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Islamabad — Authorities in Pakistan temporarily slowed down internet services and blocked access to major social media platforms Sunday amid a rare online rally organized by the party of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, said its “virtual power show” was held in response to a government crackdown on party workers and election-related public gatherings. 

“In what was an expected move, the illegitimate, fascist regime has slowed down internet speed & disrupted social media platforms all across Pakistan, prior to the PTI’s historic Virtual Jalsa (political rally)!” the party said in a statement. “This is proof of the fear of the unprecedented popularity of Imran Khan’s PTI!”

NetBlocks, an independent global internet monitor promoting digital rights, cybersecurity, and governance, confirmed the disruptive internet connectivity in Pakistan.

“Live metrics show a nation-scale disruption to social media platforms across #Pakistan, including X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube; the incident comes just ahead of a major virtual gathering organized by persecuted opposition leader Imran Khan’s party, PTI,” NetBlocks wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

There was no immediate government response to the allegations.

The online PTI rally comes as election officials prepare to organize national elections on February 8.

Khan, 71, has been in a political showdown with the country’s powerful military since a parliamentary no-confidence motion toppled his government in April 2022. 

The cricket star-turned-prime minister rejected the motion as illegal, accusing the United States of orchestrating his ouster with the help of the Pakistani military, charges Washington and Islamabad reject. 

Since his ousting, Khan has faced dozens of lawsuits filed by authorities, which he claims to be a ploy by the military to prevent his comeback to power because of his advocacy for an independent foreign policy for Pakistan, one free from the influence of the United States.

In early August, Khan was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to three years in prison, which he denies. Although a higher court later suspended his sentence and ordered his release on bail, Pakistani authorities have refused, citing numerous other lawsuits against him.

A military-backed government crackdown on Khan’s party has led to the arrest of scores of his key aides, including former ministers and lawmakers, on charges they played a role in attacks on army installations during PTI-led anti-government protests last May.

While many PTI members remain in jail and await trial, dozens of others have been freed after publicly denouncing Khan, quitting his party, or joining other groups allegedly under military pressure.  

The military has staged three coups against elected prime ministers since Pakistan gained independence from Britain in 1947, and it ruled the country for more than three decades. Critics say army generals influence policymaking significantly, even when not in power.

According to public opinion polls, Khan remains the country’s most popular politician, and his party is rated as Pakistan’s most considerable political force.
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new delhi — The Indian Navy said Saturday that it is shadowing a bulk carrier that was boarded by unknown attackers — likely Somali pirates — in the Arabian Sea. 

The Maltese-flagged MV Ruen, with a crew of 18, had sent a Mayday message on the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations portal on Thursday indicating that six unknown people had boarded the vessel, the Indian Navy said in its statement. 

The navy responded to the distress call by sending its anti-piracy patrol warship and maritime patrol aircraft to locate and assist the vessel, it added. 

The aircraft overflew the hijacked vessel early Friday and has since been continuously monitoring the movement of the vessel, which the Indian Navy said was headed toward the coast of Somalia. It added that its warship, which was deployed in the Gulf of Aden for anti-piracy patrols, also intercepted the carrier early on Saturday. 

The Ruen, which is managed by Bulgarian shipping company Navibulgar, was off the Yemeni island of Socotra when it was boarded on Thursday, the private intelligence firm Ambrey and the UKMTO said. Bulgarian authorities said the ship’s crew were nationals of Angola, Bulgaria and Myanmar. 

“The necessary steps have been taken to pass the information on to all foreign partners and institutions that we will count on to provide assistance,” Bulgarian Foreign Minister Maria Gabriel told reporters Friday. 

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the assault. However, suspicion immediately fell on pirates from Somalia. Their activity has dropped in recent years, but there has been growing concern it would resume amid the political uncertainty in the country and wider chaos in the region that has included attacks on shipping by Yemeni Houthi rebels. 

On Friday, the UKMTO issued a warning to shippers saying the security manager for the Ruen “believes the crew no longer has control of the vessel.” The European Union’s anti-piracy force in the region said the Spanish frigate Victoria was on its way to intercept the “alleged pirate-hijacked vessel.” 
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Lahore, Pakistan — Artificial rain was used for the first time in Pakistan on Saturday in a bid to combat hazardous levels of smog in the megacity of Lahore, the provincial government said.

In the first experiment of its kind in the South Asian country, planes equipped with cloud seeding equipment flew over 10 areas of the city, often ranked one of the worst places globally for air pollution.

The “gift” was provided by the United Arab Emirates, said caretaker chief minister of Punjab, Mohsin Naqvi.

“Teams from the UAE, along with two planes, arrived here about 10 to 12 days ago. They used 48 flares to create the rain,” he told the media.

He said the team would know by Saturday night what effect the “artificial rain” had.

The UAE has increasingly used cloud seeding, sometimes referred to as artificial rain or “blueskying,” to create rain in the arid expanse of the country.

The weather modification involves releasing common salt — or a mixture of different salts — into clouds.

The crystals encourage condensation to form as rain.

It has been deployed in dozens of countries, including the United States, China and India.

Even very modest rain is effective in bringing down pollution, experts say.

Air pollution has worsened in Pakistan in recent years, as a mixture of low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from seasonal crop burn off and colder winter temperatures coalesce into stagnant clouds of smog.

Lahore suffers the most from the toxic smog, choking the lungs of more than 11 million residents in Lahore during the winter season.

Levels of PM2.5 pollutants — cancer-causing microparticles that enter the bloodstream through the lungs — were measured as hazardous in Lahore on Saturday at more than 66 times the World Health Organization’s danger limits.

Breathing the poisonous air has catastrophic health consequences.

Prolonged exposure can trigger strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory diseases, according to the WHO.

Successive governments have used various methods to reduce air pollution in Lahore, including spraying water on the roads, and weekend shutdowns of schools, factories and markets, with little or no success.

When asked about a long-term strategy to combat smog, the chief minister said the government needs studies to formulate a plan.
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Washington — Edris Niazi had “a normal life,” back in Kabul, working as a government employee, but his life “turned upside down” after the Taliban seized power in 2021.

Niazi, 32, is now working as a welder in Turkey’s Kayseri province with “no future,” as he fears being deported to Afghanistan.

“There is no way that I return to Afghanistan,” Niazi said. “My life is in danger, and I would try whatever it takes to go to a third country, either through legal or illegal routes.”

Many urban, educated Afghans like Niazi escaped after Kabul fell into the hands of the Taliban.

According to the U.N., more than 1.6 million Afghans have fled since August 2021, bringing the total number of Afghan refugees in the neighboring countries to 8.2 million.

More than 300,000 Afghan refugees live in Turkey. Many of them, like Niazi, are hoping to be relocated to a third country.

“Turkey is not the place that one would like to stay in it permanently,” Niazi said. “Turkey serves as a bridge” for refugees hoping to go to Europe.

Waiting for relocation

Many Afghan families in Turkey have been waiting for resettlement in third countries for years.

Munir Mansoori, who fled with his family to Turkey in 2016, is still waiting to be relocated to a third country.

“We have tried all the venues [for relocation] but our efforts have yet to yield results,” said Mansoori, who worked as a journalist with Ariana TV back in Afghanistan.

“Here in Turkey, we can’t work in our profession. We can’t work here. It is a different country with a different culture and language,” he said.

