The weekly newsletters : September 30 to November 7
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Egypt
The legislature in Egypt “all is perfect” to legislate the president’s vision and demands
“All is perfect- Kollou tamem” is an Egyptian expression used to emphasize the accuracy of organization or control over a work or matter. This is how the return of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People in its second session could be described. The Assembly, in its first plenary session, approved the decisions of the President of the Republic or approved and submitted legislative proposals Meet the wishes, demands and vision of the president. He also re-formed the National Council for Human Rights in accordance with the law and with a variety of membership.
The first session of the House of Representatives was held, headed by Counselor Dr. Hanafi Jabali, at the opening of the second session of the second legislative term, and according to the agenda of the House of Representatives, the session began with the recitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s decision, No. 418 of 2021, inviting the House of Representatives to convene to open the regular session. The second session of the second legislative term, then the decision of the President of the Republic to adjourn the first session of the House of Representatives from the second legislative term will be read, starting on Wednesday 18 Dhu al-Hijjah 1442 corresponding to July 28, 2021.
The House of Representatives approved Presidential Decree No. 442 of 2021 regarding taking some necessary measures to maintain security and confront terrorism in Sinai. The President’s decision, in its first article, included a curfew in some places, setting dates for roaming in certain places, and evacuating some places. The prohibition of residence or frequenting certain places, the prohibition of the use of certain means of communication, the prohibition of possessing or acquiring some materials, the prohibition of the movement of motorcycles, the suspension of study in whole or in part in schools, the prohibition of the circulation of dual-use materials, and the second article included that a curfew is imposed in areas where determined by the Minister of Defence.
The House of Representatives announced the formation of the members of the National Council for Human Rights, after naming the formation of the National Council for Human Rights, in the plenary session of the House of Representatives for the year 2003 with the establishment of the Council. The new formation of the Council includes 27 members and is headed by Ambassador Mushira Mahmoud Khattab, who is the first woman to chair the Council in its history. Ambassador Mahmoud Karem Mahmoud, Vice-President of the Council, and includes in its membership George Ishaq, Nihad Lutfi Sayed Muhammad Abu al-Qumsan, Alaa Sayed Kamel Shalaby, lawyer Essam El-Din Ahmed Taha Shiha, and Mohamed Anwar Ahmed Esmat El-Sadat.
Law No. 197 of 2017, amending some provisions of Law No. 94 of 2003 establishing the National Council for Human Rights, defines its competencies and includes the promotion, development and protection of human rights and public freedoms in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, consolidating their values, spreading awareness of them, and contributing to ensuring their practice, including expressing opinions on draft laws and regulations. related to its field of work, study allegations of human rights violations, submit the necessary recommendations to the competent authorities in the countries, develop a national plan of action to promote and protect human rights in Egypt, propose means to achieve this plan, and submit proposals and recommendations to the competent authorities in all matters that protects human rights, and expresses the necessary opinion, proposals and recommendations regarding what is presented to it or referred to it by the competent authorities and authorities on issues related to the protection and promotion of human rights.
The Council also addresses violations of personal rights, and has the right to visit prisons and places of detention, in accordance with the law, as well as follow up on the implementation of international conventions, contracts and covenants on human rights ratified by Egypt and present to the concerned authorities the necessary proposals, observations and recommendations in this regard, and organize cooperation with organizations and international bodies concerned with human rights, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as contributing its opinion to the preparation of reports that the state is obligated to submit periodically to human rights committees and bodies in implementation of international conventions, and to respond to the inquiries of these bodies in this regard.
The House of Representatives, in its first session, approved the draft law submitted by Representative Muhammad Mustafa al-Sallab to amend the Persons with Disabilities Law to increase the penalty for bullying against persons with disabilities, as a whole, provided that it is referred to the State Council for review, and the draft law includes one article other than the publication article. It aims to increase the penalty for bullying for persons with disabilities, up to five years in prison. The text of Article 1 of the law came after an amendment to the wording proposed by Counselor Ibrahim Al-Hunaidi, head of the Legislative Committee, in line with the text of Article 267 of the Penal Code.
