Latest news with #UN-sponsored
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
El Salvador holds trial for army killing of Dutch journalists
A former defense minister and two colonels went on trial in El Salvador Tuesday for the killings of four Dutch journalists 43 years ago, an NGO assisting the victims' families said. Koos Koster, Jan Kuiper, Hans ter Laag and Joop Willemsen were killed in 1982 while filming a television documentary during El Salvador's civil war. The accused are General Jose Guillermo Garcia, 91, former police colonel Francisco Antonio Moran, 93, and ex-infantry brigade commander Mario Reyes Mena, 85. In 1993, a UN-sponsored Truth Commission found the journalists had walked into an ambush planned by Reyes, who lives in the United States, and with the knowledge of other officers. The Salvadoran Supreme Court approved an extradition request for Reyes in March, but there has been no progress so far. Garcia and Moran are under police surveillance in a private hospital in San Salvador. The hearing in the northern city of Chalatenango is expected to conclude on Wednesday with a verdict from a five-member jury. If convicted, the defendants face prison sentences of up to 30 years. The trial was closed to the media, but activist Oscar Perez of the Fundacion Comunicandonos confirmed from the courtroom that it was under way. The NGO and the Salvadoran Association for Human Rights hailed the trial as a "decisive step" in the search for truth and justice. "We trust that this trial sets a historic precedent in the fight against impunity," they said in a joint statement. The Netherlands' Costa Rica-based ambassador to Central America, Arjen van den Berg, was in court. The case remained unresolved for decades after the presiding judge received threats in 1988, prompting her to seek refuge in Canada. It was reopened in 2018 after the Supreme Court declared an amnesty law for civil war crimes unconstitutional, but relatives of the victims still had to wait years for the main hearing. Evidence such as a statement from a former US military attache and a military expert's report "directly points" to the defendants' responsibility, said lawyer Pedro Cruz, who represents the victims' families. More than 75,000 people were killed in El Salvador's 1980-1992 civil war pitting the military against leftist guerrillas. cmm/fj/dr/md
France 24
3 days ago
- General
- France 24
El Salvador holds trial for army killing of Dutch journalists
Koos Koster, Jan Kuiper, Hans ter Laag and Joop Willemsen were killed in 1982 while filming a television documentary during El Salvador's civil war. The accused are General Jose Guillermo Garcia, 91, former police colonel Francisco Antonio Moran, 93, and ex-infantry brigade commander Mario Reyes Mena, 85. In 1993, a UN-sponsored Truth Commission found the journalists had walked into an ambush planned by Reyes, who lives in the United States, and with the knowledge of other officers. The Salvadoran Supreme Court approved an extradition request for Reyes in March, but there has been no progress so far. Garcia and Moran are under police surveillance in a private hospital in San Salvador. The hearing in the northern city of Chalatenango is expected to conclude on Wednesday with a verdict from a five-member jury. If convicted, the defendants face prison sentences of up to 30 years. The trial was closed to the media, but activist Oscar Perez of the Fundacion Comunicandonos confirmed from the courtroom that it was under way. The NGO and the Salvadoran Association for Human Rights hailed the trial as a "decisive step" in the search for truth and justice. "We trust that this trial sets a historic precedent in the fight against impunity," they said in a joint statement. The Netherlands' Costa Rica-based ambassador to Central America, Arjen van den Berg, was in court. The case remained unresolved for decades after the presiding judge received threats in 1988, prompting her to seek refuge in Canada. It was reopened in 2018 after the Supreme Court declared an amnesty law for civil war crimes unconstitutional, but relatives of the victims still had to wait years for the main hearing. Evidence such as a statement from a former US military attache and a military expert's report "directly points" to the defendants' responsibility, said lawyer Pedro Cruz, who represents the victims' families.
