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A Tanács és a Parlament politikai megállapodásra jutott a csipekről szóló európai jogszabályról.

Eurogroup President, Paschal Donohoe, issued a statement welcoming the European Commission's publication of a legislative proposal for a reform of the bank crisis management and deposit insurance (CMDI) framework.

Alors que la Confédération suit de près les violents affrontements en cours au Soudan, une cinquantaine d’appels sont parvenus à sa «helpline».

Activists from Freedom and Roam Uganda launch LGBTQI+ campaigns, My Body is Not a Battlefield and Break the Chains, Stop Violence campaigns. Credit: Wambi Michael/IPS

By Wambi Michael
KAMPALA, Apr 21 2023 (IPS)

The mothers of LGBTQ+ individuals in Uganda have taken a stand against Bill passed by the Ugandan Parliament proposing the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality, life imprisonment for the “offense of homosexuality,” and up to 20 years in jail for promoting homosexuality.

This stance is considered rare for Uganda and Africa, where Human Rights Watch says 33 countries still criminalize homosexuality. And there is concern that because of the success of the Ugandan Bill, other African countries could be encouraged to intensify targeting the anti-LGBTQ+ community.

Mawethu Nkosana Nkolomba, the Crisis Response Fund Lead/LGBTI Advocacy Lead at CIVICUS, told IPS that the passing of the Bill in Uganda was not an isolated incident. “There is a threat of LGBTI civil society groups being targeted soon in Kenya, and because of what just happened in Uganda, there are fears of the LGBTI bill coming back in full force. Niger – has a similar bill being tabled.” 

“So is Tanzania – the targeting of LGBTI and feminist groups are under target (anal testing), Ghana – has a similar bill as Uganda, Burundi – (is experiencing) a new wave of arrests of LGBTI groups, the situation of LGBTI groups in Tunisia and Algeria is worsening, in Egypt, police are using queer apps to target the LGBTI community – so definitely there is a trend,” Nkolomba says in an interview with IPS.

Activist Eric Ndaula says the issue is that homophobia is a pervasive mindset – with politicians, religious leaders, and even family taking a stance against it. “They tell us that homosexuality is wrong; it’s an abomination.”

When the Ugandan Parliament passed the Bill on March 21, 2023, without asking for anonymity, Jane Nasimbwa, Sylvia Nassuna, Janet Ndagire, Patricia Naava, Jackie Nabbosa Mpungu, Florence Matovu Kansanze, Josephine Amonyatta, and Shamim Nakamate openly identified themselves as mothers of LGBTQ+ individuals.

Their “Open Letter to President Museveni from Mothers of LGBTQ+ Individuals,” – republished by the Monitor, surprised many.

“As parents of LGBTQ+ individuals, we are not ‘promoters’ of any agenda; we are Ugandan mothers, who have had to overcome many of our own biases to fully understand, accept, and love our children,” reads the letter.

The women expressed fear that their children were likely to be targets of mob violence, which they noted was a direct consequence of living in a country whose legislators are “recklessly” legalizing homophobia and transphobia with the Anti-Homosexuality law.

“We, too, did not choose to be parents of LGBTQ+ children, but we have chosen to love our children for who they are. As parents, we all desire and work to ensure that our children are healthy, well-educated, successful, and fulfilled in both their professional and personal lives.”

The letter was shared on Twitter by Dr Catherine Kyobutungi, a feminist and The Executive Director of the African Population and Health Research Center, sparking an online debate.

They requested President Yoweri Museveni not to assent to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, saying they could no longer stand on the sidelines and watch as their children continued to be bashed and threatened in such a dangerous and deliberate manner.

Will President Museveni Listen?

There are doubts about whether Museveni, who previously signed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law in 2014, will heed the mothers’ call – even though he has sent the Bill back to parliament for amendment.

In a press statement released on April 20, 2023, which quoted him as saying: “Be ready to sacrifice to fight homosexuals,” he also noted: “It is good that you rejected the pressure from the imperialists. Those imperialists have been messing up the world for 600 years, causing so much damage.”