Dr. Ayman Abul-Ela, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee of the Reform and Development Party and deputy of the Human Rights Committee in the House of Representatives, presented a medical responsibility bill in the House of Representatives. Abul-Ela explained that the bill aims to protect the patient from any damages he may suffer while receiving medical or health services, It also guarantees the protection of the doctor who performs his professional role. Representative Ahmed Bilal Al-Burlusi also submitted a draft law to criminalize the marriage of minors to serve as the first response to the objectives of the national strategy for human rights announced by the Egyptian state, including in the third axis (working to issue a law prohibiting child marriage), which is the same demand which was repeated by the President of the Republic on more than one occasion.
The Executive Authority: The Presidency of the Republic issues the formation of a high-level committee to look into the matter of dismissal without a disciplinary method, and the Ministry of Tourism interacts with citizens
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi issued Decree No. 441 of 2021 to form a committee affiliated with the Council of Ministers, headed by one of the deputy or assistant ministers of the Minister of Justice. It included representatives of the following ministries and agencies, provided that the grade of each of them is not less than excellent or its equivalent: A representative of the Ministry of Defence (Military Intelligence), A representative of the Ministry of Interior (National Security Sector) ,A representative of the Ministries of Justice and Finance and a representative of the Administrative Control Authority and the Central Agency. The decision stipulates that the committee meets at the invitation of its chairman at least once every three months and whenever the need arises at the committee’s headquarters in the Ministry of Justice. The committee’s deliberations are confidential, and its decisions are issued by a majority vote of the committee members
The committee is concerned with studying the availability of one of the reasons for dismissal other than the disciplinary path referred to in Article (1 bis) of Law No. 10 of 1972 in the case of the worker presented to it by the competent minister.
The Ministry of Tourism and heritage also issued a statement in response to what was circulated regarding the removal of the fish park from the list of Islamic, Coptic and Jewish religious sites. The Supreme Council of Antiquities confirmed that it did not and will not write off any antiquities from the list of ancient Egyptian, Islamic, Coptic, or Jewish monuments. The task of the Council, in accordance with the Antiquities Protection Law and its amendments, and that what was presented to the Standing Committee on Islamic, Coptic and Jewish Antiquities is to discuss the deletion of only a small area of the aquarium that does not contain any buildings registered as antiquities, as the Permanent Committee is the committee concerned with this matter according to the law.
The Presidency of the Republic is moving forward to appoint female judges to the State Council
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi issued Decree No. 446 of 2021 appointing 98 female judges in the State Council, transferred from the State Cases Authority and the Administrative Prosecution. It is the first decision of its kind that includes the appointment of women judges in the State Council. The decision included appointing 48 female judges at the rank of Assistant Counsellor B and 50 female judges at the rank of deputy. The decision stipulated that the seniority of the appointed judges shall be at the ranks of Assistant Counsel B and Deputy, from September 25, 2021.
The Judiciary: Multiple Delays in Terrorism and State Security Trials
The second circuit, Giza Criminal Terrorism, held at the Institute of Police Secretaries, examined the renewal of imprisonment of 193 citizens in the following cases: 975 for the year 2020, 810 for 2019, 800 for 2019, 585 for 2020, 580 for 2020, 311 for 2020, 238 for 2021, 1175 for 2018 1106 for the year 2020, 1017 for the year 2020, limiting the investigation of the Supreme State Security Prosecution.
The State Security Court has postponed hearing the Amal case until October 20, and Ziad Al-Alimi’s mother, Dr. Ikram Youssef on her personal Facebook page wrote “In short, of course, it is shameful, because he has lost his memory, and very quickly, because the session was adjourned to the 20th of this month. You know – suggestions for international public opinion that would weaken the state and its prestige and spread terror among the citizens!!, and then the court listened to the pleadings of the lawyers on behalf of the first three defendants, Ziad, Hisham and Hussam.. I want to tell you that Khaled Ali’s pleading was a wonderful piece of music! It was a precious mosaic panel done with the precision and mastery of a creative artist! We were all amazed!”
