Saturday, November 30, 2024
Israel doubles down on its critics | The Listening Post
Be it ICC arrest warrants or media criticism, Israel is pushing back hard.
Fifa rejects own committee's call to compensate Qatar workers
In 2010 when FIFA awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar there was widespread accusations of vote buying, ignoring human rights and the kafala system which governs the rights of foreign workers in the country.
The selection process involved several controversies. Two members of the FIFA Executive Committee had their voting rights suspended following allegations that they would accept money in exchange for votes. More allegations of vote buying arose after Qatar's win was announced. Eleven of the 22 committee members who voted on the 2018 and 2022 tournaments have been fined, suspended, banned for life or prosecuted for corruption.
In May of 2015 The FBI arrested several members of FIFA's executive committee in Zurich following the unsealing of the charges at a press conference in New York with then Attorney General Lorretta Lynch and then FBI Director James Comey.
Following these arrests former FIFA President Sep Blatter; (Which involved members of his executive committee.) won reelection to be the head of FIFA.
In 2023, activists received reliable reports confirming that in mid-2022 the Criminal Court of Appeal in the capital, Doha upheld the convictions against brothers Hazza and Rashed al-Marri, both of them lawyers, for offences that included contesting laws ratified by the emir, “threatening” the emir on social media, compromising the independence of the state, organizing unauthorized public meetings, and “violating” social values online. They had been sentenced to life imprisonment. The charges related to speeches they made or poetry published online critical of the country’s electoral law that discriminates against members of al-Marri tribe.
Migrants’ rights
Migrant workers continued to face serious abuses, including wage theft, restrictions on changing jobs and inadequate grievance and redress mechanisms.
In early January, hundreds of marshals and security guards contracted to Qatar-based Teyseer Security Services, who had worked excessive hours without rest days on FIFA World Cup 2022 sites, staged protests days before their contracts expired to demand they be paid their dues in full.1 They told Amnesty International that representatives of Teyseer and the government promised they would be compensated, a pledge that was not honoured.
The kafala, or sponsorship, system defines the relationship between foreign workers and their local sponsor, or kafeel, which is usually their employer. It has been used in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—as well as Jordan and Lebanon. Both Bahrain and Qatar claim to have abolished the system, though critics say reforms are poorly enforced and don’t amount to abolition.
Under this system, the state gives local individuals or companies sponsorship permits to employ foreign laborers (except in Bahrain, where workers are sponsored by a government agency rather than individual employers). The sponsor covers travel expenses and provides housing, often in dorm-like accommodations or, in the case of domestic workers, the sponsor’s home. Rather than hiring an individual directly, sponsors sometimes use private recruitment agencies [PDF] in the countries of origin to find workers and facilitate their entry to the host country.
These employers have complete control of those they hire. Redress for grievances and work and safety violations aren't available. Its similar to being an indentured servant.
The governing body's sub-committee on human rights and social responsibility concluded that Fifa "has a responsibility" to contribute to compensation for workers harmed by the tournament's preparation and delivery.
"There are workers who have contributed to the resounding success of the World Cup... who have not yet benefited from any, or any adequate remediation," it says.
What does Fifa say?
In response, Fifa said: "All reports and recommendations were considered during a comprehensive review by the Fifa administration and relevant bodies.
"While all recommendations could not be met, practical and impactful elements were retained. It should be noted that the study did not specifically constitute a legal assessment of the obligation to remedy.
Six In The Morning Saturday 30 November 2024
Russian strikes hit Aleppo as rebels take control
What is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham - the group leading the attack?
Sebastian Usher
Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has a long and involved history in the Syrian conflict.
HTS was set up under a different name, Jabhat al-Nusra, in 2011 as a direct affiliate of Al Qaeda.
The IS group leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was also involved in its formation.
Summary
Russia has launched air strikes on parts of Aleppo - Syria's second largest city
It comes as rebel forces have taken control of the "majority" of Aleppo after launching the largest offensive against the government in years earlier this week
The surprise offensive prompted the first Russian strikes on the city since 2016, and saw Syria's military withdraw its troops from the city
More than 300 people have been killed - including at least 20 civilians - since the offensive began, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says
Roads into Aleppo have been closed, as has the airport
Fifa ignores own report into Qatar World Cup over workers’ compensation
- Subcommittee points to ‘severe human rights impacts’
- $50m legacy fund used on international development
Sat 30 Nov 2024 13.16 GMT
Fifa ignores own report into Qatar World Cup over workers’ compensation
- Subcommittee points to ‘severe human rights impacts’
- $50m legacy fund used on international development
A long-awaited Fifa report into the legacy of the Qatar World Cup has finally been published, but only after its key recommendation was rejected by the organisation.
Fifa’s subcommittee on human rights and social responsibility has found that the game’s world body “has a responsibility” to provide financial remedy to workers who suffered loss as a result of employment related to the 2022 World Cup. Its report argues that Fifa should use its Qatar legacy fund to remedy those workers. Two days before the report was published, however, Fifa announced that the $50m fund would be used on international development projects instead.
Georgia: Police arrest scores amid ongoing pro-EU protests
Police in Georgia's capital say they have arrested more than a hundred people after protesters demonstrated for a second consecutive night over the suspension of EU accession talks.
Police in the former Soviet republic of Georgia on Saturday said they had arrested 107 people in the capital, Tbilisi, alone amid overnight protests.
