The weekly newsletter from 10th to 16th of june 2021
This post is also available in:
Arabic
Egypt
In violation of the constitution, the House of Representatives (the legislative authority) finally approves the draft law on the state’s general budget for the fiscal year 2021/2022
The House of Representatives, during its plenary session, finally approved the draft law on the state’s general budget for the fiscal year 2021/2022, after amending it and raising spending on health and education allocations. Mohamed Badrawi, a member of the Plan and Budget Committee, stated, “We (meaning members of the committee) raised health allocations by one billion pounds, and we raised the budget for education and higher education together by three billion pounds,” while he refused to answer a question about whether or not this increase meets the demands of the health and education committees in parliament. The new increase, which represented 1.4% of the health and education allocations in the draft budget, did not achieve the constitutional obligation related to spending on these allocations, despite parliamentary demands that the government adhere to the constitutionally prescribed rates for spending on health and education.
Representative Iheb Mansour, head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, announced yesterday his party’s rejection of the draft general budget for the fiscal year 2021/2022, calling for correcting the percentages allocated to education, health and scientific research in accordance with the text of the constitution. The current constitution stipulates that the state commits to allocating a percentage of government spending Health that is not less than 3% of the gross national product, and a percentage of government spending on education – which includes school and higher education – is not less than 6% of the national product. But the House of Representatives decided, in 2016, to apply the concept of GDP in approving the budget instead of the national product, due to the scarcity of data regarding the latter concept.
He also detected ambiguity about the size of education and health allocations, and the extent of their commitment to constitutional entitlements, and that: The budget data includes 172 billion pounds for education and higher education allocations, while the report of the Plan and Budget Committee states that the budget for pre-university education alone amounts to 256 billion pounds, And that the allocations for health in the budget amount to 108 billion pounds, while the report of the Plan and Budget Committee includes allocations amounting to 275 billion pounds directed to health.
Foreign Policy: After the reconciliation with Turkey, Qatar is on the same path..pressing Ethiopia and internationalizing the file of the Renaissance Dam
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry headed to the Qatari capital, Doha, on the first visit of its kind to this Gulf country in 8 years. The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, in a statement, that Shoukry was carrying a message from President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to the Prince of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad. He explained that the content of the message revolves around “the positive developments witnessed by the Egyptian-Qatari relations since the Al-oula statement, and the aspiration to take further measures (which were not specified) during the coming period to advance the priority areas of bilateral cooperation.”
An Egyptian government source in the working group for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam also stated that both Cairo and Khartoum clearly agreed during the meeting that brought together the foreign and irrigation ministers of the two countries, in the Sudanese capital, that work will continue within the framework of continuing pressure on Ethiopia and avoiding escalation or the threat of any military action in the country. In light of an understanding between the two capitals that the most realistic thing now is to work on attracting American support for the position of the two downstream countries concerned about filling the reservoir without calculating the consequences of this process on the downstream countries, whether in terms of affecting the seasonal reservoirs in Sudan, or in terms of its consequences on the two countries’ shares of water, especially Egypt, which is already suffering from water scarcity, according to United Nations’ estimates. Cairo and Khartoum issued a joint statement after yesterday’s meeting between the foreign and irrigation ministers of the two countries, in which they announced their agreement on the importance of coordinating efforts at various levels to push Ethiopia to negotiate seriously, in good faith and political will for Reaching a comprehensive, fair and legally binding agreement on the filling and operation of the Renaissance Dam “after the negotiations sponsored by the African Union reached a dead end due to Ethiopian reluctance.”
On the other hand, the source of the working group said that there are arrangements to hold the faltering meeting between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which currently chairs the African Union, in order to reach an understanding on clear foundations for the process of the second filling of the Renaissance Dam reservoir, which has already begun gradually in a Natural way, which will take the water retention curve in the middle of next month at the height of the flood season. Egypt objected, in a letter sent by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the President of the Security Council, to what Ethiopia announced about its intention to continue filling the Renaissance Dam during the next flood season, and Egypt’s complete rejection of the Ethiopian approach based on seeking to impose the matter as a reality on the downstream countries through unilateral measures and steps in an explicit violation of the applicable rules of international law.
