Despotic Belarus Regime Jails Nobel Peace Prize Winner Ales

Bialiatski

Although the UN human rights agencies and world leaders have failed completely to protect the peaceful protesters in Belarus, they keep releasing perfunctory bureaucratic statements which have no effect on autocratic President Lukashenko.

As human rights abuses are increasing continuously in Belarus, a court in Belarus ordered on March 3 the imprisonment of Nobel Peace Prize winner and rights activist Ales Bialiatski for 10 years.

Bialiatski and his companions are not alone who are being harassed in Belarus. Hundreds of Belarusians have been arrested and jailed because they peacefully exercised their rights to freedom of expression and assembly in response to a fraudulent election in August 2020 that allowed President Alexander Lukashenko to retain power.

When the intensity of protests increased, Lukashenko’s regime shut down dozens of independent organizations and media outlets. Bialiatski is a co-founder of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” which is a non-governmental organization formed in 1996 during mass protest actions of the democratic opposition in Belarus.

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In 2022, according to Viasna, arrests, torture, and criminal proceedings on political grounds against Belarusian activists continued. It reports that by the end of 2022, there were 1,446 political prisoners in Belarus while 889 people were recognized as political prisoners.

Viasna asserts that the draconian action against Bialiatski and his colleagues has been taken because they were helping the persecuted Belarusians. It also demanded their acquittal and release.

Bialiatski won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for his work on human rights and restoration of democracy in Belarus. He was arrested in July 2021 on tax evasion charges.

Although the UN human rights agencies and world leaders have failed completely to protect the peaceful protesters in Belarus, they keep releasing perfunctory bureaucratic statements which have no effect on autocratic President Lukashenko.

In February, for example, the Council of Europe (COE) Secretary General, Marija Pejčinović Burić, announced a 15-point action plan to support civil society and democracy representatives working towards a future free and democratic Belarus. However, this plan would be as ineffective as the other casual steps taken in the past.

India Is Not a Democracy Under PM Narendra Modi: Global Report

The electoral autocracy is a status given to those nations where some kind of fair or foul elections take place but the regimes in these nations deprive people of their fundamental rights.

A new global report has asserted that India under the rule of prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi continues to be an electoral autocracy and has lost its status of a democracy. The electoral autocracy is a status given to those nations where some kind of fair or foul elections take place but the regimes in these nations deprive people of their fundamental rights.

The autocrats in these nations win elections by hook or by crook and then usurp all the institutions such as judiciary, parliament, election offices, law-enforcement agencies, and media outfits illegally. It is being observed that the dictators - mostly with criminal records - in electoral autocracies squander national resources to unnecessarily import products and services from advanced nations and promote oligarchy. As this is a kind of bribe to the world leaders, they turn a blind eye to the corruption and human rights abuses committed by the dictators in electoral autocracies.

The report was released on March 2, 2023 by the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project, which is managed by V-Dem Institute under the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. In India, according to the report, the ruling right-wing, Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with PM Modi at the helm continues to suppress religious freedom and attacks all institutions required for the survival of a democracy. According to V-Dem data, 72% of the world’s population – 5.7 billion people – now live in electoral or closed autocracies. That is an increase from 46% ten years ago.

A plurality – 44% of the world’s population, or 3.5 billion people – reside in electoral autocracies, which include populous countries such as India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, The Philippines, and Türkiye.

In the most populous region, Asia and the Pacific, almost nine out of ten individuals – or 89% – reside in autocracies and are denied some or all democratic rights and freedoms. This includes closed autocracies such as China and electoral autocracies like India.

According to the V-Dem report, autocratization often goes beyond democratic weakening and breakdown to deepen even further after countries like El Salvador, Hungary, or India turn into electoral autocracies. Other autocracies that are autocratizing further include Burkina Faso, Philippines, and Russia. Again, more than twice as many – nine countries – have declined substantially: Afghanistan,

Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, The Philippines, and Thailand. The process of autocratization seems to have slowed down considerably or even stalled in Hungary, India, Serbia, Thailand, and Türkiye but after turning into autocracies. All five remain autocracies.

The V-Dem report further says that political polarization is also escalating the most in autocratizing countries. Those countries witnessing the most dramatic increases include top autocratizers such as Afghanistan, Brazil, India, and Myanmar.

V-Dem provides a multidimensional and disaggregated dataset that reflects the complexity of the concept of democracy as a system of rule that goes beyond the simple presence of elections. It distinguishes between five high-level principles of democracy: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, and egalitarian, and collects data to measure these principles.

Note: The Indian government of prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi arrogantly rejects all the truthful global reports that reveal the failure or the autocracy of the Modi regime. Without offering any logical reasoning, the Modi government randomly claims that it is a global conspiracy to discredit Modi and his government.

Perpetual Human Rights Crisis in Myanmar: UN Report

The report documents a litany of human rights abuses from 1 February 2022 to 31 January 2023.