As the human rights activist and former member of the National Council for Human Rights, Ragia Omran, wrote on her Facebook page, “After the end of the session of the case of Ziad Al-Alimi, Hisham Fouad and Hussam Moanis in the Zainhum court, and as we left the court building, journalist Ikram Youssef, mother of the colleague Ziad Al-Alimi, was detained.” However, she returned an hour later to write again, “The update of Mrs. Akram’s salvation is with us and we are out of court.”
The opposition judge at the New Cairo Misdemeanour Court, held in the Fifth Settlement Courts complex, also renewed the detention of Dr. Ayman Mansour Nada, professor of media at Cairo University, for 15 days pending investigations into an accusation of insult and slander. A number of personalities and promotions prevented a state institution from carrying out its work, and decided earlier to imprison him for 4 days pending investigations. Mansour published on his page on the social networking site a number of articles that included accusations and criticisms of the President of Cairo University and a number of media professionals, as well as conversations that took place between him and the President of Cairo University and a number of university professors. The Faculty of Mass Communication at Cairo University had decided to suspend Dr. Ayman Mansour Nada, head of the Radio and Television Department, from work, on the accusation of violating the former college vice-dean and breaking university traditions and customs.
Security responds to the decision of the trial judge and releases Universal workers
The security authorities released two employees of the Universal Company in implementation of the decision of the opposition judge, they are Saeed Mohamed Abdel Latif, in connection with Case No. 12093 of 2021, and Mahmoud Mahmoud Haridi, in connection with Case No. 12094 of 2021, who were arrested for conducting a strike at the company, while the procedures for releasing a third worker are being completed. For his part, Shaaban Khalifa, head of the General Syndicate for Private Sector Workers, said that what is happening now at Universal is a normal thing, despite the agreement concluded by the Ministry of employment with the group in 2019, but it has not been implemented. Khalifa explained in an exclusive statements to Cairo 24, that the dues of more than 5,000 workers have not been paid, despite the fact that there is a memorandum issued by the Ministry to the Council of Ministers, whereby debts are revoked, and the state has already begun to disburse more than 2 billion pounds., from banks as loans to rearrange and start the group’s factories. However, the capital’s spending hasn’t given results despite the fact that the Universal group director always works in exportation.
Epidemiological situation
Hala Zayed, Minister of Health and Population, announced the receipt of 4 million and 424 thousand and 400 doses of the anti-Coronavirus vaccine produced by the Chinese company “Sinopharm”, today, Wednesday, at Cairo International Airport, with the participation of the Unified Procurement Authority, and in cooperation with the Chinese government, as part of efforts to the state to provide vaccines for the Coronavirus and to preserve the state’s gains in addressing the pandemic.
Tunisia
Legal newsletter
New arrests of journalists and politicians, and the military judiciary is in the picture again
On Sunday, October 3, the frozen MP Abdellatif Aloui announced in a Facebook post that his house was raided and that he was arrested by a police squad belonging to El-Gorjeni station.
On the same day, Al-Zaitouna TV announced the arrest of Amer Ayed, the channel’s journalist and presenter of the “Hassad-harvest 24” program, from his home.
In her Facebook post, attorney Inès Harrath said that “After reviewing him after hearing from the Judicial Division for criminal cases within the framework of a proxy, the military investigative judge in the Second Office of the Permanent Military Court authorizes the detention of media personality Amerr Ayed and MP Abdellatif Aloui.”
While the investigative judge in the second office of the permanent military court in Tunis responded to the defence’s request to postpone the interrogation of Frozen MP Abdellatif Aloui and keep him in a state of release, Al-Zaitouna TV said that a deposit warrant was issued in prison for the journalist Amer Ayed.
On the morning of Tuesday, October 5, he appeared before the investigative judge, according to what was reported by lawyer Samir Ben Omar, when he was questioned about the show “Hassad 24”, which was presented by the journalist on October 1st.
Al-Zaitouna Channel: Implementation of the HAICA decision to stop broadcasting by using public force
Yesterday, Wednesday, a number of agents of the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication (HAICA), the bailiffs, and members of the security forces stormed the channel’s headquarters and seized the broadcasting equipment.