Morocco World
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Morocco World
Hilale Lectures Algeria's Regime on Regional Destabilization, Hypocrisy, and Support of Separatism
Rabat — Omar Hilale, Morocco's Permanent Ambassador to the UN, has reiterated the Algerian regime's direct involvement in challenging Morocco's territorial integrity in a final statement as part of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization (C24). Hilale's statement came in response to Algeria's regime claims, arguing that Algeria is not a party to the Western Sahara dispute. In his response, the Moroccan ambassador recalled his recent statements on Algeria's responsibility in the dispute, noting that what he previously said are 'real and documented facts openly assumed by Algeria.' Earlier this week, Hilale stressed how Algeria has been using the separatist Polisario group as a political tool to challenge Morocco's territorial integrity and sovereignty over its southern provinces in Western Sahara. 'Despite Morocco's commitments and the UN's sustained efforts, the political process to resolve this regional dispute continues to be hindered by Algeria's delaying tactics,' Hilale said, recalling Algeria's repeated attempts to obfuscate its role in the Western Sahara dispute. In response to Hilale's remarks, the Algerian delegation accused Morocco of targeting Algiers during the event and has once again shirked the country's responsibility in the dispute, despite financing, arming, training, and harboring the Polisario Front and backing its independence claims in Western Sahara. Algeria's continued delusions Responding to Algeria's claims, Hilale dismissed the Algerian regime's claims, saying: 'Who created the Polisario? It was Algeria. Where is it located? On Algerian territory. Who finds it? Algeria. Who leads diplomatic campaigns against Morocco? Again, it's Algeria.' Hilale also shut down Algeria's regime observer allegations, noting that the country suffers from an 'incurable schizopehrinic pathology.' 'It claims not to be a party, yet has been blocking the resumption of the political process for the past three years, thus obstructing a political resolution of this regional dispute,' he added. Algeria has been blocking the UN-led political process, frequently renewing its reluctance to engage in UN-sponsored roundtable talks. The Algerian regime prefers to refer to itself as merely an observer, despite its direct involvement in the dispute, declining to engage in UN talks to contribute to finding a realistic and pragmatic solution. Hilale recalled how Algeria's narrative is 'stuck in the year 2000 and completely ignores the major developments of the past 25 years.' 'Why does Algeria never refer to Security Council resolutions since 2000? Because they contradict Algeria's foundational position, having buried the referendum, recognizing the pre-eminence of Morocco's autonomy initiative, explicating assigning responsibility to Algeria, and acknowledging the international momentum behind the Moroccan initiative,' Hilale added. Recently, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita said that over 116 countries now support the Moroccan initiative, in addition to the major recognitions of Morocco's territorial integrity by powerhouses like the US and France. 'Mecca' of destabilization Echoing Bourita's remarks, Hilale debunked the Algerian regime's narrative, noting that if Algeria 'wants to lend credibility to its discourse, it should first grant this right to the people living on its own territory – the Kabyle people – who demand for self-determinations dates back to well before the very creation of the Algerian regime.' He also described Algeria as the 'Mecca' of destabilization, terrorist groups, separatism, and 'all those who take up arms against their own countries.' Hilale's remarks came amid growing appeals from politicians who urge their countries — including the US, UK, and France — to designate the separatist group as a terrorist organization. Tags: Algeria and the Western SaharaAlgeria and Western Sahara
Daily Mail
04-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Our country was voted the happiest nation in the world... but we think it's bull**** - here's why
Strolling through the windswept grey streets of Helsinki, there's one fact every Finn seems to know off by heart – their country is rated the happiest place on earth. At least that's what the authors of the UN-sponsored World Happiness Report from the University of Oxford decided (for the eighth year in a row). But most of the Finnish people quizzed by MailOnline haven't the faintest idea how they managed to be crowned champions of the cheerfulness charts. After all, they may be glowing inside, but perhaps because their country is plunged into darkness and sub-zero temperatures half the year, they do tend to look a bit of a miserable bunch. That's certainly true of the hundreds of people standing in line for hours outside a foodbank in Helsinki's city centre, with the queue extending around a city block and out of sight. It's also no stranger to street crime. Then there's those who live