The weekly newsletter from 8th to 14 January
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The new Parliament: Establishing the traditions of the dominance of the Executive Authority
The duration of the membership of the appointed and elected 596 members of the 2016 parliament which started its sessions in January 2016 and ended in mid December 2020. With this end, the parliamentary immunity of 409 representatives fell who did not join either by election or appointment to the new parliament, which President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi called for to hold its second legislative session, starting from Tuesday, January 12th.
209 representatives from the outgoing parliament decided not to candidate for another membership. While
The most prominent figures who lost their parliamentary immunity today is Mortada Mansour, the withdrawn president of Al Zamalek club. His membership in the parliament during the past 5 years has passed without investigating him in 22 reports against him under charges related to squandering public money in the club and insulting and slandering several figures. In addition, the first Deputy Speaker of the parliament, Al Sayed Al Sherif whom many persons expected that he would join the list of the appointed persons in the new parliament, however the president Sisi’ resolution yesterday to name 28 members in the parliament came without his name.
In addition to Al Sharif, Mohamed Al Swidi, who had previously headed the “Support Egypt” coalition following the death of its founder Sameh Seif El Yazal in 2016, and Taher Abu Zeid, the former Secretary-General of the same coalition, and Salah Hassaballah, the official spokesperson for the outgoing parliament, were absent. In addition, the head of the Workers’ Union and the Manpower Committee in the parliament, Gabali Al Maraghi, and a member of the National Defense and Security Committee, Hamdi Bakhit, and others from the pro-power side.
On the opposition side, parliamentary immunity also falls from the members of the “25/30” bloc, Ahmed Tantawi, who headed the Dignity Movement party a few days ago, and Haitham Hariri, who joined the membership of the Popular Alliance Party, along with MP Muhammad Fouad, who lost in the last elections as a candidate for the Egyptian Democratic party and others. It is mentioned that the parliamentary immunity that is decided by the constitution and the parliament’s bylaw for every member, suspends taking any criminal procedure against the member in the articles of the criminal and misdemeanor code except in cases of flagrante delicto with the approval of the parliament.
Meanwhile, the Official Gazette published the President’s decision on the names of those appointed persons to the parliament, which confirmed after reviewing the constitution, the parliament Law No. 46 of 2014, its amendments, and Resolution No. 1 of 2016 related to issuing the bylaw of the parliament. This constitutionally codified procedure remains another element concerning the intervention of the Executive Authority in the Legislative authority in Egypt in light of a fraud electoral path and a security hand that controls all the details.
The representative, Farida Al Shobashy, the eldest member, inaugurated the works of the opening session of the parliament for the representatives to take the constitutional oath and elect the speaker of the parliament and his 2 deputies. Al-Shobashi, a writer, headed the opening session, as the oldest member of the council and supported by the two youngest members. So that she became the first woman who heads the Egyptian Parliament in history. Perhaps it is a historic moment, however it doesn’t reveal what’s behind the scenes due to president Sisi’s presence through the new names in the parliament. Chancellor Hanafi Jabali won the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives in the elections, which were held to preside over the parliament, during the opening session of the House of Representatives 2021, after obtaining 508 votes out of a total of 576 valid votes.
It is noteworthy that President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi had issued a presidential decree, in August 2018, to appoint Counselor Dr. Hanafi Ali Gabali as head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, with the rank of minister.
His most important situations was the ruling of the Constitutional Court headed by him in the case of “Tiran and Sanafir” by not considering all the rulings that were described by being “contradictory” which were issued by the State’s Council that considered the agreement as invalid and another from the Court of Urgent Matters that confirmed the agreement, in the case of maritime border between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. And transferring the sovereignty of the 2 islands of Tiran and Sanafir to the Kingdom.
Human rights in Egypt: Title to incriminate rights and acquit criminality
The Cairo Economic Misdemeanor Court sentenced Mohsen Al Sokkari to three years in prison and fined him three million dollars, after it was proven that he committed a money laundering crime amounting to :
Al Sokkari who was sentenced for life for murdering the artist Suzan Tamim, had a presidential pardon and he was released from prison.
