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UN Committed To Supporting ‘Free, Fair And Transparent Election With The Participation Of All Iraqis'

UN Committed To Supporting ‘Free, Fair And Transparent Election With The Participation Of All Iraqis'

Scoop13-06-2025
'Iraq is a nation of profound history, strength, potential, and pride. By working together, Iraqis can continue to make meaningful strides towards stability, prosperity and human rights for all,' said Special Representative Mohamed Al Hassan, who also heads the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).
He provided updates on political, human rights and other developments over the past six months, and the Mission's ongoing support to the authorities as it prepares to leave at the end of the year.
UNAMI was established in 2003 and works to advance inclusive political dialogue as well as reconciliation at the national and community levels, among other mandated tasks.
Parliamentary elections ahead
At the outset, Mr. Hassan commended the Iraqi Government for providing humanitarian aid to people in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria, and for supporting the new peace initiative between Türkiye and the Kurdistan Workers' Party, a militant group known as PKK.
He said Iraq is well on the way to fresh parliamentary elections set for 11 November, and the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) is making notable progress towards polling day, with UNAMI's technical support.
Although voter registration should conclude in the coming days, and nearly three-quarters of all voters have completed biometric registration, challenges and logistical concerns remain.
Supporting the vote
'But IHEC is committed to doing its best towards a free, fair and transparent election with the participation of all Iraqis without fear and intimidation,' he said.
' UNAMI will spare no effort in providing the most professional technical support towards this end, including efforts to promote the widest participation of women, youth and minorities.'
Mr. Al Hassan also reported on the aftermath of the successful parliamentary elections held in the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq last October. With formation of a regional government still outstanding, he called for a spirit of compromise to break the impasse.
Returnees from Syria
Turning to other matters, he said more than 800 Iraqis recently returned from the Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria. For years, thousands of people from Syria, Iraq and other countries have been held at the notorious complex for their alleged ties to Daesh extremists.
He said the development is an indication of the Iraqi Government's commitment to accelerating returns of its citizens, with UN support.
' It is nevertheless essential that adequate resources are invested in supporting a dignified reintegration of returning families, and in ensuring a fair judicial process for the detainees who are being repatriated,' he added.
Concern for Yazidi community
Meanwhile, the situation of people displaced within Iraq continues to demand urgent attention. They include members of the Yazidi minority community who are living in camps and informal settlements in harsh conditions.
More than a decade has passed since ISIL fighters attacked the Yazidi's ancestral homeland around Sinjar, in northern Iraq, committing atrocities such as executions, forced conversions and abducting thousands of women and girls into sexual slavery.
Mr. Al Hassan said the Iraqi Government's recent recognition of Yazidi land rights was 'a significant milestone,' with over 1,300 ownership letters and nearly 100 title deeds distributed this year. Yet he stressed the need for a national plan that provides durable solutions.
End the injustice
'The return process cannot just be physical relocation, it needs to be a meaningful process that rebuilds lives, livelihoods, and hope for the future,' he said.
Speaking in Arabic, he said the Yazidis 'have been greatly harmed in a manner that cannot be described.' He called on all concerned in Iraq and neighbouring countries 'to take all the necessary measures' to protect them.
'We think it is important to put an end to this injustice that has been imposed on the Yazidi Iraqi people, and to guarantee their return to their homes and to their areas in dignity and in pride.'
Uphold human rights
Moving on, he said that 'commitment to human rights is at the heart of Iraq's stability and development.' He pointed to measures including progress towards a draft law on minority rights and the adoption of a national strategy to counter hate speech.
'Among the human rights files that must be dealt with urgently is that of those who have been disappeared and those who are in jail without any legal and just and transparent trials,' he said.
Planned withdrawal
Regarding UNAMI, he said that 'the Mission continues to pursue a structured transition according to schedule and in close cooperation with the Government of Iraq Transition Team.'
Its offices in Mosul and Kirkuk have closed and staffing levels are being gradually reduced, with the goal of balancing the drawdown as mandated tasks continue. This is taking place 'in a context of serious financial constraints impacting the United Nations as a whole,' he added.
Before concluding his remarks, Mr. Al Hassan underlined his 'complete trust and confidence in Iraq and Iraqis and the ability of this great country, which is among the founding members of the United Nations to regain its status among the nations.'
He said the UN 'will spare no effort in our cooperation and our assistance because we believe in this country and its potential, and its capacities and the capabilities of its people.'
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Gunfire Communication With 'Zombie Hordes': The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation And The IDF
Gunfire Communication With 'Zombie Hordes': The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation And The IDF