The Bill is to be returned not because of a change in sentiment but because Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka said the Bill in its current form criminalizes even those who voluntarily come out to having “practiced homosexuality” and need to be helped.

He proposed a provision for amnesty for this group.

Museveni has been quoted several times that those behind the criticism of the Bill were associated with Europeans – and he has expressed anti-homosexuality sentiments in several other addresses since then.

“There is some issue with these Europeans. They don’t listen; we have been telling them that this problem of homosexuality is not something that we should normalize and celebrate,” Museveni said. “I told them that there were some few homosexuals before Europeans came here … But now the Europeans want to turn the abnormal into normal and force it on others.”

After the Bill was enacted, Museveni addressed a meeting of members of Parliament from 22 African countries and the UK. He repeated that homosexuality was a deviation, adding that it was more dangerous than drugs.

In February 2014, President Museveni appointed a committee of scientists to determine whether there was a scientific or genetic basis for homosexuality and whether it could be learned and unlearned.

While the committee recommended a further study, it observed that homosexuality existed throughout history.

‘Blatant Violation of Rights’

Dr Zahara Nampewo, a lecturer at the Makerere University’s School of Law and Director of the Human Rights and Peace Centre (HURIPEC), speaking at a debate a day after the Bill was passed, said there were far-reaching implications of the law.

“We have raised our voices of concern over issues such as the blatant violation of rights such as the presumption of innocence, the right to a non-derogable right to a fair trial,” Nampewo says. “We have been calling for laws to protect children against child abuse; we have been calling for the marriage bill. Why now, in a period of a month, has (this) law been passed?”

The mover of the Bill, Asuman Basalirwa, told IPS that they had planned to table the Bill since August 2022, but it was only in late February that the Speaker granted them space on the order paper.

“The issue of recruitment, promotion, and financing of homosexuality. You don’t provoke a community like that. If those people were doing their things quietly, nobody would be bothered, but you see, you are going into our schools, you are attacking our children. And you want us to look on?”

Asked why a particular stance to criminalize LGBTQ+ persons, Basalirwa told IPS that the criminalization of homosexuality is not a new phenomenon. “It is the colonialists who first brought here a law on homosexuality section 145 of the penal code. This is intended to be a penal law. So you want a penal law that doesn’t criminalize it,” he asked.

Timing of Passing the Bill

Some critics have argued that the Bill was rushed by Speaker of Parliament Anita Among and her deputy Thomas Tayebwa because those behind it wanted it to be passed before an Inter-Parliamentary Conference on family values under the theme “Protecting African Culture and Family Values.”

The two-day conference was held on the shores of Lake Victoria from March 31 to April 1, 2023. It was attended by leaders of Family Watch International (FWI) officials. FWI is a US Christian organization described by civil rights activists as a “hate group, which opposes comprehensive sexuality education.” Delegates from FWI included Sharon Slater, who told the conference that: “We are on fire, and we must stop this culture of imperialism that is destroying our children.” Slater and her team, which included Henk Jan van Schothorst, the Executive Director at Christian Council International, and Gregg Scot, a US attorney, met Museveni and his wife, Janet Museveni, at State House Entebbe.

‘Victimless Offense’ 

But Dr Adrian Jjuuko, Executive Director at Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum – Uganda (HRAPF), disagrees with Basalirwa about the timing of the enactment of the Bill.

“This is a campaign that has been going on for years. And it is not just a Ugandan campaign. This is an international campaign,” said Jjuuko, whose organization provides legal aid to LGBTQI+ persons.

Jjuuko, whose organization has allegedly been listed by Uganda’s NGO Bureau among Civil Society groups likely to be closed, told IPS that the offenses suggested in the laws are victimless because the relationships were consensual. “If you have a victimless offense, why do you have to criminalize a victimless offense? Nobody is complaining; there’s no harm. Harm to who? To Hon Basalirwa?”

The Bill limits the offense of homosexuality to sexual acts between persons of the same sex. The offense is punishable by life imprisonment, up to ten years. It also provides for the offense of aggravated homosexuality.

