From 'Paki bashing' to citizenship-stripping: Shamima Begum case an issue of identity for British-Bangladeshis

UK government's decision to revoke citizenship of teenager who joined Islamic State has left others questioning whether they are as British as they assumed

Shamima Begum left Britain for the Islamic State group at the age of 15 (MEE/Areeb Ullah)

By Areeb Ullah- 23 February 2019

Walking through the hustle and bustle of Whitechapel's street market in east London, there is one topic of conversation. 

Shamima Begum: The local school girl, now 19, who left Britain to join Islamic State (IS) in Syria at the age of 15. 

Whether in Bengali or English, locals here, many of whom share Begum's Bangladeshi roots, are discussing whether the teenager should be allowed back into the UK.

One detail of the Begum case that has sparked particular concern and curiosity among Britain's Bangladeshi community has been Home Secretary Sajid Javid's decision to revoke Begum's citizenship. 

Government sources told the BBC that Javid used Begum's eligibility for Bangladeshi citizenship, to which she is entitled through her Bangladeshi parents, as grounds for taking away her British citizenship. 

Legal experts say the move has highlighted how millions of British citizens, among them many British-Bangladeshis, eligible for dual nationality, are at risk of having their citizenship revoked. 

And while Bangladesh has insisted that Begum is not a citizen, many British-Bangladeshis say that the fact that the issue of citizenship has been raised at all has made them begin to question their own place in British society.

Double standards

Poppy Begum, a lifelong resident of Tower Hamlets and a mother of three from Bangladesh, questioned if there was a double standard at play. 

Before dipping into the array of hijabs piled up on a market stall, Begum hands a bag of shopping to her 21-year-old daughter Shireen, and asks: "Would they do this to a white person?"

Begum's family came to the UK in the 1970s, after the outbreak of the Bangladeshi war of Independence in 1971. 

Tower Hamlets is home to Britain's largest Bengali speaking community (AFP)

Bangladesh's nationality laws state that members of the Bangladeshi diaspora are automatically eligible for citizenship from the moment they are born. This eligibility remains intact until the age of 21, by which time they have claim it to keep it. 

"It scares me a lot because if they can do it to her, they can do this to anyone, like my children, who can get Bangladeshi citizenship," said Begum. 

"It's not right that they took away her citizenship. And just because her parents are Bangladeshi, doesn't mean she is."

Sense of belonging 

Home to Britain's largest Bengali-speaking community, Tower Hamlets is an inner-city London area that suffers from high levels of deprivation.

When Bangladeshi migrants came to Britain, they did so with the intention of staying in Britain temporarily before then heading back. That changed, however, when the war of independence broke out in 1971, leading many to put down permanent roots. 

Thousands of Bangladeshis sought refuge in Britain during the 1971 War of Independence (AFP)

But despite Tower Hamlet's history of immigration, racism towards migrant communities has forced many to question their place in British society, with many fearing their citizenship could be taken away from them at any time.   

"Our parents would always tell us that they can take away our citizenship at any time if we do anything wrong," Rabina Uddin, a school teacher who grew up in the Tower Hamlets area, recalled.

"We would laugh it off, but I guess they were right. The government is stalling the situation with Shamima Begum and now trying to use her case to teach others a lesson.

"This was a long time coming. We are a minority in this country. What did you expect?"

Ridwan, however, who is an aid worker, questioned whether Begum's citizenship revocation was "an exception to the rule".

"I was speaking about it with some friends on Whatsapp, and for a second we thought damn, that could be us too," said Ridwan, who declined to give his surname.

"A lot of us hope that they only exercise this power on extreme cases and not the everyday person, but it does make you question whether our British citizenship is conditional."

Shamima Begum case highlights 'two-tier' British citizenship system, experts warn

Read More »

Sitting in a cafe near the East London Mosque, Azad Ali, a veteran anti-racist campaigner who works for CAGE, reflects on how the area has changed over the years. 

Having lived in Tower Hamlets his whole life and been involved in community projects across the borough, Ali recalls the days when the feared far-right National Front group would run amok in the area.

"I used to remember running back from the sweet shop, and mapping out which road to take to escape anyone trying to beat me up,"  Ali chuckled, as he drank a cup of Karak Chai. 

"Thugs from the National Front would call it 'Paki bashing' but now it's completely changed."

He adds: "The last generation has had it much easier because it was in your face, not as implicit as it is today. 

"But thanks to Prevent and what Sajid Javid did to Shamima Begum, people are now waking up and seeing that racism can be state-led."

It's a sentiment that is echoed by Taqwa, a 17-year-old who aspires to become a lawyer.

She remembers Shamima Begum as a fellow student, albeit two years above her, at Bethnal Green Academy. 

Standing at the edge of Whitechapel market, Taqwa explains why she finds the current climate for Muslims "concerning".

"Taking away her citizenship is iffy. They are basically taking our rights," said Taqwa, who refused to give her surname. 

"It's like they're building a wall against us as Muslims, simply because we don't have British blood."

Some names were changed at the request of the interviewees. 

Mueller: Paul Manafort is hardened criminal who 'repeatedly' broke law

Special counsel’s team say Trump campaign chairman deserves second prison sentence which could total 10 years

 Paul Manafort has been in jail since June last year after being cause witness-tampering while out on bail. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Jon Swaine in New York @jonswaine-Sat 23 Feb 2019

Paul Manafort is a hardened criminal who “repeatedly and brazenly” broke the law even while serving as Donald Trump’s campaign chairman, special counsel Robert Mueller has said.

 

Mueller’s team said in a new court filing in Washington DC that Manafort deserved a second prison sentence, which could total 10 years, reflecting the seriousness of his crimes.

The prosecutors also said they may ask for that sentence to begin only after Manafort, 69, completes a sentence of up to 24 years for separate convictions in Virginia.