He said that he is afraid of deportation as his life would be in danger in Afghanistan.

“I am afraid of being deported. I received threats because I was hosting a music show in Afghanistan before coming to Turkey,” he added.

Ali Hikmat, the co-founder of the Afghan Refugee Solidarity Association, told VOA that in just one week in November, “Turkey arrested 820 Afghans in the eastern part of Turkey and deported them by air to Kabul.”

Hikmat added that Afghans are also pushed back to Iran via the land border.

Last year, Human Rights Watch reported that Turkey was “routinely” pushing back tens of thousands of Afghan refugees to Iran or sending them back to Afghanistan, “with little or no examination of their claims for international protection.”

Based on the information provided by the Turkish authorities, HRW reported that Turkey deported 44,768 Afghans by air to Kabul in the first eight months of 2022.

Worries about education

Shabnam Mohammadi was in high school in Afghanistan’s western province of Herat when the Taliban seized power in 2021.

She, together with her parents and three brothers, left Afghanistan two months after the takeover and crossed the border to Iran and then to Turkey.

Mohammadi told VOA that as soon as the family reached Turkey, they “applied for relocation [to a third country] but heard nothing.”

“It is difficult here. We left everything behind and had to start from the beginning,” she said, “We can’t go to school. We don’t have a future here and can’t go to Afghanistan.”

Mohammadi added that the family still hopes to be resettled in a third country where she and her brothers can attend school.

“But now that we are in Turkey, it is not clear what is going to happen to us,” she said.

Mohammadi said that she would not be able to go to school or work if she returned to Afghanistan.

After seizing power in 2021, the Taliban banned girls’ secondary and university education. Women are also barred from working with NGOs, going to parks and gyms and long-distance traveling without a male chaperone.

“Like everyone else,” Niazi said, “I would like to go to a place where my daughter can get an education. I want her to have a better future.”

This story originated in VOA’s Afghan Service.
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ISLAMABAD — Pakistan urged Afghanistan’s Taliban government Thursday to take decisive action against “terrorist entities” on its soil and extradite fugitive militant leaders allegedly responsible for plotting this week’s deadly assault on a Pakistani military base.

“We have noted the statement by the Afghan interim government that it will investigate the terrorist attack of December 12,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Baloch told a weekly news conference in Islamabad.

Tuesday’s gun-and-suicide bomb attack, one of the deadliest in Pakistan’s recent history, occurred in the militancy-hit northwestern district of Dera Ismail Khan, killing 23 soldiers and wounding many more.  

Multiple security sources reported an Afghan suicide bomber was among a group of six assailants who raided the military base camp and were killed in the ensuing clashes with Pakistani security forces.  

A recently emerged militant outfit, the Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan, or TJP, claimed the attack. Baloch said TJP was “affiliated” with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which is a globally designated terrorist group and is waging war against the Pakistani state out of sanctuaries on Afghan soil.  

“Afghanistan must take strong action against perpetrators of this heinous attack and hand them over to Pakistan along with the TTP leadership in Afghanistan,” she said. “We also expect Afghanistan to take concrete and verifiable steps to prevent the use of Afghan soil by terrorist entities against Pakistan.”

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Afghan state television on Wednesday that “if they [Pakistan] ask for an investigation and share details with us, we will surely investigate it.” He, however, rejected as groundless Islamabad’s allegations that the assault was connected to Afghanistan.

Pakistan remains skeptical about the Taliban’s claims of not allowing terrorist groups to threaten neighboring countries from Afghan soil. Mujahid did not condemn the attack nor have the Taliban done so previously, prompting Islamabad to demand they publicly denounce such acts of terrorism.  

Officials in Islamabad maintain several thousand TTP leaders and fighters have enjoyed “greater operational freedom” in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power two years ago, leading to a 65% surge in terrorist attacks in Pakistan and killing nearly 2,500 people, including security forces.  

Authorities say fighters and suicide bombers linked to the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan have also participated in some of the high-profile attacks this year, leading to a 500% rise in suicide bombings in Pakistan since early 2023.  

Pakistan’s army chief, General Asim Munir, is in the United States discussing with U.S. counterparts, among other issues, the growing threat of terrorism facing his country from militant sanctuaries in Afghanistan.

Without going into specifics of the talks, U.S. State Department spokesman Mathew Miller told reporters on Wednesday that Washington looks forward to cooperating with Islamabad on regional security and defense.

“We have taken a number of steps to partner with them this year on antiterrorism activities. In March, the United States and Pakistan held a high-level counterterrorism dialogue to discuss the shared terrorist threats facing our two countries and to develop strategies to cooperate in critical areas, such as border security and countering the financing of terrorism,” Miller said without elaborating.  

He added that the U.S. is funding several counterterrorism capacity-building programs in Pakistan focused on law enforcement and justice.

Pakistan was among only three countries that formally recognized the previous Taliban government in Kabul from 1996 to 2001 before they were ousted by a U.S.-led international military intervention for sheltering the al-Qaida terrorist network. The others were Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The Pakistani military stood accused of providing shelter and covert support to the Taliban insurgency for two decades followed their defeat by foreign-backed forces in 2001.  

But Islamabad’s relations with the Taliban have worsened since they retook control of Afghanistan in August 2021, when all U.S. and NATO troops withdrew from Afghanistan — mainly over growing terrorism in Pakistan.  

TTP is also known as an offshoot and close ally of the Afghan Taliban. It provided recruits and shelter on Pakistani soil to Taliban leaders as they directed insurgent attacks against international forces on the Afghan side of the border.  

An article published recently in the mainstream Afghan TOLO media outlet quoted Taliban officials as acknowledging that TTP is a close ally of de facto Kabul rulers. It went on to claim that in recent talks between Kabul and Islamabad, the Pakistani side demanded action against TTP militants, but the Taliban refused.  

“The Pakistani authorities wanted the Afghan government to take action against the TTP, stop them from operating, arrest them, imprison them, and hand them over to Pakistan,” the author quoted an unnamed Taliban official who attended the meeting.  

“These requests were not accepted by the Afghan side because, on the one hand, TTP has helped them against NATO and the United States of America in the past years, and on the other hand, these actions are against their [Taliban] values.”
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NEW DELHI — Monday’s judgement by India’s Supreme Court upholding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government’s move four years ago to scrap the limited autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir state is expected to set back the prospect of any thaw in ties between India and Pakistan.

It will also deepen the alienation in India’s only Muslim-majority region, according to analysts.

In its unanimous verdict, the five-member Supreme Court bench said the special status given to Kashmir was a “temporary provision” and held that its 2019 removal by the Hindu nationalist government was “constitutionally valid.”

The ruling came in response to petitions challenging the revocation of so-called Article 370 that had given the region its own constitution, flag and protections, such as land ownership rights for locals.

Divided between India and Pakistan, the Himalayan territory of Kashmir has for decades been a flashpoint between the two countries, which both claim it in its entirety.

Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry rejected the ruling by India’s Supreme Court saying it had “no legal value.”

India has “no right to make unilateral decisions on the status of this disputed territory” against the will of the Kashmiri people and Pakistan, Jalil Abbas Jilani, Pakistani caretaker foreign minister said Monday.

After India scrapped Kashmir’s special status in 2019, Pakistan had downgraded diplomatic ties and suspended trade with India.