On last Sunday, the Public Prosecutor ordered an appeal against the judgment issued on December 17, 2020, acquitting three persons accused of defaming the honor of a woman by force (in the village of Al-Karm) in the (Abu Qurqas) Police Department in May 2016 in Case No. 23668 of 2016, Abu Qurqas Felonies, And that after the technical office of the Attorney General studied the reasons for the judgment and the ways to challenge it. This judgment is considered one of the several judgments related to Christians in Egypt. In general, there is an impression prevails that rulings in similar cases reinforce impunity and open the door to the continuation of violence and discrimination on religious grounds in Egypt.
Meanwhile, the public prosecution ordered the release of the accused persons Seif Al Din Ahmed and Nazly Mostafa, the daughter of the actress Noha Al Amroussi who were in custody pending investigation in the incident of the assault against the girl in the Fairmount hotel and the related facts.
It is indicated that those persons who are in custody pending this case are Ahmed Helmy Tolan, Amr Hussain and his brother Khaled who succeeded in escaping outside the country before taking the investigation procedures in the case. Then they were arrested in Lebanon and deported to Egypt. In addition, the accused Amir Zayed who was arrested during his escape attempt.
Tiktok in the corridors of the Egyptian Judiciary
Today, Tuesday, the Cairo Economic Court of Appeals acquitted Hanin Hossam and Mawada Al Adham and 3 others of the charge of infringing on family values and principles, revoking the Cairo Economic misdemeanor Court ruling to punish them with two years imprisonment and a fine of 300,000 pounds, and upholding the fine for Mawada Al-Adham only. This reflects the state of confusion due to the security and punitive approach with their moral background in criminalizing individual freedoms in Egypt.
On a related side, the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression submitted a complaint to the Attorney General, Counselor, Hamada A -Sawy, against the chief of the Dar Al-Salam police station and members of the police force in the police station, accusing them of assaulting the activist Mohamed Salah, stripping him of his clothes and everyone with him in cell No. 6 in the Station.
The report No. 1195 of 2021 of the petition to the Attorney General stated that a group of individuals from the police stations during the past 2 days:
The report stipulated “the use of cruelty against the victim who is held in pretrial detention pending investigations in the aforementioned case in accordance with the text of Article 129 of the Penal Code and in violation of the provisions of Articles 51, 52, 55, and 56 of the current Egyptian constitution, which require the opening of an urgent investigation into the facts alleged in together with beringing salah the forensic medicine office, to show his injuries and to allow his family to visit him.
The political activist Mohamed Salah is imprisoned in a pretrial detention pending case no.855 of 2020 by the Supreme State Security in which he faces charges of spreading and broadcasting false news, joining a terrorist group while knowing its goals and misusing of a means of social media. Salah’s family issued another statement on social media entitled “save Mohamed Salah and the prisoners of cell no.6 in Dar Al Salam Police Station, Southern Cairo, calling for his rescue from the severe physical assault that poses a threat to his life.
The Supreme State Security Prosecution decided to imprison Ayman Mahmoud Abd El Halim for 15 days pending investigations in case no.1017 of 2020 on the background of the aforementioned charges.
Mondy” in the hell of the revolving doors
It is noteworthy that Ayman Mahmoud Abd Al Halim was in pretrial detention pending investigations in case no.12587 of 2018 the 2nd Al Montazah Administration. An order to release him was issued by the Attorney General of Al Montazah Prosecution dated December 12, 2020 after he remained in custody for a period that exceeded 2 years.
During implementing the procedures of releasing him, he disappeared from inside the 2nd Al Montazah Police Station on December 17,2020 and he remained imprisoned without any right in an unknown place for his family for nearly 29 days.
The Supreme State Security Prosecution decided to imprison the translator Kholoud Said for 15 days pending investigations on a new case after releasing her in the first case without implementing the decision.
The Cairo Criminal Court had released Kholoud Said on the last December 13 with precautionary measures pending investigations in case No.558 of 2020 by the Supreme State Security. However she disappeared along this period without knowing her custody.