In this context, it is mentioned that HAICA had issued a decision to stop broadcasting because the channel did not obtain the legal license needed to settle its legal status even after imposing financial penalties, but without any response from the aforementioned channel, according to a report by HAICA.
Head of the High Authority for Audio-Visual Communication (HAICA) Nouri Lajmi told Shams FM radio on Wednesday, October 6, that all illegal channels and radio stations are subject to the application of the procedures stipulated in Decree 116 of that, equipment confiscation, noting that the channels exposed to this are Nessma, Hannibal and Al-Quran Al Karim Radio.
The Journalists Syndicate is worried with the deteriorating state of freedoms and the escalation of attacks, prosecutions and referrals to the military judiciary in Tunisia
The National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists has expressed its concern over the deterioration of the state of freedoms in Tunisia, noting the escalation of attacks and prosecutions after recent opinions and ideas-related referrals to the military judiciary for.
In a statement on Wednesday, October 6, 2021, the Syndicate expressed its fear that these developments would undermine the gains of the revolution, the foundations of the civil state, and the values of democracy, pluralism and diversity.
The syndicate declared its absolute rejection of military trials of civilians for their opinions, positions and publications. It affirmed that this represents a setback for freedom of expression and a blow to democracy and the right to be different.
It also announced its refusal to track journalists and opinion-makers based on their opinions and ideas, and considers that professional errors and publishing issues are the domain of the regulatory authorities of the profession and Decree 115 of the press, printing and publishing. It expressed its adherence to Decree 115 and 116 as the only framework for organizing the profession.
Additionally, it warned of the danger of returning to the square of restrictions and silencing the mouths, calling on the President of the Republic to activate his previous pledges to guarantee rights and freedoms, according to the text of the statement.
New attacks on journalists and the union flags about legal follow-up
The head of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists, Mohamed Yessine Jlassi, said in a statement to Mosaique that the repeated and continuous attacks by the security forces are detrimental to Tunisia’s image.
Jlassi pointed out that the journalist on the Tunisian radio, Lilia Husseini, was attacked with extreme violence, accompanied by the lawyer, Yassin Azzaza, in front of the parliament building in Bardo, in addition to taking the journalist Faiza Arfaoui to a security center and editing a “ridiculous” report against her for filming without a license in violation of the law governing freedom of the press. The Four Facts team was arrested and a case was opened against it and referred to the Public Prosecutor on the grounds that they had carried out an investigative work.
The head of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists, Mohamed Yassin Jelassi, stressed that the syndicate will prosecute the aggressors, calling at the same time, the Ministry of the Interior and the Public Prosecution to play their role in protecting journalists and not to perpetuate a policy of impunity.
Electoral crimes… the file of the week
In a statement to the media on Tuesday, October 5, 2021, on the sidelines of a discussion workshop on “The Accountability Court’s Role in the Judicial Track on Elections and a Way to Revise the Electoral Law for a Successful Judgment”, Judge Fadhila Gargouri confirmed that the Court issued more than 350 preliminary rulings in electoral cases. She pointed out that the electoral law cuffs the court and lengthens the procedures for deciding cases.
Judge Gargouri said that “The work of the Court of Accounts has been launched since the issuance of the general report on the financing of the legislative and presidential election campaigns prematurely for the year 2019 and the report of the parties. In October this report was issued, and judicial work was launched and the court took over the invitation by the 14 state agents in the departments.”
She added, “With regard to the violations that the electoral law qualified the Court of Accounts to impose punishment, mainly related to articles 98, 99 and 163, namely failure to deposit, exceeding the ceiling, and disrespecting the obligations weighing on them as well as illegal funding.”
In this context, she confirmed that more than 350 primary judgments have been issued in this matter and its subject is financial violations and non-deposit, as well as determining the grant in relation to the lists that meet the necessary conditions.
The Independent High Electoral Commission: It is possible that no municipal list gets dropped
On Wednesday, a member of the Independent High Authority for Elections, Farouk Bouaskar, said that there is “the possibility of not dropping any winning list in the 2018 municipal elections due to the inability to issue final rulings before the end of the parliamentary term in 2023,” indicating that the authority can only implement court decisions after passing judgments.
