cultural lines. But perhaps the most profound impact the conflict has had (and continues to have) on the world is the acceleration it has inspired towards multipolarity—that is, global power more evenly distributed amongst several advanced economic nations rather than contained within a single hegemonic power, which in this case is the United States. Underpinning much of this acceleration, moreover, is the trend of de-dollarisation.

It should be highlighted from the outset that de-dollarisation has been, observably, a long-term process that emerged over the last two decades. A March paper from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) found that the dollar still plays “an outsized role” in global markets despite the US economy representing a shrinking share of global output over the last two decades and that its dominant role in global trade, international debt and non-bank borrowing still far outstrips the US’ share of trade, bond issuance, and international borrowing and lending.

But the IMF also noted that central banks today are not holding the greenback as reserves in the same quantities as yesteryear. “The dollar’s share of global foreign-exchange reserves fell below 59 percent in the final quarter of last year, extending a two-decade decline, according to the IMF’s Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves data,” the paper stated. “Strikingly, the decline in the dollar’s share has not been accompanied by an increase in the shares of the pound sterling, yen and euro, other long-standing reserve currencies…. Rather, the shift out of dollars has been in two directions: a quarter into the Chinese renminbi, and three quarters into the currencies of smaller countries that have played a more limited role as reserve currencies.”

Why is this the case? Seemingly, a multitude of factors are responsible. For one, it appears the world has reached something of a tipping point this year. With around one-quarter of the global population suffering from the direct impact of US-led economic sanctions, which invariably diminishes their ability to trade and perform other necessary economic and financial activities that are often priced using the dollar, it should perhaps come as no surprise that de-dollarisation has intensified across the world. Indeed, this trend often simply reflects the desperation of some countries to survive, let alone thrive, with brutal sanctions having remained on countries during the COVID-19 pandemic proving devastating in some cases.

“The destructive impact of said measures at the national level, plus their extraterritorial implication, together with the phenomenon of over-compliance and the fear for ‘secondary sanctions’, hinder the ability of national governments in procuring even basic medical equipment and supplies, including coronavirus test kits and medicine,” a joint March 2020 letter from the governments of China, Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Russia, Syria and Venezuela—all bearers of US-led sanctions—to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) read. The letter called for an end to sanctions, which “illegal[ly] and blatantly violate international law and the charter of the United Nations”, and that it was a “hard if not impossible deed for those countries who are currently facing the application of unilateral coercive measures” to cope.

Sanctions have also played a critical role in the ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe. Indeed, as the schism has continued to widen this year between the West, dominated by the United States, the European Union (EU) and Japan, versus the Eastern powers of China and Russia, there have been a number of concerted moves by the latter to wean themselves off their reliance on the greenback. For Russia, de-dollarisation began around 2014 after it annexed Crimea, which was executed in response to what it perceived was a US-backed coup d’état in Ukraine. The Western sanctions that followed the annexation drastically reduced Russian entities’ ability to raise capital in Western markets, which forced Moscow to reduce its dollar holdings and dramatically increase its exposure to alternative assets, such as gold. 

Since the outbreak of war this year and the imposition of further economic sanctions against Russia in response, Moscow has only further expedited this de-dollarisation process. Having been excluded from the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) system, which banks use globally to transfer funds, Russia first hiked its key interest rate to 20 percent to protect the ruble, imposed further capital controls to prevent excessive currency from leaving its shores and insisted that all “unfriendly” countries pay only in rubles for its vast exports of fossil fuels.

More recently, Russia has been busy agreeing on bilateral fuel deals with several countries involving at least partial payment in rubles rather than dollars. For instance, it signed a roadmap for economic cooperation and trade with Turkey worth $100 billion a year, with Ankara agreeing to pay for gas imports in rubles. Turkey also confirmed that five of its commercial banks would use the Russian Mir payment system, helping Russian tourists in Turkey to use their currency.

Domestically, meanwhile, Russia’s largest exchange, Moscow Exchange, announced on August 8 that it would halve the maximum threshold of dollars it can accept as collateral to underwrite transactions from 50 percent to 25 percent. Any sums exceeding this limit would have to be converted into “friendlier” alternatives. And Moscow Exchange has also started trading bonds denominated in the Chinese yuan to attract Asian investors and further diversify away from the greenback. “Debt instruments denominated in the Chinese yuan open up an additional source of forex liquidity for Russian borrowers,” said Gleb Shevelenkov, head of the debt market at Moscow Exchange.

Speaking of the yuan, China’s rapidly growing global economic might may pose the biggest threat to the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency. And its recent forays into Middle Eastern markets—Saudi Arabian oil in particular—could ultimately go a long way towards tipping the scales in favour of widespread adoption of the Asian superpower’s currency. Indeed, part of how the US dollar rose to global supremacy in the first place has been down to its role as the de facto currency used in global commodities markets. Commonly known as the “petrodollar”, the requirement for the massive value of global oil sales to be denominated in the dollar has gone a long way towards guaranteeing the credibility of the currency, particularly after the US left the Bretton Woods system of monetary management in 1971, which severed the dollar from its backing of gold bullion.   

Since then, the petrodollar has thus been crucial in maintaining global dollar hegemony. “The oil market, and by extension the entire global commodities market, is the insurance policy of the status of the dollar as reserve currency,” economist Gal Luft, co-director of the Washington-based Institute for the Analysis of Global Security and co-author of the book De-Dollarization: The Revolt Against the Dollar and the Rise of a New Financial World Order, explained to the Wall Street Journal. “If that block is taken out of the wall, the wall will begin to collapse.”

Cue the “collapse”? Perhaps not completely or imminently, but relations between the US and Saudi Arabia have visibly soured in recent years at the same time as the world’s largest oil exporter has demonstrated a distinct warming to China. Over one-quarter of Saudi oil exports were snapped up by China in 2020, while state oil behemoth Saudi Aramco also recently concluded a $10-billion deal with Chinese petroleum companies. And with reports suggesting that oil transactions between the two countries could well be priced in yuan in the near future, this would dramatically raise the Chinese currency’s global profile and severely dent the petrodollar’s worldwide dominance.

With China extending billions of dollars of investment funding to Saudi Arabia this year and relations between President Xi Jinping and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the rise, therefore, things could develop rather quickly in favour of the East. “The dynamics have dramatically changed. The US relationship with the Saudis has changed. China is the world’s biggest crude importer, and they are offering many lucrative incentives to the kingdom,” an unnamed Saudi official told the Wall Street Journal in March. “China has been offering everything you could possibly imagine to the kingdom.” And while some analysts believe a wholesale shift onto yuan pricing is unlikely, others believe that a partial shift would enable payments to Chinese contractors currently involved in mega projects within the kingdom.

Other than the petrodollar, the US has also historically propped up its currency by issuing government debt to other nations, which has helped to finance its budget deficit. During the 2008 global financial crisis, China came to the US’ rescue by purchasing enormous quantities of US Treasury bills. Indeed, by 2010, China held more than $1 trillion in US Treasuries, and between 2008 and 2013, its foreign-exchange reserves—US debt-instruments holdings—expanded by a mammoth $2 trillion.

But in July, it was revealed that China’s holdings of US debt had fallen back under $1 trillion for the first time in 12 years, extending a trend of offloading US Treasuries that began in 2017 as the trade war waged by the US against China intensified. Given the further deterioration in relations between the two economic heavyweights that has transpired this year, it would thus appear that China is now keener than ever to rid itself of its dollar exposure. “They’re unhappy with the way the U.S. keeps using financial sanctions around the world,” David Dollar of the Brookings Institution’s China Center told Marketplace in July. Referring to the decision to kick Russia off SWIFT, Thomas Hogan of the American Institute for Economic Research added that this was “a major wake-up call” for China and other nations not fully aligned with Western political goals. “They realize that the SWIFT system could be used as a political weapon to harm them economically.”