The lawyers were surprised by her appearance in the Supreme State Security Prosecution to investigate her in Case No.1017 of 2020 by the Supreme State Security, and she was imprisoned for 15 days pending its investigation.
The workers in Egypt: Without rights in the face of authorities that do not fulfill their promises
Mass workers marches took place inside the Delta Fertilizer Company to denounce the arrest and detention of the workers, and the failure of the security authorities to fulfill their promise to release the arrested workers in exchange for lifting the sit-in tents from inside the company .. This is what the workers did two days ago, before the security authorities returned to arrest the son of one of the workers and his brother on the evening of Tuesday, January 5 and detained them to force him to surrender, which is what actually happened on Wednesday morning January 6.
According to the workers, the worker Ibrahim Filfil was among 200 other workers who were put on the wanted list by the security services for their participation in the continuing sit in from nearly one month and a half on the background of their demands to develop the company and resume its work. The workers said that labor and union leaders have negotiated with the security services to stop the prosecutions of workers participating in the sit-in and the release of the workers and members of the union committee’s board of directors who were arrested in exchange for removing the sit-in tents, and this is what was done by the workers while their marches continued inside the company and a paper of demands was submitted to the holding company. It is also what the workers did before the holding company returned to refuse any demands that would involve developing or operating the company.
The workers said that they fulfilled what was agreed upon on their side, however the other party did not fulfill its obligations neither in terms of listening to the demands nor in terms of stopping the security prosecutions which the last one was the detention of the worker’s son, Ibrahim Filfil and his brother, to force him to surrender himself after the workers submitted the negotiation memorandum within two hours only. This means that the security pursuit will continue despite the security authorities’ promise to stop them if the workers submit a negotiation warrant, return to negotiation and release all detainees ??
On the other hand, the workers expressed their strong discontent with the failure of the negotiating parties (the security authorities) to fulfill their promise to stop the security prosecutions and the release of the workers and chanted slogans calling for the release of the arrested workers first before any negotiation and confirmed their continued demand for the release of their detained colleagues and the demand to restart the company even if Partial factory development.
The workers of the Egyptian Aluminum Company also continued their sit-in, which they organized yesterday to protest the failure to pay their annual dues related to profits.
A member of the company’s union committee, who requested being anonymity, said that the 5,800 workers had resorted to this escalation, “after the first days of the current month of January without the Holding Company for Metal Industries fulfilling its previous promise to the union committee, last November, to spend Annual profits by the value of the basic wage in five months, instead of the 12 months as usual, due to the losses suffered by the company.
The journalists: Firewood incinerator violating human rights
The Egyptian security services arrested the photojournalist, Hamdi Al-Zaeem, after storming his house at dawn and destroying its contents. He was previously arrested in front of the Press Syndicate headquarters in Cairo in 2016, on the grounds that he was accused of “joining a banned group and publishing false news that harms the interest of national security.” And photographing without obtaining a permit from the competent authorities. “
In June 2018, the Cairo Criminal Court released Al-Zaeem, the photojournalist for “Al-Hayat” newspaper, with precautionary measures that include monitoring him in his police station for three days a week, after he was arrested with the journalist in the “Baladi” agency, Osama Al Bashbishi, and a third journalist , while they were photographing a field report about their union’s surroundings four years ago.
Regarding the epidemiological condition, the most important number till now together with deaths is the martyrs in the medical sector.
Libiya
The UN Mission to Libya confirmed that the Libyan political dialogue forum didn’t witness any progress concerning the mechanism of choosing a unified authority since the Tunisian meetings, despite some positive steps in the rest of paths,
The financial and economic path
In her speech before the meeting of the Advisory Committee of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum in Geneva last Wednesday, the UN Acting Envoy, Stephanie Williams, explained that a progress has been made on the various paths through the Joint Military Committee or the economic path, which culminated in a meeting to unify the budget on Tuesday, 12 January, in Brega. .
For the first time since nearly 6 years, ministers from GNA headed by Fayez Al Sarraj, met with their counterparts in the parallel government in the east of the country headed by Abdallah Al Thani in a meeting described as exceptional in Brega.
