Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
Opium poppy cultivation surges in Iran’s Kermanshah |
2025-05-31 |
[Rudaw] Iran’s Kermanshah province is witnessing an increase in opium poppy cultivation, driven by water shortages, limited employment opportunities for farmers, and growing demand. "Farmers have faced many problems and they are forced to do this work because they have no other source of income. All their wealth lies in agriculture, and if they plant wheat, barley, or chickpeas, a single year of drought can destroy their crops," a farmer from the province told Rudaw on the condition of anonymity. Opium poppies are more drought-tolerant than the traditional crops and, according to the farmer, "the income is at least ten times greater." The Kurdish provinces in Iran’s west have always struggled with high unemployment and poverty, blamed on a lack of investment and shortage of services. "My home is in Kermanshah. I have no work and the economic situation is bad. There is high unemployment in Kermanshah. My family is in Kermanshah. I come to the village and together with my relatives who have land, we jointly cultivate poppies," said another farmer. The authorities are cracking down on the poppy farms. The prosecutor’s office in Kermanshah warned in January that "serious action will be taken against those who engage in opium poppy cultivation," according to the state-run IRNA news agency. "Last year, a large number of police came and destroyed everything and completely took away the crop, but thanks be to God, this year is good and we are busy harvesting the crop," another farmer told Rudaw, adding that they have buyers coming from Tehran, Isfahan, Mashhad, and Shiraz. The opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) has a range of uses. "It's a traditional crop and is used for medicine and sedatives," said a farmer. The opium poppy is a source of opioids such as morphine and codeine, used for pain relief and cough suppression. The plant is also cultivated illegally for narcotic production, with extracted opium often refined into heroin. The United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... Office on Drugs and Crime describes illicit drugs as a major challenge for Iran spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word Iranis a cognate form of Aryan.The abbreviation IRGCis the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either Duceor Führeror maybe both. They hate due to its geographical location and mostly non-existent borders with neighbors. Drug-related crimes account for many of Iran’s executions, which Amnesty International in June called a "deadly war on the poor" that targets disadvantaged and marginalized communities. The monitor documented 505 drug-related executions in 2024, making up 52 percent of the total. |
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
‘Disturbing pattern of intimidation’: Amnesty International pans Hamas crackdown on protesters in Gaza |
2025-05-29 |
[IsraelTimes] Amnesty International issues a scathing condemnation of Hamas amid the terror group’s crackdown on protesters demonstrating against its rule in the Gaza Strip. The rights group says that over the past two months, it interviewed 12 people — 10 men and two women — who organized or took part in protests against Hamas and were interrogated, threatened, or beaten by the terror group’s security forces as a result. The interviews revealed a “disturbing pattern of threats, intimidation and harassment, including interrogations and beatings by Hamas-run security forces against individuals exercising their right to peaceful protest” even amid Israel’s ongoing war, Amnesty says. One of the protesters, a resident of northern Gaza’s Beit Lahia who lost multiple family members in an Israeli strike, tells Amnesty that after he took part in a protest in April, he was dragged to a makeshift detention center and beaten by armed men in civilian clothes. “They accused me of being a traitor — a collaborator with the Mossad,” he tells Amnesty. “I told them we took to the streets because we wanted to live, we wanted to eat and drink.” He says he was released after nearly four hours of detention and interrogation, and was warned not to attend any further protests. In total, seven of the 12 protesters interviewed say that they were accused by Hamas of being “traitors” and of working with Israel. In another instance, a protester from Beit Lahia says he was summoned to an interrogation but refused to show up, until Hamas forces came to his home and “beat me with sticks, and punched my face.” He says a Hamas member later threatened to shoot him in the foot if he attended another protest. “The authorities in Gaza must allow peaceful protesters, dissidents, and journalists to exercise their rights without intimidation, harassment, or violence. Interrogation of protesters must cease immediately, and those responsible for violence or threats should be held accountable,” says Erika Guevara-Rosas, a senior director for research, advocacy, policy and campaigns at Amnesty International. “The authorities in Gaza must respect the rights of the people in Gaza and protect them, at a time when their survival is at stake.” |
Link |
India-Pakistan |
Pakistan's Atrocities and War on Its Own People |
2025-05-29 |