Even developing nations are getting in on the act in clear acts of defiance against the dollar empire. Egypt, for example, has suffered greatly under the weight of borrowing as it seeks to stabilise its economy and prop up the value of the Egyptian pound. Indeed, the country’s sovereign debt has roughly quadrupled in the last 10 years as it has repeatedly sought financial support from US-led development institutions such as the IMF. But the cost of servicing this dollar-denominated debt has seriously dented Egyptians’ living standards amidst a deteriorating global economic landscape.

Cairo’s solution? Issuing yuan-denominated debt to raise funding in the Chinese bond market for the first time, a move announced as a realistic option by the Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait in May 2022. “The growing mountains of debt and high cost of borrowing in USD is forcing Egypt to seek alternative windows for funding to avert a potential sovereign debt crisis and a collapse in EGP’s purchasing power, which could destabilise society and the government,” Magdy Abd Alhadi, an Egyptian economist, told The New Arab news publication. Independent analyst Firas Modad added, “Egypt imports a large amount of goods and services from China, including for the construction of the New Administrative Capital. This requires Egypt to have access to the yuan. It is likely cheaper to borrow in yuan than to borrow in dollars and convert to the yuan.”

What does all this say about the dollar’s credibility in 2022? For some, de-dollarisation can be viewed as an expression of a loss of confidence in the US currency as a safe haven—a status that the dollar has enjoyed for decades—and a preference for seeking safety in alternative assets, such as gold and other currencies.

A survey published in June by the World Gold Council (WGC), for instance, found that 80 percent of the 57 central banks it surveyed expect to expand their gold reserves within the next year, particularly those within emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs). “More EMDE respondents regard ‘shifts in global economic power’ as a relevant factor in their reserve management decisions, which could indicate growing concerns over the threat of a decoupling between major economies amid ongoing tensions,” the report stated, adding that 42 percent of respondents expect the dollar to decline as a proportion of total reserves in the next five years as they—EMDE central banks in particular—are now less confident in the role of the US dollar as a global reserve currency.

Of course, one might well scoff at the notion of the world being governed by any currency other than the US dollar in the near future. But as this year has shown, global dynamics can shift quickly. As one of Russia’s most revered figures [lol] famously said, “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” We are now observing such “weeks”. Given the massive power plays undertaken by the US, China, Russia and many other nations, the seemingly unstoppable rise of global multipolarity can only mean the further weakening of the dollar’s supremacy. One wonders whether the US has the wherewithal to successfully pivot away from its prevailing foreign-affairs approach to prevent it.

even demons know

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights," according to Article 1 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The job of the UN Human Rights Council is to monitor countries' compliance with this fundamental tenet, ensuring that people can live free from persecution, torture and discrimination. 

Several of the countries currently serving as the guardians of global human rights, however, have a poor track record at home — chief among them China, the United Arab Emirates and Eritrea.

In recent years, human rights violations such as reeducation camps, torture and arbitrary arrests, as well as forced labor and suppression of the opposition, have been documented in these countries.

As the number of authoritarian regimes has grown globally, their presence on the Human Rights Council has increased. China, in particular, has exploited this by leaning on allies to vote — or abstain from voting — in favor of its national interests.

Council members becoming less democratic 

In 2023, only 30% of the countries on the Human Rights Council were classified as "free" by the US think tank Freedom House. For its annual Freedom in the World report, the organization examines whether governments provide free elections and meet certain minimum standards for political rights and civil liberties, such as freedom of assembly. A total of 70% of the current council members were classified as "partly free" (such as India) and "not free" (Sudan and other countries). 

Each year, the Human Rights Council elects one-third of its 47 members to three-year terms according to fixed geographic quotas based on the number of UN countries per region: The Asia-Pacific and Africa groups have 13 members each, the Western Europe and North America group has seven, Eastern Europe has six, and the Latin America and Caribbean group has eight. 

Elections for terms running from 2024 through 2026 are anticipated in October. The candidates include Cuba, Kuwait and Russia, which was removed from the council in 2022 following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Researchers from organizations such as Freedom House, V-Dem and Democracy Matrix attempt to quantify members' adherence to minimum international humanitarian standards such as guarantees for civil liberties and compliance with prohibitions on torture. 

The human rights score of the countries that have been sent to the council since its inception in 2006 has declined considerably. In 2023, it is only just above the historic low of 2022.

"This unwelcome development is not only evident in the council but worldwide," said Silke Voss-Kyeck, a research fellow at the German Institute for Human Rights. "Many members are governed in an authoritarian and dictatorial manner." Compliance with human rights obligations seldom plays a role in the election of council members, she said.

'China has Africa in its pocket'

One consequence of the rise of autocratic regimes is that Human Rights Council votes often pit blocs against each other, said Yaqiu Wang, senior researcher on China at Human Rights Watch. Unlike the Cold War, however, the driving factor here is not a shared ideology, she said. 

"It's more interest-based," said Wang. Pakistan, for example, often votes with China because economic ties are strong and Pakistan sees China as an ally against an adversarial India. "It's like a trade: 'If you vote with me, I will go with you.'" 

In addition to Asian countries, Wang said, China has especially relied on African governments for support on the Human Rights Council. "I don't think any particular country has stood up to China — except Somalia, which recently rejected demands," Wang said, referring to the Horn of Africa country's vote for a 2022 resolution that addressed human rights abuses in reeducation camps in Xinjiang. "China has Africa in its pocket."

A unifying element, Wang said, is a rejection of Western dominance. "There's a history of Chinese-African solidarity," Wang said, "an alliance against the Western imperialism." China is building on that — and on economic interdependencies. 

Cultivating unlikely alliances 

China has had less success bringing Latin American governments under its sway. Countries such as Costa Rica are economically more self-sufficient than many African nations. Moreover, South American governments are more democratic, according to the Freedom House Global Freedom Score, and therefore less susceptible to China's influence.

Unlike in many African countries with authoritarian governments, for example, it's not enough to "ensnare" the elites, Wang said. That's because in democracies elites are often replaced through elections.

Unlike the UN Security Council, which is unable to act on the war in Ukraine because Russia has exercised its veto power on votes to address the conflict, the Human Rights Council is not blocked.

Resolutions reprimanding specific countries for human rights violations have increased since the council's founding in 2006. Country-specific resolutions are intended to pressure the respective governments to address the issues or face additional loss of reputation, sparking heated debates among members of the Human Rights Council.

The countries most often mentioned in resolutions brought before the Human Rights Council are Syria, Congo, Israel, Mali, Myanmar, Sudan and Yemen. Despite its own well-documented human rights abuses, China has not been on the losing end of a country-specific resolution. So far, there has only been one such effort: A resolution to condemn the UN-documented reeducation camps for Uyghur Muslims in China's western Xinjiang region failed in 2022, with 17 votes for, 11 abstentions and 19 votes against — including by Indonesia, Pakistan, Namibia and China itself.

'China goes ballistic after the vote'

Wang said China used not-so-subtle coercion to maintain support in the Human Rights Council. "It is intimidating," she said. "It threatens veiled. Before a vote, it's like a Chinese diplomat in another country, let's say Chile, just to give an example, he tells Chile: 'You know, you have to vote this way. Otherwise, you don't want to undermine the economic ties between Chile and China, right?'" Should a country not comply with such demands, Wang said, "China goes ballistic after the vote."

Voss-Kyeck confirmed that China's government uses pressure to get what it wants. "High Commission staff and diplomats are being threatened — personally, but also politically," she said. "It's all well-documented. People are getting evening phone calls to private numbers." No country, she said, is as aggressive as China in attempting to avoid criticism.

The efforts of China and its allies to prevent critical resolutions are evidence of their desire to avoid censure by the council. Only Russia has given up on trying to evade condemnation. "They've become such an outsider," Voss-Kyeck said. "They don't care about the council."

Though countries such as China are able to use alliances to diminish the Human Rights Council's oversight efforts, the work of the UN body is important, Voss-Kyeck said, and its "impact is great." One example is its importance to domestic civil society movements and Indigenous groups.

"That doesn't exist in any UN body: that Indigenous people are allowed in the room, that they have the right to speak, to make statements," said Voss-Kyeck. "That's a thorn in the side of many states."