Myanmar’s military has created a perpetual human rights crisis through the continuous use of violence, including the killing, arbitrary arrest, torture and enforced disappearance of anti-coup opponents, a report published by the UN Human Rights Office said on March 3.

“Two years after the military launched a coup, the generals have embarked on a scorched earth policy in an attempt to stamp out opposition,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said.

“Tragically, regional and global efforts for peace and restraint have largely fallen on deaf ears. The military, emboldened by continuous and absolute impunity, has consistently shown disregard for international obligations and principles. Urgent, concrete action is needed to end this festering catastrophe,” he added.

The report echoed calls by the Security Council and ASEAN for, among other things, an immediate halt to the violence, the release of all those arbitrarily detained, accountability, and unhindered humanitarian access. The report documents a litany of human rights abuses from 1 February 2022 to 31 January 2023, accompanied by a sharp rise in violence especially in the north-western and south-eastern parts of Myanmar.

It cites credible sources as having verified the deaths of at least 2,940, and 17,572 arrests by the military and its affiliates since the coup. Nearly 80 per cent of the country’s 330 townships have been impacted by armed clashes. The military employs its so-called four-cuts approach - including through indiscriminate airstrikes and artillery shelling, razing villages to displace civilian populations, and denial of humanitarian access - to cut off non-State organized armed groups and other anti-military armed elements from access to food, finances, intelligence and recruits.

Among the numerous incidents of airstrikes, on 16 September - in Let Yet Kone village, Tabayin Township, Sagaing - four helicopters opened fire on a school killing at least six children and injuring nine others. After some 60 soldiers deployed from helicopters to the ground, they reportedly raided the village, executing a school technician and five villagers before arresting wounded children and teachers.

In another incident, on 20 October, an airstrike against a newly opened hospital in Man Yu Gyi village, Banmauk Township, Sagaing, killed one woman and injured five others. A source reported that the hospital had been inaugurated a day earlier and victims were all volunteers at the facility.

One of the most frequently used tactics by the military is the systematic and widespread burning of villages and dwellings. Consistent with their modus operandi documented over decades, including in Kachin in 2011 and Rakhine in 2017, UN reports indicated that nearly 39,000 houses nationwide have been burnt or destroyed in military operations since February 2022, representing a more than 1,000-fold increase compared to 2021.

Sagaing was the most affected region, accounting for over 25,500 homes. In an incident on 1 May 2022 in Ah Shey See, Kale Township, Sagaing, satellite images suggest the burning of almost the entire village with 621 structures destroyed. Satellite imagery coupled with interview reports suggest that between 16 and 28 September in Taze Township, Sagaing, the military destroyed 458 houses and damaged another 319 across eight villages during a series of raids and attacks. The military’s mismanagement of the economy has provoked an economic crisis for much of the population, resulting in the doubling of poverty rates compared to March 2020.

Nearly half of the population now lives in poverty, and rural populations are reported to be at risk of starvation as the military imposes further restrictions on access to areas affected by violence and conflict. Compounding the situation, main supply routes and waterways across the country have been blocked, preventing humanitarian actors from reaching 17.6 million people in need.

“The military has also adopted rules, including martial law, intended to target anti-coup opposition and severely restrict the civic space that had significantly contributed to Myanmar’s democratic transition,” Türk said.

Supreme Court Committee Formed to Give Safe Passage to Adani Group

While Adani is accused of a serious financial crime, the Supreme Court is trying to brush the case under the carpet with the formation of a toothless committee.

The Supreme Court of India on March 2 formed a perfunctory committee which is expected to exonerate the embattled Adani Group from all the alleged financial frauds reported by credible global agencies and media organizations. The Supreme Court has also casually asked the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to complete its ongoing investigation into the irregularities of the Adani Group in two months and file a status report.

Such deceptive measures by the court are aimed to give a clean chit to Adani.

Oligarch Gautam Adani, who is a close partner of prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi, has welcomed the court decision. In a tweet on March 2, Adani said, “The Adani Group welcomes the order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court. It will bring finality in a time bound manner. Truth will prevail.” In the past when Modi or his associates were accused in such cases, the Supreme Court took questionable decisions to favor Modi or formed committees which could not dare to point the finger at Modi or his friends.

It has happened in cases such as the Rafale corruption case, Gujarat massacre case, Pegasus spyware case, draconian demonetization decision, farmers’ protests, PM-CARES Fund of PM Modi, and many others.

While Adani is accused of a serious financial crime, the Supreme Court is trying to brush the case under the carpet with the formation of a toothless committee which cannot file any report that can get Adani prosecuted and convicted.

Scope Of Investigation And Prosecution

In all probability, the findings of the report will not be made public and Adani will be acquitted of all the charges. Subsequently, Adani, Modi, and Modi’s colleagues will silence the opposition voices by saying that the Supreme Court has found that Adani is honest and no fraud has happened in this case. A recent investigative report of Hindenburg Research accused Adani of commiting one of the biggest corporate frauds in the world. In the report released on January 24, Hindenburg said that the Adani Group has engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades.

