December 16-31, 2022 Issue of The Unrest Magazine

Magazine on Economic and Political Upheavals in the World

THE UNREST

RMN Digital Magazine | December 16-31, 2022

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Photo: Department of State

An Editorial Initiative of Raman Media Network (RMN)

Editor: Rakesh Raman

THE UNREST News Magazine by RMN News Service | December 16-31, 2022 | Page 1 of

India Faces Risk of Mass Violence Under Hindu Nationalist Regime: U.S. Report

The U.S. ignores the events of hate, human rights violations, and growing religious animosity in India, because its main objective is to earn money from the Indian markets.

A US-based research organization has predicted that India is among the top countries which are facing risk of mass killing and violence. The Early Warning Project (EWP), which identifies countries at risk of mass violence, has ranked India at the 8th position among the countries that are under the highest risk for mass killing in 2022 and 2023.

The EWP findings about the chances of widespread violence in India are similar to other global reports that have expressed apprehensions over growing incidents of hate and hostility in the country. For example, the global Genocide Watch has put India under “Genocide alert” with Muslims and landowners among the affected groups. It says Hindu extremists and naxalite maoists are harassing these groups.

CPI(M) leader Ms Brinda Karat meeting people affected by Delhi communal violence in 2020. Photo: CPI(M). Representational Image

Genocide Watch aims to predict, prevent, stop, and punish genocide and other forms of mass murder. Its purpose is to build an international movement to prevent and stop genocide.

The International Religious Freedom Report released in June 2022 by the U.S. Department of State has raised serious concerns over increasing attacks on Muslims and other minority communities in India.

The report states that attacks on members of religious minority communities, including killings, assaults, and intimidation, occurred throughout the year. These included incidents of “cow vigilantism” against non-Hindus based on allegations of cow slaughter or trade in beef.

In June 2022, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) introduced a resolution to condemn human rights violations and violations of international religious freedom in India, including those targeting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Adivasis, and other religious and cultural minorities.

The resolution calls on the U.S. Secretary of State to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act, which has been recommended by the independent, bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for the past three years.

However, the U.S. ignores the events of hate, human rights violations, and growing religious animosity in India, because its main objective is to earn money from the Indian markets.

Meanwhile, in its article on December 3, 2022, The Wire news service has published a detailed analysis of the EWP report. The EWP statistical model estimates that there is a 7.4%, or approximately 1 in 14, chance of a new mass killing beginning in India in 2022 or 2023 while India ranks 8th highest-risk among 162 countries.

The Early Warning Project—a joint initiative of the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College—has produced a global risk assessment every year since 2014.

The EWP research reveals that India has ranked in the top-15 highest-risk countries since its 2017–18 assessment, including its highest rank of second last year. India’s shift in rank from second to eighth can be most attributed to an improvement in the freedom of movement for men, according to the data from the V-Dem Institute.

Its interactive Change a Country's Risk Factors tool indicates that if this variable remained the same as last year, India would be ranked first in this year’s assessment with an 11 percent increase in risk.

In 2022, according to the EWP report, the Hindu nationalist-led government’s systematic discrimination against the country’s Muslim minority has continued to intensify amid mounting reports of violence—met with impunity—and efforts to restrict Muslim rights.

The report adds that Hindu nationalist leaders have continued to propagate hate speech, including religious leaders’ calls for mass killings of Muslims in December 2021.

Several states saw large-scale and violent incidents targeting Muslims in recent months, which involved Hindu* nationalist processions engaging in derogatory anti-Muslim chants and the desecration of mosques.

In response to these violent provocations, local authorities bulldozed Muslim-owned property across several states, which rights groups cited as an apparent attempt at collective punishment. Reports indicate continued abuses in the disputed Muslim-majority territory of Jammu and Kashmir, including increased

targeting of Hindu civilians by militants and the Indian government's crackdown on journalists and human rights defenders.

Other minorities and persecuted groups, including Christians and Dalits, continue to face violence and discrimination. According to the EWP model, the factors accounting most for India’s high-risk estimate are its large population, its history of mass killing, its geographic region (South and Central Asia), and the presence of battle-related deaths (armed conflict between the Government of India, the Communist Party of India [Maoist], and Kashmir insurgents).

*Hindus: Hoodlums who masquerade as Hindu nationalists to attack Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs with the complicity of local police. These pseudo Hindu thugs enjoy a tacit support from PM Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments in different states.

Only a miniscule fraction of real Hindus follow Modi’s dirty version of Hinduism which is being promoted under the Hindutva brand of religious fundamentalism.

How the U.S. Combats Global Corruption and Human Rights Abuses

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a stark reminder that corrupt regimes are among the worst perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses.

On International Anti-Corruption Day and on the eve of Human Rights Day, the United States said on December 9 that it is taking dozens of actions to promote accountability for corruption and human rights abuse around the world.

In doing so, it is using a range of accountability tools, including Global Magnitsky sanctions and the Department of State’s Section 7031(c) visa restriction authority, to designate more than 65 individuals and entities connected to corruption and human rights abuses in 17 countries. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a stark reminder that corrupt regimes are among the worst perpetrators of human rights

violations and abuses. The actions that the U.S. is taking reflect U.S. efforts to address these pervasive challenges globally.