Limited options for reforming Human Rights Council

Despite the stated purpose of the council, the body's current structure prevents it from being effective in the fight against human rights violations. Too often, countries are both the defendants and judges in the cases of their own violations — and they have little interest in judging themselves.

Though critics of the council agree that changes are needed to restore the body to its intended purpose, many have long been skeptical about specific proposals— such as limiting membership to countries that have ratified certain human rights treaties. "Of course, you can make a court only by the good guys, who then judge the bad guys," said Voss-Kyeck. "But the question is: What effect does that then still have on the 'bad guys'? And who decides who are the bad guys, who are the good guys?" 

Wang also worries that making changes to the structure of the Human Rights Council could ultimately weaken the body. "Reforming the HRC can be risky," she said, "given we do not know the outcome of putting it all back on the negotiation table." 

It's going to be a long text, but bear with me. It's important.

As you know, there's a whole lot of people out there, refusing to acknowledge the human rights of people - as if, disabled people, queers, trans folk or even entire ethnic groups are somehow inferior or don't deserve the rights as much, as others - more privileged ones - like myself.

I'm white. I'm living in Poland, I've never experienced racism, I've never been discriminated against. Granted, I'm Eastern European, so Scandinavian folk and Westerners tend to be assholes because of that. But I am privileged and I acknowledge that.

I'm not going to talk about obvious fascists and supremacists here. You all know the drill already. I'd like to share with you my concerns about "enlightened centrism", liberalism and appeasement.

I'll start by stating the obvious, yet rather controversial take. Those prone to ignoring the human rights of others are also in danger of losing their own. That's why I'm not really in favour of trusting liberals on that particular issue.

Yet, we have to deal with them. From my experience, there's a lot of my fellow Poles having no real issue with genocide at our border with Belarus. Yes, I've called it a genocide - because it is one. If you didn't know - and you probably didn't, because the whole matter is obfuscated by media and the polish government - there's a crisis at our border. For two years, refugees from middle east travel through Belarus and are encouraged by it's Machiavellian totalitarian regime to "storm" Polish border. They are desperate for a better life in Poland and Europe in general and because of that, they are being used as a political tool to drive Poland into crisis. Despite the European laws clearly stating, that every person crossing the border is ought to be detained and put into "transfer shelter" under the protection of the state, obliged to provide food a bed and the bare minimum to survive - until the decision whether they are allowed to stay or not is made, and if it's made in favour of transferring the refugee back to the border safely - Polish government and border troops don't give a flying fuck and actively murder the refugees by transferring them to the marshes, woods and borderline shooting them or driving them back. No matter the cold, heat or rain.

Not so long ago, a viral meme went out into the wilderness of the internet.

It portrayed the (Syrian?) refugee, hanging head-down from the giant fuck-off fence. The imagine caused a general enthusiastic uproar from the Polish right, which found the photo funny, calling the poor fellow "A bat".

The genocide is generally kept silent and any kind of support, any attempt and journalism set to expose it is being silenced by force. Even I myself might be at risk of being detained and possibly arrested - although I doubt it and I don't care. I'm relatively safe. That being said, I took part in reaching out and helping the refugees directly.

The issue is generally ignored and the violation of human rights of people crossing the border is met with 76% public approval of people in Poland, according to GUS studies. This is fucking terrifying. 76% of people applicable to the study is okay with murdering the poor, innocent people at our border because - obviously, the economy will suffer. Because providing aid to a fellow human being is obviously going to result in degradation of one's comfort. Because we can ignore the human rights of these "dirty brown masses" bringing foreign culture and religion to our fantastic country.

This. This makes me s o f u c k i n g s i c k.

To whoever agrees with treating people like that - you deserve that to happen to you. And it will probably happen. The power-mongers in charge will gradually move on. All you liberal centrists saying it's alright, because it doesn't involve you - it does. And it will bite you in the ass sooner or later.

I don't understand how you can be so selfish, egoistic and heartless to say "yes" to treating fellow humans like garbage, just because they don't look or think like you.

If you are looking for someone ruining this country, this world - just fucking look in the mirror, you economic liberal, you conservative, you nationalist, you fascist cunt.

You are all complicit and you are all garbage human beings and deserve to suffer the consequences. But you obviously won't, because justice doesn't exist. The world is not fair and liberty is a myth.

And to whomever reads this and agrees, please, do your best to keep watch for human rights. Watch out for your fellow humans, especially the most vulnerable ones. All we have is each other and if we are not to look after each and every one of us - why even engage in society?

Compassion is key. It's what the world needs in these troubling times.

To all my comrades, actively trying to make the world better - you are the reason it all makes sense. You are the future and you are on the right side of history.

And even if we fall and fail - there's no shame in that. There's no shame in failing if you tried.

And we must try our best.

Sincerely, an anarchist.

Responding to the news that the UN has verified that Russian soldiers have subjected Ukrainian civilians to a rights-abusing process known as “filtration,” a practice independently verified by Amnesty International as deeply abusive and humiliating, Marie Struthers, Amnesty’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:

“The abusive and humiliating process known as ‘filtration’ is a shocking violation of international human rights and humanitarian law. Our research shows that many displaced Ukrainians end up inside Russia or Russia-occupied territories involuntarily, even if they are not physically forced to move. Deportation and forcible transfer of civilians in occupied territory are prohibited by international humanitarian law and can constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity. Putting these forcibly displaced civilians through the abuses of ‘filtration’ is both cynical and cruel.

“We are also concerned for vulnerable groups, including unaccompanied, separated, or orphaned children, older people, and people with disabilities, some of whom were prevented from fleeing towards Ukrainian-controlled territory by Russian soldiers. Many found themselves unable to leave Russia or Russian-occupied areas once transferred to such locations.

“The Russian authorities must urgently allow the international community to access and monitor temporary placement shelters for Ukrainian civilians and evacuation procedures for civilians trapped in the conflict. They must also immediately ensure that Ukrainian civilians are able to safely leave war zones and enter Ukrainian-controlled territories. Those in Russia must be able to access resources that enable them to leave the country for Ukraine or a third country.”

ABOULIA

So, God save the King eh? At 100 million pounds, his cosplay bash was well worth the moolah…indeed, my bosom swelled with pride to read that Take That, Lionel Richie and two of the Muppets were there to aid the celebrations. Nothing but the best for GB. A few houses around here still have massive British flags hanging down from 2nd floor windows, one has a long string of pennants attached down to a broken wall. Nice metaphor. Those against the monarchy were arrested outside the coronation whether or not they had padlocks, rape alarms and superglue with which to protest. Peaceful protest in a democracy? Stay at home and rant quietly lest thy neighbours report thee. Had a chat with a woman up the street about Brexit and patriotism…who said; ‘The Scottish are Scots, the Welsh are Welsh, the Irish are Irish but the English are British’.

Imagine this mentality multiplied on similar themes all over the world, and we get the current Russian war, Sudan, racists, Arab wars, Trump fans, Chinese ‘communists’, fundamentalists etc, etc. THIS group, OUR group are the most important, enslave the others and if they disagree with such inhuman bondage, punish until pliant or just kill them. Behold, the Elite have become as Gods. Robert Anton Wilson said that he had always taken the viewpoint that sure there was an elite running the world…and it was him and his friends. A more optimystic viewpoint to have, good humour is better for the immune system than hatred, says Dave, arf arf.

Very glad to see Finland join NATO in April, Turkey and Hungary continue to hum and haa over Sweden assession as the former are moaning about Kurds and the latter because of the suspension of EU funds, cancelled due to its dodgy practices…Orban is not really a big fan of democracy…the Trump of Eastern Europe, still trying to stay mates with Vlad. As is Erdogan. Massive human rights violations under him ensured Turkey won’t be getting into the Good Guys club (arf) of the EU anytime soon. However, they are both in NATO (Turkey has the second largest army) and should know far better than to kow tow to Putin on any level. Let’s hope the May 14th election will up seat Racip Tayyip. Get him out, peacefully but surely.