along the 800-mile border with Russia, which is currently shut, who fear that Putin may decide to replicate the invasion of Ukraine. Those thoughts worried the Finns, and their next-door neighbours in Sweden sufficiently for both countries to hastily join NATO in 2023 and 2024 respectively. From average wage to suicide rates here's how Finland stacks up to the UK and the US Economically, Finland has much higher unemployment than the UK and for those in work, while their average gross pay is higher than in Britain, they actually take home considerably less, because they're taxed roughly twice as heavily. Arguably, they get more back from their taxes, with free healthcare and education, including university tuition. But the provision of services varies widely depending where in the sparsely-populated country you actually live. Despite being a nation of just 5.6millon people, Finland's area is 40 per cent larger than the UK, with a third of its landmass inside the Arctic Circle. Its unemployment rate at 9 per cent, is double that of Britain and at the start of this year, the Finnish government embarked on swingeing cuts to its welfare state, bringing in means-testing for many benefits which Finns previously took for granted. Kela, the social insurance institute, has stopped paying housing allowance for many households previously receiving an average of 230 Euros a month, though pensioners are exempt. Unemployment benefits are also being cut and parental allowances will not rise with inflation. Although healthcare costs are heavily subsidised, patient fees for primary care are increasing by more than a fifth and specialist care costs by 45 percent. At the Hursti foodbank in central Helsinki founded by her great-grandfather in 1916, Sini Hursti, 40, has seen the effects of poverty in this supposed paradise. 'When I look at the people, sometimes as many as 2,000 of them queuing outside our foodbank in the morning, I cannot agree that Finland is the happiest country on earth,' she told MailOnline. 'All the news I hear is bad about the economy and the threat from Russia. 'People are struggling to manage, and they just cannot make ends meet. Everyone is very aware of what is happening in Ukraine and I'm scared that we could be next – we're right next door to them. 'The people we see here, there are some alcoholics and drug-users, but they're not the majority, it's just people who are struggling financially and families who don't have enough to make ends meet. 'There is a welfare state here, but they are taking more away in taxes and cutting benefits, so people are in a difficult position.' Sini has taken over the management from her father, former youth pastor Heikki, 70, who still helps out. The Hursti bank is well known throughout Finland and receives food donations from supermarkets and financial help from the public – and once a €25,000 cheque from US heavy metal giants Metallica while touring in Finland. In the street outside the Hursti's building, Alexander, 63, an unemployed tailor who didn't want to give his surname, was among those patiently waiting in line. Shivering slightly, with his eyes streaming from the chill of the morning, his reaction to the Happiness Index was pithy: 'It's bulls***, I'm sorry to say. 'Our government are like the Muppet show and they're cutting everything. For a long time our economic prosperity was linked with Nokia, but when it collapsed, the whole country went downhill. 'I lived in Italy for a few years and I noticed there that the family structure is very strong and relatives gather round to help when someone is in trouble, but in Finland we tend to be more solitary and that support network isn't always there. 'The foodbank is a big help for me and I go to this one and others around the city to get enough to eat.' A few hundred metres away, homeless drug user Daniel Schrack, 30, was hanging around outside Sörnäinen Metro Station in what is nicknamed by residents 'Amphetamine Square'. For years, it has been a favourite place for drug dealers and users, despite frequent complaints and police raids. Daniel was not impressed by the Oxford/UN survey. 'I think Finland is far from the happiest place on earth,' he said. 'Many people don't have somewhere to live and everything costs a lot. I was on a housing list for eight years and was never given a place to live. 'The welfare payments are hardly enough to get by – I have to go to a place where the homeless can sleep for €1. I receive €590 a month on my benefits, but a pair of shoes costs €100. You've got to find food, medicine, everything. 'Drugs including amphetamines are what got me into the situation I'm in. I don't know why I started, but I'm trying to get clean. It's not that easy to get help when you're homeless.' In 'Amphetamine Square', we watched as police arrested two young men for suspected drugs offences. One was white with a Mohican hairstyle and the other black wearing a hooded jacket. Both were thoroughly searched for knives or needles before being put in the back of a police van. The incident was a regular occurrence according to one local we spoke to. 