Manafort has shown a “hardened adherence to committing crimes and lack of remorse”, they wrote in a sentencing memo released on Saturday afternoon.

Mueller’s team did not, however, provide new details on Manafort’s interactions with an alleged Russian intelligence operative, or make any new allegations tying Manafort to Russia’s election interference.

Manafort chaired Trump’s 2016 presidential election campaign. He has been in jail since June last year after being caught witness tampering while on bail awaiting trial.

Saturday’s filing related to Manafort’s upcoming sentencing for two counts of criminal conspiracy he admitted last September. Mueller’s team said last week Manafort faced 19 to 24 years in prison for separate fraud convictions in Virginia.

Manafort’s admission of the conspiracy charges in Washington secured him a plea deal that Mueller scrapped after Manafort continued lying. The violation of the deal freed Mueller’s team from obligations to recommend a lenient sentence.

Mueller is investigating whether there were any links or coordination between Trump’s team and Russia’s interference in the 2016 US election, which US intelligence agencies concluded was aimed at helping Trump.

Investigators have homed in on Manafort’s interactions in 2016 with Konstantin Kilimnik, a former colleague and an alleged Russian intelligence operative. Kilimnik denies involvement with Russian intelligence.

William Barr, the new US attorney general, is expecting to receive a report from Mueller in the coming weeks that would signal the end the special counsel’s investigation, according to several media reports.

The filing released on Saturday recapped the conspiracies to which Manafort pleaded guilty in Washington. They spanned several crimes including money laundering, tax fraud and failing to register as an agent of Ukraine in the US.

Manafort also confessed to conspiring with Kilimnik to obstruct justice. Early last year, the pair contacted former lobbying colleagues who were likely witnesses in Manafort’s case and urged them to give false testimony.

Mueller’s team said that for almost a decade, Manafort used “deceptive tactics” to run a multi-million dollar lobbying campaign in Washington for Ukraine’s former pro-Russian administration, without registering in the US as a foreign agent.

The veteran Republican operative knew he was legally required to register, the prosecutors said, because he ran into trouble for the same activity when working for Saudi Arabia during Ronald Reagan’s presidency.

Manafort’s criminality “remarkably went unabated even after indictment”, Mueller’s team said in the Saturday filing. He conspired to witness tamper with Kilimnik while out on bail and then committed perjury even after signing his plea deal.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson this month agreed with Mueller that Manafort continued lying about three disputed issues: his interactions with Kilimnik, a payment he took from a pro-Trump campaign group and another justice department investigation that has not been identified.

Manafort entered his guilty pleas last year shortly before he was due to go on trial a second time. He acted after the jury in Virginia found him guilty in August on eight financial crimes largely committed during the time of his work in eastern Europe. Jurors could not reach a verdict on 10 other charges.

Manafort was found to have hidden more than $16m of earnings from US authorities, allowing him to avoid paying $6m in taxes. He also hid tens of millions of dollars in foreign bank accounts and secured $25m in bank loans through fraud.

Several other former Trump advisers have been convicted of crimes as a result of Mueller’s investigation. None of the convictions related to Russia’s interference in the election.

More than two dozen Russians have been charged for their roles in the operation, which included stealing and leaking emails from senior Democrats and mounting an online disinformation campaign to disrupt the election.

Using the RTI regime as a catalyst for development

 Former South African President Nelson Mandela made South Africa an RTI Regime to prevent another apartheid state. 

Friday, 22 February 2019

President Barack Obama stated the following in issuing a memorandum on the Freedom of Information Act on his first day in Office in 2009. “The presumption of disclosure also means agencies should take affirmative steps to make information public. All agencies should use modern technology to inform citizens about what is known and done by their government. Disclosure should be timely.”

The above preamble covers the parameters of a Right to Information (RTI) regime. Having an RTI regime is evidence of democracy deepening in a country. The RTI regime can play a multifaceted role in moving a country forward by strengthening accountability and transparency in all aspects of governance. This article focuses on the considerable scope that exists for using the RTI regime as a catalyst for achieving development goals.

The RTI is considered an important element of the freedom of expression. The availability of adequate information enables a person to form an informed opinion. Public policies and procedures are connected to people’s life from the moment of registering the birth to obtaining the death certificate. The RTI regime can bridge the gap between public policies and civil society engagement. Even though democracy is not a panacea for poverty alleviation and human development, it creates a conducive environment for achieving those goals. It is accepted that democracy creates opportunities and enhances capabilities of the poor and underprivileged. The RTI as a key element of democracy can therefore be used to harness development.

Sweden is the first country to enact an RTI law in 1766 and subsequently so far 119 countries have enacted this law promoting participatory democracy. Sri Lanka’s Right to Information Act No. 12 of 2018 was ranked 3rd in the Global Right to Information Rating. Studies have suggested that implementation and enforcement could be further strengthened in order to use the RTI regime for advancing the development agenda of the country. Strengthening collaboration between civil society and public authorities and having a robust technological framework in place would improve the effectiveness of the RTI regime.


Transparency is the key to ensure accountability
According to Jeremy Bentham (1748 – 1832), secrecy is an instrument of conspiracy. When more information on the functions of government authorities are available to the public, the level of transparency of relevant processes and procedures will also be enhanced thereby improving the checks and balances on Government actions. Bentham has further argued that the more closely the public officials are watched the better they behave. The RTI is applicable not only to government authorities, it also has a reach over corporate entities linked to government bodies as well. The requirement to disclose information compels the authorities to ensure a greater compliance culture in their decision-making processes. The people, who pay taxes for public services and elect the governments in a representative democracy where sovereignty rests with the people, have a right to know how the government functions.