An American parent complained that a school history trip featuring Michelangelo’s statue of David was ‘pornographic’ and suddenly the principal is sacked. One parent. Of a 12-year-old. A modest, circumcised stone penis and testicles is offensive? Must have been a ‘christian’. The western world 2023; Art is pornography now. And Kali bless the NRA. People should be aggressively tested for intelligence before they are allowed to have children. Especially in America. How do these ‘adults’ function on this planet? What next, Mona Lisa veiled because of the curve of her breast and suggestive smile? The masses are dumb partly because they pander to the minority of the dumber.

Apparently, the international arrest warrants for Putin and Maria Belova (Children’s Rights Commissioner (sic) for Baldhead) are ‘outrageous and unacceptable’. Invasion, murder and mass kidnap deportations of children for reprogramming are not decent legal reasons? Ok. Foully rotten to see the two Ruscist slapheads Prigozhin and mad Vlad dick measuring over ammunition and dead bodies. And today, the glorious May Day Victory parade in Moscow featured one tank. Not quite Beijing or Pyongyang standards. ‘The world is at a turning point’ said Vlad, still ranting about the ‘nazis’ in Ukraine. That would be the nazis who democratically elected a Jewish actor as their president. Seems likely huh? And again with ‘the West wants to destroy Russia’ rhetoric. No they don’t Vlad, just you and your band of criminals. You are not Russia.

Xi Jinping in Moscow, still slyly giving tacit and very complicit support for the War as they don’t much approve of areas seeking to remain independent of big brother. (Witness also, their keen support for the mass murdering Myanmar junta) Winnie the Pooh, leader for life just like Putin. Tik Tok/tick tock you bastards. At least Xi seems to have chosen his successor…Surely Mad Vlad is not loopy enough to think the appallingly insane Medvedev could take over? Lock them all together in a bunker with one pistol.

Meanwhile the West must utterly excrete (I said excrete not execute) Trump and Boris. Might just be possible (please Shiva) but unlikely the East will ever get shot of (I said shot of not shoot) Putin and Pooh. As said before in other formats by my hand, the West might be decadent liars and killers but those in the East make us look like clones of the Dalai Lama. How will the world ever move forward into love, peace and net zero? AI has the solution…remove the need for any humanity whatsoever. Or improve and evolve them. Now there’s an idea, quick, trap it, regulate it, drive it underground to build in supressed power…

Boris Johnson swore to tell the whole truth about Partygate but did he FK? He needs to be swamped with lawsuit after lawsuit just like his brother in harm Trump. The perfect empty reality tv stars of the West with Megan Markle as their Victim Queen. Risible Sunak goes to school giving a lecture about the importance of Maths, failing to appreciate the bitter irony of his mis handling of his previous job and the billions lost due to foul pandemic deals, cronies and Brexit. And his own extended family getting business deals via policy….

Conservatives Thatcher and Major led the country for 18 years and the government was a brown shower of corruption by its end, leading to a landslide victory by Tony Blair which kept the Labour party in power (don’t count Gordon Brown) for 13 years, also ending in scandal and corruption. This current gang of criminals and morons of the Tory party have now been in power for 13 years. And this country has been irrevocably ruined by them. (Opinion based on stats and business reports.) There is no possible way Labour can shore up the finances, employment, and health care system of this country in a term or two unless some type of V for Vendetta type crackdown (but this time for real) is enforced. So we will be treated to the sight of bullshitter Boris et al ridiculing the new Government as they wade through a swamp of sewage which they will inherit. Much the same way as the Republicans did when Obama took over the massive deficit they had created and for which they then blamed him.

The holy DAO…a decentralised autonomous organisation free of governmental control and hierarchies, sounds good? As usual, depends on the character of the humans involved. Hierarchies always develop according to variations on the food chain and even an equally skilled pack (animal or man) working as a team will allow pragmatic nature to select a top dog. The round table still reserved the biggest chair for the king. Use nationalism, religion, fear, a cocktail of all three. Never fails. Never will. Kill for your country, protect your family and uphold the common values. (But Sir, what if the common values are based on wilful ignorance due to obviously selectively released information and encouraged prejudice? Questions a timid voice from the back of the class.)

Politicians are advised of underling psychology and act accordingly.  The constant daily manipulation of the millions who are seemingly unable to think for themselves, apparently prefer the clearly corrupt to control their reactions for them. Stir the mass, wind them up and watch them go, basing reactions on whipped up emotion rather than actual facts. Country after country, group after group. Still blaming the Bignoses (or, if you are Russian, the Bignoses AND the Nazis, not quite yet understanding their own current actions and words are in no way dissimilar to Nazis.) What are all these poor little racist didums going to do when Soros departs for higher planes? The good Christians will have to get louder about Bill Gates or the dodgy android Zuckerberg. Or Elon…

(Musk says Artificial intelligence is a dangerous thing, while buying into it. ‘Civilisation destruction’ a strong possibility he said, while buying into it. After all, who wants to be left behind in the race to destroy humanity and make money? Loved the beautiful press release from Elon’s people that his spaceship Starship (arf) experienced a ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation’. I will call my next mental breakdown that. Unless he has copywritten it already.)

‘If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about the answers’ Thomas Pynchon Gravity’s Rainbow. The West and East will never stop their chosen methods of manipulation, why should they when they work so well? Millions’ noisy addictive focused attention on the dreams of fake lives in fame and glamour and millions more afraid of the totalitarian knock on the door. Almost all avoiding the question of ‘Who are these whorepigs governing us? ‘And ‘Can any among us truly rule fairly when man lacks consistent self-control?’. The instinct to survive turns into greed, More ! is never satisfied, so faster and faster swirling into the void of absolute entropy upon which leaders have tried to enforce control, but have failed (and will continue to do so) because they have spent centuries hollowing the centre.

‘Democracy is indispensable to socialism’. Lenin, hmmm, he also said: ‘It is true that liberty is precious; so precious that it must be rationed’. Easy to say when your boss has all the gulags. ‘A lie told often enough becomes the truth’, and don’t the leaders on all sides just believe that as an immutable fact? Whereas when one repeats a provable fact, it maintains its structural integrity in the face of unbelieving ridicule That said, even E=MC squared is only a pixel in the cosmic landscape. It is the thoughts of ‘God’ which are the sub atomic particles transforming to waves, once observed by the individual which flow through mirrors of ‘neural pathways’ in all dimensions.

This is me sober, just on Alta Rica coffee in the afternoon, listening to The Stargazers Assistant, Mirrors and Tides, Shivers and Voids on headphones. With a crunchy red apple, just before a colossal rain storm. And a day later with Popol Vuh’s  beauty on speakers, trying hard to avoid the crushing aboulia which is now constantly at the door of the heart. Dopamine circuits malfunctioning. When my respect for someone ends, they are Done, never been afraid to cull dead weight and now…it has come round to me. Like best friends, I have given myself many extra undeserved chances but now as Leonard said ‘the evidence accumulates’ and has become overwhelming…Need to do a couple more decent things with a new Will once the overlong and criminal process of inheritance tax is over months from now and then let go.

A lady up my road lost her husband last month to rapid onset dementia; I had met him some weeks before and had a fine thirty-minute conversation on many topics.  He had been a gunner in bombers in the second world war and adored music, but during his last two weeks when his wife brought him tapes to the hospital of Mozart et al, he ordered her ‘Turn that noise off’. I had always thought that however ill I would get in the future, as long as I could hear music, there would be still be joy in life. Never occurred to me how the brain can change its mind so definitively about what was Loved. 

Shivered.

‘I dream of a government that resembles jury service’. Jaz. Damn right. People who want to serve and improve/evolve society. A group only in temporary power for a fixed length of time before being replaced by similar albeit individual minds. Not years of lying greedy scumbags changing laws to suit their needs and handing out contracts to their mates before checking they can actually deliver. The flaws in this idea remain large and revolve around finding humans who are actually steadfast but flexible, rationally intuitive, good hearted without being wishy washy and strong enough to remain incorruptible by vested interests. Hmm, seems verrry likely. So, just allow nuclear war by arseholes or AI to breed humans the right way. A Matrix Terminator future. Or?