'The police pick people up all the time,' he said. 'But no matter how many arrests they make, the people keep coming back here.' Heading down from Sörnäinen Metro Station, Helsinki's legalised red-light district is essentially one street, Vaasankatu, lined with a few sleazy bars and strip-joints, but it's a far cry from the fleshpots of Amsterdam, as we walked along an old man swigging from a bottle of brandy slumped against a wall.. Some parts of the city, especially underpasses, have been the target of graffiti artists, and at some sites the city authorities have allowed the spray painters' work to remain, in the hope they won't spread their activities elsewhere, with mixed results. Further east in Kontula, the high concentration of migrants over the years has changed the mix of shops with kebab restaurants and shisha bars predominating. Kontula has generally been considered one of the most notorious suburbs in East Helsinki due to violence, gangs and drug dealing. A few years ago, youths ran a drugs trade near the shopping area alongside the Metro station, according to local reports. Drug use appears to be a problem all over the city. Even in Helsinki's main railway station, the cubicles are fitted with disposal bins for needles. The social housing surrounding the shopping area looks less forbidding than many inner city estates in Britain, with wide walkways and fir trees separating the blocks, which are usually not much higher than five or six storeys. After the happiness survey was released, Finland's President Alexander Stubb suggested another reason to be cheerful was the country's '2.2 million saunas'. Almost 90 per cent of Finns bathe in a sauna at least once a week - an activity that's considered good for both physical and mental health. But not everyone is so convinced. One man who was waiting for food said: 'The foodbank is a big help for me and I go to this one and others around the city to get enough to eat' Responding to his message, behaviour analyst and body language expert Saara Huhtassari wrote: 'The claim that Finland is the world's happiest country falls short, overlooking low salaries, high taxes, conflict threats, a failing education system, hidden corruption and the burden of socialism.' Another said: 'Agreed. These happiness polling outcomes are meaningless.' For many years Finland had one of the world's highest suicide rates. While the number of deaths has halved over the last three decades, suicide rates remain slightly higher than the EU average. A culture of heavy drinking was linked to the crisis but alcohol consumption has declined since 2007 although it remains relatively high compared with other European countries. Part of the reduction is probably down to the government's strict controls on the sale of alcohol, which is only available in specialist 'Alko' stores, which close at 9pm on weekdays, 6pm on Saturdays and all day on Sunday. We travelled east from Helsinki to the Russian border, which has been mostly closed since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, though there have been sporadic 'deliveries' of third-country migrants into Finland from the Russian side, as part of Putin's hybrid war with the west. Sawmill fire safety officer Pekka Tiimo, 60, and his wife Maritta, 58, live in Lappeenranta, just a few kilometres from the Russian border. 'It does worry me being so close to Russia if I'm honest,' he said. 'Like many Finns, I have a gun in the house, but I don't think that would protect me for long if the Russians invaded! 'I'm glad that we joined NATO – that is the best thing we could do for our security. 'I don't think it's true that Finland is any happier than many other places, we have our problems like crime and unemployment and then there are some things that we do well like education and healthcare.' Hairdresser Maritta added: 'I don't think there is such a thing as a happy country. People have their own individual situations and that's what decides if they're happy or not – their job satisfaction, their family set-up.' Despite the fear of Russia, most residents regret that the border has been closed as those Russians who did visit, used to spend freely in the supermarkets and restaurants of Lappeenranta and other border towns. Bangladeshi-born taxi driver Bahadur, who is studying for a masters in business at the local university, said: 'Lots of shops are struggling to stay in business – the town is dying. I'm afraid the truth is that we need those Russians!' Mother-of-one Milla Vitikainen, 33, a beautician, joked that there were many places in the world she would like to live other than Finland, such as Bali or Costa Rica. 'But seriously, there are a lot of things to be said for living in Finland that we take for granted like free healthcare and education. We do pay high taxes and at the same time, the government is trying to cut benefits for various people, so things could change.' Mother-of-two Virve Ruti, 42, was jogging through the forest near the closed border with Russia when we met. 'I don't know if it's true that Finland is the happiest place in the world,' she said, 'but I doubt it.' Myself, I'm happy, and being able to walk and jog through these woods is lovely, but not everyone is that lucky. 