[PJMedia] A large part of the world is focused on the conflicts unfolding between Hamas![]() and Israel as well as Ukraine and Russia, with international observers closely scrutinizing these two wars. However, women are made to be loved, not understood... the plight of civilians who have been enduring extreme suffering for decades, such as in the remote areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... in Pakistain, largely goes unnoticed by the same level of sharp scrutiny from Western eyes. In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, documented attacks by Pak forces in May and April demonstrate the scope of violence against civilian populations. On May 19, for instance, a dronezap attacked North Wazoo, murdering four young children. Six people, three children among them, were maimed when mortar shells fired by Pak security forces hit houses in Tirah from May 5 to May 8. Other events included quadcopter drone attacks in Shawwal and a landmine blast in Tehsil MadaKhel, Waziristan. The latter killed one young man. The May 11 quadcopter drone attack in JaniKhel, Bannu, injured eleven women and five children. Operations in Betni Area, Tank, on May 9 resulted in the deaths of three young men and one injured. A separate mortar shelling incident in Tirah Valley on May 9 murdered a woman, completing a week that left dozens of civilians dead or maimed. Meanwhile, ...back at the pound, the little lost dog backed into the corner and showed its teeth. And what big teeth they were!... residents of Tirah Valley staged a protest demonstration against the murder of a 12-year-old girl in a mortar fire in April. All these incidents and more make a significant point that the Western world has remained oblivious to the use of modern weaponry, including armed drones, by the Pak state against its own citizens. These Pak drones are largely procured from ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... and China. They appear to be rigorously tested by targeting the country's own civilian population in these areas. This causes not only immense loss of lives and property but also instills a perpetual sense of fear in the minds of residents, including children. Pakistain's use of drone technology against its own population began during Operation Zarb-e-Azb ..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)... , when the military first acknowledged using armed Burraq UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) in 2015. While officials described the move as counterterrorism operations, civilian casualties from these strikes have created resentment among affected communities. A March 2025 drone attack in Mardan that massacred eleven people, including women and kiddies, resulted in the government’s acknowledgment of "collateral damage" only after local protests demanded compensation for the victims' families. A recent dronezap in northwest Pakistain's Mir Ali murdered four children and maimed five others, prompting thousands of residents to stage protests by placing the children's bodies on the main roads as a symbol of their demand for justice. Local communities have responded with organized resistance, led primarily by the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM). From February through May 2025, PTM organized demonstrations across the region, beginning with protests at Bakka Khel camp in Bannu on Feb. 3, followed by a Jirga gathering at Tirah Maidan, Khyber, on Feb. 15. The movement expanded with the "Aman Quami Pasoon" protest in Wana, South Waziristan, on Feb. 18, continuing with demonstrations at Qambarabad Market, Bara, on Feb. 22. A sit-in protest at Jani Khel, Bannu, on April 25 led to the ongoing protest at Army Cantonment Mirali that began on May 19. This protest involved PTM leaders, tribal elders, and various political parties. The situation in Balochistan presents perhaps the most systematic documentation of human rights ...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedomat the convenience of the state... violations. The Voice for Baloch Missing Persons has recorded approximately 7,000 cases of enforced disappearances since 2004, while the government's own Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances listed 2,752 active cases as of January 2024. The significant disparity between these figures and official government claims suggests the deliberate underreporting of the crisis. The recent bombing of a school bus in Khuzdar, Balochistan, which massacred five people — including three girls — and maimed 53 others, mostly children, exemplifies Pakistain's reflexive strategy of deflecting blame for its internal failures. The Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) attack targeted innocent children traveling to school. Within hours of the massacre, the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) issued a statement accusing foreign powers of orchestrating the assault without providing any evidence to support these claims. This pattern of shifting blame has become a familiar response whenever Pakistain faces scrutiny over violence against its own civilians. Pakistain's heavy-handed approach against its people is largely driven by its failure to provide equitable governance to populations across the country. The majority of the population in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan live in abject poverty, deprived of even basic facilities such as functional medical or educational institutions. Incidentally, several schools and colleges in Balochistan have been closed for at least the last six months on government orders. This order serves