[LIBYAREVIEW] On Thursday, Libya’s Stabilization Support Apparatus (SSA) rejected accusations of human rights ...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you... abuses by Amnesia Amnesty International.
Amnesty published a report on Wednesday, claiming that the SSA had committed unlawful killings, and arbitrary detention of individuals. In addition to intercepting and arbitrarily detaining migrants colonists and refugees, torture, forced labour, and other human rights violations and crimes.
In a statement, the Apparatus, which is funded by the Libyan government, said that the report "lacks the most basic standards of professional work," describing such accusations as "false and slanderous."
It also threatened to sue the International organization for defamation and slander against an official security institution. It claimed that its units are working with "full transparency and professionalism."
The apparatus stressed that it places "the security and stability of Libya at the top of its priorities, and works in accordance with Libyan laws."
"The aforementioned organization (Amnesia Amnesty International) was required to address us and the official security institutions in the Libyan state formally before presenting any report," the apparatus added.
Notably, Amnesty wrote to the Libyan authorities regarding the complaints received against SSA Head, Abdel-Ghani al-Kikli (Ghnewa), and his former deputy, Lotfi al-Harari on 19 April 2022. It demanded their removal from positions that would allow them to commit further violations, interfere in investigations, or grant them immunity, pending investigations. No response was received in time for publication.
An Amnesty delegation visited Libya in February, and spoke to nine people who said they suffered grave human rights violations at the hands of the SSA members. As well as eight family members, and three activists.
"Legitimizing abusive militia leaders and putting them on state payroll, with no questions asked only empowers them to continue trampling on the rights of more people with complete impunity," said Diana Eltahawy, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesia Amnesty International.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/07/2022 00:00 ||
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ST. LOUIS (AP) — Inamullah Niazai sits on the front porch step of his red-brick St. Louis home and smiles at the bustle of activity around him — his mother and father chatting in the front yard, his two young daughters munching chocolate ice cream bars.
"Anything is possible here," Niazai, 23, said. "We are so lucky that my family can be here, together."
An aggressive effort in St. Louis is trying to lure Afghan refugees like Niazai. About 600 have arrived so far and another 750 are expected later this year.
Civic leaders are hopeful that over the next few years, thousands more will decide to relocate to the Midwestern city, helping to offset seven decades of population loss and rejuvenate urban neighborhoods — just as the arrival of Bosnian refugees did three decades ago.
It’s been nearly nine months since the Afghan capital of Kabul was ceded to the Taliban. Since last summer, more than 76,000 Afghan refugees have relocated to the U.S. While California and Texas have taken in most of the displaced Afghans, many will eventually go elsewhere.
#1
Got to keep those urban numbers up. School districts must be filled, federal benefits must be dispersed, democratic congressional districting and representation maintained.
#4
St. Louis has lost well over 2/3 of its population since I was born there in 1949. A series of really horrible politicians, even by current standards, wrecked what was a vibrant and beautiful city.
They COULD try to attract people by improving the schools and throwing criminals in jail. But apparently that solution has never occurred to anyone.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/07/2022 11:46 Comments ||
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#5
Not even cities in the American Heartland are immune. It's not just a blue coast problem.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/07/2022 11:48 Comments ||
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#6
Urban Democrat shitholes
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/07/2022 12:30 Comments ||
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#7
Ref #4: I remember visiting Shaw's Gardens, The Hill, and the Zoo as a wee lad. Always a treat. Have to take a pass on it these days.
[Shafaq] Dozens of Sinjar residents blocked the road leading to Hattin apartment complex, protesting the recent security perturbance that took place in the governorate.
Witnesses told Shafaq News agency that the protestors demanded clearing the apartment complex from all armed presence to prevent the reoccurrence of what happened a few days ago.
On October 9, Baghdad and Erbil reached an agreement to normalize the situation in Sinjar, according to which the district will be jointly administrated.
ISIS invaded Sinjar district in 2014 and committed a massacre against its residents, before the Peshmerga forces regained it the following year.
However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... the Iraqi army backed by al-Hashd al-Shaabi forces invaded the region due to the tension between Erbil and Baghdad against the independence referendum held in 2017.
There are currently two local governments for Sinjar, one of which was appointed by the federal government authorities, and the second is the elected government, which is running its business from Duhok governorate.
The PKK reject repeated calls from the Kurdistan Region to leave its territory, which gets subjected to Ottoman Turkish attacks that impede the return of tens of thousands of displaced Yazidis to their homes.
