Latest news with #EuropeanConventionofHumanRights
France 24
26-05-2025
- Politics
- France 24
‘Questions of morality': Papers discuss Gaza aid plan involving military contractors
PRESS REVIEW – Monday, May 26: The American-Israeli aid plan for Gaza is widely scrutinised in the press, as obscure private contractors are involved. Next, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe has refused to weaken the European Convention on Human Rights. Meanwhile, a series of power cuts threatened the closing ceremony of the Cannes Festival in the south of France. Also, two sports stars have emotional retirement parties. Finally, snails are celebrated in Catalonia. Israel's latest strikes on Gaza killed dozens of people over the weekend, but many papers today are focussing on the IDF's plan to take over Gaza. The Times of Israel goes over the IDF's proposal to capture 75 percent of the Gaza strip in next few months. The joint Israeli and American proposal for a new aid delivery mechanism, which is supposed to start today, has also caused alarm in the papers. The Washington Post discusses the aid plan and the 'Foundation for Gaza'. According to Haaretz, the foundation would oversee aid distribution in Gaza, supported by two private military organisations, which Libération explores in more detail. Questions on the transparency of the Israeli aid plan have led to the resignation of the CEO of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, as announced early this morning by Arab News. In Strasbourg, RFI says that the Council of Europe has refused to weaken the European Convention of Human Rights. A group of nine countries asked for a reinterpretation of the European Convention of Human Rights on questions of migration. The Guardian said that the European Court of Human Rights ruled against many of the nine countries who signed the letter, which might have motivated the move. It says that more than 30 cases are pending at the court against Latvia, Lithuania and Poland after allegations of pushing people back into Belarus to prevent them from claiming asylum. French authorities have launched an investigation into the blackouts that struck the Cannes film festival. The story is on the front page of the French paper Aujourd'hui en France. It says that multiple power cuts occurred over the weekend, which were later claimed by an anarchist group targeting the Cannes festival. Libération says that French authorities are still investigating the acts of sabotage that left 200,000 homes without power. Variety reports that the Cannes closing ceremony went ahead as planned. The Palme d'Or was attributed to Iranian Director Jafar Panahi for his film 'It was just an accident'. Vogue summarises the best bits, from outfit bans to the red-carpet bee attack. While many papers like Marca are celebrating Rafael Nadal's teary retirement ceremony at Roland Garros, another sports star was making an equally teary departure in the UK. The Daily Mail reports that broadcaster and former England international footballer Gary Lineker has stepped down from his role as presenter of Match of the Day. The Guardian says that the host was forced to step down after 26 years in the job after he shared an anti-Semitic social media post, which he later deleted and apologised for. Finally, although France is known for its snails, it is the Catalans who celebrated the slimy delicacies this weekend. The Times reports on the three-day festival, in what looked like a large-scale gastropod gastropub.
Int'l Business Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
Italy, Other EU States Urge Rethink On European Rights Convention
Italy and eight other EU states, including Denmark and Poland, published an open letter Thursday urging a rethink of how the European Convention of Human Rights is interpreted, especially on migration. The countries said they want "a new and open minded conversation about the interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights", according to the text, released by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office. "We have to restore the right balance," the signatories said. The convention, which came into force in 1953, covers the right to life; a ban on slavery, torture and degrading treatment; freedom of expression; a prohibition on discrimination; and the right to family life. Its provisions have to be followed by all 46 countries signed up to the convention, which includes all 27 EU member states, with the European Court of Human Rights issuing binding rulings. A souring of public opinion on migration has fuelled hard-right electoral gains in several EU countries, upping pressure on governments. The letter urging a review was made public following a meeting in Rome between Meloni and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, both of whom have taken a hardline stance on migration. It was also signed by the leaders of Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the Czech Republic. Irregular border crossings detected into the European Union were down 38 percent to 239,000 last year after an almost 10-year peak in 2023, according to EU border agency Frontex. But, led by hawks including Italy and Denmark, EU leaders called in October for urgent new legislation to increase and speed up returns and for the commission to assess "innovative" ways to counter irregular migration. The nine signatories to the letter said it was time for "a discussion about how the international conventions match the challenges that we face today". They also called for "a look at how the European Court of Human Rights has developed its interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights," the letter said. The European Court of Human Rights has recently heard cases against Latvia, Lithuania and Poland concerning alleged unlawful treatment of migrants, while Denmark was told to amend its family reunification rules. The court has also issued multiple judgements against Italy over its treatment of migrants. The states ask "whether the Court, in some cases, has extended the scope of the Convention too far... thus shifting the balance between the interests which should be protected," the letter said. "We believe that the development in the Court's interpretation has, in some cases, limited our ability to make political decisions in our own democracies", it added. Like several other European leaders, Meloni has vowed to cut irregular migration -- but her flagship policy to operate migrant centres in Albania has hit a series of legal roadblocks and delays. Italian judges have repeatedly refused to sign off on the detention in Albania of migrants intercepted by Italian authorities at sea, referring legal questions to the European Court of Justice, which has yet to weigh in. While not a signatory to the letter, Britain saw its own scheme -- the deportation of migrants to Rwanda -- run afoul of the European Court of Human Rights.