“If you look at the provision on the promotion of homosexuality. It essentially bans what we do as lawyers. So as a lawyer, you cannot represent an LGBTQ+ person because that will be seen as a promotion of homosexuality,” Jjuuko says.

The law suggests several punishments, including the death penalty for being a repeat offender and life imprisonment.

“Repeat offender means if you are convicted of being gay twice, you die for that. Having consensual sex when you are HIV-positive, you die for that; if you have sex with a person of the advanced age of 75 years, you die for that regardless of whether it is consensual.”

Jjuuko observes, “If you wanted to fight pedophilia, sexual orientation is not what you go for. What you go for is the crime that you are interested in fighting.”

NGOs suspected of promoting homosexuality risk a fine of one billion shillings (over $264,000) or face twenty years in prison.

Restrictions, threats, and the vilification of sexual minorities in Uganda preceded the passing of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. In August 2022, the civil society organization Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) was banned by the Ugandan National Bureau (the NGO Bureau for Non-Governmental Organizations) because it was not registered. In 2012 the NGO Bureau rejected an application by SMUG to have it registered because the organization was “undesirable and un-registrable.”

Asuman Basalirwa, the mover of the Bill, and fellow Parliamentarians argued that the country needs the law to protect children from promoters of homosexuality. But Jjuuko, in an interview with IPS, said that it was a misplaced sentiment.

“If you talk about children, the biggest threat to our children is not homosexuality. The biggest threat to children is heterosexuality. Because if you look at the annual police crimes report, over ten thousand cases of defilement of girls by men. And there were only 83 cases of unnatural carnal knowledge (as the offense is described in the bill) against the order of nature.”

The Bill is Retrogressive

Many have observed that the Bill is retrogressive and will worsen the HIV situation in Uganda as it would deny LGBTIQ+ persons, who are key populations, access to HIV services.

The Bill came after PEPFER Uganda, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health in Uganda, the Uganda AIDS Commission, conducted a legal and environmental assessment of HIV/AIDS and key populations. The evaluation had recommendations to ensure an enabling environment to move the course toward epidemic control.

PEPFAR Uganda Country Coordinator, Mary Borgman, told IPS, “We need to ensure that the human rights of all key populations are respected regardless of who we are. And this is our primary objective to ensure that we provide services to all people. That is stigma and discrimination-free.”

While South Africa’s Constitution is hailed for being the first in the world to prohibit unfair discrimination based on sexual orientation, LGBTQ+ people still experience violence. Human Rights Watch noted that in 2021 at least 24 people were murdered due to their sexual orientation.

More concerning is the decision of an independent expert body within the African Union (AU), the African Commission of Human and Peoples’ Rights, to reject the three NGOs’ observer status to three NGOs.

Frans Viljoen, Director and Professor of International Human Rights Law, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, argues in the Conversation that the rejection of Alternative Côte d’Ivoire, Human Rights First Rwanda and Synergía “casts a shadow over the commission’s commitment to advancing the rights of all Africans. It also seriously erodes its independence from AU states … The denial of observer status means the NGOs will not have a voice before the African Commission. They will not be able to draw its attention to the human rights violations of LGBTQ+ people in Africa.”

 

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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The far-right Sweden Democrats (SD) leader in the Swedish Parliament declared that the party could withdraw its support for the ruling centre-right coalition, which would risk a political crisis when the country is heading the Council of the European Union. 

Members of the AFET Committee will meet on Wednesday 26 April 2003 - 9.00-11.30 and 14.30-18.30 and Thursday 27 April 2003 - 9.00-11.45 (Spaak 3C50)

Debates:

• EoV with Bujar Osmani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia
• Implementation report on the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (2022/2188(INI)) - jointly with INTA
• EoV on the situation in Lebanon
• Public Hearing on the Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience of Ukraine
• EoV on the EU relations with Iran
• EoV with Gert-Jan Koopman, Director-General, European Commission, Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (NEAR)
• EU-Switzerland relations - consideration of the draft report (2023/2042(INI)) - Lukas Mandl (PPE)
• Debriefing on the AFET mission to The Gambia and Senegal