“By exposing the practices of these malign actors, these designations disrupt illicit activity and networks, promote accountability, and impose costs for egregious behavior,” said the U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken in a communique issued by the U.S. Department of State.

He added that state capture and systemic corruption enable autocrats to retain power, deprive societies of critical resources, and undermine democracy and the rule of law. In support of the U.S. Strategy on Countering Corruption, the corruption-related designations take aim at acts that contribute to state capture and democratic backsliding.

It includes corruption as a root cause of migration in Central America; misappropriation of state funds and embezzlement in Africa; and the solicitation of bribes in exchange for undue judicial influence by a corrupt judge in Ukraine. In

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Photo: Department of State

support of the Haitian people, the U.S. is shining a light on those who have abused public positions for personal gain, contributing to the current crisis.

“Today’s human rights-related designations span the globe. Our designations target Russian officials and proxies who have perpetuated Russia’s illegal and deadly war in Ukraine through abhorrent filtration operations and forcible deportations of Ukraine’s citizens, including a growing number of children,” Blinken said.

The U.S. reiterates its condemnation of Iran’s brutal acts of violence against peaceful protestors, ongoing denial of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and pervasive oppression and state-sponsored violence against women.

“Our actions further aim to disrupt and deter the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) arbitrary detention and physical abuse of members of religious minority groups in the Tibetan Autonomous Region, and the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s role in restricting freedom of movement, mistreating asylum seekers, and exploiting laborers to generate revenue for the state,” Blinken said.

Among other critical designations, the U.S. is also taking action to curb the sexual abuse and exploitation of children and women in the Philippines and address impunity for decades-old human rights violations in Peru and Indonesia.

Finally, the designations also address the nexus between PRC-based illicit fishing and human rights abuse, including forced labor as a form of human trafficking. The actions of the individuals and entities sanctioned undermine fundamental labor and environmental standards, harm the economic prospects of local populations in the Indo-Pacific, and exacerbate the environmental and socioeconomic effects of climate change.

These actions build upon several prior Global Magnitsky designations this year, including designations of senior officials in Liberia for their involvement in ongoing public corruption; a fugitive oligarch widely recognized for capturing and corrupting

Moldova’s political and economic institutions; and a Russia-linked network for exploiting the Guatemalan mining sector. In total, the U.S. has designated hundreds of individuals and entities for activity related to corruption and human rights abuses in 2022.

The United States says it is committed to ensuring that its authorities are applied to maximum effect, by addressing corruption and human rights abuse in all their forms, supporting the most vulnerable populations, and coordinating with allies and partners wherever possible.

Flying Lies: Book Reveals PM Modi’s Role in Rafale Scandal

Despite a series of investigative reports published by Mediapart about the possibility of corruption in the Rafale deal, the Indian courts have ignored the case. A new book titled, “The Rafale Deal Flying Lies? The Role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India’s Biggest Defence Scandal” covers the story of the Rafale corruption scandal in which prime minister (PM) Modi is allegedly involved.

Written by independent journalists Ravi Nair and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, the book reveals the details of the deal relating to the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets in a government-to-government dubious deal in which Modi was directly involved.

In a video interview published on December 10, 2022 by the NewsClick news site, the authors of the book explain that all the checks and balances were negated and Modi unilaterally took the decision in the Rafale deal, which is believed to be the biggest case of grand corruption not only in India but also in the world.

The Business Standard newspaper carried a review of the Flying Lies book on December 7, 2022, saying that the authors have analyzed the Rafale deal from multiple perspectives while the opposition political parties and media had buried the Rafale issue . Also, a senior advocate Prashant Bhushan - who is a complainant in the Rafale case - spoke about the Flying Lies book and tweeted on December 11, 2022 his video discussion on Modi's Rafale deal.

INVESTIGATION IN FRANCE

Meanwhile, the French judicial investigation into the sale of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft to India is accelerating. According to a Mediapart article on September 14, 2022 the detectives from the OCLCIFF, the anti-corruption unit of the French police, searched the headquarters of Rafale manufacturers Dassault Aviation.

The police action that took place in February 2022 was in response to the demand from the investigating judges Virginie Tilmont and Pascal Gastineau. Mediapart says Dassault did not comment on the ongoing investigation, adding that French judges are leading an investigation into claims of corruption surrounding the 7.8-billion-euro sale to India in 2016 of 36 Dassault-built Rafale fighter aircraft.

Mediapart reporter Yann Philippin writes that four months after searching the headquarters of the French defence and aviation group, investigators were refused access by France’s Ministry of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to classified documents related to the Rafale deal.

Book: The Rafale Deal Flying Lies? The Role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India’s Biggest Defence Scandal

The French news service Mediapart – which has been reporting about the Rafale corruption case – had revealed in its report of November 7 last year that Indian investigating agencies deliberately ignored this case in which India’s prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi is the prime accused.

Congress leaders protesting against PM Narendra Modi and the Rafale deal on February 13, 2019 (file photo). Photo: Congress Mediapart says that detectives from India’s federal police force, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and its colleagues from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which fights money laundering, have had proof since October 2018 that French aviation firm Dassault paid at least 7.5 million euros (equivalent to about 600 million rupees) in secret commissions to middleman in this case. But the CBI and ED decided to ignore the wrongdoing. [ Watch The Wire video of November 8, 2021. ]

As the Indian courts and judges had also turned a blind eye to the possible corruption in the Rafale deal, a French judge was appointed in July 2021 to lead a

judicial investigation into alleged corruption and favouritism in the 7.8 billion euro sale to India of 36 fighter aircraft.