For his part, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, in a statement to the ministry, that Egypt deposited an integrated file with the Security Council on the issue of the Renaissance Dam and Egypt’s vision regarding it to serve as a reference for the international community on this issue. Hafedh added that Shoukry’s letter was circulated as an official document of the Security Council, It reveals to the international community the truth about the reluctant Ethiopian positions, which have thwarted the efforts made over the past months to reach a fair, balanced and legally binding agreement on the Renaissance Dam within the framework of the negotiations sponsored by the African Union.
After the launch of the National Human Rights Strategy: What about employing the judiciary to serve the executive authority and torturing political opponents by expanding and implementing death sentences
Today, Monday, June 14, the Egyptian Court of Cassation decided to uphold the death sentence issued against 12 members and leaders of the Brotherhood. The court also decided to commute the sentences of 31 of the convicts from death to life imprisonment, in addition to the expiration of the case for the accused of death, and uphold the rest of the sentences issued against those convicted in the case of the “Rbiaa” sit-in the court upheld the death sentences for: Abderahmen al-Bar, Mohamed al-Beltagy, and Safwat Hegazi, Oussaa Yassine, Ahmad Aref, Ihab wajdi, Mohamed abdelhay, Mostafa abdelhay al-faramawi, Ahmed farouk kamel, Haythem sayed Arabi, Mohamed Mahmoud ali zenati, Abdeladhim Ibrahim Mohamed and sentenced to life imprisonment the leader of the group, Mohamed Badie, and Bassem Oud the Minister of Supply during the reign of former President Mohamed Morsi. The court punished 374 other defendants with 15 years in prison, while 23 defendants were sentenced to 10 years in prison, including Osama Mohamed Morsi, son of the ex president, and 22 others.
Nine Egyptian human rights organizations issued a statement expressing their deep condemnation of the ruling issued by the Egyptian Court of Cassation regarding the ruling and demanded the immediate suspension of the death penalty, a halt to the implementation of the rulings issued, and a review of them. The demand was also renewed for the need to open a serious and independent investigation into the mass killing of demonstrators during the dispersal of the Rabaa sit-in, in preparation for holding the perpetrators accountable. The trial was marred by legal violations, and the lack of minimum fair trial guarantees. Then the Court of Cassation came to support this farcical ruling in clear revenge against the current regime’s political opponents. Over the past years, Egyptian courts in all their forms and degrees (civil, military, and the Court of Cassation) expanded in involving the judiciary to abuse political opponents, by issuing mass death sentences and life and hard prison sentences in disgraceful mass trials.
It is worth noting that Egypt was subjected to widespread international condemnation due to its unprecedented expansion of the death penalty, as the Egyptian government received many demands and recommendations for a voluntarily estopping of the death penalty in preparation for its abolition, suspension of its implementation and the possibility of mitigating it, both during the universal periodic review session of its human rights file before the United Nations on November 2019, or in European Parliament resolutions issued during 2018, 2019 and 2020 regarding Egypt. According to Amnesty International, Egypt ranked third in the world in 2020 in terms of implementing the death penalty. In October 2020, 53 people were executed, including 13 defendants in cases of a political nature. In April 2021, the death sentence was carried out against 9 defendants in Case N° 12749-2013 Felonies of Kerdasa Centre, known in the media as (the case of storming the Kerdasa Police Station), and the execution was carried out against 3 of the defendants in the same case in October 2020, human rights organizations called on the government Egypt to comply with international demands and recommendations to suspend this punishment, and to stop its implementation, under the pretext of the war on terrorism or to take revenge on political opponents. This unprecedented expansion of the violation of the right to life is not in line with the claims of the Egyptian state to launch a national strategy for human rights!.
The victory of the Hesba issues
The Cairo Economic Misdemeanors Court of Appeals sentenced the accused, Sharifa Refaat, to five years in prison and a fine of 100,000 pounds, and her daughter “Zomorda” for the same fine amount, accusing them of assaulting family values and inciting prostitution. The Public Prosecution had ordered the detention of The two defendants for assaulting family principles and values of the Egyptian society, violating the sanctity of private life, publishing with the intention of distributing and displaying pictures and video clips indecent to public decency, and announcing an invitation that includes temptation to prostitution and draws attention to it, and one of them engages in prostitution and incites the other to it, assists and facilitates it, and establishes, manages and uses special accounts on the social network with the aim of committing these crimes.