According to the Libyan News Agency, which is affiliated with the government of al-Thani, the meeting aims to unify the general budget for the current year, economic policies and bank clearing. The meeting was attended by its delegation consisting of the Governor of the Central Bank in the East, and the Undersecretary of the Ministries of Finance and Planning in charge of the Ministry’s duties, while the delegation of “GNA” included the Ministers of Finance and Foreign Affairs, representatives of the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli, in addition to the President of the National Oil Corporation.
Sources said that during the meeting, which was welcomed by the UN Mission, it was agreed to unify the exchange, approve a unified budget for the Libyan state for the current year, in addition to forming a unified financial committee, and to pay off bad debts and salaries to the two governments. The “GNA” Spokesperson justified that the meeting also dealt with the cooperation and unification of the diplomatic work.
The Military path: Negotiations and the hand on the trigger
The Acting Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Libya, Stephanie Williams, praised the efforts of the Joint Military Commission (5 + 5) and the progress made so far in implementing the ceasefire agreement, including the exchange of detainees recently conducted under the auspices of the Joint Military Commission as part of Wider confidence-building measures. In addition, the resumption of flights to all parts of Libya, full resumption of oil production and export. As well as the proposed unification and restructuring of the Petroleum Facilities Guard.
Despite the above, fears remain between the Libyan rivals. Hamouda Sayala, the head of the Libyan Parliament in Tripoli, discussed with members of the Military Committee representing the Government of National Accord, “obstacles” of implementing a permanent ceasefire in the country.
According to a statement by the council, Sayala met at the parliament headquarters in the capital, Tripoli, with 4 members representing the Libyan government in the “5 + 5” military committee. The responsibility of the opposite party in not respecting the ceasefire and its violation of it has been emphasized several times.
On the other hand, on Tuesday, January 12 of 2020, the UN Secretary General , “António Guterres,” identified a package of steps that he described as necessary in order to reach a permanent ceasefire agreement in Libya, and the role that the UN mission could play in this country in the future.
Generally, the UN Secretary General considered that a ceasefire must be achieved by Libyans, while the UN role would be helpful and a motivation to ensure it. According to that, the UN Support Mission in Libya declared on Saturday its expectation to send a limited number of unarmed international observers with civil clothes to join the Libyan observers affiliated to the Joint Military Meeting (5+5)
This came during an online meeting between the members of the mission and the heads of the Special Security Working Group in Libya (affiliated with the United Nations), according to a statement issued by the mission.
The mission said it expects to “deploy a limited force of neutral, unarmed and irregular international observers to work with the Joint Military Committee (5 + 5),” without details.
The political path: Controversial names and who takes power
On Wednesday, January 13, 2021, at 10.30 am, the meeting of the advisory committee emanating from the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum was launched as it started with the Libyan National Anthem followed by the opening speech from Stephanie Williams, the Acting Special Representative of the UN Secretary General.
The Advisory Committee of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum held closed direct sessions at the Nations’ Palace in Geneva, Switzerland, which would continue until January 16, 2020.
The advisory committee was recently established, with a strictly time-bound mandate. Its main task would be to discuss the outstanding issues related to choosing the unified executive authority and to present concrete and practical recommendations for the decision of the plenary session of the forum.
Countdown number for the upcoming elections: 344 days from now
The date of the national elections on December 24, 2021 remains a constant matter for the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), a guiding principle and a goal for the political dialogue as a whole. Williams considered that the meeting in Tunisia had reached important results:
- the approval of the roadmap for the preliminary phase of a comprehensive solution;
- The Conditions for running for office of the executive Authority;
- The Unified executive powers
- And the approval of the date of the election
However at the same time, despite her praising the achievements, Stephanie Williams drew attention to the lack of progress on the mechanism of choosing a unified Executive Authority since the meetings in Tunis. In fact it is a given that isn’t related to Libyans only but to the foreign pressure and intervention
Human rights in Libya: Is threatened from every side and the victims are everyone
The National Committee for Human Rights in Libya has demanded the release of the director of the Legal Affairs Department of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, Majdi Al Shabani, who is being held by the Military Prosecutor of the Ministry of Defense of the Government of National Accord, calling on the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, the Presidential Council, the House of Representatives, and the Attorney General’s office to intervene.