Mediapart – an independent French online investigative journal – had revealed in its report released on July 2, 2021 that the investigation was formally opened in June following a decision by the financial crimes branch of the French public prosecution services, the PNF. Parquet national financier (PNF) is a French judicial institution which is responsible for investigating serious economic and financial crimes.

Thanks to a series of investigative reports published by Mediapart in April 2021 about the possibility of corruption in the Rafale deal, the probe has been launched to examine various aspects of the deal. These include corruption, influence peddling, money laundering, favouritism, and undue tax waivers surrounding the deal. [ Click here to watch a related video on RMN YouTube Channel. ]

Investigative reporter Yann Philippin of Mediapart reveals that after declining to investigate the case in 2019, the PNF decided to open it after the case was updated with details from Mediapart’s recent series of investigations. The Wire news service published a video interview with Yann Philippin in April to learn about the Rafale case. [ Click here to watch the interview. ]

While the Rafale deal had become a hot potato in India, a French NGO named Sherpa had filed a complaint in 2018 with the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office to clarify under which conditions 36 fighter aircraft produced by Dassault Aviation were sold to India in 2016 and the choice of its Indian partner, Reliance, a group led by a close partner of PM Modi.

“This complaint follows the complaint lodged on the 4th of October 2018 by a former Indian Minister and an anti-corruption lawyer with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in New Delhi, against Modi for ‘abuse of authority’ and ‘grant of undue advantages’ in connection with the sale of Rafale, and the facts revealed by

Mediapart and Sherpa’s investigation,” Sherpa said in a statement about the Rafale case.

The Sherpa statement added that Anil Ambani, Modi’s close associate; Eric Trappier, CEO of Dassault Aviation; and the former Indian Minister of Defense Manohar Parrikar have also been targeted in the complaint filed in New Delhi for “complicity” in the alleged crime.

As the Modi government has been hiding the facts related to the Rafale deal, a Times of India article of August 21, 2020 said that the federal auditor Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its report did not mention any offset deals related to Rafale aircraft purchased from French company Dassault Aviation. The article adds that India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has denied any information related to the Rafale offset deals to the CAG.

RAFALE DEAL AND SUPREME COURT DECISION

In November 2019, the Supreme Court of India had put a final break on the controversial Rafale corruption case. A bench comprising the-then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, Justices S.K. Kaul, and K.M. Joseph dismissed the review petitions seeking reassessment of the judgment that had refused an investigation by the CBI into the Rafale fighter jet deal with French firm Dassault Aviation.

A petition filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh was seeking a court-monitored investigation into the Rafale deal. Another petition filed by former Indian ministers Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie, and lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan had demanded a review of its findings related to the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets.

However, the top court observed arbitrarily that the petitions lacked merits and therefore there is no need for the CBI to register a first information report (FIR) and start the inquiry.

It is important to mention here that in May 2019 a Supreme Court committee had exonerated Chief Justice Gogoi who was blamed of sexual harassment by a former woman employee of the court. Most observers believe that the so-called inquiry was a biased exercise to protect the Chief Justice and the committee did not follow the law to protect women from sexual harassment at their place of work.

After giving a whimsical judgment that protected Modi and his colleagues in the Rafale case, Gogoi’s term as Chief Justice ended on November 17, 2019, and the Modi government rewarded him with a Rajya Sabha membership in March 2020.

Since Gogoi had dishonestly tried to protect Modi in the Rafale corruption case, in August 2021, a petition in the Supreme Court had challenged Gogoi’s appointment to the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of the bicameral Parliament of India.

RAFALE CASE COMPLAINT

The petitioners in the Rafale case – led by lawyer Prashant Bhushan – had filed a complaint with the CBI on October 4, 2018, urging the agency to register an FIR against PM Modi and former defence minister Manohar Parrikar. The complaint alleged that the accused have committed a range of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act) over their April 2015 decision to purchase 36 Rafale aircraft from Dassault Aviation. The complaint was handed over to Alok Verma, the-then director of the CBI, who was later removed from his position surreptitiously by the Modi government with the help of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), India’s top anti-corruption organization which controls CBI.

In a related development, K.V. Chowdary – who had retired as the Central Vigilance Commissioner – was hired as additional director on the board of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) led by Mukesh Ambani, who is a close capitalist friend of Modi. As the CVC of India, Chowdary had intervened to get all investigations against Modi dropped.

Chowdary was gifted the post of CVC in 2015 for his role in protecting Modi unscrupulously. Despite a number of corruption complaints against Chowdary, he gets off scot-free because there is no specific law to prosecute him. According to an RTI reply, four complaints were filed against Chowdary between January 2014 and August 2020.

A new CVC Sanjay Kothari – who was handpicked in April 2020 – was equally notorious, as he ignored the Rafale case. The office of the CVC is an utterly useless setup which mostly protects the corrupt government functionaries instead of catching and punishing them.