The Public Prosecutor hands over to the Italian ambassador an official copy of the Public Prosecution’s report for to submit it to the seized court in Italy
The Attorney General met the Italian Ambassador and the First Secretary of the Italian Embassy in Egypt at the headquarters of the Attorney General’s office in Cairo, in the presence of the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for European Affairs, and the Director of the International Cooperation Department in the Office of the Attorney General. The meeting was held for the Attorney General to hand over to the Italian ambassador two official copies of the report of the Public Prosecution Office in the case of the death of the Italian student Giulio Regeni in Arabic and Italian, in which it had temporarily concluded that there is no reason to file a criminal case due to the lack of knowledge of the perpetrator, and assigning the research authorities to intensify the investigation. In the same meeting, the Italian ambassador received the response of the Kenyan judicial authorities to a request The legal aid sent to it by the Egyptian Public Prosecution, which included denying what was raised about a Kenyan police officer hearing a story from an Egyptian police officer during a security meeting in the Kenyan capital, which included the claim that the latter had a role in the kidnapping and assault of Regeni in Egypt.
The Attorney General indicated during the meeting the necessity of submitting all the papers handed over to the Italian ambassador before the court that is examining the case in Italy; It included a detailed refutation of everything that was raised about the Egyptian officers suspected of the incident.
After the announcement of a national strategy for human rights: activists between the Penal Code, the Information Technology Crimes Law, and the policy of rotation
Hossam Bahjat, Executive Director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, directed the Public Prosecutor’s Office, based on an official summons, to investigate him in a new case N°35-2020 (Cairo Appeal Investigation Inventory). After interrogating him, the Public Prosecution ordered the release of Bahjat on personal guarantee pending investigations, after the following accusations were brought against him: insulting a statutory body, the National Elections Authority according to (Article 184 of the Penal Code), and spreading false news and rumours about rigging the legislative elections, which caused misinformation. Disturbing public security and harming the public interest (Article 188 of the Penal Code). Using his own account on Twitter and Facebook with the aim of committing the two crimes mentioned (Article 27 of the 2018 Information Technology Crimes), Bahjat was investigated regarding a tweet he posted in 2020 on his account in which he criticized the performance of the former head of the National Elections Authority in what marred the parliamentary elections flagrant legal violations. The defence team present with Bahjat presented evidence and testimonies on the course of the recent parliamentary elections, including challenges to judicial rulings.
Feryal Mahmoud, the mother of the political activist who is being held in pre-trial detention, Ahmed Badawi, submitted a report to the Maadi Prosecution, last Saturday, stating that her son had started a hunger strike, after the prosecution told her that the administration of a high-security prison in the Tora prison complex had not informed her of the strike, while two officers denied In prisonBadawi’s mother had news of his hunger strike. Two days ago, Mahmoud’s mother went to the Maadi Public Prosecution office with a note asking to prove the case of her son’s hunger strike.
Epidemiological situation: the private sector participates in the vaccination campaign, and the count of the doctor martyrs is close to 600
The Suggestions and Complaints Committee in the House of Representatives approved the proposal submitted by Representative Ayman Abu Al-Ela regarding the participation of the private sector in the vaccination system with vaccines for the Corona virus – COVID19 – provided that private sector institutions obtain the approval of the Egyptian Medicines Authority.
Tunisia
Parliamentary newsletter: The Sidi Hssin incident and Moussi’s shows dominate the parliamentary scene
In his intervention before the start of the plenary session on June 10, 2021, the Second Deputy Speaker of the Council, Tarek Fatiti, condemned the brutal attack by the security forces in Sidi Hssin on a minor, stripping and dragging him:
Fatiti also called on the Minister of Interior and chief of government Hichem Mechichi to apologize to the Tunisian people.
The controversy continues regarding the Constitutional Court, as the temporary body to monitor the constitutionality of bills returned the draft law amendment to President Kais Saied, after its members failed to agree over the “constitutionality” of the bill, following an appeal submitted by deputies from the Democratic Bloc, which practically means returning to square one. The political crisis between the President and the Parliament continues, especially since those close to Saied confirm that he is still adhering to the decision to reject the law, which he considers unconstitutional. For his part, Maher Madhyoub, Assistant Speaker of Parliament in charge of media, announced, on Monday, June 14th , 2021, that the decisions of the cell of crisis of the Parliament, represented by the approval of a plenary session on June 29th to deliberate on obstructing the establishment of the Constitutional Court, by not sealing the President of the Republic’s draft law amending the Constitutional Court Law.