According to a statement by the National Committee published on its Facebook page this evening, Tuesday, in which it said: “For the sixth day, forced and extrajudicial detention continues by the Military Prosecutor’s Office of the Ministry of Defense of the Government of National Accord without explaining the reasons for the arrest, its circumstances, the conditions of detention, and the legal basis for forced and unlawful detention against him.”
The Committee expressed its deep concern about the reliable information that we received concerning the conditions of detention of Majdi Al Shabani, noting that private sources reported that Al Shabani was subjected to physical coercion, physical and psychological torture, the denial of communication and contact with his family and relatives, the denial of visits based on the instructions of the Military Prosecutor’s office, his status In solitary confinement, and the inability of his lawyer to visit him.
The committee warned that “the grave violations against Al Shabani to in his detention, constitute a grave violation of Law No. (5) of 2005 regarding prisons”. It demanded his presence “to the Center for Judicial Expertise and Research to determine the form and time of physical torture he was subjected to, and to issue a report in the matter.”
The National Human Rights Committee called on the UN Support Mission in Libya to urgently intervene with the competent Libyan authorities regarding the forced detention incident which contradicts with the correctness of the law, which Dr. Magdy Al Shabani is subjected to. It renewed its request to the Office of the Attorney General and the Ministry of Interior of the Government of National Accord to intervene urgently for the immediate release of Dr. Magdy Al Shabani.
The Committee beard the legal responsibility concerning his safety and life to the Military Prosecutor. It renewed its request to the Presidential Council “to intervene urgently to stop the violations of the Military Prosecutor at the Ministry of Defense in order to ensure the Libyan state’s obligations regarding compliance with what was stipulated in international humanitarian law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
Migrants, asylum seekers and refugees Always victims and their defenders are accused
A 19 years old Somali asylum seeker, Shoaib Othman Ibrahim, died due to the violations when he was abducted Bani Walid by gangs and human traffickers, then by the neglect and negligence of the UNHCR in Tripoli, where the UNHCR claimed in a statement published on January 6 of this month that it did what was necessary for the victim and it was supervising his treatment,
The Libyan organizations confirmed that the commission’s statement carried a lot of fallacies and lack of sincerity in dealing with the death of the Somali young man, Shuaib, who died in a random housing in the center of the capital, Tripoli, several days ago, as the Commission claimed that it was supervising his treatment and following up on his conditions.
Meanwhile, the news of the death holes in Tarhouna continues, as the Libyan government declared the discovery of a new mass grave in the city of Tarhouna. The special teams were able to recover 4 corpses and till the end of Sunday evening, they remain in the searching operation that seems to have no end as the numbers of the corpses increases.
Tunisia
The parliamentary action: Between violence and misusing exceptional procedures
The assembly of the Representatives of the People witnesses a state of chaos and anger, as the representative from the Democratic Bloc, Samia Abbou declared entering an open hunger strike, denouncing not issuing a statement by the Speaker of the Assembly to condemn violence that is renewed between representatives from the Dignity Coalition and her movement last month. And as a support to her colleague, the representative from the Democratic Bloc, Mounira Aiary declared entering a hunger strike, protesting:
The representative Mounira Aiary, a candidate for the American Continent Department and the rest of the European countries in Switzerland, added, in a post on her Facebook page, published on Monday 11 January, that the Dignity Coalition bloc “supports terrorism and jihad in Syria, calling for cutting off the hands of the security forces, seeking to divide Tunisians and forming an extremist state parallel to the civil state.”
A third representative from the Democratic bloc, “Ziad Ghennay” declared entering a hunger strike on Tuesday, January 11, 2020. The Speaker of the Assembly commented on these strikes as peaceful struggling practices, however he doesn’t prefer any representative to engage in that, especially that the demand of the Democratic bloc’s sit in is on the table of the Assembly.