When the financial information of public authorities are disclosed, the general public can ascertain not only whether there have been misappropriations but also whether their tax money has been prudently deployed. Stopping the misuse of public funds is a “must” to boost development. A study conducted by the IMF & OECD shows that international investment flows are higher and are of a better quality in countries with more transparent policy environments. According to Nobel Laurate Amartya Sen (1999), transparency guarantees can be an important category of instrumental freedom. These guarantees have a clear instrumental role in preventing corruption, financial irresponsibility and underhand dealings.

Lord Steyn (2000) mentioned in a case that RTI acts as a break on the abuse of power by public officials. The RTI regime can therefore play a critical role in improving the transparency of public functions and to enhance integrity in governance which in turn boosts the investors’ confidence.

It is also accepted that the participation of people in government decisions helps to transform governance into good governance. Even in ancient times, the political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 – 1778) has proposed that public officials should operate “in the eyes” of the public in order to improve transparency. The RTI regime can also ensure that information on public policies is available to all the citizens and is not limited to special groups. This will discourage the intervention of lobbying groups into economic policy decisions. Transparency, accountability and responsiveness are considered main elements of good governance. Scholars assert that when people’s interests, needs and human rights are at the centre of governance, institutions and practices, there can be real progress in combating poverty. Good governance provides the platform for equitable distribution of benefits from growth. By promoting all three of these pillars of good governance, the RTI regime plays a fundamental role in promoting accelerated development.


Corruption is an enemy of development
When public authorities are required to be answerable for their actions, performances and use of public resources, the room for corruption would be reduced. According to the latest report of Transparency International, Sri Lanka was ranked 88th in the Corruption Index. Corruption is an enemy of development as it is an implicit tax on economic activity. The RTI regime will help to expose corrupt officials and deter others. Article 13 of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) requires that States should ensure that the public has effective access to information. In Thailand, a single mother was able to reveal that her daughter was denied a place in a best public school as she was poor and could not pay the bribes. In India, the misuse of funds allocated for a canal project for clean water was revealed from the documents obtained under RTI Laws. The rationale behind the said requirement is to enhance the transparency of functions of public authorities and officials. Proactive disclosure of information under RTI reduces the scope for taking bribes to release information.


Achieving policy predictability

When the decision-making processes of public authorities are open and transparent, achieving policy stability becomes easier. UNCTAD (2017) states that in the light of the critical role of investment as a source of economic growth and job creation, it is important that countries maintain a rule-based, predictable, inclusive and non-discriminatory environment for investment. Lack of policy coherence and predictability has been identified as a hindrance for gaining investor confidence in Sri Lanka. This lack of consistency is often due to the lobbying of special interest groups who are able to distort policies as a result of opaque processes. In the absence of a reliable and consistent policy-making mechanism, developing a long-term vision for the public sector would be difficult. The RTI regime should be used not only to make policy-making more transparent but also to encourage monitoring, evaluating and undertaking frequent reporting on the progress made in implementing government policies.

When governments fail to reduce uncertainty in the economic, social and political environment, people’s trust in them erodes. According to an OECD study, the lack of trust compromises the willingness of citizens and business to respond to public policies and contribute to sustainable economic development. The access to information also has a bearing on improved participation of civil society in sustainable development activities. The RTI has been a key element of the agenda to promote sustainable development since the 1992 RIO Declaration.

Achieving sustainable development is difficult without transparent and accountable institutions. The RTI regime can therefore be used to promote transparent legal and regulatory frameworks which are necessary for attracting foreign investment and to enable Sri Lanka to benefit from globalisation. Easy access to information enhances public awareness of the context in which decisions are made by public authorities. It will also be helpful in winning public support towards the government’s development projects. Importantly, the studies on the environmental impact of development projects need to be made available to the general public.

In a democracy direct participation of the people is encouraged. However, this participation would not be fruitful if the citizens are not aware of the issues in respect of which they are supposed to give their opinions.


Reactive disclosure Vs. Proactive disclosure
Sections 8 and 9 of the Sri Lankan RTI Act require information to be disclosed proactively. According to available studies on Sri Lanka’s RTI regime, 89% of public authorities have are within the moderately unsatisfactory band of overall composite baseline scores (comprising content and usability). It demonstrates that public authorities need to make greater efforts to improve their proactive disclosure mechanisms. By analysing the most sought-after information, public authorities can improve the quality of information made available under the proactive disclosure arrangement.

The European Convention on Access to Official Documents (2009) also recognises proactive disclosure as a measure to encourage informed participation by the public in matters of government. Proactivity on the part of the authorities fosters trust which will have positive externalities across the whole development agenda. In Vietnam, a more transparent environment to make corporate information available to potential investors has been established under the Law on Enterprises. To make Sri Lanka an attractive investment destination, the RTI regime can be used to compel the authorities to improve the openness of rules and regulations. This information is an important input for investment decisions of both local and foreign enterprises.

When the authorities disclose the laws applicable to their functions, awareness of the general public regarding relevant laws increases. Through this procedure, the “rule of law” mechanism is supported as well. The 2012 United Nations Meeting of the General Assembly on the Rule of Law declared that its advancement at the national and international levels is essential for sustained and inclusive economic growth, sustainable development and the eradication of poverty.


Evidence-based policy-making
Proactive disclosure of information enables civil society, research institutions and other relevant parties to add value to information. Better utilisation of evidence/information in policy-making helps policy-makers and providers of services to achieve better outcomes related to development goals. The RTI regime can also foster a culture of policy innovation through the proactive disclosure mechanism. When the authorities pay more attention to upgrade information dissemination methods, disclosure procedures and approval granting systems, the “doing business” environment also becomes more conducive. If the public authorities ensure efficient process for proactive disclosure, information asymmetry will be minimised and a level playing field for access to information will be created. This reduces the scope for rent-seeking behaviour and distortion of policies by special interest groups.