as collective punishment for people who are demanding basic civil liberties and human rights as promised in the country's constitution. Pakistain's willful neglect of certain regions within its borders is reflected in several international indices, including Amnesty International reports and various human rights assessments that consistently highlight the deteriorating situation for civilians in these areas. The systematic targeting of civilians extends far beyond isolated incidents, with documented evidence revealing a disturbing pattern of state-sponsored violence across multiple provinces. Meanwhile, ...back at the pound, the little lost dog backed into the corner and showed its teeth. And what big teeth they were!... the discovery of over 200 decomposing bodies on the rooftop of Nistar Hospital in Multan ...Home of the Multan Sultans... in 2022 has raised serious questions about the treatment of unidentified individuals in state custody. Many activists believe these remains may belong to political activists who disappeared from Sindh and Balochistan. The additional discovery of 168 unidentified bodies in Punjab ...1. Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard 2. A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers 3. A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots .... suggests this may represent a broader pattern that requires investigation. The international community has begun to take notice of these developments through various human rights reports and documentation efforts. However, women are made to be loved, not understood... the level of international attention and intervention remains limited compared to other global conflicts. Pakistain's strategic importance in regional politics and its nuclear capabilities may contribute to the relatively muted international response to domestic human rights concerns. |
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International-UN-NGOs |
Syrian collective files complaint against Sharaa at International Criminal Court |
2025-05-25 |
A waste of time, but at least it gets the information into the historical record. [Rudaw] A French-Syrian group has filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) accusing Syria’s interim president of being responsible for the deaths of thousands of people, according to a media report.The Franco-Alawite Collective, which is composed of Alawites, Druze, Kurds, Christians, and Sunnis, filed the complaint against interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, La Belle Franceinfo reported on Friday. They accuse him of orchestrating massacres in March and May that left between 1,700 and 2,000 people dead. In March, violence erupted ![]() Pencilneckal-Assad Horror of Homs... , launched attacks on forces allied with the government, prompting Damascus to respond with force. Around 1,500 people, mainly Alawite civilians, were killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which said most of the casualties were caused by government or government-affiliated forces. Amnesty International said the mass killings must be investigated as a "war crime." In April and May, deadly festivities broke out between government forces and Druze fighters. The collective claims the deaths qualify as genocide or crimes against humanity and say they have video evidence to support their accusations. "This complaint is in the name of the Syrian people," said Lina Peron, a member of the collective’s legal committee, La Belle Franceinfo reported. The complaint was submitted to the ICC prosecutor’s office, which will decide whether to open a formal investigation. Facing international criticism, Sharaa, who led the Islamist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ![]() (HTS) militia that spearheaded the offensive to topple dictator Bashir al-Assad, ordered an investigation into violence against minorities. Sharaa’s interim government has faced repeated criticism for its treatment of minority groups, with many Syrians and foreign powers fearing it will impose strict religious rule, posing a threat to Kurds, Druze, Christians, and Alawites. The violence heightened concerns over the future of these populations. |
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Europe |
Huge protest in The Hague demands Dutch government draw ‘red line’ on Gaza war |
2025-05-19 |
Literal Red Shirts demonstrating their heartfelt impotence and Jew hate. [IsraelTimes] Organizers say 100,000 attend demonstration, calling it the Netherlands’ biggest protest in two decades, as new Israeli military offensive begins in war against Hamas terror groupTens of thousands of red-clad protesters marched through the Dutch capital on Sunday to demand that their government do more to halt Israel’s campaign in Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppressionand disproportionate response... , in what organizers called the country’s biggest demonstration in two decades. Human rights groups and aid agencies — including Amnesty International, Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders — estimated the crowd at more than 100,000 people. The protest came as Israel launched the first stage of a new offensive in the Strip, dubbed "Gideon’s Chariots," aiming to "seize strategic areas" of the enclave. Hamas ![]() -linked officials, who don’t distinguish between civilians and fighters, have reported over 100 people killed over the last 24 hours. "We hope this is a wake-up