Happy springtime rising into summer, stay healthy, be free, realise in glimpses.

Mattana Ministry

Welcomes You To:

Weekly Bible Study: 14 May 2024

Theme: Bible Basics Explained/Faith

Scripture: Heb. 10:35-39 & Heb. 11:1-2

Message:

God Exists

Faith may seem a small thing, but it can lead people to some extraordinary actions. Consider this story from Romania. The year was 1989, and the Communist government ruled. The Communism that ruled much of Eastern Europe in the 20th century was built on atheistic ideology and philosophy. Though the government allowed church, it kept a tight grip, and often jailed and tortured pastors and believers who defied their rule.

In the town of Timisoara, a local pastor named Tokes, who was teaching the Bible faithfully, was commanded to leave his home and church because he had criticized the government for human rights violations. On the day the police were to evict their pastor, local Christians surrounded the home to stop them. A crowd grew quickly, and the army was called in to stop them. Shots fired. Many wounded, many killed. But then something incredible occurred. The people didn’t fight back. Instead they knelt and prayed. Can we picture that? Prayer against bullets.

Yet the sight was too much for the soldiers. They refused to shoot any more. By this time, the whole town was there. Another pastor named Dugulescu climbed to the balcony of the local opera house and addressed the crowd. He recited something, only a few lines, and two simple words struck deep in the hearts of the people. They began chanting. Then shouting. Two words in defiance of oppression. Two words that cried out for freedom, equality, and dignity. Again and again, they shouted in unison: God exists.

We’ll come back to that story. For now, those same two words are at the very heart of this little thing called faith. So what is faith? Is it just another word for belief? I believe in God - so that’s faith. Right? Well, James reminds us that demons believe in God, and they tremble over that belief. So faith is more than that.

So what is it then? Is it an action of the heart or a conviction of the mind? Or maybe it’s just a feeling in our gut of what we know is true.

To find some answers, we’re turning to the book of Hebrews, and a chapter known as the Hall of Faith. Hebrews 11. The chapter reads like an Old Testament hall of heroes. It’s a highlight reel from every prophet and warrior who ever made it onto a Sunday School flannel board. If we grew up with Bible heroes, we’ll recognize these names. And even if we missed out on all that, there’s something about these heroes - something they all have in common. Many epic stories, countless grand adventures, one shared attribute. And it’s not just courage, or compassion, or integrity. All of those are beautiful and necessary. But this one, this one changes them all. Faith transforms all of our virtues because it gives them direction and purpose. It points everything about us back to God.

So what is faith? Hebrews 11 verse 1:

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is confidence. The Greek word here can also be translated substance. Faith gives substance to the things that we hope for. Hope is about the future anticipation of good things coming. But hope alone is ephemeral a dream with nothing tangible to grab hold of. It takes faith to give hope substance, and confidently grab ahold of it here in the present. And back in verse 1, faith is also assurance about what we do not see.

Now not seen is not the same as not real. The Greek words here carry a sense that means not yet seen. Just because we don’t see it yet doesn’t mean it isn’t real. That’s where hope comes in. Hebrews 6 calls hope an “anchor for our souls.” It keeps us grounded, stops us from drifting.

See hope without faith is just wishful thinking. Like a lottery ticket - I hope this one changes my life, but it probably won’t. But hope with faith is like a bus ticket. Sure, the road might be rough and my fellow passengers can occasionally get on my nerves, but my ticket says home, and I know that my bus driver will get me there.

And verse 2 tells us:

“This is what the ancients were commended for” (Hebrews 11:2).

The ancients here refer to Old Testament heroes, and the rest of the chapter reminds us of their stories. Fantastic stories. But they’re not just here to tell a good story. This chapter was written to encourage us. Chapter 10 ended with a powerful call to stand strong to persevere in the face of trial. Back in 10:35,

“Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised”(Hebrews 10:35b-36).

And chapter 10 ends with one essential Old Testament quote from Habakkuk:

“The righteous shall live by faith” (Hebrews 10:38).

Remember, righteous means right with God. And in the Bible it’s the only way to Heaven. And Hebrews reminds us that when we’re right with God, faith is how we live. That short verse is quoted throughout the New Testament.

MM

Please feel free to leave a review of this message.

https://www.soulcenters.org/directory/mattana-ministry/#listing-reviews

Unveiling the Facts of Human Trafficking: A Global Menace Exposed

Human trafficking, a grave violation of human rights, continues to plague societies worldwide, leaving a trail of shattered lives and devastated communities in its wake. As we delve into this harrowing reality, it becomes imperative to understand the facts surrounding this heinous crime, shedding light on its prevalence, impact, and the urgent need for collective action to combat it What Are Human Trafficking Facts.

Scope and Magnitude: Human trafficking, encompassing both sex trafficking and labor trafficking, is a lucrative criminal enterprise, generating billions of dollars in illegal profits annually. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), an estimated 25 million people are currently trapped in forced labor globally, with millions more falling victim to sex trafficking.

Vulnerable Populations: Traffickers prey on the vulnerable, exploiting socio-economic disparities, political instability, and humanitarian crises. Women and children are disproportionately affected, comprising the majority of trafficking victims. Marginalized groups, including migrants, refugees, and indigenous communities, are also at heightened risk of exploitation.

Cross-Border Phenomenon: Human trafficking operates across borders, transcending geographical boundaries. Traffickers exploit porous borders and weak law enforcement mechanisms to transport victims from source to destination countries, often using coercion, deception, and violence to maintain control.

Myths vs. Realities: Dispelling myths surrounding human trafficking is crucial to understanding the true nature of the crime. Contrary to popular belief, trafficking does not always involve physical confinement, and victims may not immediately recognize themselves as such due to psychological manipulation and fear of repercussions.

Trafficking Hotspots: While human trafficking occurs globally, certain regions serve as hotspots due to prevalent poverty, political instability, and lax enforcement of anti-trafficking laws. Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and parts of Africa are among the areas most afflicted by trafficking networks.

Role of Technology: The digital age has facilitated the expansion of human trafficking, with traffickers utilizing online platforms to recruit, advertise, and exploit victims. Social media, dating apps, and underground websites provide traffickers with anonymity and access to a vast pool of potential victims.

Impact on Victims: The consequences of human trafficking extend far beyond physical harm, leaving enduring psychological scars on survivors. Victims often suffer from trauma, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), making recovery and reintegration into society a daunting challenge.

Economic Implications: Human trafficking not only devastates individual lives but also undermines economic development and stability. The exploitation of cheap labor depresses wages, distorts labor markets, and fosters a culture of impunity that undermines the rule of law.

Legal and Policy Responses: International organizations, governments, and civil society have intensified efforts to combat human trafficking through legislative reforms, law enforcement initiatives, and victim support services. The United Nations Trafficking in Persons Protocol and national anti-trafficking laws aim to prosecute traffickers and protect victims.

Call to Action: Addressing human trafficking demands a multi-faceted approach involving prevention, protection, and prosecution. Collaboration between governments, law enforcement agencies, NGOs, and communities is essential to dismantle trafficking networks, empower survivors, and create a world where exploitation is no longer tolerated.

For More Info:-

Report On Human Trafficking

Statistics On Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking: an issue that concerns us all 

Trafficking constitutes an unjustifiable violation of the freedom and dignity of victims, the constitutive dimension of the human being willed and created by God. It must therefore be considered a crime against humanity. Without a doubt, without a doubt. - Pope Francis

Part of the concerns that we have working with migrants is the possibility that some of our new arrivals are involved with human trafficking. Human Trafficking involves those who, out of desperation, are made to participate in the sex trade and those who are in the forced labor market, aka modern day slavery.