Also, the rshows of Abir Moussi continue inside the Parliament, as this time it was clear and exaggerated as she tried to expel the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research “Olfa Ben Auda” during the plenary session on Monday, June 14, which angered the Parliament’s administration and the head of government, who decided to file a case against MP Moussi.
The People’s Movement deputies succeeded in passing their proposal related to urban workers, as Law N° 27-2021 was promulgated. It relates to the completion of Law N°112-1983 related to regulating the general statute for the state agents, local groups and public institutions of an administrative nature.
Presidency of the Republic: raising public lawsuits and demands to lift immunity, and the Sidi Hssin incident tops the agenda
Posterior to the recent incident of violence in Sidi Hssin, the President of the Republic, Kais Saied, invited the Acting Minister of Interior, the Government Spokeswoman, and the Acting Minister of Justice, Mrs. Hasna ben Slimen, and addressed them in a strongly worded manner, where he showed signs of anger and tension and accused them of not taking responsibility and failure to bear the confidence entrusted to them.
On Friday, June 11, 2021, Saied went to the National Security station in Sidi Hssin Sijumi. He stressed that the violations recorded are isolated and individual, reminding that there is no hostile relationship between security and the people and that everyone must be treated equally without exception, with each person bearing responsibility for his actions. During this meeting, the Head of State expressed his deep dissatisfaction and strong condemnation of what is happening these days in Tunisia, stressing that no one is above the law and that there is no room for any treatment based on discrimination based on wealth or political alliances.
The President of the Republic called on the Acting Minister of Justice to play the role entrusted to her by the law in filing public cases, and stressed the need to direct demands for lifting immunity to the Parliament so that it bears all its responsibility, because immunity is provided by law to ensure independence in carrying out the job and not to use it outside of this context.
As for the Chief of government , he declared in this regard that this incident is nothing more than an isolated and individual accident, a statement that angered many, as it falsified facts and disregarded people’s lives.
Government action continues internationally to mobilize economic support
On Wednesday, June 9, 2021, the Chief of government Hichem Mechichi supervised a working session with officials from the COVAX system, officials from the World Health Organization and directors of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization “GAVI” in the presence of the Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Tunisia to the United Nations Office and the competent bodies In Geneva, Sabri Bachtabji, in order to speed up the pace of importing the vaccine against the Coronavirus as soon as possible to Tunisia, according to a statement by the Presidency of the Government.
In the same context, he met with Mechichi, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, at the organization’s headquarters in Geneva. In a media statement, the Chief of government stressed that this meeting was important, especially in relation to the manufacture of vaccines and the important human and medical capabilities available to our country in this field. He also considered that this meeting is a continuation of his previous meeting with the World Health Organization, and that they discussed with the Director-General of the World Trade Organization on intellectual property and industrial property for vaccines that can be manufactured in Tunisia, during which an idea was presented about the Tunisian experience in the pharmaceutical industry, stressing the organization’s readiness to contribute and support in the manufacture of vaccines.
Always at the international level, but in another context, the chief of government met on Wednesday morning, June 09, 2021, the Director-General of the International Labour Organization at the organization’s headquarters in Geneva, in the presence of the Minister of Social Affairs, Mohamed Trabelsi. During this meeting, Mechichi expressed the interest that the Tunisian government attaches to the ongoing consultations on the draft strategic plan of the International Labour Organization for the years 2022-2025, which defines the main axes and strategic directions of the organization to meet the challenges related to economic stagnation as well as the special problems facing social dialogue institutions and social partners.
For his part, the Director-General of the ILO stressed the importance of supporting the institutional framework for cooperation between the organization and Tunisia, stressing the organization’s continued support for our country and for the labour organization with which it shares the same principles based on social justice, especially the dialogue between the labour union and the government on workers’ rights.
In a press statement, the Director-General of the International Labour Organization considered that he discussed with the Prime Minister mechanisms to overcome the effects of Covid-19 on the Tunisian citizen, noting that the organization is running projects and programs in Tunisia worth 35 million dollars.
In the context of supporting those affected by the COVID pandemic, the Chief of Government approved a number of measures for the benefit of those affected.
Ennahdha Movement: The Executive Office is concerned about the failure to seal the Constitutional Court law, the procedural violations in the process of arresting Karoui, the security excesses in the Sidi Hssin incident, and the price increases
Recently, the political advisor to the President of the Ennahda Movement and the Tunisian Parliament stated that the Ministry of the Interior officially informed him of a serious threat to assassinate Ghannouchi.