call for the government," said teacher Roos Lingbeek, attending the march with her husband and their 12-week-old daughter, Dido, who slept in a carrier as her parents brandished a sign simply reading: "STOP." David Prins, whose yarmulke was printed with the image of a watermelon — which shares the colors of the Paleostinian flag — told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named he was attending the protest "to speak out against the atrocities." The 64-year-old was standing across the street from the synagogue he attended growing up, which overlooks the field where the demonstration began. Protesters walked a 3-mile (5-kilometer) loop around the city center of The Hague, to symbolically create the red line they said the government has failed to set. Videos of the protest captured crowds chanting "From the river to the sea, Paleostine will be free!" — a phrase often interpreted as calling for the elimination of Israel altogether — as well as "Free, free Paleostine." Crowds also chanted, "Starving people is a crime." The Hague is the site of both the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, both of which have seen cases in which Israel and its leaders are accused of violating international law, including by intentionally starving the Gazook population, during the campaign against Hamas. Israel denies the allegations, pointing to its efforts to avoid civilian casualties, and, for much of the war, to facilitate the flow of aid into the enclave. Israel also points to Hamas’s practice of embedding itself among civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools and mosques. Marjon Rozema, of Amnesty International, told the AP on Sunday, "We are calling on the government to stop political, economic and military support to Israel," while the country continues to block humanitarian aid ![]() Aid hasn’t entered Gaza since March 1, with Israel arguing that sufficient humanitarian assistance entered the Strip during a six-week ceasefire and that Hamas had been stealing much of that aid. In recent weeks, though, some officials in the IDF have begun warning the political echelon that the enclave is on the brink of starvation. Israel has been involved in creating a new body — the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — to distribute aid in the Strip. The GHF said it would begin to operate in the Strip by the end of the month, though Israel has yet to confirm this. Dutch policy toward Israel is just one of many issues causing splits in the Netherlands’ fragile coalition government. Hard-right leader Geert Wilders is staunchly pro-Israel and his anti-immigrant Party for Freedom holds the largest number of seats in the country’s parliament. Last week, however, foreign affairs minister Caspar Veldkamp of the minority center-right VVD party urged the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... to review a trade agreement with Israel, arguing that its blockade of humanitarian aid violated international law. Wilders hit back, denouncing the call as an "affront to cabinet policy." The war in Gaza began October 7, 2023, when some 5,000 Hamas-led bully boyz invaded southern Israel from the Strip, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Fifty-eight captives remain — including 20 who are believed to be alive, and three about whom the government has grave concerns —and 35 who have been confirmed dead by the military. |
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Britain | ||
‘’Rights’’ groups take UK government to court over supply of F-35 parts to Israel | ||
2025-05-15 | ||
Human rights groups launched a court fight Tuesday challenging the UK government’s decision to supply parts for F-35 fighter jets, saying they are being used by Israel in Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppressionand disproportionate response... in violation of international law. The legal challenge in the High Court in London alleges that the government is breaking domestic and international law and is complicit in atrocities against Paleostinians by allowing essential components for the warplanes to be supplied to Israel.
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... violations being delivered by British-made weapons and bombs." The government said in September that it was suspending about 30 of 350 existing export licenses for equipment deemed to be for use in the conflict in Gaza because of a "clear risk" that the items could be used to "commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law." Equipment included parts for helicopters and drones. But an exemption was made for some licenses related to components of F-35 fighter jets, which have been linked to Israel’s bombardment campaign against Hamas ![]() in the Gaza Strip. Rights groups argue that the United Kingdom shouldn’t continue to export parts through what they call a "deliberate loophole," given the government’s own assessment of Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law. Paleostinian human rights organization al-Haq and the UK-based Global Legal Action Network, which brought the legal challenge, say the components are indirectly supplied to Israel through the global spare parts supply chain. Al-Haq had its offices in Ramallah shuttered by Israel in 2022, 10 months after the Defense Ministry designated al-Haq and several other Paleostinian groups as terrorist organizations over their alleged links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine (PFLP), a leftist terror group. The international community has said Israel has failed to provide convincing evidence to back up its claims. Said by those who are determined not to be convinced by any amount of the truth. But y’all do you — we know what you are. UK officials have argued that stopping the export of F-35 fighter jet components would endanger international peace and security.Compared to major arms suppliers such as the US and Germany, British firms sell a relatively small amount of weapons and components to Israel. The Campaign Against Arms Trade nonprofit group estimates that the UK supplies about 15 percent of the components in the F-35 stealth combat aircraft, including its laser targeting system. "British-made F-35s are dropping multi-ton bombs on the people of Gaza, which the UN secretary-general has described as a ’killing field,'" said Charlotte Andrews-Briscoe, a lawyer for the Global Legal Action Network. "The UK government has expressly departed from its own domestic law in order to keep arming Israel. This decision is of continuing and catastrophic effect," she added. The hearing is expected to last four days, and a decision is expected at a later date. | ||
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
Syria's Alawites still face targeted attacks a month after brutal counteroffensive |
2025-04-16 |
[AnNahar] A month after a wave of Dire Revenge attacks left hundreds of Alawite civilians dead, members of the Syrian religious minority are still living in fear, with dozens killed in smaller attacks since the start of April. The Moslem minority group was seen as a privileged minority under the rule of the Alawite Assad family, but since Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad Lord of the Baath... 's government fell late last year members have feared Dire Revenge from the country's Sunni majority. The new government promised to protect minority groups, but when a group of Assad loyalists attacked security forces near the coastal city of Latakia last month, it sparked a counteroffensive that took a brutal toll on the coastal region's largely Alawite population. Britannia-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates that more than 1,700 people, most of them civilians, were killed in March. While no official figures have been released by the government, other human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... groups have given similar estimates. It was the worst violence since an insurgency led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... overthrew Assad last December. MILITIAS TARGET ALAWITES Rights groups reported widespread Dire Revenge killings as "Several people told me that when these militia members entered their home, in addition to asking if they were Alawite or Sunni, they blamed them for what happened to them under the former Assad government," said Diana Semaan, Amnesty International's Syria researcher who investigated dozens of killings that took place in Baniyas and spoke to eyewitnesses and survivors. While there has not been another outbreak of violence on the same scale, Alawites continue to report incidents of harassment, shakedowns and sometimes worse. An Alawite who lives in the Latakia area said there are still regular attacks targeting Alawites, most of whom had nothing to do with the Assad government or security forces. "Everyone from the regime or close to it fled a long time ago," he told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... out of fear for his life. He said a 20-year-old factory worker who was the breadwinner of his family was shot by guards at a local checkpoint, even though he had not served in the army under Assad. "He would pass the checkpoints on his cycle of violence every day. He and the guards would even greet each other," he said. ATTACKS SPREAD ALONG THE COAST Attacks on Alawites spread from Latakia into the nearby province of Tartus, with some later hitting the major city of Homs inland. Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Observatory, said 42 people have died in sectarian killings since the Moslem feast of Eid el-Fitr that marks the end of Ramadan on March 30. "The killings, did not stop but now they are individual acts," Abdurrahman said. Mohammed Saleh, an activist from the central city of Homs who spent 17 years imprisoned during the rule of Bashir al-Assad and his father because of his opposition to the government, said victims of the attacks included Alawites who opposed Assad's rule. Saleh said 18 people he knew personally who had previously been detained by Assad's forces were killed in last month's attacks. Saleh said he is worried that Syria is turning from one dictatorship to another. "What we want is to have serious national army and security agencies whose job is to protect everyone and that they include everyone and not be made up of one sect or one religion," Saleh said. "There cannot be a state for everyone when security agencies belong to one sect." One high school in the city of Baniyas in Tartus province, posted a list on Facebook of almost 80 teachers, students and relatives and alumni who were killed in attacks over the past month. A video widely shared on social media showed the bodies of two young men with their mother standing by them, as the person filming scolded her and said her sons deserved to die because they were Alawite. TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ALAWITES FLEE