[IsraelTimes] Yitzhak Yosef latest to call on civilians to arm themselves amid terror spate, with suspects from Thursday night assault in Elad still on loose
The Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel called on Orthodox Jews to arm themselves when they attend synagogue over the weekend, after a terror attack Thursday night that left three dead.
The rare statement from Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef on a matter outside of religious law reflected the tense security situation in Israel following the deadly stabbing, the latest in a series of attacks by Paleostinian and Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... -inspired Israeli terrorists, including in the ultra-Orthodox cities of Bnei Brak and Elad.
"Due to the tense security situation, those with a license to carry a weapon... should bring it to the synagogue and help secure the public," Yosef said in a statement.
The chief rabbi’s statement asked those with firearms to conceal them while in synagogues for "modesty" reasons. Many Orthodox Jews believe it is inappropriate to openly display weapons inside synagogues.
Police officials indicated that the two Paleostinian bully boyz who carried out the axe and knife attack at a central park and nearby road in Elad Thursday night may still be in the area, raising fears the pair may attack again.
Hebrew media reports said the two entered Israel illegally through a breach in the West Bank security barrier. They are believed to have been familiar with the city, which sits east of Tel Aviv fewer than three kilometers (two miles) from the Green Line.
In late March, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told Israelis with gun licenses to carry their weapons with them, following a deadly attack in Bnei Brak, and other officials have also encouraged civilians to arm themselves.
"There’s no cop on every corner. but there are many civilians who a license to carry a gun," former Tel Aviv police chief Aryeh Amit told Channel 12 news Friday. "They need to carry the gun everywhere. If last night there had been one or two people with guns, the attack would have been stopped in its tracks. It didn’t happen because civilians did not have guns."
Gun control in Israel is relatively strict, and generally only granted to those who can show a need for extra security in their line of work or daily life. Citizens can only own one gun at a time and only 50 bullets. Seems reasonable til your one gun jams or you need 51+ bullets
Applications for gun licenses reportedly skyrocketed in late March in response to the attacks.
Following a deadly Beersheba terror attack in mid-March that claimed the lives of four Israelis, police said they would ease gun policies for civilians involved in neutralizing terrorists. Police had sparked a minor controversy by temporarily confiscating pistols from civilians who shot the terrorist as part of their investigation.
Under the new procedure, police said a civilian whose gun is taken to be forensically examined after they were involved in neutralizing a terrorist would be accompanied home by coppers, and a new handgun would be issued for them in an expedited procedure.
The three victims of the terror attack were named early Friday as Yonatan Havakuk, Boaz Gol and Oren Ben Yiftah, all young fathers who between them leave behind 16 children. They were buried on Friday afternoon. At least one of the maimed was at death's door, and up to seven were hurt in the attack.
The attack came at the end of Israel’s Independence Day and took place minutes after celebratory events had concluded, with the park crowded with Israelis enjoying the national holiday.
That’s nice. Sadly, no one who matters cares, and no one who cares matters.
The Biden administration condemns #Israel’s plans to build new settlements in occupied Palestinian territories after Israeli officials said they would approve 4,000 new housing units in the #WestBank.https://t.co/LbEjkzPbNr
The deputy head of Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... ’s Executive Council, Sheikh Ali Daamoush, announced Friday that the electoral battle is between two projects — one that "has an economic and financial vision and is looking forward to rescue the country," and another that is "imported from abroad and whose main slogan is besieging the resistance and disarming it."
The rival project is "the project of America’s people in Leb ...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... ," Daamoush added.
"The advocates of this project have evaded their responsibilities toward the people and their crises, and their electoral programs contain nothing but slogans targeted against the resistance. These are unfeasible slogans that are distant from people’s concerns and have nothing to do with Lebanon’s crisis nor with the priorities of the Lebanese," the Hizbullah official went on to say.
He added that Hizbullah is meanwhile running in the elections based on "a national and feasible project that would contribute to overcoming the country’s economic and financial crisis."
"Through understanding and cooperation with the rest of the partners in the country, we are capable of implementing our general national program and of turning some articles into laws or plans in the ministries that we will be in," Daamoush said.
Addressing "all those who are carrying slogans against the resistance," the Hizbullah official said: "Even if you win the parliamentary majority, you will not be able to implement your slogans and besiege the resistance. You had the majority in a previous period, America and its allies were on your side, some of you were partners in the July 2006 war against the resistance, and yet you did not manage to weaken it."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/07/2022 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
