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31 Aug 2015 - NPWJ News Digest on Middle East and North Africa Democracy
Articles
Yemen air strike kills 31 in Hajjah province
By the BBC, 30 Aug 2015
An air strike by the Saudi-led coalition backing pro-government forces in Yemen has killed 31 people in the northern province of Hajjah. The strikes hit a bottling plant in the province on Sunday morning. Most of the dead were civilians. The coalition is targeting Shia rebels known as Houthis. The UN says almost 4,500 people have died since the coalition started its campaign in March and that there is now a humanitarian "catastrophe". "The process of recovering the bodies is finished now. The corpses... many of them burnt or in pieces, were pulled out after an air strike hit the plant," resident Issa Ahmed told the Reuters new agency from the site of Sunday's strike in Hajjah.
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Al Jazeera staff sentenced to jail in Egypt
By Al Jazeera, 29 Aug 2015
A Cairo court has sentenced three Al Jazeera journalists to three years in jail after finding them guilty of "aiding a terrorist organisation". Egyptian Baher Mohamed, Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Australian Peter Greste were all handed three-year jail sentences when the court delivered the verdict on Saturday, sparking worldwide outrage. Mohamed was sentenced to an additional six months for possession of a spent bullet casing. The journalists had been initially found guilty in June 2014 of aiding a "terrorist organisation", a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, which was outlawed in Egypt after the army overthrew President Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Judge Hassan Farid, in his ruling on Saturday, said he sentenced the men to prison at least partly because they had not registered with the country's journalist "syndicate". He also said the men brought in equipment without security officials' approval, had broadcast "false news" on Al Jazeera and used a hotel as a broadcasting point without permission.
Turkey carries out first air strikes as part of anti-Isis US coalition
By the Guardian, 29 Aug 2015
Turkish fighter jets have carried out their first air strikes as part of the US-led coalition against Islamic State in Syria. A Turkish foreign ministry statement said that late on Friday the jets began attacking Isis targets across the border in Syria that were deemed to be threats to Turkey. After months of hesitation, Turkey agreed last month to take a more active role in the fight against Isis. Turkish jets used smart bombs to attack Isis positions in Syria without crossing into Syrian airspace, and later Turkey granted US jets access to an airbase close to the Syrian border. Friday’s attacks by Turkey were the first launched as part of the US-led campaign and took place after Turkish and US officials announced they had reached agreement “on the procedures and technical details” of their cooperation, which calls for Turkey to be fully integrated into the coalition air campaign.
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Iraqi PM orders easier access to Baghdad's Green Zone as protests surge
By Reuters, 28 Aug 2015
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Friday ordered security forces to ease access to Baghdad's fortified Green Zone and main streets, in an apparent bid to improve daily life for ordinary Iraqis as fresh protests erupted across the country. The capital and many southern cities have witnessed demonstrations in recent weeks calling for provision of basic services, the trial of corrupt politicians, and the shakeup of a system riddled with graft and incompetence. Tens of thousands of demonstrators filled Baghdad's Tahrir Square on Friday in what a senior security official called the biggest protest of the summer. Thousands more rallied in Najaf, Basra and other cities across the Shi'ite southern heartland following a call from powerful Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Protesters' demands, which initially aimed at improving power supply amid a sweltering heatwave, have focused more on encouraging Abadi to accelerate reforms, put corrupt officials on trial and loosen the grip of powerful parties over the state. "What Abadi has done so far is just casual reform. It's not the real reforms that most of the Iraqis are looking for," said Mazen al-Ushaiqer, a civil society leader at the Baghdad rally. "He is trying very hard but we think he can try harder."
U.N. chief sets out framework for Syria poison gas investigation
By Reuters, 27 Aug 2015
Success of a new international inquiry aimed at assigning blame for chemical weapons attacks during Syria's four-year-old civil war will require full cooperation of all warring parties, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday. The remarks were included in a letter to the U.N. Security Council outlining his plans for an investigation into alleged gas attacks, to be conducted by the United Nations and Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). "Success will ... depend on the full cooperation from all parties, including the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic and other parties in Syria," Ban said in the letter, seen by Reuters. The aim is "to identify to the greatest extent feasible individuals, entities, groups, or governments who were perpetrators, organizers, sponsors or otherwise involved in the use of chemicals as weapons, including chlorine or any other toxic chemical."
Assad 'confident' of Russian support for Syria regime
By the Guardian, 26 Aug 2015
The Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has expressed “strong confidence” that Russia will continue supporting his embattled regime. “We have strong confidence in the Russians, as they have proven throughout this crisis, for four years, that they are sincere and transparent in their relationship with us,” Assad said in an interview with Hezbollah’s al-Manar television network. He also described as “legitimate” the presence in Syria of fighters from Hezbollah backing his forces. The powerful Lebanese Shia movement, along with Russia and Iran, has backed Assad since Syria’s revolt broke out in 2011. The rare television interview came as the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, discussed the Syrian crisis with Jordan’s King Abdullah on the sidelines of the Maks-2015 aerospace show in Moscow. Assad described Russia as “principled”, while “the United States abandons its allies, abandons its friends”. Assad had been asked by al-Manar’s correspondent about comments by the US president, Barack Obama, earlier in August that Russia and Iran “recognise that the trend lines are not good for Assad”. He rebuffed the statement, saying Iran, too, remained a steadfast ally, adding that the recent nuclear deal between Iran and world powers would strengthen Iran’s role internationally, in turn benefiting Syria.
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Syria Showcases the Failure to Engage Locals in Development
by Chatham House, 20 Aug 2015
The international community’s response to the Syria crisis has been unsatisfactory on many fronts, and humanitarian aid and development is no exception. While there has been renewed emphasis by development organizations on the importance of engaging local actors − notably highlighted in the new Sustainable Development Goals − the reality is this has been woefully lacking in practice. And Syria is simply one example of many where the failure of UN agencies and other humanitarian actors to partner with local actors has hampered the response to humanitarian crises. Double standards. The problem is that international agencies usually have high and unfair expectations from Syrian individuals and organizations, requiring them to speak the ‘language’ of development, meet international standards, and demonstrate a wide range of expertise. However, these demands are not reciprocated by international organizations and experts being expected to have the same depth of knowledge of the local context in which they are operating. In addition, while Syrian actors are expected to be neutral, impartial and politically unaffiliated, foreign aid appears to be driven − explicitly and unashamedly − by the political objectives of the donor countries.