Sunday World
14-05-2025
- Sunday World
Depraved child rapist Stephen ‘Rossi' Walsh complains prison conditions ‘deplorable'
Notorious gangland sicko demands gardaí probe his detention Depraved gangland rapist Stephen 'Rossi' Walsh has sent a letter to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris demanding officers be sent into the Midlands Prison to probe what he has described as his 'unlawful' detention there. Walsh, a former member of Martin 'The General' Cahill's gang, was released from the Midlands Prison in November after he served almost 15 years for sexual attacks on two little girls. But the paedophile was returned to the lock-up in late January after it emerged that he had been living rough and had failed to notify gardai of his whereabouts. Under the terms the Sex Offenders Act, Walsh was legally obliged to notify authorities of any change of address. The 78-year-old has since taken 'habeas corpus' proceedings in the High Court aimed at having his renewed period of detention declared illegal amid claims that he is a 'financially unsound' person. A convoluted eight-page affidavit filed by the child predator, who has long fancied himself as a 'jailhouse lawyer', also details a series of issues ranging from his inability to file a criminal complaint with gardai and the 'deplorable' conditions in the Midlands to his unhappiness with a High Court judge. In one section, he moans: 'I say due to the State and Midlands Prison authority's denial of reasonable access to gardai, even by way of telephone or by video link or email, I was compelled to take on the onerous task of trying to gain process by way of the State's broken ad hoc postal system'. Walsh says he had to post a letter to 'file a criminal complaint by writing to the office of the Garda Commissioner for assistance in gaining access to a garda member or members by way of a professional visit at the Midlands Prison so that I can file a criminal complaint.' Stephen 'Rossi' Walsh leaves the High Court Walsh continues that he received a written response to the letter from Superintendent J. Molony on March 9, dated from February 24. This letter, he said, informed him that his letter had been forwarded to the office of the Assistant Commissioner for the Eastern Region and he was given an email to correspond with this address. Subsequently, he complained: 'I have had no further communication in any shape or form from any member of the gardai regarding my struggle to gain access to the gardai for to file a criminal complaint.' Walsh's gripe over his lack of access to a member of An Garda Siochana is one of a series detailed in an affidavit entirely written in block capitals. Stephen 'Rossi' Walsh raped a child News in 90 Seconds - May 14th Regarding the conditions in the prison, he writes that: 'The conditions at Midlands Prison are so unbelievably deplorable and constitutionally unacceptable that they have made the detention of the complainant unlawful and in breach of' several sections of the Constitution and the European Convention of Human Rights. Walsh also claims the manner in which he was transported to and from Trim District Court on March 11 and the High Court on March 14 was unlawful as it was 'not authorised by any court of law.' According to court records, his application to have his incarceration declared unlawful by the High Court was refused on April 11. Walsh was jailed for ten years in February 2010 for raping Ruth Dunne when she was nine. He has 13 major convictions for theft, extortion, robberies and violent assault. He destroyed Collins pub in Ballybough, Dublin, in an arson attack in 1992. Walsh was caged for 15 years for that offence and was released in 2008.