The deep freeze in relations between the bitter South Asian rivals is expected to continue.

“Essentially India has presented Pakistan a fait accompli in Kashmir. Even if Pakistan rejects it, they cannot change anything,” said Sreeram Chaulia, dean of the Jindal School of International Affairs in Jindal, near Delhi.

“So there is not much in terms of a thaw or reproachment possible,” he said.

He said that with the shifting geopolitics in recent years that have drawn India closer to the United States and the West, and conflicts in Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas, Kashmir has virtually dropped off the international radar.

“India wants its border with Pakistan to be quiet but is not interested in a dialogue process at this point,” Chaulia, said, “Its attention is more focused on the border with China.”

The countries each have elections in coming months. Pakistan will hold elections in February. Dates have not been announced in India, but polls will probably begin in April.

“In South Asian countries, we play to the voting bank. Neither side will talk about peace at this point. Both will only talk about Kashmir in an aggressive manner and ramp up hard lining their stance on Kashmir,” according to Jyoti M. Pathania, a professor of international relations at Jindal School of International Affairs.

After the Supreme Court verdict, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah reiterated India’s claims to Pakistani Kashmir. “PoK [Pakistani-occupied Kashmir] is ours and no one can take it from us,” he told Parliament.

Modi’s Hindu nationalist government’s 2019 move in Kashmir had been widely welcomed by most Indians and bolstered his credentials as a strong nationalist leader. The Supreme Court verdict validating the measure will further boost his standing, according to analysts.

Modi called the court verdict “a beacon of hope, a promise of a brighter future” in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. He said that “the Court in its profound wisdom has fortified the very essence of unity that we, as Indians hold dear and cherish above all else.”

A separatist insurgency led by Islamic militant groups that had claimed tens of thousands of lives in Kashmir since it erupted in 1990 has largely waned, though sporadic attacks continue.

In Kashmir, however, the verdict triggered disappointment, according to local observers.

“People are not happy because Kashmiris have historically been very possessive about their identity,” said Noor Mohammad Baba, a political analyst in the Kashmiri capital, Srinagar.

Many Kashmiris saw the 2019 move as a ploy to strip the special identity of India’s only Muslim-majority region by the Hindu nationalist government and take away protections they had over land ownership and local government jobs.

Kashmir, which had been split into two federally administered territories, is now under the direct rule of New Delhi, which has passed new laws that make it possible for Indians from outside Kashmir to become permanent residents of the region.

The government has said that the new measures will integrate Kashmir with the rest of India, create new jobs and help it progress economically.

However, these “have only integrated the land and not the people of Kashmir,” according to Anuradha Bhasin, executive editor of the Kashmir Times. “There is a sense of despair and worry about what lies ahead,” she said. “There are real anxieties on the ground about a demographic change that could take place in the region.”

Local political parties in Kashmir have also expressed disappointment over the ruling.

Former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti posted on X that India’s verdict is nothing less than a death sentence not only for Jammu and Kashmir but for the idea of India.

The court ruled that Legislative Assembly elections must be held by next September.

“That offers hope that maybe political voices of Kashmiris will get expression,” according to Baba.
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dubai, united arab emirates — Widespread satisfaction over a pledge for the world to transition away from fossil fuels was tempered at COP28 by the failure of China and India — the world’s most populous nations — to endorse a related promise to triple their sources of renewable energy by 2030.

Experts attending the global climate conference that concluded Wednesday in Dubai said China was reluctant to sign onto the pledge because it has already had a major expansion in renewables in the past few years, making the goal of tripling current capacity that much harder.

In the case of India, the experts say, carbon emissions are already lower on a per capita basis than in most developed countries and the government feels it is unfair for the nation to be held to the same standards.

More than 120 other nations signed onto the pledge, which also calls for a doubling of energy efficiency in the same timeframe. The agreement calls for the world’s renewable energy capacity to be increased from the current 3,400 gigawatts to 11,000 GW by the end of the decade.

Francesco La Camera, director general of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) welcomed the agreement in an interview with VOA.

“This task is monumental. Yet it is achievable,” he said. “We believe it is the most realistic course-correction to urgently accelerate the global energy transition away from fossil fuels, trigger systematic change and overcome the barriers stemming from fossil fuels.”

China and India, however, will need to play a major role if the world is to reach its goal of limiting global warning to 1.5 degree centigrade. China is the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide and India is the third largest, ranking behind the United States.

Both countries are also continuing to build new power plants fueled with coal, the energy source that contributes most to climate change.

Despite their refusal to sign the pledge, both countries have been supportive of the goal of tripling renewable capacity, according to Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at the Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

“India’s existing targets and commitments are already in line with this goal,” he told VOA. “China’s current targets fall well short of a tripling, but the actual installations of renewable energy capacity in 2023 are already sufficient to achieve the tripling in practice if maintained until 2030.”

But, he said, China has made clear it believes something less than a tripling should be satisfactory in its case because of its large existing capacity.

Myllyvirta also said China also has qualms about the pledge to cut energy consumption per capita in half.

“China’s economic growth has recently become more energy intensive and energy intensity gains have slowed down substantially, leading to difficulties in meeting the country’s existing energy efficiency commitments, which it has also pledged internationally,” he said. “This makes the energy efficiency pledge tough for China to support.”

India, for its part, “has a valid argument that their current and historical emissions per capita are still low, so it’s unfair for countries with much higher emissions to push them to commit,” Myllyvirta said.

“It’s been a key part of [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi’s message on renewables that they are being ambitious on renewables because they can, not because they have to.”

Anders Hove, a senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, told VOA that China may also be reluctant to sign onto new commitments when it has not yet updated its own domestic targets, which will be determined as part of the next five-year plan.

Hove also noted that using the year 2022 as the baseline for a tripling of renewable capacity was a problem for China.

The 2020 baseline applied in the Sunnylands Declaration, issued jointly by the United States and China after a summit in California last month, “is a bit more fair, since that gives China some credit for its progress,” Hove said.
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ISLAMABAD — A special Pakistani court Wednesday indicted former Prime Minister Imran Khan on unprecedented and disputed charges of disclosing classified information involving the United States while in office.

The indictment has dealt a fresh blow to the incarcerated popular leader’s chances of contesting national elections in February and returning to power.

Co-defendant Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Khan’s deputy and a former foreign minister, was also indicted for his alleged role in the case. Foreign media representatives were not allowed to cover the legal proceedings, while only a handful of local journalists were given access as usual.

“The charges were read out loudly in the courtroom,” government prosecutor Shah Khawar told Reuters, saying Khan and Qureshi both pleaded not guilty.

Khan’s lawyer, barrister Gohar Khan, disputed the indictment. He told reporters after the hearing that “no charge was framed before us nor signed by the accused.” The trial was being conducted “hastily without ensuring transparency and fairness,” the lawyer alleged.

“Again, justice is being rushed, and whenever it is rushed, it is always crushed,” he added. The defense attorney lamented the trial could not be conducted openly and said most foreign and local media reporters were barred from covering the proceedings in violation of a judicial order.

“The criminal justice system of Pakistan is being used as a tool for political victimization. We have had enough of it. This must stop,” he said.

The court initially indicted Khan and Qureshi in October on the same charges in closed-door proceedings, but a higher court scrapped the process and ordered authorities to ensure an open trial and allow family members and journalists to attend it.