TO LEBANON Alawites and other Syrians from coastal areas are fleeing into Leb ![]() through unofficial border crossings, some carrying babies and helping tired elderly people and pregnant women as they cross over a river dividing the two countries. Some 30,000 Alawite Syrians have fled to Lebanon over the past month, the United Nation's refugee agency says, scattered in some 30 towns and villages in northern Lebanon. While there is little assistance for them in Lebanon, many don't feel safe enough to go back. ATTACKS TEST THE INTERIM GOVERNMENT'S PROMISES Ongoing attacks have been a major letdown for Syrians who hoped that Assad's sudden fall would spell an end to violence against the country's many religious and ethnic groups after over a decade a war that killed hundreds of thousands of people. The new government has promised to create an inclusive state that holds perpetrators of crimes to account, and interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa has vowed to hold the perpetrators of recent attacks to justice and set up a committee to investigate the attacks. A few arrests have been reported, and the committee has said it is continuing its investigation in the coastal province, though they have not yet disclosed their findings. Right groups say the interim government faces a test. "What happens now is extremely important because it will literally set the path towards justice. We're no longer talking about addressing past violations and holding those perpetrators accountable, which is already a huge endeavor," said Amnesty International's Semaan. "Now we're looking at how the government at how it will set paths towards justice for the violations that it (has) committed." |
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Africa Subsaharan |
Scores killed in attack by gunmen in central Nigeria |
2025-04-16 |
![]() Gunmen suspected to be cattle rustlers raided two villages in Plateau state's Bassa district before shooting and hacking their victims. At least 51 bodies were recovered by rescue teams. Dozens more were maimed. A resident interviewed by Rooters said a mass burial was conducted for the victims. Plateau - in Nigeria's centre - is one of the country's most ethnically diverse states. Inter-communal fights pitting mostly Christian farmers and predominantly Moslem herders are common. Amnesty International said the button men also destroyed and looted homes. In a statement, the organization blamed 'inexcusable' security failures for Monday's attack. |
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Europe | |
Danish court rejects NGO appeal to ban weapons sales to Israel | |
2025-04-13 | |
[HodhodYemenNews] Denmark’s Eastern High Court on Friday rejected a lawsuit filed by several NGOs seeking to halt military exports to Israel, despite ongoing genocide in Gaza, reported Al Jazeera. The case focused on the role of Danish authorities in approving arms sales amid Israel’s genocide. The court ruled that the organizations had no legal standing in the case. It claimed that they lacked a direct connection to the matter. Activists expect to appeal the decision to Denmark’s Supreme Court. The lawsuit was filed in 2024 by four NGOs, including Amnesty International Denmark and the Palestinian rights group Al-Haq. They accused Denmark of violating international law by exporting military technology and F-35 jet components to Israel. The rights groups warned that Danish-made parts could be used in attacks on Gaza civilians. They sued the foreign ministry and police, who are responsible for export licenses and policy decisions.
Related: Denmark: 2025-04-11 Canadian national wanted for 2008 Mumbai terror attacks extradited to India Denmark: 2025-04-11 Space Force Colonel Removed After Disavowing JD Vance's Comments About Acquiring Greenland Denmark: 2025-04-09 'Walking Pneumonia.' Why Are People Talking About Quarantine and Masks Again? Related: Military exports to Israel 10/31/2024 Hezbollah said to demand Germany be booted from UNIFIL for its ‘complicity’ with Israel Military exports to Israel 10/25/2024 Germany approves over $100 million in arms exports to Israel, angering rights groups Military exports to Israel 08/17/2024 Republicans call for enhanced northern border security as Gazans flock to Canada | |
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
Tut tut and tut: ''Ahmad Manasra's story is one of trauma and global outrage!'' |
2025-04-12 |
[X]
Palestinian who stabbed two at age 13 is freed, said to have developed schizophrenia [IsraelTimes] Supreme Court denied mental health parole for Ahmad Manasra, 20, convicted of terrorism for seriously wounding two in 2015 attack in Jerusalem Israel on Thursday released a Paleostinian man who stabbed two people in Jerusalem when he was 13, and who lawyers claim developed schizophrenia as a result of his conditions in prison. Ahmad Manasra, now 20, was released after completing his 9.5-year sentence, according to his attorney Khaled Zabarqa, who said he had no immediate information about Manasra’s condition but was with the ex-prisoner’s parents. "We know in jail he’s been very ill. We’re waiting to know his health situation now," Zabarqa said. The release came amid allegations by human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... groups and released Paleostinian prisoners of abuse in Israeli prisons. Israel’s Prison Authority declined to comment on Manasra’s detention and said all prisoners are held in accordance with Israeli and international law and that allegations of abuse are investigated. In 2015, Manasra and his 15-year-old cousin Hassan Manasra seriously maimed a 20-year-old man and a 13-year-old boy in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood. The terror attack took place amid a spate of stabbings by Paleostinians in the West Bank and across Israel that raised fears of a third intifada in 2015-2016. Police responding to the attack fatally shot Hassan, and Ahmad was maimed when he was hit by a car as he tried to escape the scene of the attack. Graphic video would later circulate of the maimed assailant lying in the street, bleeding from the head as passersby cursed at him. Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ![]() Manasra was convicted a year later and sentenced to 12 years in prison. In 2017, the Supreme Court reduced Manasra’s sentence to 9.5 years, citing his young age, rehabilitation, the opinion of prison authorities, and Manasra’s secondary role in the terror attack relative to his cousin. Courts rejected repeated requests to release Manasra early on mental health grounds. Because Manasra was convicted of terrorism, he was deemed ineligible for a mental health release, regardless of age or psychological state. In October 2021, an Israeli psychiatrist from the left-wing group Physicians for Human Rights determined Manasra was suffering from psychotic delusions, severe depression and suicidal thoughts, according to Amnesty International. Authorities first moved Manasra to isolation a month later after a scuffle with another inmate. In interviews the following year, Manasra’s family and lawyers said he was locked in a small cell for 23 hours a day and suffered from paranoia and delusions that kept him from sleeping. His lawyer said Manasra had tried to slit his wrists. In March 2023, a judge approved the extension of Manasra’s solitary confinement "to ensure the safety of Manasra, the safety of others from him and security and order in the prison." During the hearing, the state said Manasra was found fit for solitary confinement in physical and psychiatric examinations, Haaretz reported at the time. Manasra’s family said he was transferred to the psychiatric wing of another prison every few months, where doctors would give him injections to stabilize him. Speaking to left-wing site Local Call in 2022, Manasra’s lawyer Leah Zemel said Manasra had developed schizophrenia because of how he was treated in prison. "Ahmad has no family history of schizophrenia," said Zemel. "His illness developed as a result of these conditions." She argued her client’s condition could be traced back to the crowd that gathered around him when he was injured while carrying out the terror attack. "I think that was a very difficult moment for him, and he went into prison with that difficulty," said Zemel. Related: Ahmad Manasra 10/26/2023 Misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war is flooding social media. Here are the facts Ahmad Manasra 01/21/2016 13-year-old Palestinian stabber at center of worldwide protest campaign against Israel |
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Arabia |
US aid cuts threaten life-saving services in Yemen: Amnesty |
2025-04-10 |
[GEO.TV] Amnesty International warned Thursday that sweeping US aid cuts, compounded by air strikes on Iran's Houthi sock puppets![]() Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the JewsThey like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... s, will have dire consequences for the people of Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... , more than half of whom rely on assistance to survive. If more than half your population relies on someplace else's generosity, it takes an IQ on the order of a shoe to start a fight with them. The cuts risk deepening one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, Amnesty said, with the United States having been Yemen's largest humanitarian donor for years. "Jimmy crack corn and I don't care...!" Citing aid workers, the organization said slashing funding "has led to the shut-down of life-saving assistance and protection services". Shooting missiles at ships at sea has led to slashing funding. This includes treatment for malnutrition in children, services for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and other healthcare services for children. Not of concern to the guys shooting the missiles, of much less concern to me. I think I'm into negative numbers now. Dozens of safe spaces for battered women and girls have also been closed, Amnesty said, warning that multiple facilities providing reproductive health services or protection for women were also at risk. The safe spaces for battered wimmin closed? Perhaps the heroic Yemeni men should stop thumping them. "The abrupt and irresponsible cuts in US aid will have catastrophic consequences on Yemen s most vulnerable and marginalised groups, including women and girls, children and internally displaced people," said Diala Haidar, Amnesty International s Yemen researcher. Related: Amnesty International: 2025-04-07 Syria says Amnesty ignored context in Alawite killings Amnesty International: 2025-04-05 Iran prepares mass finger amputation of 'thieves' in brutal sharia punishment Amnesty International: 2025-04-03 Pakistan begins forced deportation of Afghan migrants after March 31 deadline ends |
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