Scoop

time08-07-2025

  • Scoop

Gunfire Communication With 'Zombie Hordes': The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation And The IDF

It's made to order. First, eliminate the aid system after creating circumstances of enormous suffering. Then, kill, starve, vanquish and displace those in need of that aid. Finally: give the pretence of humanity by ensuring some aid to those whose suffering you created in the first place. As things stand, the system of aid distribution in the Gaza Strip is intended to cause suffering and destruction to recipients. Since May 26, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an opaquely structured entity with Israeli and US backing, has run the distribution of parcels from a mere four points, a grim joke given the four hundred or so outlets previously operated by the United Nations Palestinian relief agency. The entire process of seeking aid has been heavily rationed and militarised, with Israeli troops and private contractors exercising murderous force with impunity. Opening times are not set, rendering the journey to the distribution points even more precarious. When they do open, they do so for short spells. Haaretz has run reports quoting soldiers of the Israeli Defense Forces claiming to have orders to deliberately fire upon unarmed crowds on their perilous journey to the food sites. In a June 27 piece, the paper quotes a soldier describing the distribution sites as 'a killing field.' Where he was stationed, 'between one and five people were killed every day.' Those seeking aid were 'treated like a hostile force – no crowd-control measures, no tear gas – just live fire with everything imaginable: heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars. Then, once the center opens, the shooting stops, and they can approach. Our form of communication is gunfire.' The interviewed soldier could recall no instance of return fire. 'There's no enemy, no weapons.' IDF officers also told the paper that the GHF's operations had provided a convenient distraction for continuing operations in Gaza, which had been turned into a 'backyard', notably during Israel's war with Iran. In the words of a reservist, the Strip had 'become a place with its own set of rules. The loss of human life means nothing. It's not even an 'unfortunate incident', like they used to say.' An IDF officer involved in overseeing security at one of the distribution centres was full of understatement. 'Working with a civilian population when your only means of interaction is opening fire – that's highly problematic, to say the least.' It was 'neither ethically nor morally acceptable for people to have to reach, or fail to reach, a [humanitarian zone] under tank fire, snippers and mortar shells.' Much the same story can be found with the security contractors, those enthusiastic killers following in the footsteps of predecessors who treat international humanitarian law as inconvenient if not altogether irrelevant. Countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq can attest to the blood-soiled record of private military contractors, with the killing of 14 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad city's Nisour Square by Blackwater USA employees in September 2007 being but one spectacular example. While those employees faced trial and conviction in a US federal court in 2014 on an assortment of charges – among them murder, manslaughter and attempted manslaughter – such a fate is unlikely for any of those working for the GHF. On July 4, the BBC published the observations of a former contractor on the trigger-happy conduct of his colleagues around the food centres. In one instance, a guard opened fire on women, children and elderly people 'moving too slowly away from the site.' Another contractor, also on location, stood on the berm overlooking the exit to one of the GHF sites, firing 15 to 20 bursts of repetitive fire at the crowd. 'A Palestinian man dropped on the ground motionless. And then, the other contractor who was standing there was like, 'damn, I think you got one'. And then they laughed about it.' The company had also failed to issue contractors any operating procedures or rules of engagement, except one: 'if you feel threatened, shoot – shoot to kill and ask questions later.' No reference is made to the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers. To journey to Gaza was to go to a land unencumbered by laws and rules. 'Do what you want,' is the cultural norm of GHF operatives. And this stands to reason, given the reference of 'team leaders' to Gazans seeking aid as 'zombie hordes'. The GHF, in time honoured fashion, have denied these allegations. Ditto the IDF, that great self-proclaimed stalwart of international law. It is therefore left to such contributors as Anas Baba, NPR's producer in the Gaza Strip, to enlighten those who care to read and listen. As one of the few Palestinian journalists working for a US news outlet in the strip, his observations carry singular weight. In a recent report, Baba neatly summarised the manufactured brutality behind the seeking of aid in an enclave strangled and suffering gradual extinction. 'I faced Israeli military fire, private US contractors pointing laser beams at my forehead, crowds with knives fighting for rations and masked thieves – to get food from a group supported by the US and Israel called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation'. If nothing else, it is high time that the GHF scrap any pretence of being humanitarian in its title and admit to its true role: an adjutant to Israel's program of extirpating Gaza's Palestinian population.