It is alleged in the complaint that Modi – who is a public servant – misused his position as PM of India to give undue benefit in the Rafale deal to his close associate Anil Ambani who is the Chairman of Reliance ADA group of companies and brother of Mukesh Ambani. When the complaint reached India’s top investigating agency CBI, Chowdary allegedly conspired to get CBI director Alok Verma removed from his position.

MURKY COURT JUDGMENT

The New York Times (NYT), which is the world’s top newspaper based in the U.S., said in its article that Modi’s opaque arms deal has raised some serious questions. The article headlined “With ‘Fishy’ Jet Deal, India’s Opposition Finally Lands a Blow on Modi” appeared in NYT

It raised questions such as why Modi renegotiated a deal for 36 fighter jets and why a company run by a wealthy family (Ambani family) was chosen to participate in the deal while it had no experience of building jets. The NYT article also asked why the costs of the planes seemed to jump so much and why Modi is not sharing more details on the Rafale deal. Strangely, however, the Supreme Court did not find the need to explore all these troubling questions and gave a murky judgment in favor

of the Modi government. The petitioners had alleged that the 2018 judgment “relied upon patently incorrect claims made by the government in an unsigned note given in a sealed cover” to the Supreme Court.

In order to see transparency in the decision-making process of the court, they had requested for an oral hearing of the petition in an open court. But instead of dealing with the case objectively, the Supreme Court judges – it appears – merely used their whims to dismiss it because the case targeted PM Modi. The less said about the Indian courts, the better.

In order to highlight corruption in the Rafale deal, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi used ‘chowkidar chor hai’ (PM Narendra Modi as watchman of the country is a thief) slogan extensively before the 2019 Lok Sabha election to discredit Modi for his alleged involvement in the deal.

Rahul Gandhi often called Modi a “thief” for stealing Rs. 30,000 crore (~ US$ 4 billion) in the Rafale deal which was handled by Modi in a secret manner. However, after the shady court judgment, Rahul Gandhi and the petitioners had to willy-nilly accept that there was no corruption in the Rafale deal and Chowkidar Modi is not a chor

But the new Mediapart articles have again brought the Rafale scandal to the center stage of increasing political corruption in India. According to a Mediapart article, in New Delhi on September 23, 2016 the French minister for defence, Jean-Yves Le Drian, and his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar, watched by Éric Trappier, CEO of French company Dassault Aviation, signed one of the biggest arms deals ever concluded by the French state.

This was for the sale of 36 Rafale fighter jets – made by Dassault – to the Indian state for 7.8 billion euros. To put this sum into context it is the equivalent of the annual gross domestic product (GDP) of a country such as Benin in West Africa.

Although Mediapart and the new Flying Lies book have revealed corruption in the Rafale deal, instead of allowing a transparent investigation into the case, the Modi government will dismiss the reports by saying that it is a politically motivated attempt to malign the Modi government. There is also a possibility that the Modi government will intimidate Mediapart or Flying Lies authors by sending frivolous legal notices to them for their Rafale corruption reports.

Earlier, as expected, the Modi government had dismissed the Rafale investigation report on April 5, saying it is a baseless report and blamed the opposition party Congress and ‘corporate rivalry’ for accusing Modi and his government. But the Modi government has not given any valid argument in its defence. [ Click here to watch a related video. ]

Since the opposition parties in India are almost extinct and the courts as well as anti-corruption outfits such as the Lokpal, CVC, and CBI are mostly complicit in state crimes, the Rafale scandal will once again be brushed under the carpet.

The Congress party, however, held a casual press conference in July last year to explain the irregularities in the Rafale deal. As Congress is a dying political outfit, it shows its opposition only through Twitter instead of holding field demonstrations or going to the courts against the Modi government’s questionable actions.

Meanwhile, a new report released by the U.S. Department of State has revealed that widespread corruption is happening at all levels of government in India. In an exclusive section, “Corruption and Lack of Transparency in Government,” the report asserts that the law provides criminal penalties for corruption by officials at all levels of government in India. However, according to the report, officials frequently engage in corrupt practices with impunity while there were numerous reports of government corruption during the year. You can click here to read “India Corruption Research Report 2022 (ICRR 2022)” which covers diverse aspects of corruption in India.

Short Stories of Politics and Unrest in the World

Four people have been charged in an investigation into suspected bribery at the European Parliament by a Gulf state - reportedly Qatar. Greek MEP and European Parliament Vice President Eva Kaili was among those previously arrested in the case. Prosecutors suspect the Gulf state tried to influence parliament decisions with donations of money or gifts. Read More

Protests against the new Peruvian President Dina Boluarte in the southern city of Andahuaylas on December 11 left two people dead, according to national and local authorities. The head of Peru's ombudsman's office, Eliana Revollar, told local radio station RPP that a 15-year-old and an 18-year-old died during clashes with police in Andahuaylas, in the Andean region of Apurimac, "possibly as a result of gunshot wounds." Read More

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stepped up diplomacy over Russia’s invasion of his country, holding talks with the leaders of the United States, Turkey and France amid protracted fighting on the eastern front of the nine-month-old war. While Zelenskyy has held frequent talks with US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan since Russian forces invaded in late February, it is unusual for him to hold such discussions over a single day. Read More

