(Current Affairs) International Events | May: 2015

International Events

Democracy jailed for 13 years: Nasheed’s party

  • Former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed was sentenced to 13 years in prison on a terrorism charge after what rights groups said was a “flawed” trial, sparking international concern.

  • Mr. Nasheed called on his supporters to take to the streets to protest against the sentence after a trial his party said was “blatantly politicised”.

  • “I appeal to all of you today to stay courageous and strong, to confront the dictatorial power of this regime,” his office quoted him as saying.

  • Mr. Nasheed, the Indian Ocean archipelago’s first democratically elected leader, had been arrested on February 22. He was convicted under the country’s Anti-Terrorism Act for ordering the arrest of a chief judge, Abdullah Mohamed, when he was President in January 2012.

  • “The Anti-Terrorism Act, inter alia, classifies an act of terrorism to include kidnapping, holding as hostage or apprehending someone against their will or attempts to kidnap, hold hostage or apprehend someone without their will, for the extra judicial enforced disappearance of the sitting Chief Judge of Criminal Court,” sources told PTI, quoting the court judgement.

  • The 47-year-old was then taken to Dhoonidhoo prison on an island near the capital Male.

  • Mr. Nasheed’s lawyers resigned before the end of his brief trial, saying it was biased and aimed at destroying his political career.

  • The conviction came amid growing opposition to the government of President Abdulla Yameen and will effectively prevent Mr. Nasheed from running for President at the 2018 elections.

  • Mr. Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said the verdict dealt a blow to the young democracy seven years after it embraced multi-party elections following three decades of rule by former strongman Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

  • “Democracy jailed for 13 years on March 13, 2015,” said MDP spokeswoman Shauna Aminath. “Nothing good will come out of this.

  • It’s a sad, sad, sad day for the Maldives,” she added. The MDP said its lawyers would appeal Nasheed’s conviction in the high court.

Modi calls for implementation of 13th Amendment in full

  • India stands for a “united Sri Lanka,” but wants an “early and full implementation of the 13th Amendment” that provides for devolution in the Tamil majority Northern and Eastern provinces, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said .

  • Mr. Modi, who was speaking at the historic Presidential Secretariat after talks with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, also referred to “going beyond” the 13th Amendment that would “contribute to the process” of building a “future that accommodates the aspirations of all sections of society, including the Sri Lankan Tamil community.”

  • The Prime Minister’s comments came a day ahead of his visit to Jaffna and Talaimannar, the first ever by an Indian Prime Minister.

  • In an interview to The Hindu this week, Chief Minister of the Northern Province C.V. Wigneswaran had called upon India to remember its role as “guarantor” of Tamil rights, saying the 13th Amendment was “inadequate” and seeking “something beyond it.”

Japan, France sign pact

  • France and Japan agreed on Friday to work together on researching military equipment, as Tokyo looks to broaden its defence ties and bolster its international profile.

  • In the latest in a spate of meetings, involving defence and foreign ministers, the fellow G7 members signalled a closer working relationship.

  • French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to fight terrorism, to help bring stability to Ukraine, and to seek political solutions to Syria and Iraq.

Allow us to visit India: panel on religious freedom

  • The chair of a high-profile Congressional commission on religious freedom has asked the Indian government to reconsider its view to withhold permission for the commission members to visit the country to assess the state of religious tolerance.

  • Katrina Lantos-Swett, Chairperson of the U.S. Congress-established Commission on Religious Freedom (USCIRF), said, “I would also say that we would really welcome the opportunity to travel to India and we’ve been saddened that until now India has not been yet ready to welcome a USCIRF delegation to come for a visit.”

  • Under her leadership and Congressional mandate, the USCIRF continues to produce an annual report on the state of religious freedom worldwide, which in years past had designated India as a “Tier II” or “watch-list” country.

  • Dr. Lantos-Swett’s comments are significant in the context of two recent occasions on which U.S. President Barack Obama has remarked upon the dangers of religious intolerance for India, a view that Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared to cognise in February, when he condemned religious-based violent acts in the country.

  • On those remarks by Mr. Obama, Dr. Lantos-Swett appeared to differ from State Department officials who suggested that the President did not specifically intend to critique India’s religious tolerance and that it was a general observation.

  • The Commissioner said that she did not believe that the recent meetings between Mr. Obama and Mr. Modi were any indication that U.S. concerns as a country regarding religious freedom issues in India had gone away, rather that the White House aspired to being able to “speak out about concerns that exist with respect to the robust protection of religious freedom” in India, even as the bilateral rapprochement deepens simultaneously.

Iceland withdraws its bid to join the EU

  • The North Atlantic island of Iceland has withdrawn its bid to join the European Union, with the government saying that its interests are best served outside the 28-nation EU.
  • EU spokesperson Maja Kocijancic said that the bloc would “fully respect such a decision” and underlined that Iceland remained an important partner.
  • Iceland started its membership negotiations in 2010 looking to better anchor itself to Europe two years after its economy imploded amid a banking collapse.
  • The biggest challenges to those talks were fishing rights and agriculture. The new government froze the EU accession application when it came to power in 2013.
  • Iceland’s foreign ministry had announced that the application was withdrawn.