In March of 2023 I wrote a post where I shared my insights on a book titled “The Great Escape” by Saket Soni. It is a well researched book on an instance of a 2008 forced labor scheme that abused desperate Indian migrants. The situation that we currently experience, with the recent migrants, raises some possible red flags. Communities of illiterate North Africans who seem to be guided by a spokesman for basic food and clothing raises these concerns. Here is a list of red flags that we are aware of and attentive to:

Worker’s are not free to leave premises.

Worker’s live at the business.

Worker’s are transported to the location by the owner or manager and all workers arrive and leave at the same time.

Worker’s have excessively long and/or unusual hours or is always available on demand.

Worker’s owe a large debt that is continually increasing and cannot be paid off.

Workplace has high security features such as opaque windows, bars, locks outside doors.

Worker’s seems to be deferring to another person before giving information, avoids eye contact, or isn’t allowed to speak.

Goods or services are priced below general market rates.

Someone else controls the worker’s identification documents and finances.

Most of these communities are being placed in the shelter system so the first few flags do not come under our awareness. But the last three flags are sometimes seen and this is what concerns us. The situation of modern day slavery emerges from commercial exploitation of groups of people that live in desperate situations and are told that opportunities exist to become American citizens if they accept forms of indentured servitude. One of the things that we see is that smuggling rings are popping up all over to take advantage of these desperate communities. Currently, many nations are experiencing dramatic instability, such as Venezuela, Senegal, Haiti, Ecuador, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Guinea, and areas of Eastern Europe. This is creating a devastating situation for many desperate people and, at the same time, it is developing a gang-driven human smuggling market to take advantage of their despair. 

The International Labor Organization has a link with resources on this issue and they offer a video below to help explain this situation better.         

Pope Francis captured the reality of human trafficking well in his most recent encyclical Fratelli Tutti:

Sadly, some “are attracted by Western culture, sometimes with unrealistic expectations that expose them to grave disappointments. Unscrupulous traffickers, frequently linked to drug cartels or arms cartels, exploit the weakness of migrants, who too often experience violence, trafficking, psychological and physical abuse and untold sufferings on their journey”. Those who emigrate “experience separation from their place of origin, and often a cultural and religious uprooting as well. Fragmentation is also felt by the communities they leave behind, which lose their most vigorous and enterprising elements, and by families, especially when one or both of the parents migrates, leaving the children in the country of origin”. For this reason, “there is also a need to reaffirm the right not to emigrate, that is, to remain in one’s homeland”. #38

The right not to emigrate is not a call to close the borders. Instead Pope Francis calls on all of us to stregthen the global political and economic infrustructure that can regulate these unjust abuses and to promote sustainable development that allows communities to live within their own sense of harmony and stability. Again, Pope Francis shares this vision in Fratelli Tutti.

I would also note the need for a reform of “the United Nations Organization, and likewise of economic institutions and international finance, so that the concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth”… There is a need to ensure the uncontested rule of law and tireless recourse to negotiation, mediation and arbitration, as proposed by the Charter of the United Nations, which constitutes truly a fundamental juridical norm”. There is need to prevent this Organization from being delegitimized, since its problems and shortcomings are capable of being jointly addressed and resolved. #173

These are desperate times for sure, but we as Catholics are taught the social vision that emerges from our faith tradition. We respond to the dignity that we share with all members of the human community and as such we tend to the needs of those we encounter and advocate for the possibility of a better world. 

In the coming days, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2023 (H.R. 5856). This bipartisan bill would do several things to combat the scourge of human trafficking.

European Court of Human Rights rejects Russia's claims against Ukraine

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rejected Russia's claims against Ukraine based on a complaint filed in 2021, the court informed on July 18.

"The Court has decided to strike the application Russia v. Ukraine out of its list of cases," the ECHR said in its press release.

"The case concerned the Russian Government's allegation of a pattern of violations of the European Convention on Human Rights by Ukraine since 2014."

According to the official statement, the court concluded that Russia no longer wishes to pursue its application as it ceased to communicate on the matter.

Moscow filed the inter-state application against Kyiv at the Strasbourg-based court on July 22, 2021, accusing Ukraine of human rights violations since 2014, imposing restrictions on the Russian language, and causing the MH17 airliner disaster, among other points.

According to a ruling by a Dutch court in November 2022, the MH17 airliner was shot down due to the actions of two Russians and one Ukrainian fighting on the Russian side.

Ukraine's Justice Minister Denys Maliuska denied the accusations of human rights violations, calling them "myths of Russian propaganda."

"From a legal point of view, inevitable defeat is awaiting them," Malisuka commented shortly after the application was filed.

According to the ECHR, Russia submitted more than 2,000 sets of documents supporting its application in April 2022 but has since then stopped communicating with the court.

The court also found "no grounds relating to respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols," adding that some complaints raised by Russia overlap with almost 8,500 individual applications raised since 2014 against Russia, Ukraine, or both countries.

Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe, under which the ECHR operates, on March 16, 2022.

Ukraine also filed applications at the ECHR against Russia over human rights violations in eastern Ukraine since 2014, including the MH17 downing, which the court ruled to be admissible.

Ukraine’s fight to bring Russian leadership to justice puts legal systems to ultimate test

In pursuit of justice for Russia’s many war crimes, Ukraine is actively seeking the establishment of an international tribunal. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has already launched investigations into alleged Russian war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Ukraine. However, the…

The Kyiv IndependentAlexander Khrebet

U.S. lawmakers are ramping up pressure on the Biden administration to take a more forceful approach to Sudan’s civil war, as months of intense fighting and atrocities have plunged the East African country into further chaos following failed U.S.-brokered efforts to halt the conflict.

Powerful U.S. senators have pushed the administration to tap a new U.S. special envoy to Sudan to focus on crisis response full time and breathe new life into U.S. policy on the conflict, which has lately been overshadowed by one war in the Middle East, one in eastern Europe, and possibly one on the horizon in Asia.

Tom Perriello, a former Democratic congressman and Obama administration diplomat, is the top contender for the job, current and former officials said, though they cautioned that no final decision had been made and that there’s an ongoing internal debate over how high-level the envoy would be. One fight is over whether the envoy would report to the president, the secretary of state, or to the top diplomat overseeing African affairs, Assistant Secretary of State Molly Phee; lawmakers want a high-level envoy with high-level access.

Perriello did not respond to a request for comment.

Sudan erupted into chaos this April after rival factions of a military junta—the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)—broke apart and began fighting for control of the country. More than 10,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the ensuing conflict since then, and at least 6.7 million people have been displaced. Aid agencies say more than 6 million people in Sudan are at risk of famine. The conflict took a grim new turn this week when the RSF captured and ransacked Wad Madani, Sudan’s second-biggest city, which was viewed as one of the last major safe havens in the country and a major hub for humanitarian operations.

The United States has accused both sides of committing war crimes in the conflict and accused the RSF of committing crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. The conflict has also devolved into a proxy war between regional rivals, with Egypt backing the SAF and the United Arab Emirates backing the RSF; even Russia threw its hat in to support the RSF through its mercenary Wagner Group force. (The fate of that group remains uncertain after the untimely death of its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in August.)

The UAE’s support for the RSF, a paramilitary group formed from militias that carried out a genocide in Darfur two decades ago, has particularly riled Congress. Another group of Democratic lawmakers in the House have taken the unusual, though not unprecedented, step of sending a letter directly to the Emirati foreign minister condemning its reported support for the RSF, warning that such support could damage U.S.-Emirati relations, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Foreign Policy.

Taken together, these initiatives reveal mounting frustration on Capitol Hill over the U.S. and the international community’s response to the conflict in Sudan. The conflict is considered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises but has garnered only a fraction of the attention or resources devoted to the crisis in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war or the war in Ukraine. Human rights advocates, meanwhile, are growing frustrated with the fact that the Biden administration hasn’t put enough political and public pressure on the UAE to stop covertly supplying the RSF with arms and ammunition—in violation of existing U.N. arms embargoes on Darfur—as it carries out widespread atrocities against civilians, including reports of mass rape and ethnic killings, in its campaign for control of the country.