The White House has said the Biden administration is glad that both India and China quickly disengaged after clashing in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang sector. During a press briefing on December 13, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the US is closely monitoring the situation and encourages both sides to utilise existing bilateral channels to discuss disputed boundaries. Read More

The International Monetary Fund's executive board on December 12 discussed the surcharges it collects from mostly middle- and lower-income countries on larger loans that are not repaid quickly, but failed to agree to launch a formal review. Argentina, Pakistan and others are pushing the IMF to drop - or at least temporarily waive - the surcharges, which the IMF estimates will cost affected borrowers $4 billion on top of interest payments and fees from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic through the end of 2022. Read More

German Lawmakers Test the Functioning of EVMs Used in Indian Elections

Most EVM frauds happen under the garb of using technology in elections. Since almost all Indian political leaders are illiterate or semi-literate, they accept the EVM results after some weak protests. A German delegation led by Ms. Annalena Baerbock, Foreign Minister of Germany, met India’s Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel at Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi on December 6.

The German Foreign Minister was accompanied by four Members of Parliament namely Ms. Agnieszka Brugger, Mr. Thomas Erndl, Mr. Ulrich Lechte, Mr. Andreas Larem, along with Dr. Philipp Ackermann, German Ambassador to India and other officers from her Foreign Office.

Ms. Annalena Baerbock, Foreign Minister of Germany, using an electronic voting machine (EVM) during her visit at Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi on December 6, 2022. Photo: PIB

Speaking on the occasion, CEC Rajiv Kumar said that the idea of democracy is deeply rooted in India’s historical context and traditions. Giving an overview of the magnitude of Indian elections, he informed the German delegation of the detailed exercise that the Election Commission of India (ECI) conducts for over 950 million voters across 1.1 million polling stations.

According to an ECI statement, the German Foreign Minister was informed about the extensive use of technology by ECI in the conduct of elections broadly under three verticals of voters’ participation, political parties/candidates, and election machinery logistics.

DUBIOUS ROLE OF EVMs

While there are serious concerns in India over the vulnerability of the electronic voting machines (EVMs), the German minister personally cast a vote through an EVM during a demonstration of EVM-VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) functioning organized by ECI for the delegation.

As voters have hardly any role in Indian elections, a number of external factors influence the election results and determine the victory or defeat of a candidate. It is largely believed that the selective manipulation of EVMs is the main factor that usually helps the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi win elections.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, there were multiple complaints of a large-scale manipulation of EVMs that happened to help BJP win election and form the government under PM Modi. Many opposition parties keep raising the issue of vulnerability of EVMs and even court cases have been filed to get the EVM manipulation stopped. Since the courts and the election authorities cannot dare to take any decision that may displease PM Modi, it is believed that the EVMs continue to help BJP in crucial elections.

Most EVM frauds happen under the garb of using technology in elections. Since almost all Indian political leaders are illiterate or semi-literate, they accept the EVM results after some weak protests.

In their study on EVMs in India, security researchers from India, the United States, and the Netherlands argue that “contrary to claims by Indian election authorities, these paperless electronic voting systems suffer from significant vulnerabilities.”

The researchers also have found that even brief access to the machines could allow dishonest election insiders or other criminals to alter election results. They have developed a video to demonstrate their claims.

Tech experts observe that besides other manipulations, the chip used in the EVMs is not of the OTP (One Time Programmable) category. That means, it can be programmed in each EVM to change the vote count in favor of a particular candidate.

You can click here and click here to know the views of Congress leaders on EVMs in the December 2022 Gujarat election.

Dogfight Between Delhi LG and Kejriwal to Increase as AAP Wins MCD

Election

Since LG Saxena has been appointed by BJP, it is likely that after BJP’s defeat in the MCD election, he will increase his involvement or interference in the government work that Kejriwal will oppose.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has won the MCD Election 2022 after defeating the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The election result was declared on December 7. In the 250-seat Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the AAP candidates won 134 seats leaving 104 for BJP. Surprisingly, Congress - which perhaps does not contest elections to win them - won 9 seats. In fact, Congress does not deserve to win even a single seat because no Congress leader takes interest in elections.

Although AAP has defeated BJP to take control of MCD, the sufferings of Delhi citizens are going to persist because the existing AAP government has completely failed to provide the right governance during its rule of nearly 8 years in Delhi state.

One of the major factors of the AAP government’s bad performance is its unending conflicts with the Delhi Lt. Governors (LGs) including the present LG Vinai Saxena who has been handpicked by BJP.

During the past few months, LG Saxena has opened a slew of corruption cases in which the AAP leaders are allegedly involved. As the administrative head of Delhi, Saxena is supposed to clean up the mess by holding AAP politicians to account for their numerous lapses.

However, during the 8 months of his tenure, Saxena has not been able to tame AAP politicians who are working in a free-wheeling manner and making Delhi a veritable hell for its 30 million people.

Delhi Chief Minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal with Delhi Lt. Governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena on May 27, 2022. Photo: LG Office (file photo)

Today, under the Kejriwal government, Delhi has become the world’s most polluted national capital and corruption is rampant in almost all departments of Delhi Government.

Similarly, the standard of school education is pathetic in Delhi and the Mohalla Clinics that Kejriwal praises are in a deplorable state.