The judicial proceedings are underway inside a prison facility near the capital, Islamabad, for security reasons, the government says.

Legal experts say that a guilty verdict could result in a maximum sentence of 14 years imprisonment or a death sentence.

The lawsuit stems from a classified cable, internally known as a cipher, sent to Islamabad by Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington in March 2022.

Khan alleged the cipher documented the United States’ role in the toppling of his government a month later with the help of his country’s powerful military to punish him for visiting Moscow a day before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Both Washington and the Pakistan military deny the charges.

On Monday, the State Department spokesman again refuted allegations the U.S. had anything to do with Pakistan’s internal affairs.

“The United States does not play any role in choosing the leaders of Pakistan. We engage with the leadership shown by — or the leadership decided by the Pakistani people — and we will continue to engage with the government of Pakistan on all these issues,” Matthew Miller told a news conference in Washington.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, party won the last general elections in 2018, making him the prime minister for the first time.

The charismatic cricketer-turned-politician discussed details of the cipher at party rallies and during media interviews in the run-up to the controversial vote and continued doing so after his ouster.

Khan maintains he was doing so lawfully because he was duty-bound to inform Pakistanis about “the foreign conspiracy” against the government they had elected.

Since his removal from power, the ousted prime minister has faced dozens of lawsuits filed by authorities, which he claims to be a ploy by the military to prevent his comeback to power because of his advocacy for an independent foreign policy for Pakistan, one free from the influence of the United States.

Last August, Khan was convicted in a graft case and sentenced to three years in jail. A superior court later suspended his sentence and ordered the government to release him on bail, but authorities refused, citing the cipher and other lawsuits against him.

Unless his conviction is overturned, the former prime minister remains disqualified from running in the upcoming elections or leading the PTI under election laws.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed controversial military tribunals to resume trials of more than 100 Imran Khan supporters on charges of attacking army properties during anti-government protests last May.

The judicial order came less than two months after a five-judge panel of the top court ruled against trying civilians in military courts. Khan and his party maintain the military trials of political activists are a violation of the constitution and are meant to scare their candidates away from the upcoming polls.

The military has staged three coups against elected prime ministers since Pakistan gained independence from Britain in 1947, and it ruled the country for more than three decades.

Pakistani politicians, including former prime ministers, say the unconstitutional military interventions have encouraged generals to influence policymaking significantly, even when not in power.
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GENEVA — Over the next three days, more than 3,500 delegates attending the world’s largest international conference on refugee issues will seek concrete, practical solutions to ease the plight of 114 million people forcibly displaced by persecution, human rights violations, violence, and armed conflict.

In opening the Global Refugee Forum Wednesday, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi called the gathering “an opportunity for all of us to re-commit to some basic actions needed to respond to forced displacement, protecting people forced to flee, and sharing the responsibility of those who host them.”

Ironically, the issue that looms the largest over the forum, that of the Palestinian refugees, does not fall under the UNHCR’s mandate.  They are under the care and protection of UNRWA, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.

However, Grandi, who was commissioner-general of UNRWA from 2010 to 2014, was unable to ignore what he calls “the major catastrophe unfolding in the Gaza Strip” triggered by the brutal invasion of Israel by Hamas militants on October 7.

“We foresee more civilian deaths and suffering, and also further displacement that threatens the region,” he said, echoing the call of the U.N. Secretary-General “for an immediate and sustained humanitarian ceasefire, the release of hostages” and the resumption of a dialogue that “brings real peace and security to the people of Israel and Palestine.”

These sentiments were forcefully brought home by Jordan’s King Abdullah II in his keynote address to the conference.

“As we speak, we find ourselves dealing with another internal displacement crisis in the region. Over 1.9 million Palestinians in Gaza, many of whom themselves refugees, have been forced to flee their homes amid a relentless bombing campaign,” he said, referring to Israeli military operations. 

“With all eyes on Gaza, the international community must recognize more than ever that Band-Aid solutions are no longer feasible and that global crises demand long-term responsibility sharing,” noting that Jordan was hosting nearly four million refugees of different nationalities—over a third of his country’s population.

While confirming that Jordan continued to support the Palestinians and UNRWA in Gaza, he said there needed to be a more coordinated response and support by the international community for the needs of countries hosting refugees and asylum seekers.

“Our country is still bearing the heavy costs and burdens of the refugee communities in our midst, he said adding that international funding to meet pledges has been steadily declining.

“So far this year, we only received around 22 percent of the Response Plan needs, the lowest level ever. The rest is covered through Jordan’s national budget,” he said.

While a strong focus remains and must remain on Gaza, High Commissioner Grandi urged governments not to lose sight of other pressing humanitarian and refugee crises around the world.

“The situation of civilians in Sudan and in Ukraine, including millions who are refugees and displaced, demand our attention and support, as do protracted crises like the plight of the Rohingya, the Syria situation, Afghanistan” and others, he said.

Belying common perceptions, UNHCR statistics confirm that low- and middle-income countries host 75 percent of the world’s refugees and other people in need of international protection.

Colombia, one of four co-convenors of the Global Refugee Forum is a case in point.  Colombian Vice President Francia Elena Marquez Mina told the forum that her country has the highest number of forcibly displaced persons in the world — over 6.9 million people uprooted from their homes due to decades of internal armed conflict.

“Colombia is also the fourth country to host the largest number of refugees in the world.  And today, we have about three million Venezuelans, which we have welcomed and hosted.

“Two million have benefited from a special migration status; 100,000 children have received Colombian nationality, and these are children who are at the risk of being stateless without a nationality.  And, Colombia has provided them with the civil right of recognizing Colombian nationality to those children,” she said.

“I believe this demonstrates Colombia’s commitment not only to addressing the forcibly displaced population in our own country but also addressing those we are hosting who come to our country,” she said.

However, she said that this care comes at a price. She said international legislation must be produced committing nations to support refugee hosting countries “because our state alone does not have the capacity or resources to grapple with this situation.

“No one wants to leave the countries where they were born. No one wants to flee from their homes,” she said. “People leave because they want to safeguard their lives, or they want to seek better opportunities.”
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islamabad — A Pakistani federal court on Tuesday quashed the conviction of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a final corruption case, which brings him closer to running for national elections in February.

Sharif has served as Pakistan’s prime minister for three nonconsecutive terms.

Sharif returned to Pakistan in October after a four-year self-imposed exile in London to avoid serving a 10-year prison sentence for corruption charges.

His party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N, or PML-N, says the 73-year-old politician plans to run for prime minister again for the fourth time.

The high court in the capital, Islamabad, announced its verdict on Tuesday in response to Sharif’s appeal, which he filed against his conviction shortly after returning to Pakistan.

The acquittal came nearly two weeks after the court overturned his conviction in another graft case.

Sharif’s party welcomed Tuesday’s court ruling, claiming he stands “acquitted in all lawsuits today” and dismissing “fake” corruption charges against him.

“God willing, Nawaz Sharif will become the Prime Minister for the fourth time with the people’s vote,” Marriyum Aurangzeb, a PML-N spokesperson, said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Sharif is expected to be a top contender in elections scheduled for February 8, 2024, if his legal challenges are removed. However, legal experts noted that quashing the two corruption convictions does not mean the stage is set for Sharif’s political comeback.