Across the political spectrum, leaders are pushing a harder line on people lacking permanent legal status
Across the political spectrum, leaders are pushing a harder line on people lacking permanent legal status

NZ Herald

time29-06-2025

  • NZ Herald

Across the political spectrum, leaders are pushing a harder line on people lacking permanent legal status

Procaccini's party, Brothers of Italy, is now very popular in Italy. Its leader, Giorgia Meloni, is the country's prime minister. And Procaccini is a chair of the European Conservatives and Reformists group, a big force in the European Parliament. Across the political spectrum in Europe, leaders, right and left, are pushing a tougher line on migrants lacking permanent legal status. The shift has not set off the same turmoil that President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown has stirred in the United States, but it is already being seen as entrenched and profound. In nations across the European Union, centrists are joining staunch conservatives to roll back protections in an effort to make it easier to deport migrants lacking permanent legal status. Denmark's 'zero' refugee policy has become a model other leaders want to replicate. EU officials are working on new rules that would help to send asylum-seekers to third countries. The bloc struck a recent deal to deploy agents in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is not an EU member, to better police borders. Some of those ideas have previously met with criticism from EU officials. 'There is now this really broad consensus among almost all political camps,' said Martin Hofmann, an adviser at the International Centre for Migration Policy Development. 'We will be tougher, we will be stricter.' The shift has steadily built with the voter backlash that helped fuel nationalist, far-right and populist parties after Europe took in more than a million Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans, and others seeking asylum a decade ago. Migration picked up again, though less drastically, just after the peak of the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, the number of migrants arriving has fallen. They declined about 20% in the first five months of 2025, after a sharp decline last year, according to preliminary data collected by Frontex, the EU's border agency. At the same time, expulsions have slowly increased. Migration along some routes remains significant. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the bloc's executive arm, emphasised in a recent letter to political leaders that arrivals from Libya into Greece are surging, and said that Europe must 'insist on strengthening border management'. Hofmann said that because anti-immigrant sentiments are often a proxy for wider frustration with a perceived lack of opportunities, high costs of living and a loss of social status, a drop in migrant arrivals alone was unlikely to blunt the issue's potency. In his view, policies that seem to be working to stem immigration are likely to retain their appeal and continue to gain momentum. That includes offshoring asylum requests, which the European Commission is exploring. Not long ago, when the British Government proposed sending asylum-seekers to Rwanda, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights said the plan was another representation 'of an ongoing trend towards externalisation of asylum and migration policy in Europe', which he said was 'a matter of concern for the global system of protection of the rights of refugees'. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Photo / Getty Images Now, the policy of offshoring asylum requests has become a signature of Meloni, who has tried to hold asylum-seekers in Albania while their cases are processed. Though Italian judges have blocked her effort for now, von der Leyen called it 'an example of out-of-the-box thinking'. Now the EU is seeking to redirect applicants to third countries while it works to streamline the deportation process for asylum-seekers whose applications have been rejected. The depth of the change was on full display last month when Mette Frederiksen, the Social Democratic, left-leaning Danish prime minister, stood alongside the staunchly conservative Meloni in Rome to support tougher migration rules. Frederiksen, whose country has relatively few asylum requests, has for several years overseen one of Europe's most restrictive policies. Others are now seeking to adopt a similar approach. Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany, the centre-right leader of Europe's largest economy, this month called Denmark a 'role model' on migration policy. Meloni and Frederiksen presented an open letter in which they argued that the European Convention on Human Rights — the 75-year-old cornerstone for the protection of human rights in Europe — 'posed too many limitations on the states' ability to decide whom to expel from their territories'. It was also signed by leaders from Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Meloni said at a news conference that the fact that the signatories belonged to different 'political families' showed 'how the topic is of great interest across different sensitivities'. The underpinnings of the convention have already eroded with the shift on migration. Deals with countries like Libya and Tunisia have helped slow the influx of migrants, said Camille Le Coz, the director of Migration Policy Institute Europe. But they have done so 'at a huge human rights cost,' she said, such as when, in 2023, the Tunisian authorities dumped African migrants in a desert. Germany has now instituted checks on its land borders, a step that opponents, including some of its neighbours, have criticised as undermining the commitment of EU members to free movement within the bloc. European countries have taken in Ukrainian people since the Russian invasion, and waves of refugees from previous wars in Syria and Iraq. Photo / Tyler Hicks, the New York Times The Polish Government suspended asylum rights as migrants have massed at the border with Belarus, which is outside the European Union. Poland argued that Russian and Belarusian officials were deliberately encouraging migration in a bid to destabilise Europe. Some worry that the shift in tone around migration could harm newcomers who remain in Europe. In recent Polish presidential elections, the nationalist candidate won by running in part on a 'Poland first, Poles first' tagline. Magdalena Czarzynska-Jachim, the Mayor of Sopot, Poland, a town on the Baltic seashore, said Sopot had long welcomed Ukrainian workers and, more recently, families who had fled the war in Ukraine. Ukraine is not an EU member. She agrees that borders must be protected, but she also worries that recent messaging risks going too far, broadly characterising immigrants as criminals. 'Legal migrants are our neighbours,' she said. 'They are not bandits.' The shift in tone is striking even to those who have long been proponents of tougher measures. A decade ago, when Australia barred migrants trying to enter the country by sea from resettlement and sent asylum-seekers to Papua New Guinea, rights groups said the policy provoked human rights violations. The European Union was also critical, said Alexander Downer, an Australian former foreign minister. 'They used to give me lectures all the time about how naughty we were,' Downer said. 'Von der Leyen has embraced it now.' This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Written by: Emma Bubola and Jeanna Smialek ©2025 THE NEW YORK TIMES

'New Middle East': This Is Netanyahu's Real Goal In The Region
'New Middle East': This Is Netanyahu's Real Goal In The Region