Although the BJP-led MCD was full of corrupt and incompetent councillors, the Delhi Government of Kejriwal has also been equally bad for the citizens. Kejriwal and AAP often complain that they are not able to deliver results because Delhi LG is interfering in their work.

Since LG Saxena has been appointed by BJP, it is likely that after BJP’s defeat in the MCD election, he will increase his involvement or interference in the government work that Kejriwal will oppose.

As a result, the conflicts between the LG and Kejriwal will increase and the people of Delhi will keep suffering under their dogfight.

You can click here to read the MCD election analysis in Hindi and watch a related video on RMN YouTube Channel.

Partner2Connect

Program Gets

USD 30 Billion in Commitments to Connect the World

ITU had formed Partner2Connect two years ago as a global platform to expand digital connectivity.

Commitments worth USD 29.92 billion have been pledged since March to bring the world's hardest-to-connect communities online, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies. The total commitments, coming in 578 pledges from around the world, include cash funding as well as policy,

programme and advocacy efforts mobilized since the launch of a dedicated pledging platform to extend Internet reach around the globe.

Partner2Connect. Photo: ITU

The updated figure for the pledges in support of global connectivity was announced during the first annual meeting of the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition in Geneva, Switzerland, on December 8.

“It is heartening to see the international community from so many sectors focus on bringing digital connectivity to all," said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. “ITU is uniquely positioned to support this effort and we will continue to mobilize our distinctive and diverse public-private membership base around concrete commitments to connect the world."

ITU had formed Partner2Connect two years ago as a global platform to expand digital connectivity. To date, pledges mobilized by the coalition have come from 280 entities representing 118 countries. The commitments – made by governments,

businesses and civil society – are for projects in the drive for universal and meaningful connectivity.

Earlier this year, ITU reported that 2.7 billion people remain unconnected to the Internet, a number equivalent to roughly one-third of the world population. The pledges mobilized are especially meant to support developing countries where connectivity is lagging and the digital gender gap is widest.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs), driving innovation in ICTs together with 193 Member States and a membership of over 900 companies, universities, and international and regional organizations.

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CIVICUS Monitor Shows Unlawful Killing of Protesters in 24 Countries

The research documents a timeline of frequent violations that take place before, during and after protests.

From Iran to Italy, people have taken to the streets to demand political and social change and a range of restrictions face protesters and activists, finds a new global assessment by the CIVICUS Monitor, an online research platform that tracks fundamental freedoms in 197 countries and territories.

The 2022 Global Assessment on Protest Rights, shows that violations to protest rights, as covered by international law, occur in over 75% of countries where protests have been recorded. The CIVICUS Monitor data shows that restrictions to freedom of peaceful assembly have occurred in at least 100 countries from October 2021-September 2022. The research documents a timeline of frequent violations that take place before, during and after protests. In numerous countries, restrictive

laws or emergency regulations have been deployed to make it difficult for people to protest, including the need for permits and levying fees. Authorities have also used outright bans to prevent protests from happening, often using grounds such as disturbing public order, security concerns, or public health reasons.

The detention of protesters is the most prevalent violation. Those exercising their fundamental freedoms have been detained in at least 92 countries over the past year. The detention periods can range from hours to indefinite. Peaceful protesters against the war in Ukraine, the solidarity for women’s rights in Iran and activists in Sri Lanka demanding a change of government, have all faced lengthy stays in detention.

Excessive force has also been a recurring theme of this year’s protests. Demonstrators have been met with water-cannons, batons, tear-gas and other acts of brute-force in over 40% of the countries recording protests. Police violence at protests has been the most prevalent in the Americas and the Asia-Pacific. Most disturbing of all has been the unlawful killing of protesters, which has occurred in at

2022 Global Assessment on Protest Rights. Photo: CIVICUS

least 24 countries. From Myanmar to the United States, protesters have died during protests. In too few of the countries, have independent investigations been conducted by the authorities and the perpetrators of the killings held accountable.

“In most regions this year, the story on protest rights is bleak. At a time when civic rights are needed more than ever to hold governments accountable, the space to protest is being heavily restricted. We need governments to respect the right to peaceful assembly, investigate abuses by security forces and work closely with civil society moving forward to halt this downward spiral and push back against the authoritarian forces at work,” said Julieta Zurbrigg, Research Advisor, CIVICUS Monitor.

Over twenty organizations collaborate on the CIVICUS Monitor, an online platform, which tracks restrictions to civic freedoms across the globe. The research coalition tracks a total of 33 different restrictions related to freedom of association, freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly. The data also provides the basis for national civic space ratings, countries can be categorized as either closed, repressed, obstructed, narrowed or open.

Construction, Corruption, and Pollution in Delhi

Ongoing Case: Please ensure that the ongoing corruption and environmental crime in Delhi housing societies is stopped immediately and the culprits are given the harshest punishment.

To December 3, 2022

The Assistant. Vigilance Officer-III Office of the Chief Vigilance Officer Delhi Development Authority (DDA), New Delhi

Subject: Complaint regarding construction, corruption, and pollution in occupied housing societies of Delhi.