He stepped down from the prime minister’s office in 2017 after Pakistan’s Supreme Court found him guilty of lying about his assets during a corruption probe and disqualified him from holding any public office. The deposed leader was subsequently convicted and sentenced to seven years and 10 years concurrently in prison by an anti-graft court in 2018 in the now-quashed graft charges against him.

Sharif has never completed a full term in office, as all his governments were dismissed or faced allegations of corruption and misrule. He has denied wrongdoing and maintained the charges brought against him have been politically motivated, blaming the Pakistani military for orchestrating them after he fell out with the powerful institution.

He claims that after staging his 2017 ouster from power, the military supported his political rival, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, in the 2018 elections.

Khan also fell out with the military and is currently serving a three-year sentence on corruption charges, which he alleges are the work of the military to prevent him from returning to power.

The 71-year-old cricket star-turned-former prime minister remains the most popular politician in Pakistan, with his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party the biggest political force, according to the latest opinion polls.

Pakistani politicians and independent critics have increasingly accused army generals of plotting the removal of elected governments that don’t fall in line with the military, particularly when it comes to making foreign and security policies or questioning the military’s commercial interests.

While the army has consistently denied any interference with national politics, its former chief, retired General Qamar Javed Bajwa, admitted publicly just before stepping down last year that his institution had meddled in civilian affairs for decades, exposing it to severe public criticism.

“I believe the major reason for this is the constant meddling by the army in politics for the last 70 years, which is unconstitutional,” Bajwa said in a televised speech to military officers and deceased soldiers’ relatives in November 2022.

“That is why since February last year, the military has decided they will not interfere in any political matter,” he added, though critics quickly dismissed Bajwa’s statement as mere claims.

The military has staged three coups and ruled Pakistan for more than three decades since the country gained independence from Britain in 1947.
…

Islamabad — An early morning militant attack in Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province killed 23 troops Tuesday.

The attack occurred in Daraban, a remote area in the militancy-hit district of Dera Ismail Khan near Pakistan’s tribal districts bordering Afghanistan.

Inter Services Public Relations or ISPR, the Pakistani military’s media wing, confirmed the death toll. It also said the military killed 27 terrorists in multiple operations.

The military’s statement sent to the media several hours after the Daraban incident said six terrorists attacked a security forces’ post in the early hours of the morning.

“The attempt to enter the post was effectively thwarted which forced the terrorists to ram an explosive-laden vehicle into the post, followed by a suicide bombing attack.”

According to the military’s statement, the building of the military camp collapsed because of the ensuing blast, causing multiple casualties.

The statement said all six terrorists were “effectively engaged and sent to hell,” implying the attackers were killed in military action.

The overnight militant attack came after operations targeted terrorists in the larger Dera Ismail Khan area between Dec. 11 and 12. The ISPR said 21 terrorists were killed in those intelligence-based operations in which two soldiers also died.

Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan, a relatively new and less-known militant group claimed responsibility for the attack in Daraban.

The group has carried out several high-profile raids against security forces in recent months including an attack on an air force base in early November that damaged three aircraft.

In July, the group claimed responsibility for attacking a military base in southwestern Baluchistan province and killing 12 Pakistani soldiers.

Condemning the attack in a message on X, formerly Twitter, Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar expressed the country’s resolve to continue fighting terrorism.

Pakistani military and police are coming under frequent deadly attacks, primarily in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.

Pakistan alleges terrorists present on Afghan soil are responsible for the surge and accuses Afghan Taliban of providing them a haven. The de facto rulers in Kabul deny the charge.
…

Representatives from Myanmar’s ruling military have held talks, facilitated by China, with three armed rebel groups leading an anti-junta offensive, state media reported a junta spokesperson as saying on Monday.

Myanmar’s military is battling armed opponents on several fronts, in the fiercest challenge to its grip on the Southeast Asian country since it seized power from an elected government in a 2021 coup.

Rebel groups aligned with a pro-democracy parallel government launched a coordinated offensive in late October, taking control of several military posts and towns near the border with China in the north and in western states.

“Myanmar’s National Unity and Peacemaking Coordination Committee met with representatives of MNDAA, TNLA and AA with the help of China,” said Zaw Min Tun, according to MRTV’s Telegram channel, referring to the armed ethnic groups spearheading the offensive.  

“Based on the development of the conversation, there will likely be another meeting at the end of this month.”  

It was unclear when or where the meeting took place and Zaw Min Tun did not elaborate on what was discussed.

Representatives of the three rebel groups did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. Chinese officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

The statement comes as fighting continues across two-thirds of the country, killing more than 360 civilians and displacing more than half a million, according to the United Nations.
…

In the last three months, Iran and Pakistan have forced around 850,000 undocumented Afghan nationals to return to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, officials reported Sunday.

The crackdown on Afghans illegally residing in the neighboring countries is ongoing, despite warnings by the United Nations that a harsh winter and an uncertain future await returnees in their crisis-ridden, impoverished nation.

Abdul Rahman Rashid, the Taliban minister of refugees and repatriation, told the local TOLO news channel Monday that Iran had deported “approximately 345,000” Afghans since the last week of September.

Without giving further details, Rashid said the Taliban administration had provided each returning family with cash grants and other urgent assistance. 

Iranian authorities have pledged to deport Afghans illegally residing in their country.

Officials in Pakistan have reported that almost 490,000 individuals have returned to Afghanistan since the government ordered a crackdown on all illegal foreigners, including an estimated 1.7 million Afghan nationals two months ago.

Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti claimed at a news conference in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, over the weekend that “more than 90%” of undocumented Afghans had returned or doing so “voluntarily.”

U.N. refugee agencies have reported a gradual decrease in the number of returnees from Pakistan in recent days but anticipate an additional 280,000 individuals are expected to return to Afghanistan from the neighboring country by July 2024.

The World Health Organization cautioned last week that “the vulnerability of returnees will intensify during the harsh winter, leading to a greater demand for lifesaving healthcare services as the situation evolves.

The Pakistani government has justified its deportation campaign, saying it is in line with the country’s immigration laws, and breachers of such regulations around the world face the same fate.

Pakistan has repeatedly clarified that the crackdown is not targeting nearly 2.3 million documented Afghans, including 1.4 million refugees.

Following a four-month delay, Islamabad last month extended the legal status of 1.4 Afghan refugees until the end of the year, bringing at least temporary relief to the refugee community. However, Pakistani officials have rejected the U.N. pleas to cease deporting Afghans who lack proper documentation. 

The Taliban have established makeshift camps on the Afghan side of the border, where returnees can stay while they wait to be transported to their native cities across Afghanistan. The de facto authorities have urged neighboring countries not to mistreat and force Afghan nationals out.

Pakistani authorities defended their crackdown, saying Pakistani anti-state militants sheltering in Afghanistan have intensified cross-border terrorist attacks since the Taliban regained control of the country two years ago. 

Islamabad claims some illegal Afghan nationals have also facilitated the deadly wave of terror by carrying out more than a dozen suicide bombings in Pakistan this year. 

Taliban authorities maintain they are not allowing anyone to use their soil against Pakistan or any other country and condemned the deportations of Afghans as an “inhuman act.”
…

India’s top court on Monday said the special status given to the Himalayan territory of Jammu and Kashmir before its revocation in 2019 was a temporary provision.