Promoting digital economy
The RTI regime will also enable the country to embrace the digital economy. The concept of “e-governance” can play a vital role in developing a digital economy. The digital economy can minimise inequality by connecting the unconnected segment of the population to economic activities. Public authorities need to invest in ICT-based solutions to make information easily available to the general public to promote inclusive growth. In Estonia, even the Cabinet Meetings are run online and approvals are known to the public soon after the meetings. However, until the whole population gets access to internet facilities, other modes of communication should not be discontinued.

The concept of a “one stop shop” for all the required approvals for investors can be taken as an example of a mechanism for economic development established through the RTI regime. Easing administrative hurdles by public authorities is a real game-changer for the developmental agenda of a country.

According to research conducted by Harvard University, while technologies advance rapidly, organisations and skills advance slowly, and the gap between swiftly evolving technology and the slower pace of human development will grow quickly. Public authorities should therefore be more innovative to better respond to the highly competitive digitalised economic environment. The RTI regime can be used as an enforcer to make digitisation “business as usual” for the public authorities. The requirement to provide ‘proactive disclosure’ can be enforced by compelling public authorities to transform their infrastructure to meet the service expectations of digitally empowered customers. Embracing new technology by public authorities will compress transaction costs thereby enabling SMEs to participate in global trade at reduced costs. The RTI regime therefore can contribute to enhance the competitiveness of local enterprises. This is a very vital requirement for a successful export-led economic strategy.


Discouraging misuse of administrative discretion
The Australian Law Reform Commission and Administrative Review Council have found that the RTI regime has focused decision-makers’ minds on the need to base decisions on relevant factors and to record the decision-making process. When the decision-making processes of public authorities are documented in a proper manner, deviating from established principles becomes more difficult. Therefore, the RTI regime also serves to improve better information management by public authorities. This will help strengthen the process of institutionalising policies.

Internal operational manuals and guidelines can also be highlighted as important elements of this process. Rules and regulations rather than unchecked discretion should be the basis of decision-making. Strong institutions are the drivers of the development program of a country. When the proactive disclosure of information is automated, manipulation of information will be discouraged. Proper policy documents will reduce room for misuse of administrative discretion.


Challenges for efficient implementation of the RTI
In addition to economic development, access to information enables citizens to better secure their democratic rights. The RTI can act as a fundamental part of democracy, a successful tool to tackle corruption and a critical mechanism for development and increased participation. However, legislating alone will not deliver the desired benefits. Civil society engagement and empowerment are the key requisites for effective implementation.

Former South African President, Nelson Mandela, included the RTI in their constitution as the lack of information and knowledge had allowed the existence of systems such as apartheid in South Africa.

In the absence of independent media, participatory democracy will be challenging. If citizens are to stay informed and government institutions are to be held accountable, there should be free access to accurate and ethical information.

Access to fake news and information is a threat to implement the RTI law effectively. Recent social unrest, such as the incidents that took place in Digana in Sri Lanka, are examples of the impact of a lack of access to accurate information on peace and resilience of the society. Sri Lanka as a country which suffered from a brutal internal conflict, knows the destructive power of such situations which can derail the growth trajectory of the economy. The RTI can be used to disseminate accurate and high quality information to pre-empt such social conflicts which hamper the growth prospects of the country.

Although Sri Lanka has recorded a high level of literacy, the financial literacy statistics are not impressive. According to a survey conducted by Standard and Poor, only 35% of adults in our country are financially literate. This low level of financial literacy acts as a hindrance in reaping the maximum benefits of the RTI regime. In order to enable customers and investors of financial institutions to take informed decisions, the regulatory authorities direct such entities to disclose their financial performances. However, the lack of adequate financial literacy weakens the effectiveness of such proactive disclosures. Eventually, the general public urges the regulatory authority to enforce disclosure through the RTI regime. Such reactive disclosure is less effective in fostering trust. Therefore, by enhancing the financial literacy of citizens and compelling public authorities to improve the reliability of their information and transparency of their procedures, reactive disclosure events can be reduced.

When the general public is sufficiently aware enough to transact only with safe and sound institutions, fragile and risky unauthorised financial entities will be compelled to exit from the system. Financial stability is vital to ensure that financial resources are allocated efficiently in order to promote economic growth and development. Availability of valid and accurate information through a robust RTI regime will therefore make the financial intermediation process efficient, which is key for moving the economy forward.

The absence of a requirement to disclose the purpose of a request for information has created the space for misusing the RTI regime. Obtaining information by business competitors of public authorities and requests made by parties with vested interests go against the good spirit of the RTI regime.

The Indian Supreme Court emphasised the right direction for using the RTI regime in these words: “The Act should not be allowed to be misused or abused, to become a tool to obstruct national development and integration or to destroy the peace, tranquillity and harmony among citizens. Nor should it be converted into a tool of oppression or intimidation of honest officials striving to do their duty.” This judicial determination can be used as guidance for the users of any RTI regime.

The Right to information should, therefore, be used as a driving force for empowering people and communities as well as improving equality, sustainability and prosperity. The foundation for a rights-based holistic development model can be established through the effective use of the RTI regime.

“Where a society has chosen to accept democracy as its creedal faith, it is elementary that citizens ought to know what their government is doing” - Justice PN Bhagwati.
[Nishadi Thennakoon, LLM (London), LLB (Hons) Colombo, MICA, Attorney-at-Law. Deputy Director, CBSL. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any

institution.]

North Korea Sells Weapons Worldwide While Trump Pushes for Peace

The U.S. president trashed the Iran nuclear deal because of Tehran’s bad behavior. But Pyongyang is little better, says a confidential U.N. report.