When the opposition leaders questioned Modi in the parliament on the Modi government’s complicity in the Adani fraud, Modi did not even touch the Adani issue. Rather, he delivered a long rhetoric to praise himself and baselessly accuse the opposition party Congress of corruption.

In fact, it is a clear case of grand corruption and money laundering for which Adani or his associates should have been taken into custody for proper investigation. The Hindenburg report states that Adani’s frauds included the formation of offshore shell entities to generate artificial turnover and money laundering.

But the SEBI and other law-enforcement agencies turned a blind eye to this alleged fraud and never tried to reveal the information publicly about these shell entities and the money laundered through them because Adani is a close friend of Modi.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which sets global standards on beneficial ownership transparency, had agreed in March 2022 for tougher global beneficial ownership rules to stop criminals from hiding their illicit activities and dirty money behind secret corporate structures.

But the Indian agencies have deliberately ignored the FATF rules on beneficial ownership and did not publicly release the real beneficial ownership registers of Adani Group entities. It is possible that the dirty money is being used to support the terrorist financing activities that FATF is supposed to monitor.

Such reports are already coming. A March 2, 2023 report reveals that an entity related to the Adani Group financially supported a company that violated sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on trade with North Korea.

According to the report, the sanctioned company was owned by sons of Chang

Chung-Ling, an Adani Group associate who appeared in the Hindenburg report for his directorship of Adani entities.

Now, the committee formed by the Supreme Court and the law-enforcement agencies should investigate all such allegations and live-stream their interaction with the accused involved in this case. The investigating agencies should also reveal if the corruption money made in the Rafale deal or the PM-CARES Fund has been invested in the Adani Group, as these cases have never been probed thoroughly.

Since the Supreme Court committee or the other law-enforcement agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are not expected to act honestly, the Adani case should be prosecuted in international forums outside India.

The U.S., for example, can treat this case of significant corruption under Section 7031(c) of the annual Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act or the Global Magnitsky sanctions program. Similarly, the UK can prosecute it under the UK Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions Regime.

Finally, the Modi-Adani case of grand corruption should be handled by the International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC) proposed by Integrity Initiatives International.

India Is the Biggest Offender for Internet Shutdowns: Global Report

In addition to shutdowns, Indian authorities have honed their playbook by increasing censorship, blocking websites, and issuing takedown orders to social media platforms.

India, which was responsible for 84 Internet shutdowns in 2022, remains the country with the highest number of recorded shutdowns in the world — for the fifth consecutive year. This is among the findings of a new global report that records Internet shutdowns in different parts of the world. The report says that the Indian authorities disrupted internet access at least 49 times in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) due to political instability and violence, including a string of 16 back-to-back orders for three-day-long curfew style shutdowns in January and February 2022.

Internet Shutdowns Photo: Access Now

Launched on February 28, Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition’s new report, Weapons of control, shields of impunity: Internet shutdowns in 2022, reveals and unpacks the global resurgence of internet shutdowns over the span of one catastrophic year for human rights.

Since Access Now started documenting shutdowns in 2016, India has accounted for approximately 58% of all shutdowns documented in its Shutdown Tracker Optimization Project (STOP) database. It says the responsibility of Indian states for the majority of shutdowns globally is impossible to ignore and a deep problem on its own. In 2021, according to the report, around 80% of all shutdowns in India were in J&K, compared to 58% in 2022. Authorities in regions across the country are increasingly resorting to this repressive measure, inflicting shutdowns on more people in more places.

Setting aside J&K, authorities in West Bengal (7) and Rajasthan (12) imposed more shutdowns than authorities in other regions in India, responding to protests, communal violence, and exams with disruptions that impacted the daily lives of millions of people for hundreds of hours in 2022.

Although Access Now counted fewer than 100 shutdowns in India for the first time since 2017, it says it is not convinced Indian authorities have embarked on the path toward positive, sustained change with regard to digital rights.

Legal challenges against shutdowns, fewer mass protests in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the sustained and increasing crackdown on dissent may have increased administrative friction or reduced the incentives for authorities to impose shutdowns. At the same time, the government’s persistent failure to publicly release shutdown orders in violation of the Supreme Court’s judgment, and the technical challenges in monitoring, tracking, and recording shutdowns in particular in communities where shutdowns are an emerging issue likely mean we have not yet recorded all disruptions, the report says.

In addition, according to the report, the proposed Draft Indian Telecommunication Bill, which would empower central and state governments with unrestricted powers to impose shutdowns when “necessary and expedient,” signals the government’s intention to continue down this troublesome path, violating fundamental rights of expression and assembly and providing opportunities to cover up human rights abuses. In addition to shutdowns, according to the report, Indian authorities have honed their playbook by increasing censorship, blocking websites, and issuing takedown orders to social media platforms. Access Now is a non-profit organization founded in 2009 with a mission to defend and extend the digital civil rights of people around the world.

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