The UAE is one of the United States’ closest partners in the Middle East, and top Biden administration officials have met repeatedly with their Emirati counterparts to coordinate responses to the Israel-Hamas war.

A New York Times investigation published in September revealed that the UAE supplied the RSF with powerful weapons and drones to fuel its fight against the SAF. The Emirati Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment, though the Emirati government has in the past denied the allegations that it arms the RSF.

The U.S. government has said it raises arms embargo-busting issues to countries reported to violate them, “but obviously at this stage of the expanding brutal conflict, these overtures by the [U.S. government], if they are happening, are having no impact,” said Nicole Widdersheim, the deputy Washington director at Human Rights Watch. Widdersheim said the U.N. Security Council needs to be “fully engaged in enforcing” the arms embargo to quell the violence.

The UAE supplying the RSF “would be a grave reputational risk for the UAE and put the longstanding close partnership with the United States into question,” the lawmakers wrote to Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Ten Democratic lawmakers—led by Rep. Sara Jacobs, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Africa subcommittee—signed the letter. “Members of Congress are paying attention to the UAE’s actions in Sudan. Most importantly, we are concerned that the UAE is at odds with the efforts of Sudanese civilians, the region, and the broader international community to stop the fighting,” they wrote.

“The UAE is an economic giant in the region. It is on the U.N. Security Council, and at the same time, it is brazenly breaking the U.N. arms embargo on Darfur,” said Kholood Khair, the founding director of Confluence Advisory, a think tank based in Khartoum. “The UAE is getting away with murder, quite literally, and for all intents and purposes, its guy is winning, so it has no incentives to change its position absent any real outside pressure.”

“We have directly raised with Emirati officials our concerns about reports of UAE support to the RSF,” a State Department spokesperson said. “We have made clear our view that provision of arms to either side only deepens the conflict.”

Some U.S. lawmakers and officials privately remain deeply frustrated at the Biden administration’s role in Sudan’s botched transition to democracy, the collapse of which sparked the current conflict. These lawmakers and officials feel the administration wasted valuable time and resources trying to revive peace talks between the SAF and RSF in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, that collapsed without any meaningful gains and feel the administration needs fresh eyes and a new senior envoy to tackle the crisis.

Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin and Republican Sen. Jim Risch, the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced a joint resolution on Tuesday calling for a new high-level special envoy to Sudan.

“This joint resolution should clearly signal to the administration the urgent need to revise its Sudan policy, both in terms of personnel and strategy,” Risch said in a statement.

“The ongoing and escalating violence in Sudan, as well as Sudan’s history of genocide, require additional urgent action from the United States and international community before more lives are lost,” Cardin said. Two other Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, sent a separate letter of their own calling for a special envoy on Sudan, adding to the pressure on the Biden administration to act.

“The issue of appointing a special envoy is under active and serious consideration by the Administration,” the State Department spokesperson said.

U.S. officials also increasingly fear that the head of the SAF and de facto ruler of the country, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, could be ousted from power by elements of his own army after the SAF faced embarrassing battlefield defeats by the RSF.

The RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemeti,” led an infamous Arab militia responsible for committing genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region in the early 2000s on behalf of Sudan’s long-serving dictator, Omar al-Bashir. Bashir was ousted from power amid widespread pro-democracy protests in 2019, leading Sudan to an abortive democratic transition.

That transition derailed when Burhan and Hemeti jointly orchestrated a coup against the civilian-led transitional government and grabbed power in 2021. War broke out this April, following months of simmering tensions between Burhan and Hemeti.

Since then, the RSF and allied Arab militias have carried out a massive ethnic cleansing campaign against the Masalit, an ethnic African tribe, in Sudan’s Darfur region that has pushed some 1.4 million people to flee into neighboring countries, including Chad and Egypt. The campaign, which some human rights groups have labeled a genocide, harks back to the Darfur genocide that began in 2003.

Many experts and officials believe the conflict will only get worse as the RSF gains ground and concede that there are no real prospects for viable peace talks without more powerful diplomatic interventions by major Western powers—especially Washington.

U.S. & Nato Mastermind and Enginner Armed Conflict Between Russophobe Ukrainian Regime and Russia

Bolded added by the individual who submitted this post to WIOTM.

This commentary by Jose Maria Sison (Joma) is regarding US & NATO Violations of Original Minsk Agreement and Minsk Agreement II. Sison, until his recent passing, was the Chairperson Emeritus of the International League of Peoples' Struggle. This statement was from February 26, 2022.

It is a matter of history that the Soviet modern revisionists from Khruschov to Gorbachov and Yeltsin had the illusion that, if the Soviet Union took the road of capitalist restoration, bourgeois populism and bourgeois pacifism, the Cold War and the threat of a nuclear war would end, Russia would go back to the European homeland, join the Council of Europe and enjoy the “dividends” of peace like the US and its NATO partners. Thus, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine as the founders of the Soviet Union decided to co-sign the original Minsk Agreement in 1991 in order to dissolve the Soviet Union and form the ephemeral Commonwealth of Independent States in exchange for the assurances of the US, NATO and the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that the human rights and democratic rights of the former Soviet republics, their peoples, various nationalities, institutions, parties, organizations and individuals would be respected and that NATO would not recruit from the former Warsaw Pact members and expand to the borders of Russia. So soon after the original Minsk Agreement, the US and NATO started war in Europe by destroying Yugoslavia, turning so many former Warsaw Pact member-states into NATO members, setting up missile and anti-missile bases to threaten Russia with nuclear obliteration in a matter of minutes from Eastern Europe, expanding the NATO to the borders of Russia and instigating violent incursions into Russian territory and emboldening so-called color revolutions to facilitate the spread of arms sales and capital from the US and Western Europe. The US and NATO masterminded, engineered and openly funded from the US embassy in Kyiv the Maidan protests in 2013 and the bloody coup d’etat against the pro-Russian government in 2014 in order to bring to power the Russian-hating Bandera-type fascists (the National Socialists of Ukraine), the political descendants of Nazis, and a new breed of Zionist fascists, all servile to the US and West European monopoly capitalism and the NATO. Thus was institutionalized a Russophobic and neo-fascist regime in Ukraine in 2014. Why the delay in the US and NATO in making trouble in Ukraine, from 1991 to 2013-14? Modern Ukraine was created by the Bolsheviks soon after the October Revolution and became one of three republics (together with Russia and Belarus) that founded the Soviet Union or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922. More than 22 per cent of the total Ukrainian population in 2014 was of Russian nationality, who have comprised the majority in the Donbass region since pre-Soviet times and were either a majority or significant minority in major cities because Russian engineers and industrial workers had migrated to Ukraine to help in its industrialization in the time of the Soviet Union. Upon coming to power in 2014, the Russophobic, chauvinist and fascist rulers in Kyiv engaged in acts of discrimination (including prohibition of the Russian language in Russian communities) and violent attacks against Ukrainian citizens of Russian nationality, including military offensives against the Donbass region and vigilante attacks in a number of major cities. Since 2014, the Ukrainian fascists have been able to kill so many Russians and destroy their homes and workplaces and cause the reduction of the overall Russian population in Ukraine from more than 22 to 17 per cent (or by more than three million) by forcing them to seek refuge in Russia and other countries as refugees. The predominant Russian people of the Donbass region have suffered the main brunt of fascist attacks. In unilateral acts of aggression, the Kyiv chauvinists and fascists have killed more than 14,000 people (mostly civilians) in the last eight years. Out of these, more than 7.5 thousand cases have been filed against the Kyiv authorities in the European Court of Human Rights. Homes, factories, schools, hospitals and other social infrastructure have been destroyed by artillery fire and bombs. And yet the US and EU imperialists deny and obscure these facts as they harp on the line that Russia is the aggressor to Ukraine. Under the direction of the US and NATO, the purpose of the fascist attacks on the Russians in the Donbass region and other parts of Ukraine is not only to unleash anti-Russian chauvinism but to denigrate and insult Russia as impotent against the relentless NATO expansion. But the Russian people in the Donbass region have courageously resisted and established the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk in accordance with the principle of national self-determination, despite US and fascist slander against them as “terrorists” and “fascists”.