Riadh Chouaibi added, in a post on his Facebook page, that officials in the ministry visited the parliament headquarters on Wednesday to inform Ghannouchi of this threat. Chouaibi accused parties – without naming – of planning to assassinate Ghannouchi in order to impede the Tunisian experience and thwart its course, he said. Knowing that so far, no statement has been issued by the Ennahdha movement or the presidency of the Assembly of People’s Representatives to reveal the circumstances of the issue.
Following the holding of its regular meeting, the Executive Office of the movement issued a statement in which it presented the recent price increases. Ennahdha also expressed its concern about the failure to seal the Constitutional Court law by the President of the Republic, and what this represents in the continued violation of the Constitution and the disruption of the completion of the establishment of constitutional bodies. It also called for the opening of a serious investigation into the circumstances of the heinous incident that took place in Sidi Hussein in complete transgression of all our values, morals and the values of the republican security, defining responsibilities and holding accountable all those found to be involved in this incident.
The movement also continued its continuous support for Nabil Karoui, as it announced, on Thursday, June 10, 2021, after a meeting of its executive office, its rejection of what it described as procedural violations that permeated the process of arresting the head of the Heart of Tunisia party, Nabil Karoui.
In its statement, the movement confirmed that the deadlines for the precautionary suspension had been exceeded, and indicated that there was an attempt to amend these procedures after the deadlines had passed, threatening the course of this and other issues and questioning the course of achieving justice and the supremacy of the rule of law according to the text of the statement.
Circumstances of Nabil Karoui’s release
Following the statement issued by the “I Watch” organization recently regarding the case of Nabil Karoui, the National Lawyers Association denounced today, Wednesday, June 9, 2021, the content of the “I Watch” organization’s statement issued yesterday, Tuesday, in which it considered that “the dean of lawyers has no capacity to examine the work of the judiciary in the case.” Head of the heart of Tunisia party, Nabil Karoui,” and that “Karoui’s defence team exhausted all legal arguments that resulted in judicial refutation due to their weakness and lack of correctness.
تابعت منظمة أنا يقظ آخر مستجدات ملف السيّد نبيل القروي لدى القطب القضائي الإقتصادي والمالي ويهمها، كطرف رسمي في القضيّة، أن تؤكد على ما يلي: pic.twitter.com/h6yN5Bwofd
— I WATCH Organization (@IWatchTN) June 9, 2021
After continuous pressure, the Court of Cassation issued a cassation decision without referral and annulling the decision to extend the detention of Nabil Karoui, head of the heart of Tunisia party, for a period of four months, with his immediate release
- A young man was dragged and stripped of his clothes on the public road
- Lawyer Yassin Azza's post on this matter
- Details of a young man stripped of his clothes and kicked in Sidi Hussein: private testimonies
- Statement of the House of People's Representatives in this regard
- Video of the assault on the young man in Sidi Hussein
- The statements of the father of the abused young man in Sidi Hussein
- Testimony of the young victim of violence in Sidi Hussein
- Human rights activist Shaima Bouhlel's blog in this regard
The repercussions of the Sidi Hssin incident continue to lead the events, and civil society rises against the government
The Sidi Hssin incident shook Tunisian public opinion last week, when security agents dragged a 15-year-old minor and stripped him on the public road. As a result, the Public Prosecution Office in Tunis decided to open an investigation into the assault on a young man in Sidi Hssin.
Security violations also continued, through its media wing, by misleading and obscuring the incident, as the official spokesman for the General Administration of National Security stated that after a patrol of the National Security station in Sidi Hssin was combing, a drunk was spotted, causing commotion and confusion on the public road, uttering obscene words that directed the aforementioned patrol intended to investigate him, but he got into a state of frenzy and completely stripped himself of his clothes, where an attempt was made to control him due to the hysterical state in which he was, despite the huge number of videos that spread on social networks and the media showing the violations of the security forces clearly and visibly.
Many associations and organizations issued statements to this effect denouncing this heinous incident.
The security agent’s acts did not stop these, but the matter went further and reached the point of assault and took the mother of the abused child to the police station in Sidi Hssin to prevent her from attending the press conference held by human rights and professional organizations to let the voice of the families of the victims be heard and clarify the measures that will be taken to resist what these organizations considered institutionalizing security violations.