Votes:

• Draft report on 2022 Commission Report on Serbia (2022/2204(INI)) - Vladimír Bilčík (PPE)
• Draft report on 2022 Commission Report on Kosovo (2022/2201(INI)) - Viola von Cramon-Taubadel (Verts/ALE)

AFET-SEDE-DROI meetings 2023
Meeting documents
Webstreaming
Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

Une hyène a été filmée en train de se balader dans les rues dans la wilaya de Bordj Bou Arréridj. La vidéo est rapidement devenue virale […]

L’article Bordj Bou Arréridj : une hyène aperçue en pleine ville fait le buzz (Vidéo) est apparu en premier sur .

La Cour de Répression des Infractions Économiques et du Terrorisme a condamné, jeudi 20 avril 2023, près de 20 jeunes pour escroquerie par voie électronique.

Condamnation à la Criet pour des faits de cybercriminalité. Selon "Bip Radio", prés de 20 jeunes ont été reconnus coupables des faits d'escroquerie par voie électronique. Ils ont été condamnés chacun à 5 ans de prison par la Cour de Répression des Infractions Économiques et du Terrorisme. Ils doivent également payer une amende d'un million de FCFA chacun.

A.A.A

La liste des lauréats au concours de recrutement des internes des hopitaux au profit du ministère de la Santé a été rendue publique ce jeudi 20 avril 2023.

Sous réserves d'ultimes vérifications, les candidats dont les noms suivent sont déclarés admis par ordre de mérite.

La France a organisé au profit de 20 policiers béninois, une formation portant sur la gestion intégrée des frontières.

20 policiers béninois ont pris part du 11 au 14 avril à une formation portant sur la « gestion intégrée des frontières ». Elle a eté organisée par la France en collaboration avec l'Organisation Internationale pour les Migrations (OIM). La formation animée par
un expert de la Direction Zonale de la Police aux Frontières Nord (DZPAF Nord) a permis aux policiers de mieux cerner la réglementation transfrontalière, la détection de la fraude documentaire et les mises en situation professionnelles. Les activités de l'OIM au Bénin ont été également présentées aux participants. Cela a été l'occasion pour les policiers de comprendre le rôle de l'organisation dans la gestion des frontières et les actions de l'OIM pour soutenir les États.

A.A.A

La Commission européenne a compris à quel point il est important d’écrire l'avenir des technologies propres. Mais l'Allemagne et la France - divisées sur l'énergie nucléaire - déconcertent les investisseurs et entravent la compétitivité du continent. 

Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

On 26 April 2023, the Committee on Foreign Affairs will hold a hearing on the Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience of Ukraine: assessing the feasibility of a Marshall Plan-style facility and of enhanced coordination of defence related support. Since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the EU has provided considerable support to Ukraine.
Whatever the final outcome of the war will be, Ukraine will undoubtedly come out of it economically devastated and the task of recovery and reconstruction appears therefore as a gigantic effort, which is hard to measure. Building on the conclusions of the Ukraine recovery Conference which took place on 4-5 July 2022 in Lugano, MEPs will debate with the invited experts the feasibility and the technical challenges of a Marshall Plan-style recovery plan.
Location : SPAAK 3C50
Draft programme
Biographies of speakers
Designing Ukraine's Recovery in the Spirit of the Marshall Plan - Mr Jacob Funk Kirkegaard
The Reconstruction Process in Ukraine - Mr Hugues Mingarelli
Publications - Ms Oleksandra Matviichuk
     28 hostages of the Kremlin
     The Peninsula of fear - Chronicle of occupation & violation of human rights in Crimea
     Eastern Ukraine - Civilians caught in the crossfire
     Surviving hell : Testimonies of Victims on Places of Illegal Detention in Donbas
     The Price of Freedom
Publications - Ms Iuliia Osmolovska
     Hard Work for 2023: Supporting Ukraine to Win the War against Russia
     Special Tribunal for the political leadership of Russia : Just Punishment for War Crimes
     Five Security Scenarios on Russian War in Ukraine for 2022-2023 - Implications and Policy Recommendations to Western Partners
EPRS Publications
     Russia's war on Ukraine: The EU's financing of military assistance to Ukraine
     Russia's war on Ukraine: Bilateral delivery of weapons and military aid to Ukraine
     European Peace Facility: Ukraine and beyond
     European Peace Facility: State of play as of 31 March 2023
     Video - The EU’s financing of military assistance to Ukraine
Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

