by KS
UNITED STATES: Barrett Nominated to Replace Ginsburg
After the heartbreaking death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, President Trump nominated a replacement – to the joy of some, and the fury of others.
On Sept. 26, Trump nominated 7th District Court of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the seat vacated by the death of “RBG” on the Supreme Court. Barrett is a conservative, and if appointed, would create a 6-3 majority on the court in favor of conservatives over liberals. It is strongly suggested that Barrett’s appointment could jeopardize abortion rights as well as the Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare.”
Barrett is a native of New Orleans, is married, and a mother to seven children – including two adopted children from Haiti. They currently live in South Bend, Indiana.
Right now, the GOP-led Senate has 51 members in favor of a vote, which is enough to confirm Barrett. Democrats meanwhile have urged lawmakers on the other side to abide by Senator Mitch McConnell’s actions when President Obama wanted to confirm Merrick Garland. McConnell dismissed Obama’s efforts to have Garland fill the seat vacated by the death of Antonin Scalia, saying that an appointment should not come so close in an election year.
Garland’s potential appointment had 11 months to spare, whereas Barrett’s potential appointment is less than two months. Ironically, Barrett served as a clerk under Scalia.
EUROPE: Organized Crime Takedown
Tackling illegal immigration and the trafficking of firearms and drugs was the focus of an operation supported by INTERPOL and Europol to combat organized and serious international crime originating from Southeast Europe.
The four-day operation (Sept. 24-27), coordinated by the European multidisciplinary platform against criminal threats (EMPACT) and led by the Spanish Guardia Civil, saw 33 countries team up during joint action days (JADs).
Nearly 9,000 law enforcement officers were involved in the operation and included police officers, land, sea and air border guards and customs agents. INTERPOL played a key role in the Southeast Europe JADs, leveraging expertise from Project Millennium – aimed at combating organized crime in the Balkans among other regions – as well as resources from the INTERPOL Criminal Data Management Department and INTERPOL Firearms Program.
During the span of the action week, more than 390,000 individuals and 44,000 vehicles were checked at cross border locations and suspected illicit trafficking hotspots.
In total, countries participating in the JADs performed nearly 14 million searches on INTERPOL databases during the four days, resulting in more than 5,000 hits.
These controls and investigations have led to a number of arrests in several European countries on the following charges:
· Firearms trafficking or illegal possession of firearms: 17
· Migrant smuggling or illegal immigration: 73
· Drug trafficking: 37
· Firearms and drug trafficking: 7
· Document fraud: 12
· International arrest warrant: 1
· Other crimes not related to the JAD: 19
In addition, investigators seized 51 weapons of different types and 47 kilograms of a variety of drugs.
“These results demonstrate that, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, INTERPOL and our partners continue supporting our member countries by enhancing their capabilities and strengthening international and regional law enforcement cooperation,” said Jose de Gracia, Assistant Director of INTERPOL’s Criminal Networks division.
“The successes in Southeast Europe will strengthen police cooperation for future operations around the world,” added de Gracia.
AFRICA: Death Sentence Over a Song
Independent UN human rights experts have called on the Government of Nigeria to immediately release a singer sentenced to death over an allegedly blasphemous song he performed and shared on social media.
Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, 22, was sentenced to death on August 10 by a Sharia court in Nigeria’s northern Kano province. He was convicted for sharing a song he had written and performed through a group on WhatsApp, which prompted some local politicians to call for his execution.
A mob burned down his family home in March and he has received death threats.
The human rights experts called for the death sentence to be overturned and for authorities to guarantee his safety and right to due process, while he appeals the verdict.
“We are deeply concerned over the serious lack of due process in Mr. Sharif-Aminu’s case so far, especially reports that he has been held incommunicado, and that he did not have access to a lawyer during his initial trial, a trial that was not open to the public,” said the experts in a news release on Sept. 28.
The experts added that artistic expression of opinion and beliefs, through songs or other media – including those seen to offend religious sensibilities – is protected in accordance with international law.
UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Karima Bennoune, one of the experts sounding the alarm, said that the application of the death penalty “for artistic expression or for sharing a song on the Internet, is a flagrant violation of international human rights law, as well as of Nigeria’s constitution.”
“We are also gravely concerned about Mr. Sharif-Aminu’s safety, in light of the death threats against him”, said the rights experts. “Nigeria must take effective measures to protect Mr. Sharif-Aminu, in detention as well as after his release.”
CARIBBEAN: A Plea for Cooperation
Leaders from the Caribbean, in pre-recorded addresses to the UN General Assembly, stressed that their small economies are largely dependent on one or just a few industries, and called for strengthened global cooperation and financing mechanisms to overcome the health crisis sparked by the coronavirus pandemic and recover from its massive socio-economic fallout.
Speakers also highlighted the importance of gender equality, improving access to technology and closing the digital divide, addressing inequalities within societies, strengthening climate action, and, in line with the Sustainable Development Goas (SDGs), ensuring no one is left behind.
Nations have to re-imagine the ways they cooperate as they respond to COVID-19, said Andrew Holness, the Prime Minister of Jamaica, the first of the Caribbean leaders to speak, adding that “persistent global problems require consistent cooperation to achieve strategic global solutions.”
An excellent example of such effective multilateral cooperation is the UN COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, he said. The Fund supports low- and middle-income countries overcome the health and development crisis caused by the pandemic and support those most vulnerable to economic hardship and social disruption.
The inclusion of middle-income countries “recognizes the reality,” added the Prime Minister, referring to the development challenges faced by this group of countries.
Through ensuring middle-income countries are able to access support they need will allow the entire international community to reap benefits, he said.
The Prime Minister of the smallest nation in the Western Hemisphere, Saint Kitts and Nevis, also underscored the moment of global reckoning wrought by the pandemic “demands a renewal of purpose and promise” through multilateralism, and stronger international cooperation.
Prime Minister Timothy Harris said that the time for mutual reliance was now.
He congratulated the UN World Health Organization (WHO) for its stewardship of the international response, adding that Caribbean Community (CARICOM) states strongly back the COVID-19 Tools Accelerator initiative for an equitable vaccine: “Instead of nationalism, we need global cooperation in the fight to defeat COVID-19,” he said.
Lauding his islands’ “considerable success” combating the virus, he said multilateral assistance was essential for small island nations like his, calling for greater access to “concessional financing” and debt relief to help reshape the economy, battered by everything from a record-breaking hurricane season to the collapse of tourism revenue.
“Climate change for us, is not something to be postponed for tomorrow. It must be addressed like yesterday,” Prime Minister Harris said, calling on small island nations to champion the cause of preserving biodiversity, at next week’s summit-level meeting of the General Assembly.
“For Saint Kitts and Nevis, the ocean is our lifeblood. Let us protect it, to preserve a stronger and safer future,” he added.