Bouaskar, in a statement, attributed the reason for the slowness recorded in issuing the Court of Accounts decisions to the electoral law, which did not take into account the specificity of the electoral material, and that the Court of Accounts was subject to Decree No. 218 of 1971 related to the functioning of the Court of Accounts, especially in its chapters related to information and the implementation of judgments, contributes to the length of procedures, which is what It is not in line with the electoral time and the parliamentary term.
Postponement of consideration of the demand for the release of Seifeddine Makhlouf and Nidhal Saoudi
National media reported that the accusation chamber at the Court of Appeals in Tunis today, Wednesday, October 6, 2021, postponed consideration of the requests for the release of the two frozen MPs of the Al-Karama Coalition, Seifeddine Makhlouf and Nidhal Saoudi, until next week’s session.
Their defence team had previously appealed the decision of the military investigative judge to refuse to release them in the case related to the storming of Tunis-Carthage International Airport.
The same indictment chamber also decided to postpone consideration of the demand for the release of Saifeddine Makhlouf in the case related to insulting the judiciary and harming the morale of the national army.
Press conference for the defence authority in the airport case
The head of the defence in the airport case, Lawyer Anwar Aouled Ali, revealed during a press conference on Friday, October 1, 2021, that the suspended parliament member Maher Zaid, accused in the case, was summoned to appear again before the military court on October 6, after he was kept in a state of release.
Aouled Ali indicated the possibility of issuing a third prison deposit card against Maher Zaid to join the two deputies of the Dignity Coalition bloc, Nidhal Saoudi and Seifeddin Makhlouf, who are detained in connection with the airport case.
The head of the defence team in the airport case considered that the military judiciary could not be specialized in tracking civilians, especially lawyers.
Anwar Aoulad Ali stated that the Public Prosecutor at the Court of Justice Appeal filed an appeal against the decision not to relinquish the jurisdiction of the case in favour of the civil judiciary.
The file of “house arrest”, this is what the Administrative Court and the Union of Administrative Judges have decided, saying that the matter based on it is unconstitutional.
Administrative Court spokesman Imad al-Ghabri said, during his intervention on Mosaique Radio, that the court’s decision to reject the demands submitted to challenge the precautionary security decisions to place people under house arrest issued by the minister in charge of running the Ministry of the Interior, took place after all procedures were completed, all responses were received, and the investigation was sealed.
Al-Ghabri explained that the Ministry of Interior responded to the administrative court on all files related to house arrest. “Procedurally, in such cases, those concerned are not informed of the content of the files received by the court, but they can receive copies of the decisions, unlike the decisions to stay the execution,” he said.
In the same context, the President of the Union of Administrative Judges, Refka Mbarki, said that the Administrative Court’s rejection of all appeals submitted in the precautionary security decisions related to placing people under house arrest, which numbered 11, requires only the first president of the Administrative Court as the exclusive jurisdiction in the matter of suspension of execution.
She said that decisions to place people under house arrest were based on Decree No. 50 of 1978, which is unconstitutional, noting that the Tunisian Constitution stipulates that rights and freedoms can only be limited by virtue of a law and not by a Decree.
In a statement to “Al-Maghreb” newspaper, issued today, Tuesday, October 5, Rifqa mbarki stressed the need to amend the current legal system in the direction of assigning this jurisdiction to the heads of the first instance circuit courts, provided that their decisions are subject to appeal in accordance with the constitution as it guarantees two-levels litigation principle.
Chawki Tabib in an interview with Al-Jazeera: I live in “enforced disappearance”
The former head of the Anti-Corruption Commission says that he internationalized his case because his placement under house arrest was an unfair decision, and considered himself detained, as a form of “enforced disappearance” is directed against him, and security forces are recruited to monitor him throughout the day.
From his highly-guarded residence in the Ennasr district of the Tunisian capital, the former head of the Anti-Corruption Commission, talks about the reasons for his placement under house arrest, and the relationship of former Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh to this, as he sent a special message to President Kais Saied.
In an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, he said that his placement under house arrest was a “malicious decision”, for submitting corruption files against influential figures.