Le retour à l'Assemblée nationale de l'ancien ministre des infrastructures et des transports, Hervé Hêhomey, fait l'objet ces derniers jours, de nombreuses supputations. Le Bloc Républicain (BR), formation politique dont il est membre devrait prendre la mesure de la situation et régler en son sein, la crise qui opposerait deux frères de la région Agonlin, dans la 24 e circonscription électorale.

Après le dernier remaniement ministériel du président Patrice Talon, Hervé Hêhomey, l'un des ministres déchargés aurait exprimé son ambition de reprendre son siège de député à l'Assemblée nationale. Ce faisant, son suppléant, Janvier Yahouédéhou, installé en février dernier perdrait son poste, 02 mois seulement après son installation. Une situation qui semble créer un malaise au sein du BR, déjà fragilisé par le départ de 02 de ses ministres du gouvernement.
La formation politique soutenant les actions du chef de l'État doit prendre la mesure de cette situation et régler au plus vite, la crise éventuelle qui naîtrait entre 02 frères de la région Agonlin, et couper cours aux supputations.
Au delà des possibilités que la loi accorde à l'ancien ministre de reprendre son siège à l'Assemblée nationale ou pas, les responsables du Bloc Républicain doivent jouer leurs cartes et préserver d'une part la cohésion au sein du parti, et éviter aux frères d'une même région de se disputer le siège au parlement. Pour plusieurs observateurs, il s'agit d'une crise interne au parti, que les responsables doivent pouvoir trancher et éviter qu'elle soit portée devant des juridictions. Ce que les sages de la région Agonlin dans le département du Zou, ne voudraient pas pour leurs enfants.
Aux dernières élections législatives, Hervé Hêhomey, ministre des infrastructures a été élu sur la liste du BR dans la 24e circonscription électorale. A l'instar de tous ses collègues ministres élus, il a renoncé à son siège au parlement. Déchargé après le dernier remaniement du chef de l'État, il ambitionne reprendre, et ce, conformément aux dispositions légales, son siège à l'Assemblée nationale. Une ambition que l'occupant actuel, le député Janvier Yahouédéhou n'accueillerait pas favorablement, et qui suscite beaucoup de réactions dans l'opinion.
Les responsables du Bloc Républicain sont appelés à réagir au plus vite, et couper cours aux supputations.

On 26 April 2023, the Committee on Foreign Affairs will hold a hearing on the Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience of Ukraine: assessing the feasibility of a Marshall Plan-style facility and of enhanced coordination of defence related support. Since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the EU has provided considerable support to Ukraine.
Whatever the final outcome of the war will be, Ukraine will undoubtedly come out of it economically devastated and the task of recovery and reconstruction appears therefore as a gigantic effort, which is hard to measure. Building on the conclusions of the Ukraine recovery Conference which took place on 4-5 July 2022 in Lugano, MEPs will debate with the invited experts the feasibility and the technical challenges of a Marshall Plan-style recovery plan.
Draft Programme
Presentation - Mr Kirkegaard - Designing Ukraine - 2019s Recovery in the Spirit of the Marshall Plan
Presentation - Mr Mingarelli - The reconstruction process in Ukraine
Presentations - Ms Matviichuk
     Hostages
     Peninsula Fear
     Civilians caught in the crossfire
     Report Koalition - Surviving hell
     Ukrainia NGOs - Euro Maidan
Presentations - Ms Osmolovska
     Hard work for 2023
     Special Tribunal for the political leadership of Russia
     Ukraine scenarios report
Biographies
EPRS Publications
     Russia's war on Ukraine: The EU's financing of military assistance to Ukraine
     Russia's war on Ukraine: Bilateral delivery of weapons and military aid to Ukraine
     European Peace Facility: Ukraine and beyond
     European Peace Facility: State of play as of 31 March 2023
     Video - The EU’s financing of military assistance to Ukraine
Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