Meanwhile, Rached Ghannouchi,the Speaker of the Representatives of the People, supervised the meeting of the Assembly’s bureau on Monday afternoon, January 11, 2021.
The Bureau approved the principle of adopting special measures to ensure the continuity of the work of the Assembly based on the report prepared by a committee that included the director of the National Observatory of New and Emerging Diseases, the Director of “Pasteur Institute”, the head of the Medical Authority and the head of the Public Authority for the Common Interests of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People.
This report, according to a field survey of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People, suggested continuing parliamentary work from a distance, recommending that it is compulsory to follow the preventive measures stipulated in the health protocol when the presence of representatives is necessary. The exceptional procedures pose a political and legal problem at the same time, as there isn’t any legal detail in the bylaw for the exceptional procedures. In addition, Some representatives feared that remote voting would be used to rig the vote or bypass the powers of the plenary session.
Questions asked in the regard: What’s the competent authority for drafting exceptional procedures? Is it the Assembly’s Bureau or the Plenary Session? Despite reaching the plenary session after the meeting of the Assembly, the disagreement continued during voting which was marred by violations from the head of the session and the Speaker of the Assembly of Representatives. The exceptional procedures were approved, thus the Assembly remained a title of disagreement among the blocs concerning the law and its special bylaw.
Nabil Karaoui: The files of corruption and political exploitation
Arresting Nabil Karaoui, the head of the Heart of Tunisia party occupied the Tunisian public opinion, especially that the features of the suspicion of corruption against him remain unclear and the attempts to prove his innocence remain continuing from his family and his party members. In this context, Nabil Al Karaoui’s wife and some party’s members visited the headquarter of “I Watch” organization and the reason for the visit is unknown. After that, the details of the visit became clear through the answer of the head of the organization to the Karaoui’s brothers. It says the following”
“I hope you both now realize that the disagreement between us is not and will not be personal.
What we are committed to as an organization before everyone is that in this legal debate, with you and with anyone else, we will not be stabbed in the back or hit below the belt. I refused to submit the file to an influential authority in the state to protect the process of litigation from politicization, out of our belief as an organization that you have the right to a fair trial. First of all, we are an organization that believes in human rights and that the principle of things is the presumption of innocence and that every citizen has the right to a fair trial.
We received Mrs. Salwa Al-Samawi and Mr. MP Ayyad Al Lumi and committed to studying the file, although I think we know its details well. However nevertheless, let us agree mr. Nabil, mr. Ghazi that I Watch organization will not establish itself as a parallel court and will not allow itself to interfere with the judiciary. You will find us among your fiercest defenders if it becomes clear to us as an organization that there is interference in the dossier and that there is a denial of the right to both of you to defend yourselves.
You asked me to disclose the party that demanded to be given access to the file. I will reject your request based on the same reasons i refused the first : Not politicizing the file. This file contains three parties: The Court, I Watch and Karaoui’s two brothers. We will not involve any fourth party in the file, neither the politicians nor the public opinion.
However, be confident that by the end of investigation and the start of a public trial, we will disclose this body, so that everyone would bear his responsibility.
The Cabinet Reshuffle: The conflict of the authorities and presidencies
Regarding what is being circulated recently on social media, the meeting that brought together some leaders of the party with Prime Minister Hicham El Mechichi last Tuesday, explaining that the issue of the cabinet reshuffle had not been discussed, despite the fact that Al-Mechichi was convinced of the vision of the heart of Tunisia and its approach regarding the need for an evaluation of the ministerial performance. In addition, he made it clear that through his dialogue with the Prime Minister, it is obvious to him that he had no intention of making any reshuffle at the present time. Perhaps the reason for that is that the president of the republic doesn’t have any knowledge about that reshuffle, as was confirmed by the representative, Samia Abbou during her meeting with him.
On the other hand, the Speaker of the Assembly of Representatives, Rached El Ghannochi expressed the need to make a cabinet reshuffle in order to improve the performance of the government, according to his expression. In the background of the controversy over the cabinet reshuffle, there are empowerment struggles among all heads of authorities, and currently there is an argument between the prime minister and the president.