India’s Supreme Court Monday also directed the election commission to hold elections in the Jammu and Kashmir region by Sept. 30, 2024.

The court order sets the stage for elections to be held in the region, which was further integrated into India by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in 2019.

The court’s direction was part of the verdict on pleas challenging the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
…

The Taliban must embrace and uphold human rights obligations in Afghanistan, the U.N. mission in the country said Sunday on Human Rights Day and the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Since seizing power in 2021, the Taliban have erased basic rights and freedoms, with women and girls deeply affected. They are excluded from most public spaces and daily life, and the restrictions have sparked global condemnation.

The U.N. mission, highlighting the Taliban’s failures in upholding rights’ obligations, said it continues to document extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment, corporal punishment, arbitrary arrest and detention, and other violations of detainees’ rights.

People who speak out in defense of human rights face arbitrary arrest and detention, threats and censorship, the mission said.

“We pay tribute to and express our solidarity with Afghan human rights defenders, many of whom are paying a heavy price for seeking to uphold the fundamental tenets of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: peace, justice and freedom,” said Fiona Frazer, representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Afghanistan.

The head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, said rights must be upheld to ensure the country’s future prosperity, cohesion and stability.

The U.S. on Friday hit two Taliban officials with sanctions over human rights abuses in Afghanistan. Fariduddin Mahmood made decisions to close education centers and schools to women and girls after the sixth grade, said the State Department. He supported education-related bans on women and girls.

The second target of the U.S. sanctions is Khalid Hanafi, from the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

“Since August 2021, members of the MPVPV have engaged in serious human rights abuse, including abductions, whippings, and beatings,” said the State Department. “Members of the MPVPV have assaulted people protesting the restrictions on women’s activity, including access to education.”

The Taliban condemned the sanctions. Their chief spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, said imposing pressure and restrictions were not the solution to any problem. He accused the U.S. of being the biggest violator of human rights because of its support for Israel.

“It is unjustified and illogical to accuse other people of violating human rights and then ban them,” said Mujahid.

The restrictions on women and girls are the biggest obstacle to the Taliban gaining official recognition as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
…

China’s recent decision to accept the credentials of the Taliban ambassador to Beijing, without having formally recognized Afghanistan’s new rulers as the legitimate government, is both paradoxical and transactional, experts say.

The Taliban foreign ministry announced December 1 that the director-general of the protocol department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Hong Lei, had accepted the credentials from Taliban Ambassador Asadullah Bilal Karimi.

The following week, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, said, “Afghanistan should not be excluded from the international community.”

But he reiterated long-standing demands that, in order to gain formal recognition, the Taliban must form an inclusive government, pursue “moderate and prudent” policies and show a firm commitment to combat terrorism.

“We believe that diplomatic recognition of the Afghan government will come naturally as the concerns of various parties are effectively addressed,” Wang said during a regular press briefing.

Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution, said China “is trying to have it both ways.”

No country has yet recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan since the group seized power in August 2021. However, some countries, including China, have kept their embassies open in Afghanistan and have accredited Taliban diplomats.

In September, China became the first country to send a new ambassador to Afghanistan since the Taliban’s takeover.

China is now the first country to accept the Taliban’s ambassador.

“Accepting the Taliban’s ambassador is what normally is considered as recognition,” said Felbab-Brown. “China doesn’t want to break and be ahead of the international community, and the U.N. has made it explicit that the Taliban will not get the seat in the U.N. unless it stops repressing women in the way we have seen.”

In November, an assessment commissioned by the United Nations linked recognition of the Taliban government to compliance with Afghanistan’s international treaty obligations and commitments, including removing the ban on women’s education and work.

Afghanistan is signatory to a number of international treaties that guarantee human rights for women and girls, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

Felbab-Brown said China “can put pressure” on the Taliban to comply with international demands to form an inclusive government and respect women’s rights, but “they are not willing to do so.”

The pressing issue for China is the presence of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, or ETIM, in Afghanistan.

China considers the ETIM, which was founded by a Uyghur religious figure, Hasan Mahsum, in 1997 in Pakistan, as a threat to its security. Mahsum was killed by Pakistani troops 20 years ago.

China blames the shadowy organization for attacks inside its territory and uses it to justify its crackdown on Uyghurs in the Western region of Xinjiang. The U.S. placed ETIM on its list of terrorist groups in 2002, after the September 11 attacks. The group’s terrorist designation was removed in 2020.

Chinese officials said the Taliban agreed to not allow ETIM fighters to “engage in terrorist activities.”

But China will be asking for more actions against the ETIM, said Felbab-Brown. “I would be very surprised if China gave away that card without getting the Taliban to do more on the Uyghur militancy.”

Transactional relations

Bill Roggio, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told VOA that the Taliban “continue to maintain” close ties with militant groups, including the ETIM.

He added that Beijing’s main concern is that the ETIM “will be reinvigorated and plot more attacks against China from within Afghanistan.”

The Taliban pledged in May not to allow the ETIM to conduct attacks against China, according to the Chinese state newspaper Global Times. Beijing sent its first envoy to Kabul under the Taliban government four months later.

It is “transactional,” said Roggio, adding that “that is the heart of the relationship” between China and the Taliban.

In addition to addressing security concerns, “Chinese like to open businesses, mine and export goods into Afghanistan, and the Taliban want diplomatic relations … that gives them a degree of legitimacy,” said Roggio.

Regional rivalry

China’s ties with the Taliban could spark a regional rivalry, said Shinkai Karokhil, a former Afghan diplomat and member of the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of Afghanistan’s parliament.

“Russia might be the next [to normalize relations with the Taliban], since it considers Afghanistan as part of its influence,” said Karokhil.

Karokhil said countries in the region including Pakistan and India would also be “concerned” about China-Taliban ties.

India does “not want to fall behind” China is gaining influence in Afghanistan, said Ashok Swain, a professor of peace and conflict research at Uppsala University in Sweden.

He said India would “possibly find some ways of reestablishing contacts with Afghanistan.”

After the announcement of the closure of the Afghan Embassy in Delhi by the former Afghan government diplomats last month, a high-ranking Taliban official said the embassy would reopen soon under the Taliban’s control.

India has kept its embassy in Afghanistan open.

Sami Yousufzai, a London-based Afghan journalist, told VOA that China is a “major” power, and “it looks like other countries would also improve their relations with the Taliban.”

Zheela Noori and Nazrana Ghaffar Yousufzai of VOA’s Afghan Service contributed to this report, which originated in VOA’s Afghan Service.
…

Hundreds of opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party supporters protested Sunday to mark International Human Rights Day, as the country gears up for a general election on Jan. 7 that the opposition says should be held under a nonpartisan, caretaker government.

The party, led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, is boycotting the election, leaving voters in the South Asian nation of 166 million with little choice but to re-elect Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League for a fourth consecutive term.

At Sunday’s protest in front of the National Press Club in downtown Dhaka, opposition activists said they do not think a fair and free election can take place under Hasina’s watch. The gathering took place weeks after a massive opposition rally on Oct. 28 turned violent.

The party’s decision to boycott the polls comes amid a monthslong crackdown that has reportedly seen hundreds of opposition politicians jailed and critics silenced, an allegation authorities have denied.