'I don't worry too much about the Russians – I don't think they would ever attack us. 'My children are aged 10 and 15, I expect when they grow up they will move to the city, probably Helsinki, because that's where the jobs are. Italian student Sara (pictured), living in Lappeenranta said the town wasn't very exciting, but she enjoys life there. 'I was worried about the Russians because of Ukraine, but I feel safe here now. People here are generally honest and although this is highly debated, I find people very welcoming', she said 'We have our problems in Finland but generally if you get sick or lose your job, the state will take care of you to some extent.' Italian student Sara, living in Lappeenranta said the town wasn't very exciting, but she enjoys life there. 'I was worried about the Russians because of Ukraine, but I feel safe here now. People here are generally honest and although this is highly debated, I find people very welcoming. 'They're not as expressive as we Italians, but if you speak their very difficult language, you can find the warmth underneath.' Back outside Helsinki's main railway station, primary school teacher Onerva Girs, 22,thought there was something in the Happiness Index. 'I think we are happy, but we don't always realise it. We get free education and free healthcare, but we tend to complain a lot, but I don't know who gets asked the questions for this survey, because I don't think you'd find many Finnish people telling you how happy they are! 'I feel that being born in Finland is like winning the lottery and I'd rather live here than anywhere else. It is expensive, but so is much of Europe, and although we pay high taxes, we get quite a lot back for it.' Traffic engineer Niko Suokko, 28, agreed, up to a point: 'Everyone is always talking about the happiness index and wondering why Finns don't look happy on the outside, especially when the weather is grey and horrible. It's warm today, by our standards, you know. [6C] 'I think the index isn't measuring happiness, but the possibility of it. 'So if the government is taking care of the people, and public transport is working, and you have the chance to get a job, family and education. Taking all those into account, you have a great chance for happiness, but it's your responsibility to take the chance. ' *The World Happiness Report is published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, in partnership with Gallup, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network
El Chorouk
14-04-2025
- Politics
- El Chorouk
The US Position, Pressure Card to Drown Morocco in Normalization
On Monday, the United Nations Security Council held a closed-door consultation on the latest developments in Western Sahara, which Morocco has occupied since 1975. This session was preceded by a visit to the region by UN envoy de Mistura, during which he discussed the status and prospects of the UN-sponsored peace process in Africa's last colony. The session emphasized the Sahrawi people's commitment to their legitimate rights and continued demand for self-determination. This consultation session, along with de Mistura's recent visit to the Sahrawi camps in Tindouf (southern Algeria) and his meeting with Western Sahara's government officials and officials from neighboring countries, comes within an international and regional context in which interests and ideas clash, and positions shift according to the logic of self-interest. This is particularly true after France took an ill-advised step in favor of the colonizing country, promoting the so-called 'autonomy for Western Sahara within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty.' Furthermore, the US State Department confirmed Trump's previous position, which favors French recognition, although it has not yet followed with provocative steps toward the Sahrawi people. The significance of these shifts lies in the fact that both countries are among those with veto power in the UN Security Council. Will this change the course of the Western Sahara issue, which has been on the UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories since 1963, after Spain, the occupying country, transmitted information regarding the Spanish Sahara under Article 73 (e) of the UN Charter? In response, Algeria expressed its regret for the actions of these countries, which violate international legitimacy in the Western Sahara issue. Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf affirmed that 'Algeria's firm conviction that the only way to complete the process of decolonization in Western Sahara lies in the resumption of direct negotiations between the two parties to the conflict, the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front, without preconditions and in good faith, to reach a political solution that guarantees the Sahrawi people's inalienable and imprescriptible right to self-determination.' In this file, we will seek to analyze the latest American move and examine its impact on the fate of the struggle led by the Sahrawi people for self-determination.