The demonstrations, in response to the government's suspension of accession talks with the EU, were said to be the largest in recent weeks after the ruling Russia-friendly Georgian Dream party's disputed win in October's parliamentary elections.
Pakistan court grants bail to journalist detained after probing protest, lawyer says
Russia cements rule in occupied Ukrainian regions through propaganda and violence
Amazon faces Indian court scrutiny for labour conditions at warehouse
Amazon is facing prosecution in an Indian court for labour law violations at a major warehouse near the country’s national capital of Delhi.
Documents reviewed by Al Jazeera through India’s Right to Information Act and court records showed that a labour inspection earlier this year alleged inadequate safety equipment, and failure to comply with provisions of labour laws at the Amazon warehouse.
Friday, November 29, 2024
Syria insurgents enter Aleppo in a surprise offensive against Bashar Assad
Six In The Morning Friday 29 December 2024
Israeli military to remain in Gaza for years, food minister says
Avi Dichter, of Israel’s security cabinet, made the comments as reports of the scale of Israel’s military infrastructure in the territory emerge
Fri 29 Nov 2024 08.21 GMT
The Israeli military will remain in Gaza for many years, fighting against fresh Hamas recruits in the territory and could be responsible for delivery of humanitarian aid there, a senior Israeli minister has said.
The comments by Avi Dichter, Israel’s minister for food security and a member of the Israeli security cabinet, confirm an emerging picture of a long-term deployment of Israeli troops inside Gaza, with no immediate Israeli plan for any other administration to govern the territory’s 2.3 million people and begin reconstruction there.
“I think that we are going to stay in Gaza for a long time. I think most people understand that [Israel] will be years in some kind of West Bank situation where you go in and out and maybe you remain along Netzarim [corridor],” Dichter said.
Georgia: Pro-EU protests sees dozens arrested
The halting of EU accession talks has reignited protests in Tbilisi, prompting the police to crack down. More than 100 serving Georgian diplomats have signed a letter criticizing the government's move away from Brussels.
Police in Georgia arrested dozens of protesters overnight and early Friday morning in a crackdown on unrest over the new government's decision to delay European Union accession talks.
The protests and heavy crackdown comes as more than 100 serving Georgian diplomats have signed an open letter criticizing the government's decision to halt its trajectory toward EU membership.
Insurgents breach Syria’s second-largest city Aleppo, fighters and a war monitor say
Insurgents breached Syria’s second-largest city Aleppo after blowing up two car bombs on Friday and were clashing with government forces on the city’s western edge, according to a Syria war monitor and fighters.
It was the first time the city has been attacked by opposition forces since 2016, when they were ousted from Aleppo’s eastern neighborhoods following a grueling military campaign in which Syrian government forces were backed by Russia, Iran and its allied groups.
Witnesses in Aleppo city said residents have been fleeing neighborhoods on the western edge of the city because of missiles and exchanges of fire. The government did not comment on insurgents breaching city limits.
Chinese journalist, who met with Japanese diplomat, gets 7 years for spying
By Laurie Chen and James Pomfret
A Beijing court sentenced veteran Chinese state media journalist Dong Yuyu on Friday to seven years in prison for espionage, his family said in a statement, calling the verdict a grave injustice.
Police in the Chinese capital detained the 62-year-old former Guangming Daily editor and journalist in February 2022 while he was lunching with a Japanese diplomat, the U.S. National Press Club said in a statement. He was later charged with espionage.
"Sentencing Yuyu to seven years in prison on no evidence declares to the world the bankruptcy of the justice system in China," Dong's family said in a statement provided to Reuters.
‘Most dangerous stage’: The view from Russia as Ukraine war escalates
Officials rage at the West for allowing Ukraine to attack deep within Russia as fears simmer on the streets.
Last week, a defence industry site in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro was struck by a Russian medium-range ballistic missile, which President Vladimir Putin described as a response to “NATO’s aggressive actions against Russia”.
Early reports that Dnipro was hit by an intercontinental ballistic missile proved inaccurate.
Moscow’s deployment of the new weapon, named Oreshnik, followed a series of Ukrainian rocket strikes into western Russian territory using United States-supplied ATACMS long-range missiles, targeting military facilities in the regions of Bryansk and Kursk.
How a dissident Iranian director made a film in secret and then fled the country
Mohammad Rasoulof risked his life to make “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” in Iran. Then came the hard part.
By
Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof learned he had been sentenced to eight years in prison while he was completing his latest film, the tense political thriller “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.” Rasoulof, a fierce critic of Iran’s theocratic regime, faced a stark choice: try to flee the country or face severe punishment.
“I would not only lose this very active, fertile period for filmmaking. I would also be transformed into somebody who has to play the role of the sacrificed artist, the victim of censorship,” Rasoulof said through an interpreter in a Zoom interview from New York.
Thursday, November 28, 2024
Protesters help woman mown down by military vehicle in Mozambique
A military vehicle mowed down a woman in the Mozambican capital, Maputo, as protests have gripped the southern African country weeks after an election that the opposition said was rigged.
Videos of the incident on Wednesday that have been widely shared on social media showed an armoured vehicle speeding down a busy street into a makeshift wooden barricade attended by protesters and then driving over the woman.
She sustained head injuries but was not in danger of dying, the director of the emergency department at Maputo central hospital said on Thursday.