Demonstrators on Sunday carried banners that read “Human chain of family members of the victims of murder and enforced disappearances” and “We want the unconditional release of all prisoners.”

After the Oct. 28 rally, authorities arrested thousands of party leaders and activists including Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. Many others have gone into hiding, and hundreds have been convicted by courts on charges of violence or subversive acts that the opposition says are politically motivated.

New York-based Human Rights Watch in a report last month put the number of arrested opposition activists at 10,000 since Oct. 28 and said that at least 16 people including two police officers died during the period of violence.

Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, joint secretary general of Zia’s party, told a video conference from hiding that the government has arrested or punished political leaders and activists under fictitious charges to ensure a lopsided election result.

He urged the people to boycott “the stage-managed election” that he said would deepen the country’s political crisis and push it toward danger.

“The upcoming one-sided election is not just a renewal of Sheikh Hasina’s power, but a license to destroy Bangladesh,” he said.

While critics have slammed the election as a farce, the government has rejected allegations of a crackdown on the opposition and says the polls will be democratically held and inclusive.

“Our stand is very clear. Those who are involved in acts of sabotage or arson attacks, those who attacked police and killed them, are being dealt with on specific charges. We clearly reject the claim that there has been any crackdown against the opposition party,” Mohammad A. Arafat, a ruling party lawmaker and member of the International Affairs Committee, told The Associated Press.

“It has no relation with the election. It’s a constitutional mandate to hold the election on time. It’s a matter of their choice to join the polls. But they are resorting to violence in the name of protests, rather than joining the race,” he said.

The election will be the country’s 12th after it gained independence from Pakistan in 1971.

In the 2008 election, the main challenger BNP and its allies won more than 40% of the vote, but lost to Awami League, which got an absolute majority. Subsequent elections took place in 2014 — which Zia’s party boycotted — and again in 2018 under Hasina’s administration, but the opposition rejected the results, saying the election was rigged. Hasina rejected the allegations.

This time again, while candidates from 29 out of 44 registered political parties have filed nominations, no one from Zia’s party is contesting the polls. After a review, the country’s Election Commission accepted 1,985 nominations and rejected 731 for a total of 300 constituencies.

Media reports say many independent candidates belong to the ruling Awami League party, which has encouraged them to contest the election to make it look competitive.

The events have drawn concern from observers at home and abroad over the health of democracy in Bangladesh, even as it transforms into an economic success story under Hasina.

Hasina’s administration has faced pressure from Western democracies, especially from the United States, while the United Nations and the European Union have also pressed for a free, fair and inclusive election.

“Specifically, we have emphasized that it is important to have free and fair elections that all stakeholders have the ability to participate peacefully. The holding of free and fair elections is the responsibility of everyone — all political parties, voters, the government, the security forces, and the media,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson said in an email to The Associated Press.

Analyst Iftekhar Zaman, the head of the anti-corruption group Transparency International Bangladesh, said the election may be held on time but it will be “non-inclusive” and “morally void.”

During the last election in 2018, Joydeb Sana, a private security guard working at a five-story apartment building in the capital, Dhaka, traveled to his ancestral village in southwestern Bangladesh to cast his vote.

But on election day, he found that someone else had already cast his vote.

“I don’t know who did it. In the end my candidate won the election and Sheikh Hasina became the prime minister. I was happy for that, but I could not vote for my candidate, and that was upsetting,” Sana told the AP.

He hopes he can cast his own vote this time.

“It’s my right to vote for my preferred candidate. Last time I was deprived of that,” he said.
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The Philippines and its treaty ally, the United States, separately condemned a high-seas assault Saturday by the Chinese coast guard together with suspected militia ships that repeatedly blasted water cannons to block three Philippine fisheries vessels from a disputed shoal in the South China Sea. 

The noontime assault by Chinese ships off the Scarborough Shoal, one of the most aggressive this year, caused “significant damage” to the communication and navigation equipment of one of the three Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources ships, Filipino officials said. 

They said without elaborating that suspected militia vessels accompanying Chinese coast guard ships used a long-range acoustic device that could impair hearing, causing “severe temporary discomfort and incapacitation to some Filipino crew.” 

‘Aggressive, illegal actions’

It’s the latest flare-up of the long-seething territorial disputes in the South China Sea, a flashpoint in Asia that has put the U.S. and China on a collision course. China claims virtually the entire strategic waterway, but the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have  pressed their separate claims. 

Territorial standoffs between China and the Philippines over a number of disputed offshore areas, including the Scarborough and the Second Thomas shoals, have been particularly heated this year. The U.S. has warned that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines, its longtime treaty ally, if Filipino forces, aircraft or ships come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea. 

China has warned the U.S. to stay away from what it calls a purely Asian dispute. It has deployed ships and aircraft to closely shadow U.S. Navy ships and aircraft, which periodically undertake freedom of navigation and overflight patrols in one of the world’s most hotly disputed seas. 

A Philippine government task force that deals with the territorial disputes said Saturday it “vehemently condemns the illegal and aggressive actions carried out by the Chinese coast guard and Chinese maritime militia against the civilian Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessels.” 

“We demand that the Chinese government take immediate action to halt these aggressive activities and uphold the principles of international law and desist from actions that would infringe on Philippine sovereignty and endanger the lives and livelihood of Filipino fishermen,” it said. 

U.S. Ambassador to Manila MaryKay Carlson condemned China’s “aggressive, illegal actions.” 

“This (Chinese) behavior violates international law and endangers lives and livelihood,” Carlson said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “We stand with our Philippine friends, partners, allies in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.” 

Coast guard ‘implemented control measures’

The Chinese coast guard said in a single sentence announcement on its website that it “implemented control measures in line with the law” Saturday against three BFAR vessels that “intruded into waters adjacent to Huangyan Island,” the Chinese name for the Shoal. 

The Philippine fisheries bureau’s ships sailed to the Scarborough Shoal to provide humanitarian aid — mainly free fuel and Christmas grocery packs — to poor Filipino fishermen aboard nearly 30 boats in the rich but far-flung fishing area, Philippine officials said. 

They said the swarm of Chinese coast guard and accompanying ships took dangerously aggressive actions, including the use of water cannons at least eight times, as the Philippine government ships approached about 2.6 kilometers to 3.5 kilometers (1.6 to 2 miles) from Scarborough Shoal. 

They added that the Chinese coast guard installed a floating barrier at an entrance to the vast fishing lagoon of Scarborough Shoal and deployed personnel aboard small motorboats to drive away Filipino fishermen waiting for the distribution of fuel and food supplies at sea. 

“To prevent the distribution of humanitarian support is not only illegal but also inhumane,” the Philippine government task force said. 

In past faceoffs in the high seas off disputed shoals, the Chinese coast guard has used a military-grade laser that caused Filipino crewmen temporary blindness, and resorted to dangerous blocking and shadowing maneuvers, including one that caused minor collisions. 

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has allowed a larger U.S. military presence in local military bases under a 2014 defense pact partly to strengthen territorial defense amid China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed waters. China has strongly opposed and expressed alarm over increasing deployments of U.S. forces, warning that it would threaten regional peace and stability. 

The Philippines also has launched joint sea and air patrols separately with the U.S. and Australia, and plans to expand this to a multilateral patrol, possibly including Japan and other like-minded nations to deter aggression in the South China Sea, National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano told reporters last week. 
…

Sri Lanka experienced an island-wide power outage for several hours Saturday after a system failure in one of the main transmission lines, the country’s power and energy ministry said. 