On the other hand, appointments and dismissals continue, as the President of the Republic, Kais Saeied has appointed 5 general directors at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs according to presidential orders. These members are:
- -Samia Ilham Ammar: A minister delegate with the duties of Director General of Economic and Cultural Diplomacy and Strategic Planning.
- -Galal Al Senussi A minister delegate with duties of Director General for Africa and African Regional Organizations.
- - Naser Al Sayd: The advisor of the public interests with the duties of the Director General of the Consular Affairs.
- -Ahmed Ben Al Sagheir: A minister delegate with the duties of the Director General of the Arab World, and the Islamic and Arabic organizations
- -Khalil Altazriki: An advisor of public interests with duties of Director General for Europe, the European Union and the Mediterranean
the path of the transitional justice is in danger due to corruption and complacency:
Regarding the path of transitional justice, and in a follow-up to the recovery of the stolen money abroad, the I Watch organization issued a statement on January 7, 2020, in which it notified the legal deadlines for the maximum freezing of the funds of Ben Ali and his relatives in Switzerland in the current month of January, which will enable the Ben Ali family to lift the freeze from these funds and assets, and thus retrieving them unjustly.
- Trying to find an agreement with the Swiss authorities to extend the freeze and to expedite the completion of the deficient files.
- Cooperating with the Swiss authorities to try to recover the money before lifting the freeze at the end of this month, in case it is impossible to find an agreement to extend the freeze.
- Communicating with European Union countries to determine deadlines for submitting documents and final court rulings with a view to recovering funds and assets frozen since 2011
- Serious handling of judicial files to avoid previous mistakes.
- Presenting the work plan of the committee in charge of following up the file for recovering the stolen money, which was created under the supervision of the Presidency of the Republic.
As for the suspicions of corruption that were attached to the Truth and Dignity Commission following the issuance of the Court of Accounts, Mr. Najeeb Al-Qatari, the first president of the Court of Accounts and head of the Financial Punishment Department, confirmed, on Friday January 08, 2021, that the court’s report on the Truth and Dignity Commission has been issued since November 2018. Najib Al-Qatari added, during his intervention, regarding the violations that the report monitored, that the files were referred to the judicial court in order to commit mistakes that harm public money. Former Prime Minister Elias Fakhfakh was also heard by the investigating judge of the Malian Judicial Council on Monday, January 11, 2021, in the context of the investigation of the files of suspected conflict of interest associated with him.
In another context to follow up on corruption cases, the case of rotten wheat has arisen in Qablat, and research has included many former and current high officials in the state.
Once again, endemic corruption presents itself as the most important obstacle to consolidate democracy and the principles of good governance On the one hand, corruption penetrates all institutions and administrations, and at the same time it strikes the societal value depth on which the citizen’s confidence in the law, decision and institution is based. It is a fact that is repeated and has become more prominent ever since the health epidemic crisis started.
Corruption is an ally to violence
In a follow-up to the Italian waste issue, the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights warned that there are only 15 days left before the legal deadlines for returning Italian waste to its source expire, in accordance with the provisions of Article 8 of the Basel Convention.
It explained that this agreement stipulates that waste must be returned to its source within 90 days from the date on which the country of import informs the country of export.
In the context of monitoring recent violations, the report of the Tunisian Organization Against Torture, last December, confirmed the registration of cases of torture, security violence and ill-treatment inside places of detention by official officials.
The organization warned of the danger of the continuation of these violations in light of complete impunity and the imposition of punishments that do not correspond to the acts committed.
In addition, the report documented that a citizen was subjected to severe violence after dispute broke out with a patrol with the agents of the National Guard at the entrance to the city of Nador in the Zaghouan governorate which left him with a double fracture at his leg, with severe damage to his face, eyes and several parts of his body.
The report confirmed that the victim had been transferred after the accident to Sahloul hospital. And by a medical agreement, he had an operation for his injured leg which is a security guarded operation. Then he was returned to a detention center although his condition requires hospitalization.