These organizations also announced during the conference a number of measures, the most important of which is the formation of a legal support front for victims of police violence and their families, in addition to calling for a national protest demonstration against this security incursion on Friday, June 18 in the afternoon in the capital, Tunis.
In addition to the state of boiling that this incident caused in the Tunisian street and on the social level, it also proposed a draft law banning attacks on the armed forces once again. However, in light of all this tyranny and violence practiced by the security forces on the citizens, this project represents an imminent and serious danger to the lives of citizens and a clear violation of a supreme constitutional right, which is the right to life.
How long will the violations against women persist?
On the other hand, the attacks and violations against women continue and are of various types and forms, as after the violations that affected both Refka Cherni and Aroua Troudi. The strange thing about these attacks is that they affect women in their homes and their safety, as a married woman was subjected to mass rape inside her home is in the delegation of Akouda, in the governorate of Sousse, in front of her two children and her husband.
Reliable sources confirmed that three young men with criminal records between the ages of 23 and 28 broke into a house located in the Tantana area in Akouda and deliberately raped the woman in her bedroom in front of her husband and two children who were threatened with a knife, noting that one of the two children was an infant which means not more than nine months old, while the second is 3 years old. An investigation has been opened to uncover the circumstances of the incident and arrest the perpetrators of the crime that shook the area.
In another context, and after the incident that took place last week at the headquarters of “Shams FM” radio, during which the mayor of Kram, Fathi Ayouni, accompanied by militias attacked the Radio. That reminds us of the notorious ‘revolution protection committees’, the media advisor to the chief of government confirmed, on Thursday, June 10, 2021 that Mechichi instructed to secure Shams FM radio and protect its employees.
Boukhris’ dismissal confirms the trend of political dismissals
After the dismissal of Chawki Tabib, the former head of the National Anti-Corruption Authority,lately, the dismissal of the head of the commission, Imed Boukhris, occurred suddenly, as usual, without mentioning the reasons. This dismissal caused confusion in the political arena. The President of the Republic had expressed his displeasure and denunciation of this decision.
Following this dismissal, a group of independent public bodies issued a clarification statement regarding this matter, explaining that they had nothing to do with it.
In the context of holding the parties of the former regime accountable, the Court of First Instance in Tunis convicted the son-in-law of former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali for money laundering and issued a sentence in absentia of 13 years in prison and a fine of 3 million.
The health situation is getting worse day by day
The health situation continues to deteriorate day after day in many regions, as the situation has become catastrophic in many governorates including Kairouan and Kasserine. Where the head of the emergency department at the regional hospital in Kasserine described the current epidemiological situation in the region as “catastrophic”, stressing that it is more dangerous and aggravated than the rest of the states classified with a very high risk level, including Kairouan.
He explained in a statement to (ATAP) that the capacity of the reanimation in the regional hospital in Kasserine has reached its maximum, forcing health offices to use the emergency department to house those infected with the “Coronavirus”, noting in this context that 5 patients have been subjected to intubation for five days in this department. He stressed that the emergency department is not capable anymore to respond and has launched the alarm in light of its limited capabilities and the significant shortage of equipment and human resources, calling on the central and regional authorities to work on finding appropriate solutions to this critical situation as soon as possible in the context of the continuous rise in cases of injuries and deaths.
Libya
Extensive preparations for Berlin 2nd
The German Foreign Ministry announced that Berlin will host a new round of Libyan peace talks to discuss ways of stabilizing the country, and discuss preparations for the elections scheduled for next December 24th , and the exit of foreign soldiers and mercenaries from Libya, and confirmed that all participants in the first Berlin conference are invited to the next second conference on Libya. The first Berlin Conference on Libya, held in January 2020, at the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, brought together the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Turkey, the Republic of the Congo, Britain and the United States of America, and representatives of the United Nations, including the Secretary-General and his Special Representative in Libya, the African Union, the European Union and the League of Arab States. The next conference will focus on the expected steps to achieve stability in Libya, especially the preparations for the elections, and the withdrawal of foreign forces and mercenaries as agreed upon in the cease-fire. It will also discuss steps to unify the Libyan security forces.