Six mois après son arrivée au pouvoir à la tête du gouvernement le plus à droite d’Italie depuis l’après-guerre, Giorgia Meloni s’est montrée ferme sur la scène intérieure, tout en prenant garde de ménager Bruxelles et ses voisins européens.

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The OSCE organized an intensive in-person and online training course from 17 to 21 April 2023 on renewable energy for around 100 young women from Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Mongolia, to help them kick-start careers in the sustainable energy sector.

The training course, held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, was a collaboration between the OSCE and the Kazakh-German University (DKU).

“Providing women with access to adequate training and career opportunities in sustainable energy will increase the quantity and quality of the workforce needed for a successful energy transition, and the long-term energy security of Central Asia,” said Giulia Manconi, an OSCE Senior Energy Security Programme Officer, who was a lead organizer of the training course.

The course featured a series of lectures and site visits where participants gained advanced knowledge on the development of solar and wind energy in Central Asia, alternative fuels, energy storage systems, and efficient technologies for heating and cooling. The participants also learned about the economic aspects of renewable energy deployment, as well as its gender dimension.

“I am a technologist and we work on the topic of biogas. I'm making my first steps in this field now, but I hope that in my professional life, I will become more involved in this topic and connect my work or research to it,” said Altynay Yelgundinova, a participant from Kazakhstan.

The participants also had an opportunity to network with industry experts and potential employers through the course. “Currently, there is active planning and construction of small hydropower plants in Kyrgyzstan. In the future, I would also like to be involved in their construction. At the training, I learned directly from experts who provided concrete examples of hydropower construction and their potential,” said Asylbu Kudaibergenova, a participant from Kyrgyzstan.

The course also included an onsite visit to Qapshagai solar power plant 2MW — a renewable energy facility in Kazakhstan. "When one steps into such facilities, one is first and foremost an expert in the field, and gender comes second. The added value is that we learn in practice the technology behind the installation and operation of such sites,” said Durdona Jimboeva, a participant from Tajikistan.

The training course is part of the OSCE’s initiative on Empowering Young Central Asian Women in the Energy Transition. The initiative is one of the activities being carried out within the OSCE Project on Promoting women’s economic participation in the energy sector for energy security and sustainability in Central Asia, which is co-funded by Austria, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Poland.

Le 16 avril 1993, plus d'une centaine de civils bosniaques étaient assassinés par les forces croates du HVO sous les ordres de Dario Kordić. Trente ans plus tard, les dirigeants de Croatie et les Croates de Bosnie-Herzégovine gardent le silence. L'analyse du journaliste croate Ivica Đikić.

- Articles / Peščanik, Bosnie-Herzégovine, Histoire, Croatie, Siège sarajevo

Le 16 avril 1993, plus d'une centaine de civils bosniaques étaient assassinés par les forces croates du HVO sous les ordres de Dario Kordić. Trente ans plus tard, les dirigeants de Croatie et les Croates de Bosnie-Herzégovine gardent le silence. Analyse au vitriol du journaliste croate Ivica Đikić.

- Articles / Une - Diaporama, Peščanik, Bosnie-Herzégovine, Histoire, Croatie, Siège sarajevo, Une - Diaporama - En premier

Le 16 avril 1993, plus d'une centaine de civils bosniaques étaient assassinés par les forces croates du HVO sous les ordres de Dario Kordić. Trente ans plus tard, les dirigeants de Croatie et les Croates de Bosnie-Herzégovine gardent le silence. Analyse au vitriol du journaliste croate Ivica Đikić.

- Articles / Une - Diaporama, Peščanik, Bosnie-Herzégovine, Histoire, Croatie, Siège sarajevo