U.S. President Donald Trump, right, gestures as he meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the start of their historic summit in Singapore on June 12, 2018. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

BY MICHAEL HIRSH, COLUM LYNCH, ROBBIE GRAMER

| FEBRUARY 22, 2019, 3:42 PM
U.S. President Donald Trump heads off to his second high-stakes summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next week amid concerns that Kim has not taken enough action to dismantle his nuclear weapons program, even as the Trump administration has been hinting at a comprehensive peace deal with Pyongyang.

Yet in its push to make a deal with North Korea, the administration has consistently ignored Pyongyang’s ongoing weapons proliferation around the world, including in the Middle East. That stands in stark contrast to its rejection of the Iran nuclear accord, which Trump denounced as a “disaster” in part because it didn’t address the Iranian regime’s destabilizing activities throughout the Middle East.

“North Korea behaves very differently. They’re not destabilizing Yemen. They’re not destabilizing Syria. They’re not conducting enormous assassination campaigns. These countries’ behaviors are different,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told CBS News in an interview on Feb. 13.
But a forthcoming confidential 350-page report by a panel of United Nations experts tells a different story, one in which Syria has emerged as one of Pyongyang’s largest conduits for the sale of military equipment throughout the Middle East and Africa, as well as chemical weapons materials. Operating through a Syrian arms dealer, North Korea has supplied arms to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, as well as clients in Libya and Sudan, according to a diplomatic source who detailed the report’s findings for Foreign Policy.

“As far as weapons proliferation goes, I know nothing that has stopped,” said Bruce Bechtol, a former U.S. military intelligence officer who has studied previous versions of the U.N. report and is the author of the 2018 book North Korean Military Proliferation in the Middle East and Africa.
Bechtol said that based on an earlier version of the U.N. report and other evidence he has seen, North Korea’s sale of missiles, conventional weapons, and chemical weapons material to Syria continues unabated. He said North Korea also sends weapons to Iran and assists Tehran with its missile program, and that some of these weapons have been supplied to Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. “North Korea also continues to proliferate weapons and to train government forces for several nations in Africa,” he said.

The U.N. panel of experts is conducting numerous investigations into banned activities by North Korean officials in Syria, noting that North Korean technicians linked to Pyongyang’s ballistic missile program and other prohibited operations have made regular visits to Syria, indicating that cooperation on banned activities continues. The panel cites a report by an unnamed U.N. member state that North Korea continues its cooperation with Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center, which is linked to Syria’s chemical weapons program.

Pyongyang also has conducted a well-documented program of assassination abroad for many years, allegedly including the 2017 killing of Kim Jong Nam, Kim Jong Un’s half-brother, using VX, a deadly nerve agent, in Malaysia.

Yet the Trump administration has not called North Korea to task for this behavior, at least not publicly, despite Trump’s fierce criticism of former President Barack Obama for allegedly making that very mistake with Iran. On the contrary, Pompeo, who was for a time head of the CIA, publicly excused North Korea’s role in Middle Eastern conflicts, and Trump has repeatedly expressed his fondness for Kim.

The State Department did not respond to request for comment.

 

The U.N. report finds that North Korea continues to illegally import oil and luxury cars and raise tens of millions of dollars in revenues from the illegal export of arms and coal. Indeed, in a sign of North Korea’s often audacious attitude toward U.N. sanctions, Kim arrived at an Oct. 7, 2018, meeting with Pompeo in a black Rolls-Royce Phantom that the U.N. experts suspect may have been imported illegally.

The United States continues to sanction North Korea for past proliferation activities and human rights abuses. But, since Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal last year, critics have drawn comparisons between Iran and North Korea’s behavior—and their treatment by Washington.
Some are using the benchmarks that Obama clinched in his 2015 agreement with Iran—which Trump called “one of the dumbest deals I’ve ever seen”—to gauge what type of pact Trump can secure with North Korea. Trump, National Security Advisor John Bolton, and other senior administration officials have long said the Iran deal was unacceptable in part because it did nothing to address Tehran’s bad behavior abroad.

Experts caution that while North Korea’s sales of weapons to terrorist groups in the Middle East have been well documented in the past, they’re not nearly as extensive as Iran’s. Pyongyang’s arms deals in the Middle East appear to be purely a “money-making operation” for the cash-strapped country, according to Bruce Klingner, a former CIA deputy division chief for Korea.

“I don’t think there’s as close a nexus between the North Korean government and terrorist groups as there is between Iran and terrorist groups,” said Klingner, now a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

Even so, he said, “given the administration’s and the president’s criticisms of all previous agreements with North Korea as well as the [Iran nuclear deal], I think it’s a fair metric to use: Is a new agreement with North Korea better than all of those in the past?”

The U.N. panel says North Korea is also continuing its cyberwarfare and hacking programs around the region and the world. “They’re certainly highly active in conducting a lot of malicious cyber-activities,” said Michael Daniel, a former cybersecurity coordinator on the National Security Council under Obama and the head of the Cyber Threat Alliance. “And certainly they have made steady investments in their capabilities and have continued to train people.”

In the run-up to the summit, which is scheduled to take place in Hanoi on Feb. 27 and 28, some Korea experts say they are concerned that the U.S. president is so eager to fulfill his promises of a historic pact with North Korea that he will give away too much too quickly.

“I worry that the president wants peace the most, more than the denuclearization,” said Scott Snyder of the Council on Foreign Relations. Snyder and other North Korea experts who spoke at a Council on Foreign Relations forum in Washington on Feb. 21 warned of hints from administration officials—including chief negotiator Stephen Biegun—that the peace treaty Pyongyang has long sought may be in the offing, even without major additional steps on denuclearization. The Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice, not a peace treaty, essentially freezing the conflict but not formally ending it.