Scoop

time26-06-2025

  • Scoop

'New Middle East': This Is Netanyahu's Real Goal In The Region

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu persistently declares his ambition to "change the face of the Middle East". Yet, his repeated assertions seem to clash with the unfolding reality on the ground. Netanyahu's opportunistic relationship with language is now proving detrimental to his country. The Israeli leader undoubtedly grasps fundamental marketing principles, particularly the power of strong branding and consistent messaging. However, for any product to succeed over time, clever branding alone is insufficient; the product itself must live up to at least a minimum degree of expectation. Netanyahu's "product," however, has proven utterly defective, yet the 75-year-old Israeli Prime Minister stubbornly refuses to abandon his outdated marketing techniques. But what exactly is Netanyahu selling? Long before assuming Israel's leadership, Netanyahu mastered the art of repetition – a technique often employed by politicians to inundate public discourse with specific slogans. Over time, these slogans are intended to become "common sense". As a member of the Knesset in 1992, Netanyahu delivered what appeared to be a bombshell: Iran was "within three to five years" from obtaining a nuclear bomb. In 1996, he urged the US Congress to act, declaring that "time is running out." While the US pivoted its attention toward Iraq, following the September 2001 attacks, Netanyahu evidently hoped to eliminate two regional foes in one stroke. Following the fall of the Iraqi government in 2003, Netanyahu channeled all his energy into a new discourse: Iran as an existential threat. Between then and now, Iran has remained his primary focus, even as regional alliances began to form around a discourse of stabilization and renewed diplomatic ties. However, the Obama administration, especially during its second term, was clearly uninterested in another regional war. As soon as Obama left office, Netanyahu reverted to his old marketing strategy. It was during Trump's first term that Netanyahu brought all his marketing techniques to the forefront. He utilized what is known as comparative advertising, where his enemies' "product" is denigrated with basic terms like 'barbarism', ' dark age ', and so forth, while his own is promoted as representing ' civilization ', ' enlightenment ', and 'progress'. He also invested heavily in the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) marketing technique. This entailed spreading negative or misleading information about others while promoting his own as a far superior alternative. This brings us to "solution framing." For instance, the so-called "existential threats" faced by Israel can supposedly be resolved through the establishment of a "New Middle East." For this new reality to materialize, the US, he argues, would have to take action, not only to save Israel but also the "civilized world" as well. It must be noted that Netanyahu's "New Middle East" is not his original framing. This notion can be traced to a paper published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in March 2004. It followed the US war and invasion of Iraq and was part of the intellectual euphoria among US and other Western intellectuals seeking to reshape the Middle East in a way that suited US geopolitical needs. The Carnegie article sought to expand the definition of the Middle East beyond the traditional Middle East and North Africa, reaching as far as the Caucasus and Central Asia. American politicians adopted this new concept, tailoring it to suit US interests at the time. It was US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who largely rebranded"greater" to "new," thus coining the "New Middle East," which she announced in June 2006. Though Netanyahu embraced the term, he improvised it in recent years. Instead of speaking of it as a distant objective, he declared that he was actively in the process of making it a reality. "We are changing the face of the Middle East. We are changing the face of the world," he triumphantly declared in June 2021. Even following the events of October 7, 2023, and the Israeli war and genocide that ensued, Netanyahu never ceased using the term. This time, however, his emphasis on "change" rotated between a future possibility and an active reality. "I ask that you stand steadfast because we are going to change the Middle East," he stated on October 9 of that same year. And again in September 2024, he proclaimed that Israel was "pursuing" a plan to "assassinate Hezbollah leaders" with the aim of "changing the strategic reality of the Middle East." And again, in October, December, and January of this year. In every single instance, he contextualized the "change of the Middle East" with bombs and rockets, and nothing else. In May, coinciding with a major Israeli bombing of Yemen, he declared that Israel's "mission" exceeds that of "defeating Hamas," extending to "changing the face of the Middle East." And finally, on June 16, he assigned the same language to the war with Iran, this time remaining committed to the new tweak of adding the word "face" to his new, envisaged Middle East. Of course, old branding tactics aside, Netanyahu's Middle East, much like the US' old "greater Middle East," remains a pipe dream aimed at dominating the resource-rich region, with Israel serving the role of regional hegemon. That said, the events of the last two years have demonstrated that, although the Middle East is indeed changing, this transformation is not happening because of Israel. Consequently, the outcome will most likely not be to its liking. Therefore, Netanyahu may continue repeating, like a broken record, old colonial slogans, but genuine change will only happen because of the peoples of the region and their many capable political players. - Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of six books. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappé, is ' Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out'. His other books include 'My Father was a Freedom Fighter' and 'The Last Earth'. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). His website is

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