Sunday World
13-05-2025
- Sunday World
Depraved child rapist Stephen ‘Rossi' Walsh claims prison conditions are ‘deplorable'
Notorious gangland sicko demands gardaí probe his detention Depraved gangland rapist Stephen 'Rossi' Walsh has sent a letter to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris demanding officers be sent into the Midlands Prison to probe what he has described as his 'unlawful' detention there. Walsh, a former member of Martin 'The General' Cahill's gang, was released from the Midlands Prison in November after he served almost 15 years for sexual attacks on two little girls. But the paedophile was returned to the lock-up in late January after it emerged that he had been living rough and had failed to notify gardai of his whereabouts. Under the terms the Sex Offenders Act, Walsh was legally obliged to notify authorities of any change of address. The 78-year-old has since taken 'habeas corpus' proceedings in the High Court aimed at having his renewed period of detention declared illegal amid claims that he is a 'financially unsound' person. A convoluted eight-page affidavit filed by the child predator, who has long fancied himself as a 'jailhouse lawyer', also details a series of issues ranging from his inability to file a criminal complaint with gardai and the 'deplorable' conditions in the Midlands to his unhappiness with a High Court judge. In one section, he moans: 'I say due to the State and Midlands Prison authority's denial of reasonable access to gardai, even by way of telephone or by video link or email, I was compelled to take on the onerous task of trying to gain process by way of the State's broken ad hoc postal system'. Walsh says he had to post a letter to 'file a criminal complaint by writing to the office of the Garda Commissioner for assistance in gaining access to a garda member or members by way of a professional visit at the Midlands Prison so that I can file a criminal complaint.' Stephen 'Rossi' Walsh leaves the High Court Walsh continues that he received a written response to the letter from Superintendent J. Molony on March 9, dated from February 24. This letter, he said, informed him that his letter had been forwarded to the office of the Assistant Commissioner for the Eastern Region and he was given an email to correspond with this address. Subsequently, he complained: 'I have had no further communication in any shape or form from any member of the gardai regarding my struggle to gain access to the gardai for to file a criminal complaint.' Walsh's gripe over his lack of access to a member of An Garda Siochana is one of a series detailed in an affidavit entirely written in block capitals. Regarding the conditions in the prison, he writes that: 'The conditions at Midlands Prison are so unbelievably deplorable and constitutionally unacceptable that they have made the detention of the complainant unlawful and in breach of' several sections of the Constitution and the European Convention of Human Rights. Walsh also claims the manner in which he was transported to and from Trim District Court on March 11 and the High Court on March 14 was unlawful as it was 'not authorised by any court of law.' According to court records, his application to have his incarceration declared unlawful by the High Court was refused on April 11. Walsh was jailed for ten years in February 2010 for raping Ruth Dunne when she was nine. He has 13 major convictions for theft, extortion, robberies and violent assault. He destroyed Collins pub in Ballybough, Dublin, in an arson attack in 1992. Walsh was caged for 15 years for that offence and was released in 2008. Stephen 'Rossi' Walsh raped a child News in 90 Seconds - May 13th
The National
12-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Keir Starmer to close legal route that allowed Palestinians to settle in UK
On Monday, the Prime Minister set out plans to significantly reduce net migration as Labour seeks to head off the electoral threat from Reform UK. Under the White Paper proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship, but so-called 'high-contributing' individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system. Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English. READ MORE: Fire crews battle huge wildfire in West Lothian amid 'extreme' risk Meanwhile, skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages. Under the proposals, which have been widely condemned as 'cruel', the Labour Government is also set to curb judges' powers to block deportations – tightening legislation that allows courts to grant asylum to foreign criminals and illegal migrants under the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) in 'exceptional circumstances'. The loophole allowed a Palestinian family from Gaza to be granted the right to live in the UK after applying through a scheme meant for Ukrainian refugees. The Palestinian family, a mother, father and four children aged seven to 18, had seen their home destroyed by air strikes and were living in a Gaza refugee camp. The family used the Ukraine Family Scheme in January 2024 on the basis that it best fitted their circumstances and that their situation was so 'compelling and compassionate' that their application should be granted outside its rules. The Prime Minister also said in his speech announcing the plans that he does not think it is necessary to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to continue his crackdown, as he recognised the use of international agreements to tackle illegal migration. Asked at a press conference if going further on immigration would require 'disentangling ourselves' from the ECHR, Starmer said: 'No, I don't think that that is necessary. 'I also remind myself that the international agreements we've signed have given us the basis for the deals that we've struck on illegal migration. 'You can't strike those deals with other countries to work more closely together on law enforcement, to smash the gangs and to work on returns agreements – which is what we want to do – if, in the next breath, you'll say you don't believe in international law.' But he also told reporters the Government wants to ensure the 'right balance' is made in migration cases in relation to the national interest looking at Article 8 of the convention, the right to private and family life. The Government is reviewing the use of Article 8 particularly focusing on cases where ministers have disagreed with conclusions reached in the courts, after several deportation attempts have been halted by the way the ECHR clause has been interpreted in UK law. Starmer said: 'There's a balance set out in legislation already that needs to be adjusted, in my view, and that's what we will do."