As a consequence of the violent attacks of the Kyiv fascists on Russian citizens of Ukraine, the overwhelming Russian population in the Crimean Peninsula decided in a referendum to take it back from Ukraine to Russia. This peninsula was a gift of Krushchov to Ukraine in 1954 in order to let it have an outlet to the Black Sea. After all, the Soviet Union was still existent. Russia’s lawful recovery of the Crimean Peninsula became the reason for the US and its G-7 partners to remove Russia from the G-8 and impose sanctions on Russia. Because of the heroic resistance of the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk and because of the limited but highly potential support of Russia, the Ukrainian fascists and their US and NATO sponsors agreed to the Minsk II agreement of 2015 (Package of Measures for the Settlement of the Conflict) which recognized the autonomy of said people’s republics, provided for ceasefire and prohibited the Kyiv fascists from bringing heavy artillery and other weapons at a certain distance from the Donbass region. But under the instigation of the US and NATO, the Kyiv fascists have constantly violated the ceasefire under Minsk II agreement and attacked the Donbass region, using weapons supplied by the US and NATO. In recent months and weeks before the current special military operation to destroy military facilities in Ukraine, the Kyiv fascists shelled daily the civilian communities of Donbass and used attack drones, heavy equipment, missiles, artillery and multiple launch rocket systems. The killing of civilians, the blockade, the abuse of people, including children, women and the elderly have not stopped. Despite constant and repeated reminders of Russia to the US and NATO through the NATO-Russia Council and the OSCE, the US and NATO have aggressively accessed Ukraine to the NATO in practical terms and in brazen violation of the original Minsk Agreement and other related agreements. The US and NATO have integrated in the its command and control system the armed forces of Ukraine and have actually used Ukrainian airfields and other military bases close to the borders of Russia and Belarus to engage in military training and exercises and install equipment for surveilling and threatening the two neighbors of Ukraine deep within their own territories. The US and NATO have obstinately designated Russia as their enemy despite Putin’s repeated offers of a new agreement to limit the strengthening of security by a state or international organization at the expense of the security of others. As late as December 2021, the Russian Federation handed over to its supposed Western partners a draft agreement between itself and the US on security guarantees as well as a draft agreement on security measures with NATO member states. But the US and NATO were already obsessed with a blitzkrieg to attack the Donbass region and provoke Russia. Since then or even earlier, Russian and the people’s republics have been forewarned of the aggressive plan of the US and NATO. In the current time of the Biden presidency, the US and the UK have been the most aggressive in providing weapons and military training to the armed forces of the Kyiv regime, issuing provocative statements against Russia and accusing it of invading the Ukraine long before the current special military operation declared by Russia. In fact, the Russian military forces stayed within their own territory before the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and Putin took the long overdue step of recognizing the independence and sovereignty of the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk on February 21, 2022 and ratifying the Treaties of Friendship and Mutual Assistance with said republics on the ground that the Ukrainian fascists and US and NATO sponsors have themselves wantonly violated and nullified the Minsk agreements. Even as the US and all its NATO partners take a common posture of opposing Russia and supporting the fascist-ruled Ukraine, the US has its very own interests that only its British valet can best understand and agree with. It has been making the war provocations against Russia in Ukraine in order to assert and reinvigorate its hegemony over NATO and Europe, promote its own economic, political and military interests, favor its own oil and fracking interests, stop the Nord Stream 2 and prevent Germany and other West European countries from accessing gas from Russia and advance the geopolitical and hegemonic interests of the US in its inter-imperialist contradictions with Russia and China. Many people are apprehensive that a direct inter-imperialist war can arise between Russia and the US-NATO combine as a result of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, especially because the former has advantages over the latter in a war short of using nuclear weapons. But there are certain factors that are at work to determine calculated and measured steps by all sides. Among these factors are the contradictory interests of the US and the European Union in economic and political relations with Russia as well as with China and the still valid fear of mutually assured destruction in a nuclear war. Short of a nuclear war, Russia has a clear advantage over the US and even NATO in fighting the Ukrainian fascists and supporting the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics and the people of Russian nationality within Ukraine in terms of conventional war, economic tit-for-tat and diplomacy. In the rivalry of two imperialist powers, Russia has been relatively more sober and calculating while the US has been more frantic, provocative and aggressive in matters pertaining to Russia and Ukraine. Following its recognition of the sovereignty and independence of the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk and complying with the Treaties of Friendship and Mutual Assistance, Russia has declared a special military operation against the Ukrainian fascists, coalesced with the military forces of the aforesaid people’s republics and is now demonstrating the foolhardiness of the US-NATO and its Ukrainian fascist puppets in unleashing Russophobic attacks since 2014, drumming up war provocations and threatening to widen the scale of war to the borders and territory of Russia, After all its arrogance and braggadocio that it can be at the head of NATO and fight Russia in Ukraine and thereabouts, the US has been totally exposed as impotent in the face of the coalition of the Russia and the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. It has responded by merely calling on all its NATO allies to be ready for attacking Russia on all borders. At the same time, the US, NATO and the Group of 7 are expected to impose further sanctions on Russia and further exacerbate inter-imperialist contradictions. But Russia like China has already prepared counter-sanctions which can have adverse effects on the US and the European Union. I am most concerned that since 2014 the US and NATO have brought about in Ukraine a regime that is extremely oligarchic, chauvinist and fascist, oppressive and exploitative of the people of Ukraine, including those of Ukrainian, Russian and mixed Ukrainian-Russian nationalities. And yet this fact has been deliberately obscured by the US and NATO propaganda and overlooked by those who do not study and know the particularities of the Ukraine issue. The people of Russian nationality within Ukraine have suffered the main brunt of fascist oppression and deserve the solidarity and support from all the peoples of the world and from all other possible forces supportive of their just cause. For supporting the Ukrainian people of Russian and other nationalities against the Ukrainian fascists, Russia proves itself in a better position than its US imperialist rival which has been prodding Ukraine to join the NATO in violation of the original Minsk agreement and supplying it with weapons and pushing it to make war provocations against Russia. As a result of Russia’s special military operation in coalition with the people’s republics in the Donbass region, the offensive military capabilities of the Ukrainian fascists have been greatly degraded but these Russophobes are attacking Russian residential areas in Ukraine and misrepresenting the civilian victims in the press as Russian military troops. In the meantime, the US, NATO and the Group of 7 are reacting with vociferous statements and imposing further sanctions on Russia and further exacerbating inter-imperialist contradictions. Nevertheless, it will take some more time and further developments before there can be an all-out war between US-NATO and Russia or the Russia-China tandem. Let us not forget that the US and its NATO allies have their own contradictions. For instance, it is not a small matter that the European Union gets 40 per cent of its energy supply from Russia. Germany and its ruling politicians will be taken to account by the German people for agreeing with the US to shut down the Nord Stream 2. The peoples in the other NATO member-countries in Western Europe will also complain that they are made to give up a cheaper source of energy than what the US wants to provide. This energy issue is only one of several major issues that put the EU in a disadvantageous position by the bellicosity and aggressiveness of the US. The US will continue its strategic decline before it can plunge the world into an all-out war that can end the existence of humankind. It also remains to be seen how the European Union and people will assert their independence and attend to their own needs as the main protagonists in the new Cold War launched by US imperialism will adversely affect their respective interests in a world capitalist system that is already saturated by an excessive number of imperialist powers and whose multiple crises are rapidly worsening and driving the proletariat and people of the world to rise up in resistance. 

Related articles

The Death of Jose Maria Sison (Joma)

Ratlines, NATO, and the Fourth Reich: How (some) Nazis won World War II

Exploitative Moonies in Ukraine

In Jin Moon’s April 8 Facebook Post on Ukraine

United States Hypocrisy Toward the World is Another Way of Saying, ‘Don’t Do as We Do, Do as We Say’

The World Anti-Communist League: War Criminals, Nazis, Gangsters, Drug Traffickers and the Group that Brought Them All Together