The report indicated that the family was not informed of the arrest of their son, nor that he entered Sahloul Hospital to undergo the surgery, and Mornag prison, where he is serving the quarantine period, refused to accept him until the administration delivers medical documents that prove his condition.
The family stated that, to this day, they had not been able to obtain the medical file from Sahloul Hospital in Sousse due to the family’s demand for an amount of more than three thousand dinars.
The crisis continues to be aggravated while waiting the vaccination:
The health condition for this week was characterized by being critical and serious due to the increase of the numbers of infections and the state’s inability to control it. Tunisia records one death every half hour In an attempt to face the condition, Tunisia seeks to save the vaccination as soon as possible. In this regard, the Minister of Health, Fawzy Mahdy during a press conference in the cabinet’s headquarter on Tuesday, January 5,2021, revealed the broad lines of the national strategy for vaccination against CoronaVirus.
Mahdy declared that a regional center would be established for vaccination in each governorate and that center would operate on a full day of the week, in addition to establishing nearly 300 centers in each delegation.
regarding the elderly and prisoners, the minister indicated that special teams would be allocated to go to care homes and prisons to carry out vaccination operations, while workers in the health sector will be vaccinated in various health institutions. Teams will also be assigned to travel to areas that cannot be covered by these centers. Due to the delay of Pfizer-biontech vaccination, Tunisia makes diplomatic calls with countries that developed effective vaccines against the emerging Coronavirus, including Russia, in order to accelerate obtaining a vaccination that ends the fears of collapsing the health system.
As part of the programmed moves at the level of international relations, the Minister of Health will meet on Tuesday with the Russian ambassador to Tunisia, Sergai Nikolaev, to discuss the possibility of supplying the Russian vaccine “Sputnik V”, the first registered vaccine in the world, which received a registration certificate from the Russian Ministry of Health on August 11th.
A member of the scientific committee to confront Virus Corona Hashemi Al Wazir, said today, Monday, to (WAT) that a meeting is expected between the Minister of Health and the Russian ambassador in Tunisia tomorrow, Tuesday, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Health to discuss the vaccine, indicating that Tunisia is about to make calls at the diplomatic level to obtain an effective vaccine in shortest time.
In this regard, The official spokesperson of the Ministry of Health confirmed that the epidemiological condition is serious in 19 governorates. The head of the Covid unit at Charles Nicole Hospital in the capital, Hicham Aouina, has sounded the alarm about the crisis of running out of resuscitation beds for Covid 19 patients in public hospitals in light of the continuing outbreak of the emerging Coronavirus as it is a real crisis regarding the lack of recovery beds. What makes matters worse, in light of all these complications, is the unprecedented increase in drug prices in pharmacies, which was confirmed by the Pharmacies Syndicate.
In this context, the Minister of Health held a press conference in Al-Kasbah, on January 12, 2021, in which he announced the new measures taken in light of the worsening health situation, among which was a quarantine starting from Thursday, January 14 to Sunday, January 17, 2021. In addition, adjusting the quarantine timing. During these days from seven in the morning to four in the afternoon In addition, suspending classes to January 24.
Strikes and protests: The wounded persons of the revolution are in the front again
It seems that the gas crisis is looming on the horizon again, as many fuel distribution stations in Sfax witnessed overcrowding on the evening of Monday, January 11, 2021, as car owners decided to refuel after the industrial zone in Skhira was closed again by unemployed persons with higher education, demanding employment and development.
In the same context of the demands of development and employment, a number of construction workers protested on Monday morning, January 11, 2021 in front of the Assembly’s headquarter, demanding the acceleration of considering the initiative of the People’s Movement to change the article related to those persons whose age are over 45 years in the civil workers mandate agreement. One of the protesters said that the protesters are ready to escalate and engage in major protests in case of not avoiding what she considered as exclusion and injustice.
The 10th anniversary of the revolution: Its wounded people are victims and in strike… The revolution continues
Last update : 15/01/2021 - 15:00
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