Regarding the reality of the country in light of the exceptional measures taken by President Kais Saied, Tabib said that democracy in Tunisia is going through a difficult test, and Tunisians must be aware of the sensitivity and danger of the stage, and that “the gathering of powers with one hand leads to tyranny, albeit in good faith.”
Bassam Trifi: “The general position on the July 25 procedures is about to change. We were worried… Today, personally, I am afraid.”
Bassam Trifi, vice-president of the Tunisian League for the Defence of Human Rights, said during his intervention on Radio Mosaique that “the general position regarding the July 25 procedures is about to change.. today I am personally afraid”.
He continued, “I am a jurist and an activist, and I call things by their proper names… Kais Saied’s gathering of the authorities without supervision or accountability is scary.”
Trifi also called for the promulgation of a new decree according to which a monitoring body for the decrees should be established. He also criticized the situation under house arrest and the restriction of movement for a number of businessmen, and continued, “This is an atmosphere of tyranny… Democracy has been suspended by Decree 117, and I am afraid.” He also stressed that “there is no going back to before July 25, just as there is no going back to before January 14. This is a red line.”
Addressing the President of the Republic, he added, “We would like to know where you are going… We support you in all the reform paths… But the situation is not satisfactory… Please adjust the balance in a way that guarantees rights and freedoms.”
وأضاف بسام الطريفي مخاطبا رئيس الجمهورية ”نحبو نعرفو وين ماشين.. نحن نُساندك في كل مسار الاصلاح.. لكن الوضع ما يعجبش.. رجاء تعديل الكفة بما يضمن الحقوق والحريات”.
Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights: Tunisia is an unsafe country for migrants
The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights expressed its line of “forced deportations where the lives of migrants are endangered in contradiction with Tunisia’s international obligations.”
The forum called for an international maritime rescue operation in the central Mediterranean to reduce the escalating human tragedy and transfer migrants to safe ports, reiterating its refusal to turn Tunisia into a platform for disembarking and sorting migrants, succumbing to European pressures.
It added that the moral, political and legal responsibility weighs upon the European Union and its countries, which imposed unfair paths of cooperation in immigration issues that contributed to the rise of death at sea and deepened the migrant crisis in the countries of the South, according to a statement of the Forum.
It called on the Tunisian state and UN organizations to mobilize logistical and material capabilities to provide basic and humanitarian services to migrants and refugees. He called on the Presidency of the Republic to address the systematic violations against migrants and refugees, review the tracks of coordination and cooperation with the European Union and its countries in the field of irregular migration, and adopt a national strategy for integrative migration and asylum that preserves the dignity and rights of migrants.
The forum considered that Tunisia is an unsafe country for immigrants, in view of the political, economic and social situation that Tunisia is currently going through and the violations faced by immigrants and refugees.
Political newsletter:
Al-Ajabouni: If I were in a happy place, I would expel everyone who implied me in declaring false numbers
Economist and Frozen MP Hichem Al-Ajbouni considered that President Kais Saied’s repeated mistakes by providing false numbers and data undermine his credibility, according to a post on his Facebook account.
This post comes as a comment on Saied’s statement during his meeting with the newly appointed Prime Minister, Najla Bouden, that the number of demonstrators who came out on October 3 in various cities of the country in support of his announced decisions on September 22, amounted to 1.8 million.
Al-Ajbouni questioned these statistics, considering that those around the president implicated him by providing wrong data and numbers, according to his estimation.
The frozen deputy advised the head of state to expel anyone who implicated him in the statement with false data and numbers.
It is reported that Kais Saied announced, during an interview with Youssef Bouzakher, President of the Supreme Judicial Council, that the number of supporters of his decisions who demonstrated last Saturday, October 3, 2021, reached one million and 800 thousand people, during a video broadcast on the official page of the Presidency of the Republic, and it was later deleted.
Hamma Hammami: We are following up on foreigners’ data in order to know the President’s program
Hamma Hammami, Secretary-General of the Workers’ Party, said in a statement to Mosaique on Monday, October 4, 2021, that the President of the Republic, Kais Saied, does not deal in the same way with Tunisians and foreigners, in response to the news of the holding of a national dialogue in Tunisia, which was issued in the Elysée statement last Saturday.