The Libyan parties have begun preparations for the “Berlin 2” conference, and the President of the Presidential Council, Mohamed Al-Manfi, discussed with the Prime Minister of the Interim Government of National Unity, AbdelHamid Al-Dabaiba. According to a statement by the Presidential Council, the meeting focused on participation in the Berlin 2 conference and consultation on several other regional issues of concern. The meeting also touched upon a number of service files related to alleviating the suffering of the citizen, such as electricity and the Corona vaccine. After the meeting, the Presidential Council, with all its members, held an expanded meeting with Dabaiba, to discuss the military and security situation in the country, in addition to issues related to terrorism. The latest developments in security tension, in the city of Ajeelat and a number of other areas, were also reviewed.
The Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, Jan Kubis, also held a series of virtual meetings to discuss the ongoing preparations for the Berlin 2 conference, where he held consultations with the Minister of State in the German Foreign Ministry Miguel Berger, and with the German Special Envoy Christian Bock, and he also participated in the first meeting of senior officials with the participation of Libya, which proceeded to prepare the final document of the conference, similar to the Berlin conference held a year and a half ago and drawing broad lines for a solution in Libya.
Will French-Turkish cooperation succeed in getting foreign mercenaries out of Libya?
Macron said during a press conference held at the conclusion of the NATO summit in Brussels, that his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had stressed his desire for the mercenaries to leave Libya as soon as possible, expressing his agreement to work with France to withdraw them from the country. Macron and Erdogan had their first direct meeting more than a year ago, at a time when relations between the two parties were increasingly tense due to several contentious issues, including Libya, the situation in the eastern Mediterranean, and Paris’ cooperation with Kurdish militants in Syria. Turkey previously deployed a group of its armed forces and fighters from Syria to fight alongside the previous authorities in Tripoli, since the Libyan National Army led by Khalifa Haftar launched an attack on the capital, Tripoli in April 2019. Ankara signed an agreement with the Government of National Accord, to demarcate the maritime borders between the two countries in the Mediterranean, which sparked protests in many countries.
Transmission of the regional conflict to the House of Representatives
Parliament suspended its plenary session after a quarrel sparked between two deputies over the presence of Turkish forces in Libya. The spokesperson of the Parliament, Abdellah Belihak, affirmed that the session was suspended after the fight started between the two representatives abdelwahab zweila and mosbah douma, as voices rose. This was broadcasted live. The session aimed to discuss the draft law on the state’s general budget for the year 2021. It was scheduled to address the provision of assuming leadership positions in sovereign positions as well.
Al-Ajeilat Is it the beginning of the end… the militias or the Presidential Council
The Libyan Presidential Council threatened to prosecute and hold armed militias that are still in a state of confrontations in the city of Al-Ajilat, west of the capital, Tripoli, in the event that these hostilities and military mobilization operations did not stop. This is the first warning that the Presidential Council addressed to the armed militias in western Libya, since it took power last March. After he remained silent about the repeated clashes that erupt from time to time, between armed militias in the cities of the Libyan West. A member of the Presidential Council, Abdullah Lafi, announced in a statement published on his official Facebook page, the issuance of directives from the “Supreme Commander” regarding the combat mobilizations in the city of Ajilat, He explained that
It seems that the struggle to gain influence to control the capital, Tripoli, has ignited in the militias of the West, and that the flame started from Al-Ajeilat, at a time when the Interim National Unity Government seeks to implement the roadmap for a peaceful solution emanating from the Dialogue Forum. the Libyan Attorney General, Adviser Sadiq Al-Sour, demanded during a meeting held on Sunday, and attended by a number of leaders of the Ministry of Interior, the Public Prosecution and security officials in Al-Ajilat, the necessity of bringing a police force into the city quickly. The Public Prosecutor revealed that he had received reports “proving the high rate of criminal acts that affect the safety of a person, his body and his money, and crimes against the national economy such as murder, kidnapping and enforced disappearance torture, destruction of public and private property and smuggling of fuel, and stressed the need to deter these acts, and the need for security bodies to play their role and take measures of prevention and not to be satisfied with going after them, so that the response to the requirements of protecting the rights of individuals and the security of society be sufficient, and the arrest of those wanted by the Public Prosecution and the prosecution of convicts and those in pre-trial detention.