Rushdie to join journalism faculty of NY university

  • Controversial India-born author Salman Rushdie will join the journalism faculty at the New York University later this year to teach courses and advise graduate students.
  • Mr. Rushdie will join the New York University (NYU) journalism faculty as a ‘Distinguished Writer in Residence’ at the Arthur L Carter Journalism Institute of the Faculty of Arts and Science in September, 2015.
  • A Fellow of the British Royal Society of Literature and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Mr. Rushdie won the 1981 Booker Prize for Midnight’s Children.
  • Mr. Rushdie had spent nearly a decade in hiding after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini had issued a fatwa against him in 1989 following the publication of his book ‘The Satanic Verses’, which was considered offensive to Islam.

‘Time to replace 13th Amendment with a more dynamic system’

  • It is time the 13th Amendment was replaced with a more dynamic system of devolution of powers, according to Sri Lanka’s Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran.
  • Speaking ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka, the former Supreme Court judge said: “[The] 13th Amendment can never be the final solution. Be that as it may, we welcome him [Mr. Modi]. We know we have a friend in him. We appreciate his concerns for us, in wanting to come to the North.”
  • Mr. Modi will be in Sri Lanka on a two-day visit. He will travel to the island’s war-torn Northern Province where Mr. Wigneswaran won a historic provincial election in September 2013.
  • Ever since the Chief Minister and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) — the main party representing the Northern Tamils — have been pointing to hurdles in governance due to the limited powers.
  • As “a proponent and an advocate of devolution,” Mr. Modi would appreciate the situation in Sri Lanka, the Chief Minister said. “Especially the inadequacies of the 13th Amendment would no doubt be understood by him.His visit and understanding would be very vital in the ultimate finalisation of our constitutional problems.”
  • From the time Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict ended in May 2009, New Delhi has been pushing Colombo for the full implementation of the 13th Amendment, following up on former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s earlier assurance.
  • Pointing to the Indian model of power sharing between the Centre and the States, Mr. Wigneswaran said it was the quantum of devolution prevalent under the Indian Constitution that made possible Mr. Modi’s “excellent leadership” and “people-centred approach that transformed Gujarat.”
  • In comparison, under Sri Lanka’s unitary Constitution, there was “no chance of our performing the way Hon. Modi performed.”
  • On the changes after former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was unseated, he said President Maithripala Sirisena was “refreshingly different” but certain sections of the new government were acting irresponsibly “following the age-old political tactics of the past which had led to the worsening of the ethnic issue,” adding that the regime change was not an end in itself.
  • As an advocate of devolution, Mr. Modi would appreciate the situation in Sri Lanka, says Northern Province CM Wigneswaran.

Pakistan lifts death penalty moratorium for all cases

  • Pakistan has lifted its moratorium on the death penalty in all capital cases, officials said , after restarting executions for terrorism offences in the wake of a school massacre by the Taliban.
  • The Interior Ministry has directed provincial governments to proceed with hangings for prisoners who had exhausted all avenues of appeal and clemency, a senior interior ministry official told .
  • Pakistan has hanged 24 convicts since resuming executions in December after Taliban militants gunned down more than 150 people, most of them children, at a school in the restive northwest.
  • The partial lifting of the moratorium only applied to those convicted of terrorism offences, but officials said it has now been extended.
  • Rights campaign group Amnesty International estimates that Pakistan has more than 8,000 prisoners on death row, most of whom have exhausted the appeals process.
  • Amnesty International estimates that Pakistan has more than 8,000 prisoners on death row.

ICC hands over Bashir case to U.N.

  • Sudan has failed to arrest its long-time leader Omar al-Bashir for genocide and war crimes, the International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled, referring the matter back to the U.N. Security Council.
  • Mr. Bashir (71) is wanted by The Hague-based ICC, the world’s only permanent court, for his role in the western Sudanese region of Darfur where insurgents rose up in 2003 in an ongoing conflict that has left more than 300,000 people dead.
  • He faces five counts of crimes against humanity including murder and torture, three of genocide and two of war crimes including attacking a civilian population.
  • The ICC in 2009 and 2010 issued two warrants against Bashir, but he continues to travel across the African continent despite a legal obligation by ICC member states to arrest him.

More U.S. sanctions on Venezuela

  • U.S. President Barack Obama ordered a fresh wave of sanctions against senior Venezuelan officials involved on opposition crackdown, including the prosecution of Caracas’s Mayor.
  • Mr. Obama ordered the freezing of U.S. properties and bank accounts of seven officials, including the director general of the intelligence service and the director of the national police.
  • Most of those targeted for U.S. sanctions on Monday were accused of being involved with a 2014 crackdown on opposition protests that left more than 40 dead.

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