The power outage began Saturday evening and continued for several hours. 

“Step by step restorations are underway and it may take [a] few hours to completely restore the power supply,” said the ministry in a statement. 

Sri Lanka largely depends on hydro power for power generation, while coal and oil are used to cover the balance. During the dry season, the country is compelled to use more thermal power for generation of electricity. 

Sri Lanka experienced several hours of daily power cuts last year for several months due to plunging water levels powering hydroelectric dams. The power crisis worsened as Sri Lanka faced difficulty in importing sufficient stocks of oil and coal after the country’s foreign reserves were depleted during an unprecedented economic crisis. 

Sri Lanka plunged into an economic crisis in 2022, creating severe shortages and drawing strident protests that led to the ouster of then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. It declared bankruptcy in April 2022 with more than $83 billion in debt — more than half of it to foreign creditors. 

Under new President Ranil Wickremesinghe, a continuous power supply has been restored. But there has been growing public dissatisfaction with the government’s efforts to increase revenue by raising electricity rates and imposing heavy new income taxes on professionals and businesses. 

Sri Lanka has sought the support of the International Monetary Fund to rescue the economy. 

The IMF agreed in March to a $2.9 billion bailout package, releasing the first payment shortly thereafter. However, the IMF delayed the second tranche, citing inadequate oversight and debt restructuring. 

An IMF review in September said Sri Lanka’s economy was recovering but the country needed to improve its tax administration, eliminate exemptions and crack down on tax evasion. 

Sri Lankan government officials have expressed confidence over the last two weeks that the IMF would provide the $334 million installment before the end of the year since the island nation received required financial assurances from its bilateral creditors, including China, Japan and India. 
…

In 2017, when Uzbekistan’s newly installed President Shavkat Mirziyoyev promised systemic reforms, his dialogue with citizens helped usher into prominence a new segment of the country’s internet-savvy youth: bloggers.

Part political and social critics, part influencers, they made a name airing oft-repressed grievances, and serving as a bridge between the people and the government.

Among them, Ferghana-based Olimjon Haydarov.

Enticed by Mirziyoyev’s democratic pledge, Haydarov returned from migrant work in South Korea six years ago. He wasted no time launching social media channels covering topics from politics to agriculture.

But earlier this month the 34-year-old was convicted of extortion and defamation and sentenced to eight years in prison.

Haydarov’s case is seen as a blow to the Uzbek media community, which has watched at least five members convicted this year.

“We couldn’t do anything,” says Sharifa Murod, an independent reporter, reacting to Haydarov’s verdict. “Public opinion did not matter.”

Bloggers worry freedom is eroding

While debates rage about the allegations in each case, many Uzbek journalists and bloggers worry that the modest freedom Mirziyoyev seemed to offer is rapidly vanishing.

The Tashkent-based Ezgulik Human Rights Society reports more than 20 criminal cases concerning bloggers this year alone.

Outspoken voices have no protection in Uzbekistan, wrote Samarkand-based reporter Shuhrat Shokirjonov on Facebook. Urging colleagues to not feel protected by the strength of their online popularity, he added, “The best ones are locked up. The rest keep mouths shut.”

Police say blogger was taking bribe

In Haydarov’s case, Ferghana police say they arrested the blogger while he was taking a bribe of $2,500 in exchange for a critical article he had threatened to post about a local bazaar.

Authorities claimed that by the time of his arrest on June 29, 2023, Haydarov had extorted $7,500 for withholding coverage. Officials pointed to video and audio recordings of his conversations about the suspected scheme, which the defense portrayed as orchestrated and fabricated.

Throughout Haydarov’s trial, which played out over 10 hearings, the blogger protested his innocence.

Other bloggers believe Haydrarov’s sharp social commentary made him a target.

“This was a baseless trial, just to spread fear, so we all go silent,” Farukh Samarkandi told VOA.

Another blogger, Khudoyberdi Zominiy, closely followed Haydarov’s deliberations. “The whole thing seemed like retaliation for the intricate issues he had been raising,” Zominiy told VOA.

Haydarov often shed light on Uzbekistan’s persistent energy shortages, the poor state of its healthcare system, and rights abuses. But like other bloggers, he entered into private arrangements with businesses to promote them.

Such paid publicity in Uzbekistan often leads to conflicts of interest and in some cases to extortion and bribery accusations, despite bloggers’ contention that the earnings come from honest work.

Accessible trial

In contrast to earlier prosecutions of media figures, Haydarov’s trial was more accessible.

A spokesperson for Uzbekistan’s Supreme Court told VOA Haydarov’s trial was open to the public.

But when blogger Abduqodir Muminov was convicted of extortion and defamation over the summer, it was in a mostly closed process. He is now serving a seven-year prison term.

In the fall, journalist-blogger Khurshid Daliyev and former government press service heads Mavjuda Mirzayeva and Siyovush Hoshimov were found guilty of similar charges.

Daliyev and Hoshimov each were sentenced to seven years, while Mirzayeva went home with a suspended sentence due to illness.

Veteran journalist Sharof Ubaydullayev, who also served in the government, defends bloggers as “the real voices of the people and reliable grassroots sources.”

“There is no law requiring bloggers to work for free,” Ubaydullayev told VOA.

In his view, President Mirziyoyev relies on bloggers to support his good governance agenda. However, Ubaydullayev worries that the nature of their activism makes them vulnerable.

“Bloggers know the truth of our society and enlighten the masses. We call them bloggers now, but this segment has always made up the core of our media,” Ubaydullayev said.

Like many Uzbek bloggers, Zominiy does not apologize for taking on other jobs, such as advocating for a youth organization, or advertising products in his posts.

“We have families to feed and bills to pay,” he told VOA. “And we continue to blog despite warnings from our managers at work.”

Still, Zominiy remains optimistic, saying “Today’s conditions are better. Now we’re able to push the authorities to be accountable and press for the rule of law.”

Government supports rule of law

Uzbekistan’s media regulator, the Agency of Information and Mass Communications (AIMC) told VOA in a written response that the government is “steadfast” in its support for the rule of law.

Stressing a commitment to media freedom, the regulator denied that actions against bloggers relate to the freedom of expression.

“These cases are totally about verified criminal acts,” such as blackmail and extortion, according to the agency.

“Blogger or journalist, no one is above the law,” said the statement. “We reiterate that no journalist or blogger should ever be locked up for free speech and expression.”

The agency pointed to 8,844 cases of fraud across Uzbekistan this year, charging judges, law enforcement officers, mayors, educators, and others. Referring to the prosecutions this year of bloggers, it said those cases were based on credible evidence.

When asked whether the legal action casts doubt on Uzbekistan’s claims of reform, AIMC brushed off concerns raised by the human rights groups, pointing to a rise in the number of media outlets, journalists, and bloggers in the country.

“More people in the sector means more problems,” it said but added that the current media environment is vibrant and advancing.

Ubaydullayev, a retired reporter and editor, hopes that Uzbekistan’s media community will begin to adopt international standards and best practices.

“They need support,” he said. “Instead of imprisoning them, train these people. Turn them into professionals.”

This story originated in VOA’s Uzbek service.
…