In remarks at Stanford University at the end of January, Biegun said Trump “is ready to end this war. It is over. It is done. We are not going to invade North Korea. We are not seeking to topple the North Korean regime.” Biegun added that “we need to advance our diplomacy alongside our plans for denuclearization.”

That statement appears to contrast with previous U.S. demands that substantial steps toward what Biegun called “final, fully verified denuclearization” of North Korea must come before a peace treaty and the lifting of sanctions. At the U.N. Security Council, Russia and China are also pushing for a gradual lifting of sanctions.

Trump has consistently raised hopes that Kim will follow through on his commitment to denuclearize, made more than eight months ago at their first summit in Singapore. In recent weeks, the administration has taken steps to ease the delivery of humanitarian relief to North Korea.

But here too Trump has been at odds with his own intelligence chiefs. At a congressional hearing in late January, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats provoked the president’s ire when he testified that “North Korea will seek to retain its [weapon of mass destruction] capabilities, and is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capabilities.” Coats added: “Our assessment is bolstered by our observations of some activity that is inconsistent with full denuclearization.”

The U.N. panel found that North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear complex—whose closure would be a critical element of any nuclear deal—remains active, despite a series of brief suspensions of operation last year. Uranium mining activities are ongoing at the Pyongsan mine.

In his Stanford speech, Biegun said that “while we would want to be much farther along … It has been more than 400 days since North Korea has undertaken a provocative test of missiles or nuclear weapons.” He noted that North Korea has taken preliminary steps to dismantle and destroy a pair of missile and nuclear test sites, Tongchang-ri and Punggye-ri. But he acknowledged that “these sites are not critical parts of the current North Korean missile or nuclear programs.”

“The pause in testing has slowed the speed of their advance. I don’t see how it’s reduced those capabilities,” said Rebecca Hersman, the director of the Project on Nuclear Issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Despite tough U.N. sanctions, North Korea has raised most of its revenue through a massive increase in illegal shipping schemes—including the impersonation by sanctioned ships of legal cargo vessels—that effectively thwart U.N. sanctions.

Banned vessels have evaded detection by painting over their ship name or through a scheme known as “spoofing,” which involves broadcasting false ship identification numbers as they approach North Korean ports. The United States and other countries have also detected a massive increase in illegal so-called ship-to-ship transfers, in which large oil tankers in the East China Sea unload their crude oil onto smaller, unknown vessels.   

North Korea’s illicit trade has been facilitated by a network of financial agents operating in several countries with apparent impunity. As European Union banks shuttered North Korean accounts, North Korea’s chief intelligence branch, the Reconnaissance General Bureau, simply moved money to financial institutions in Asia. North Korean middlemen and diplomats who came under scrutiny for financing illicit activities have simply opened up accounts in the names of family members or associates.

But some of North Korea’s boldest efforts to secure funds involve the use of an array of cybercrimes, including online scams and the hacking of the global SWIFT messaging system. There, Pyongyang’s activities dovetail with those of Tehran.

“At various points both the Iranians and North Koreans have engaged in mutual training exercises,” said Daniel, the cyber-expert.

Sudan's Bashir reshuffles top team amid state of emergency

Omar al-Bashir names new VP and prime minister in wake of months of protests demanding his removal.

AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES- Feb 23, 2019Feb 22, 2019

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has appointed a new first vice president and prime minister, a day after declaring a year-long state of emergency to counter protests calling for his removal from office.

Bashir replaced long-time ally Bakri Hassan Saleh with Defence Minister General Awad Ibnoufas as VP and elevated governor of eastern Gezira state Mohamed Tahir Ayala to prime minister, a presidential decree said on Saturday.

Ibnouf was involved in the coup that brought Bashir to power three decades ago, while Ayala has previously been touted by the Sudanese leader as his potential successor as president.

The move came after Bashir on Friday imposed a state of emergency across Sudan, dissolving the federal and provincial governments and replacing all state governors with military officials, in a bid to quell weeks of demonstrations that have rocked his iron-fisted rule.

In a televised address to the nation, the 75-year-old urged his opponents to join a "path of national reconciliation" and called on parliament to postpone constitutional amendments that would have allowed him to seek another term in a presidential election in 2020.

He also pledged to form a government of technocrats to address the country's chronic economic woes, which have been the driving force behind the protests against his rule.

Acknowledging the demonstrations that have rocked his administration since mid-December, the Sudanese leader said the "demands of our people for better living conditions are lawful".

"I will not stop calling for all parties to sit at the dialogue table," Bashir said, adding he would remain on the "side of the youth who represent the future of Sudan".

Hours after his address, Bashir issued two decrees which set up a caretaker administration comprising a senior official from each ministry and kept the defence, foreign and justice ministers in place.

Months of demonstrations

Thousands of people have taken to the streets across Sudan since December 19 calling for Bashir to stand down after nearly three decades in office.

While the protests were initially set off by a government decision to cut a vital bread subsidy, they quickly grew into a demand for more political freedom and an end to Bashir's rule.

The Sudanese leader's term ends in 2020 and he has repeatedly promised over the years not to make new runs for the presidency. Without amending the country's constitution, he can not run for a third term.

The demonstrations against Bashir continued on Friday. 

Security forces fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters who marched and chanted anti-government slogans following Friday prayers at a major mosque near the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, witnesses said.

Activists say nearly 60 people have been killed since the protests began, while authorities put the death toll at 31.

Sudan: A crumbling regime puts the squeeze on the media

Hundreds of protesters, including opposition leaders, activists and journalists have also been jailed by the widely-feared National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS).

Al Jazeera's Hiba Morgan, reporting from Khartoum, said it would likely become increasingly difficult for protesters to continue their demonstrations as the state of emergency kicks in.