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Dear Vigilance Officer, Please refer to your letter No. F.27(Misc.)06/2022/Vig/AVO-III/5122 dated 23.11.2022 (reproduced on the next page) asking me to confirm my complaint and provide related information. I confirm that I own this complaint.

Senior citizens in a group housing society of Dwarka in New Delhi urge the government to save them from dust pollution, noise pollution, and air pollution of extended FAR construction activity. Photo and Campaign by Rakesh Raman

In this regard, please study a detailed report of 43 pages given below. This report includes the modus operandi of the actors involved in this criminal enterprise, names of accused officials, government documents, infographics, photographs, video links, and so on.

SUPPLEMENTARY DOCUMENTS

Letter dated October 17, 2022 sent to Special Task Force (STF), DDA. [ Click for details ]

Letter dated December 2, 2022 with Delhi High Court (Vigilance) reference. [Click for details]

Note: You are requested to click the blue hyperlinks in all the documents to understand various aspects of the case. I will also be available through online meetings / video conferencing to explain the case. Please ensure that the ongoing corruption and environmental crime in Delhi housing societies is stopped immediately and the culprits are given the harshest punishment. You can click here to download and study the complete case report.

Rakesh Raman

Crime, Corruption, and Impunity in India

Politicians, bureaucrats, police, and judges have formed a criminal gang in India. The following cases depict how they collude with criminals and commit crimes and corruption with impunity while the ordinary citizens are suffering. Click the following links for details.

Cabinet Secretariat Case Ministry of HomeAffairs (MHA) Case

Prime Minister Office (PMO) Case Delhi Lokayukta Case

DoPTCase CBI Case

Economic Offences Wing (EOW) Case Supreme Court Case

Delhi Govt Case Delhi Petitions Committee / CVC Case NHRC Case School Education Case Environmental Crime Case Lokpal Removal Case Judicial Corruption Case RCS Corruption Case AAPCorruption Case Widehouse Scandal NHRC Case at UN HRC IAS Group Corruption Case CPGRAMS Cases PGMS Cases IAS Corruption Record UNCAC Petition Delhi Police Case DoPTProcesses

RCS RTI Violations DDACorruption Case Petitions and Representations by Rakesh Raman. Up to December 2022

Corruption Adversely Affects 80% People in India: Survey

Almost all the respondents (97%) say that the anti-corruption agencies of India are not working honestly.

A perception survey in the new India Corruption Research Report 2022 (ICRR 2022) reveals that 86% people believe that India is a corrupt country while corruption has adversely affected 80% of the people in India.

Corruption has adversely affected 80% of the people in India. It can be inferred that the other 20% who are not affected are committing corruption crimes. Photo: RMN News Service

The findings of the perception survey are given below. These findings were recorded up to September 2022 and presented in a number of charts which are included in the report.

Findings of the Survey

A whopping 86% of people believe that India is a corrupt country.

Corruption has adversely affected 80% of the people in India. It can be inferred that the other 20% who are not affected are committing corruption crimes.

As India’s bureaucrats blatantly defy laws and commit financial crimes with impunity, 61% people say in the survey that bureaucrats are responsible for corruption while 34% believe that politicians are causing corruption. A smaller number of people – 5% – say that private companies which bribe the government functionaries are responsible for corruption.

Thirty-two percent people believe that corruption has destroyed the democratic systems in India and 20% say corruption is causing unemployment in the country. Injustice, human rights violations, inflation, poverty, and hunger are the other adverse effects of corruption.

Almost all the respondents (97%) say that the anti-corruption agencies of India are not working honestly. All the anti-corruption agencies – such as the Lokpal, Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), Lokayuktas, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Economic Offences Wings (EOWs) of Police, State police departments, and others –are working hand in glove with the corrupt government functionaries.

Since corrupt bureaucrats and politicians enjoy full impunity and the judicial systems are quite weak in India, 97% people said in the survey that the corrupt officials and political leaders are not being punished suitably. As a result, corruption is increasing rapidly in India.

You can click here to read the full report and click here to watch a related video on RMN YouTube Channel.

Europe Urges Russia to Implement Human Rights Judgments

There are currently 2,227 cases under the supervision of the Committee of Ministers, pending full implementation by the Russian authorities. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, has written to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov urging the Russian Federation to

implement outstanding judgments from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

At its latest quarterly meeting on the execution of ECHR judgments, the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers also decided to implement a new strategy on its supervision of cases concerning Russia.

The Russian Federation was excluded from the Council of Europe on 16 March 2022. However, Russia is still required to implement judgments of the European Court related to its actions and omissions up until 16 September 2022.

According to a Council of Europe statement released on 12 December, the European Court has continued delivering judgments concerning Russia, and the Committee of Ministers continues to supervise their implementation.

At its recent meeting, the Committee deeply deplored that Russia has ceased all communication with the Council of Europe concerning the execution of judgments since 3 March.

Secretary General of the 47-nation Council of Europe (COE), Marija Pejčinović Burić. Photo: COE

There are currently 2,227 cases under the supervision of the Committee of Ministers, pending full implementation by the Russian authorities. Since February 2022, three Russian cases have been closed.

Establishment of International Court to Punish State Aggressors

The UN and the office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights have repeatedly failed to protect human rights of citizens in different parts of the world The casual statements and recommendations of the UN bureaucrats and other world leaders are being ignored by the rogue states which are supposed to follow them.