This comes as armed clashes renewed between militias from the city of Al-Zawiya led by Mohamed Bahroun, nicknamed “The Mouse”, and another from the city of Al-Ajeelat led by Mohamed Mostafa Al-Zaytouni, known as Mohamed Baraka and his nickname “Shalfouh”, due to the first’s continuing “acts of burning, looting and kidnapping,” according to media outlets. Libyan and social media accounts, and eyewitnesses confirmed hearing the sounds of gunfire and heavy artillery rocking the city in western Libya, noting that the sounds of clashes were near the traffic light in the city centre, causing massive damage to citizens’ properties. The “mouse” and his militia are linked to the Brotherhood, and to the Libyan Fighting Group, al-Qaeda’s branch, through the head of the Supreme Council of State Khaled Mechri and the extremist Abu Obeida al-Zawi Chaaban Hadiya, and the al-Farouk camp brigades. Although he is accused in many criminal cases, and investigations are still in most of them ongoing, the Ministry of Interior appointed him to the previous government of Fayez al-Sarraj. Head of Criminal Investigation in Al-Zawiya City.
Al-Far has been in charge of securing the coastal road since the beginning of 2017, commissioned by Al-Sarraj after the armed attack on the presidential guard positions west of Al-Zawiya. Al-Shalfouh is close to Abdel Ghani Al-Kikli, the militia leader in Tripoli and the National Security Adviser, with an appointment decision issued by the former President of the Presidential Council, Fayez Al-Sarraj, and accused by controlling Al-Ajeelat and turning it into a centre for its suspicious operations related to the smuggling of goods, oil and people. He also participated in the ‘Libya Dawn’ operation during the year 2014, and fought against the Sabratha operations room, and was among the ranks of the “Amo” militia group and other extremist groups fleeing from the cities of eastern Libya during the year 2017. In 2018, he joined the ranks of the militias of the Government of National Accord forces during the Tripoli war, and became a leader and commander of the “Ajeelati Martyrs Brigade” militia of the Western Military District, under the command of Major General Osama al-Juwaili.
Armed clashes have been taking place between the elements of these militias since last Thursday, in which medium and heavy weapons and RBJs were used, and resulted in the killing of a number of people, including a university student, as well as material damage to the infrastructure after indiscriminate rockets fell, and movement completely stopped in the city. Shops and streets were closed, amid the continuation of the military build-up.
Illegal immigrants and refugees at the mercy of militias
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees announced that 1,000 illegal immigrants were rescued off the coast of Libya within two days. In a statement on its Twitter account, UNHCR stated that more than 1,000 refugees and migrants were returned to Libya in two operations in the city of Al-Zawiya and 3 others in Tripoli, western Libya. They were detained by the Libyan authorities, and indicated that many survivors needed urgent medical assistance, provided by the International Rescue Committee. Libya is considered one of the most important international stations for irregular migration because of its beaches that extend on the Mediterranean front close to Europe, and its desert borders open to 6 countries, especially that the security situation is weak, especially in the south, near Niger and Chad
Some militias in the western region are working on human trafficking and facilitating illegal immigration, some of them are wanted or punished internationally, most notably Ahmed al-Dabbashi, known as “Amo,” Mohamed Salem Bahrun, known as “The Mouse,” and Abdrahman Milad, known as “Al-Bija.”
After the migrants are returned to Libya after being rescued, they are detained in centres controlled by militias, and human rights reports from international and local organizations previously published that they suffer from human rights violations such as torture, exploitation, sexual abuse, and so on.
The Ministry of Interior in the Libyan National Unity Government announced the liberation of 37 abductees, including Egyptians, who had been detained for six months. That “this was after a successful security operation carried out by members of the criminal investigation at dawn on Wednesday, which resulted in the liberation of the kidnappers and the arrest of three members of the gang that kidnapped them,” and indicated that “it has taken all legal measures towards the arrested, and the investigation is still in progress to control the rest of the gang formation.”
Epidemiological situation
The health authorities in Libya announced, on Thursday, that 229 new cases of the Coronavirus were recorded, 3 deaths and 364 people recovered within 24 hours. The National Centre for Disease Control in Libya said, in a statement, that the capital, Tripoli, witnessed the largest number of new infections with 60 cases and 210 cured ones. He added that the total number of people infected with the Coronavirus in Libya rose to 188,386 people, including 11,08 active cases, and 3,155 deceased. The black fungus, whose spread around the world has caused fears in the country, pointed out that the Centre for communicable diseases in Libya has not detected any cases of this disease so far.
Last update : 18/06/2021 - 15:00
This post is also available in:
Arabic