"As per Sudan's constitution, the state of emergency gives the police, the security forces and the military the right to search without warrant, to raid houses and arrest anybody they deem a threat to the country's national security and economic development and stability," Morgan said.

"Bashir also said that those protesting have been infiltrated by agents with foreign agendas and that they are people who want to destabilise the country. With that being said and with the state of emergency in place, it is likely that more force will be used against protesters," she added.

Protesters vow to press on

However, organisers of anti-government protests across Sudan vowed to press on with their demonstrations until Bashir steps down.

"We are calling on our people to continue with demonstrations until the main aim of this uprising, which is the stepping down of the regime chief, is achieved," said the Sudanese Professionals Association, which is spearheading the campaign, just after Bashir announced a state of emergency across the country.

Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court over charges of masterminding genocide in the Darfur region, which he denies. He has been lobbying for Sudan to be removed from a list of countries Washington deems state sponsors of terrorism.

The listing has blocked the investment and financial aid that Sudan was hoping for when the United States lifted sanctions on the country in 2017, economists say.

Sudan has been rapidly expanding its money supply in an attempt to finance its budget deficit, causing spiralling inflation and a steep decline in the value of its currency.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

Somerset carer fears torture over Zimbabwe deportation

Siphiwe Moyo has been caring for quadriplegic patient Yvonne Gade for nine years

21 February 2019

A Zimbabwean carer who has been a UK resident for the past 12 years says she fears persecution if she is deported.

Siphiwe Moyo wanted to escape violence as she was a member of the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change.

She has cared for quadriplegic patient Yvonne Gade from Trull, Somerset, for nine years, but her visa permission was refused after a relationship breakdown.

The Home Office said deportation would only happen when a safe return was guaranteed.

Ms Gade requires 24-hour care after a brain aneurysm, and her partner Karen Atwell has also been diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer.

'Really hard'

"Siphiwe is family - she's lived with us for eight-and-a-half years," said Ms Atwell.

"Before her, we didn't have a consistent carer and it was really hard."

Ms Atwell said the Home Office had not considered the impact the deportation would have on her partner.

"[Ms Moyo's] irreplaceable. We can't just make up for eight-and-a-half years' experience overnight with another carer," she added.

Ms Moyo said that after her relationship broke down the Home Office told her last month she had to leave.

She said the prospect of returning to Zimbabwe was "frightening".

"I don't want to go back, we all see what's happening there," Ms Moyo said.

"People are killed and tortured. They know I've been here for 10 years, and I don't know what's waiting for me there.

"I - with the Home Office - would look at the other side, I've worked, protected Yvonne and paid my taxes."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "All applications are considered on their individual merits, on the basis of the evidence available and in line with UK immigration rules.

"Where applications are refused removal is only enforced when we and the courts conclude that it is safe to do so, with a safe route of return."

The UK government's own travel advice for Britons travelling to Zimbabweadvises them to "avoid political activity, or activities which could be construed as such, including political discussions in public places".

It also advises people to avoid all demonstrations and rallies as they "can be unpredictable and may turn violent".

Amid chaos and defiance, Venezuelan opposition faces off against security forces as Maduro digs in

Mariana Zuñiga,, Anthony Faiola, Dylan Baddour- Feb 23, 2019
Feb 22, 2019
A massive effort to break President Nicolás Maduro’s blockade of humanitarian aid descended into violence and chaos Saturday across the string of border flash points — showing both the growing defiance of Juan Guaidó and the U.S.-backed opposition but also Maduro’s willingness to fight back.

In a day of fast-moving developments at various points, anti-Maduro crowds at a Colombian border town faced tear gas fired by Venezuelan units, cheered as dozens of Venezuelan security forces switched sides and tried to rescue desperately needed aid packages from burning trucks.

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In all, 285 people were injured and 37 hospitalized on the Colombian side of the border, according to Colombia’s foreign minister. At least four were killed on the Venezuela-Brazil border after clashing with pro-government militias.

In the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, the embattled Maduro danced at a pro-government rally, mocked the United States and broke off ties with neighboring Colombia. Late in the day, Venezuelan navy vessels threatened to open fire on a ship carrying 200 tons of aid from Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló, governor of Puerto Rico, said in a statement. He said he had ordered the vessels to abandon the area temporarily, decrying the threat as “unacceptable.”

Yet in a way, this day was meant to be as much about provocation as about the aid itself.

The attempt to move humanitarian aid into Venezuelan, opposition leaders hoped, would prompt members of the Venezuelan armed forces to defy Maduro by refusing to carry out orders to block delivery of aid to fellow countrymen in desperate need of food and medicine. The plan worked, to a degree: Roughly 60 members of Maduro’s military and security forces abandoned posts, denounced him and sought refuge with the opposition on Colombian soil.

But as night fell, there was no massive shipment of food and medicine headed to Venezuela’s neediest. One truckload of aid made its way into Venezuela from Brazil and several others inched across the Colombian border into Venezuela before being blocked by government forces. And there was no political resolution, with two men — Maduro and Guaidó — still claiming the presidential mantle.

The chaos was evident throughout towns on both sides of the border.

In San Antonio, just across the Simon Bolivar Bridge from Colombia, tear gas billowed and protesters responded by throwing rocks at Venezuelan forces. Then a warning cry went up: “Colectivos! Colectivos!” — the name for pro-Maduro vigilantes.

Venezuela's political turmoil has further deepened amid growing tension over President Nicolas Maduro's future as the country's leader. Maduro started a second term on January 10 following a widely boycotted election last year that many foreign governments refused to recognize.

On January 23, Juan Guaido, the leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, declared himself the interim president.

(Pictured) An anti-government protester covers her face with a Venezuelan flag, and uses toothpaste around her eyes to help lessen the effect of tear gas, during clashes with security forces after a rally demanding the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 23, in Caracas, Venezuela.