In such circumstances, the world leaders must use Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter which specifies the UN Security Council’s powers to maintain peace It allows the Council to determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression and to take military and non-military action to restore international peace and security.

Today, hundreds of politicians, bureaucrats, police personnel, and court judges under the tyrannical regimes are committing extreme crimes and human rights violations in different parts of the world. These include Belarus, China, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Myanmar, Russia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Thailand, and so on.

As their offences constitute genocide, crime of aggression, crimes against humanity, and the corrupt local judicial systems cannot convict them, they must be prosecuted under an international judicial framework.

Therefore, an international court must be set up to prosecute and punish such aggressors in authoritarian regimes The proposed court should work on the lines of the International Military Tribunal which was constituted at Nuremberg to prosecute Nazi war criminals for crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. ~ Rakesh Raman

Information is currently awaited on the payment of just satisfaction in 1,874 cases. As of 8 November 2022, the outstanding amount stood at over 2 billion euros, including roughly 1.87 billion euros in the case of OAO Neftyanaya Kompaniya Yukos, as well as 10 million euros of just satisfaction and the default interest of roughly 1.2 million euros due in the Georgia v Russia (I) case.

A number of decisions and Interim Resolutions were adopted on specific Russian cases at the latest meeting:

In the Navalnyy and Ofitserov group, the Committee deeply deplored that Alexei Navalny still remains in detention under harsh conditions and called for his release without delay;

In the Catan and Others and Mozer groups, concerning the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova, the Committee deeply deplored the Russian authorities’ continued failure to execute the judgments and exhorted them to start doing this and to rapidly pay the sums awarded by the Court;

In the cases of Jehovah’s Witnesses of Moscow and Others and Krupko and Others, the Committee urged the authorities to reverse the ban imposed on the activities of all Jehovah’s Witnesses organizations and to discontinue all criminal proceedings against them;

In the Volodina group, concerning the failure to protect women from domestic violence, the Committee urged the authorities to introduce proper criminal sanctions for domestic violence and to ensure the adequate protection of victims. Georgia v. Russia (I) concerning the arrest, detention and collective expulsion of Georgian nationals in 2006-2007 and Georgia v. Russia (II) concerning the armed conflict in Georgia in 2008.

About the Editor

The editor of The Unrest news magazine Rakesh Raman is a national award-winning journalist and founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation. Besides working at senior editorial positions with leading media companies, he was writing an exclusive edit-page column regularly for The Financial Express (a daily business newspaper of The Indian Express Group). Nowadays, for the past 12 years, he has been running his own global news services on multiple news sites. He runs various environment

protection, education awareness, and anti-corruption campaigns, and publishes digital magazines and research reports on different subjects. Earlier, he had been associated with the United Nations (UN) through the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a digital media expert to help businesses use technology for brand marketing and business development.

At present, Rakesh is associated with the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project as a Country Expert for India to provide expert research inputs on multiple topics pertaining to democracy and governance. The V-Dem Project is managed by V-Dem Institute under the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Currently, he is also working as an editor for Wikipedia, which is a free online global encyclopedia.

In order to inform the Indian citizens and the global community about the extent of corruption in India, he compiled and released in October 2022 a comprehensive report on corruption in the country. Under the title “India Corruption Research Report 2022 (ICRR 2022),” the research report covers diverse aspects of corruption in India.

He has launched a nationwide campaign to introduce social democracy in India in order to build an egalitarian society in which all citizens could enjoy equal rights, opportunities, freedoms, and access to justice. He is running an editorial section / microsite “Power Play: Lok Sabha Election 2024 in India” to cover the election news, events, and political campaigns.

He is also running a nationwide campaign to save school students of India from directionless education so that students could acquire modern skills that can help them in the job market. In his anti-corruption activities, he participated in a global petition led by Germany-based international organization Transparency International to call for the UN General Assembly Special Session against Corruption, UNGASS 2021, to direct all countries to set up central, public registers of beneficial ownership.

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He runs a community-driven anti-corruption social service “Clean House” to help the residents of Delhi raise their voice against the growing corruption and injustice in housing societies where millions of people suffer because of rampant corruption and lawlessness. He has also formed an environment protection group called Green Group in New Delhi, which is the most polluted national capital in the world.

As Rakesh has been facing constant threats including death threats for his editorial and anti-corruption work, the Paris-based international organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) that defends freedom of journalists has urged the Indian government to save him from threats and persecution. You can click here to download and read his full profile.

Collaboration with the Project

THE UNREST news magazine is being published by RMN Foundation, which is the humanitarian initiative of RMN News Service. It is being circulated among different UN agencies, government departments, leading global politicians, international political organizations, colleges / universities, law-enforcement agencies, civil society organizations, social activists, and others in India and abroad

As the founder of RMN Foundation and editor of RMN News Service, I am managing this project independently without any financial or other support. RMN News Service is looking for sponsors and collaborators across the world who can help it expand the content creation activity around this editorial initiative

Contact

Rakesh Raman Founder

RMN Foundation

463, DPS Apts., Plot No. 16, Sector 4 Dwarka, Phase I, New Delhi 110 078, INDIA

Call: 9810319059 | Contact by email

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