Slideshow by photo services

Suddenly, a group of 20 large men on motorbikes, their faces partially covered by black masks, roared into the road. They were members of the feared pro-government militias, frequently deployed by Maduro’s loyalists, and who were widely blamed by the opposition for unleashing a torrent of fear at multiple border points on Saturday.

Protesters, aid workers, volunteers and journalists began running for shelter, dashing into buildings and cars and boarding motorcycles in an attempt to escape, as the militia members opened fire.

“It was horrifying, horrifying,” said opposition politician Carlos Valero, who was present for the San Antonio attacks. “The last thing we imagined was that Nicolás Maduro was going to put out so many irregular forces. They shot at us, and the national guards threw tear gas. We didn’t expect that level of irrationality in response to humanitarian aid.”

The events spiraled close to the realm of international conflict. On the Simón Bolívar Bridge, tear gas volleys and rocks flew from both the Venezuelan and Colombian sides, with Colombian authorities arresting at least two irregular Venezuelan militiamen on the Colombian side of the border.

“#MaduroRegime has fired into territory of #Colombia,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has closely advised President Trump on Venezuela, tweeted on Saturday. “Receiving reports of injuries after this attack on sovereign Colombian territory. The United States WILL help Colombia confront any aggression against them.”

National security adviser John Bolton tweeted that Maduro’s response to trucks of humanitarian aid had been “masked thugs, civilians killed by live rounds, and the burning of trucks carrying badly-needed food and medicine.” He suggested that more sanctions were coming.

Vice President Pence, who will go to Colombia on Monday to give a speech reiterating U.S. support for Guaidó, also took to Twitter to show solidarity with the opposition: “Estamos con ustedes. We are with you.”

© /
Guaidó, the opposition leader, began the day by tweeting, almost optimistically, about the mission at hand.

“Venezuela, the day has arrived in which we will take the step to enter humanitarian aid. From our borders, by land and sea, we will bring hope, food and medicines for the ones who need it the most,” he wrote. “We call everyone to go out massively to the streets in the whole country, to protest in peace at barracks, to urge the armed forces to let humanitarian aid in.”

Yet after an attack by the Venezuelan military near the Brazilian border that left two civilians dead and 11 wounded on Friday, fears mounted that the attempt to move aid into Venezuela could be marred by further violence. By Saturday morning, the Venezuelan government had temporarily closed three key border crossings with Colombia. Just before the 8 a.m. start time for the effort to try to break the blockade, a violent confrontation broke out on the Santander bridge in the western border town in Ureña — one of the crossings to Colombia ordered closed by the Maduro government.

About 200 people — a mixture of protesters seeking to bring in aid and Venezuelan workers with jobs on the Colombian side of the border — began throwing rocks at border guards, who responded with volleys of tear gas.

“They think they are the owners of Venezuela,” María Zambrano, a 46-year-old engineer who arrived in Ureña to join the aid effort, said of the guards. She said a cousin of hers with cancer cannot find medication for treatment. “But we are all united, and we will get this aid in. They won’t be able to shoot us all.”

In Venezuela, groups of volunteers and opposition leaders boarded early-morning buses, cars and motorbikes en route to the eastern Colombian border. In addition to vows of bringing in aid by sea and land — and via human chain if necessary — the opposition also planned large-scale rallies in cities nationwide to demand the admittance of international relief.

“I’m very concerned with the information we’ve received about paramilitary groups and other irregular groups already at the border with the intention to spread violence,” said opposition politician Nora Bracho. “We have no doubt that there will be violence, absolutely no doubt.”

In defiance of a ban against leaving the country, Guaidó made a secretive trip to Colombia on Friday to lead the aid effort and meet with regional leaders. He suggested the Venezuelan armed forces had helped him spirit across his nation’s western frontier.

But he was also running the risk of being barred from reentry or arrested upon return.
The attention on Saturday remained focused on the single-largest staging ground for aid in Cucuta.
Organizers in Cucuta had called for “every available Venezuelan” to turn up Saturday morning at 8 a.m. and await further orders.

Many began to awake before dawn on a rocky ground of a camp set up for them and began moving toward arranged meeting points to join the effort.

“We’re betting everything on this,” said Ricardo Justo, a 24-year-old salesman from Caracas who traveled 27 hours on a bus with a group of 30. “We’ll do whatever they tell us to.”

Air-raid sirens on bull horns awoke the camp at 5:20 a.m., rousing them for a day of action. Folk music began playing. Kleibysad Saab, a 47-year-old Venezuelan from the state of Carabobo, lead a crowd in chants of “freedom” before offering a prayer.

“No man can close the doors that God has opened,” she said. “Here we go!”
The crowd roared an amen.

In the western city of San Cristobal, about 150 people divided in four buses were stationed at one of the points where the opposition called yesterday for residents to gather to be taken to the border. But around 35 soldiers with shields and a convoy were blocking the way, telling them they had orders to only let cars pass.

Three drivers decided to order people to leave their buses because they heard vehicles were being impounded en route. About 110 people began to walk up a hill toward the border, hoping they would get a ride on the way. But they were quickly blocked by armed guards, and began shouting “let us pass, let us pass.” Within minutes they were allowed to.

“They know which is the right side,” said Julián Pozo, 54. “They are suffering too.”

Many marchers wore white shirts that read “freedom for Venezuela.”

“I want to free Venezuela from this yoke. The abuse has to end,” said Asdrúbal Castillo, a 65-year-old farmer. “This is a historical moment. It’s either now or never.”

anthony.faiola@washpost.com

Faiola reported from San Cristóbal, Venezuela, and Zuñiga from San Antonio, Venezuela. Rachelle Krygier in San Cristóbal, Anggy Polanco in Ureña, Venezuela and Carol Morello in Washington contributed to this report.