On Saturday, October 2, the Presidency of the Republic announced a phone call between the Tunisian president and his French counterpart that dealt with the relationship between the two countries, the organization of the upcoming Francophone summit in Tunisia, and the issue of reducing Tunisia’s quota of entry visas to France, while Elysée announced in a statement on its official website that the same call dealt with the economic, social and political difficulties that Tunisia is going through, and pointed out that the French side urged the Tunisian authorities to expedite the formation of a government to move towards a comprehensive national dialogue, which was confirmed by kais Saied, stressing that a national dialogue will be held as soon as the formation of the government is completed, according to the text of the French communication. .
Libya
December elections: Al-Manfi alludes to the existence of alternative initiatives in the continuation of the legal and constitutional obstruction, and the House of Representatives announces that it has completed the procedures necessary to hold the elections on time
During the press conference he held with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the head of the Libyan Presidential Council, Mohamed Al-Manfi, affirmed the follow-up to work to complete the elections in the country, according to what was agreed upon in the outcomes of Geneva and the Berlin Conference-2, adding that “the Libyan people do not forget those who stood with them and whoever stood against them during this ordeal,” and praised “the positive role Germany, led by Merkel, played during the last period through the two Berlin tracks,” adding, “We will follow up on the initiatives put forward in case the legal and constitutional blockage continues, during this period to hold the parliamentary and presidential elections”. The press conference happened during the official ceremony for the President of the Libyan Presidential Council and will last for two days. It began with a meeting with a number of Arab ambassadors accredited there.
In the same context, Parliament Spokesman Abdullah Blehaq announced in a tweet via his Twitter account, “The parliament’s election law has been approved in today’s session, so that the parliament will have completed the necessary legislation to organize presidential and parliamentary elections.” Law No. (10) of 2021 regarding the election of the next House of Representatives.
Elections without mercenaries, the slogan of the 5 + 5 committee, and intense international pressure for the exit of mercenaries
Recently, the pace of the international movement around Libya has accelerated, in an attempt to save the road map and hold the upcoming elections on time. From international conferences for meetings of Libyan officials with their counterparts in Egypt and Germany, to a French conference that Paris intends to organize next month, which led to the beginning of the exit of groups of foreign fighters. from Libyan territory.
Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Al-Manqoush stated that some groups of foreign fighters have left Libya, and that the minister during a press conference in Kuwait, with her counterpart Ahmed Nasser Al-Sabah, and in response to a journalist’s question about the start of the mercenaries’ departure, said : “The news is true and that a small group is left, and we are still seeking the exit of larger numbers.” Al-Manqoush stressed the need for all fighters, foreign forces and mercenaries to leave Libyan territory. A high-ranking Libyan source said that a Turkish plane had arrived at Mitiga airport at the same time, and buses carrying Syrian mercenaries had arrived as a start to evacuate them to Turkey. The numbers were weak. He pointed out that “So far it is not known which numbers will be fully withdrawn.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights revealed that Turkish intelligence had promoted a decision to deport 2,000 Syrian mercenaries from Libyan territory to Syria, confirming that these elements were instructed to pack their belongings. The Turkish decision coincided with talks between Ankara and Cairo on the normalization of relations between the two countries, one of the axes of which was the deportation of mercenaries, which was confirmed by the Egyptian capital in a meeting between Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Vice President of the Presidential Council Abdullah Al-Lafi.
A member of the Joint Military Committee “5 + 5” Major General Al-Fituri Greibel also said that the committee will meet in Geneva over a period of two days, to discuss the file of the expulsion of mercenaries and foreign forces from Libyan territory, and that the UN mission will be present in Geneva. It is expected that international parties will attend, warning that the international observers have not yet arrived in Sirte, except for one previous visit in which they identified some sites, and that the deportation plan will be in two phases. The first in which the mercenaries will be removed, and the second during which the foreign forces will be removed, and that there is no date so far. It has been decided to start any stage, but we hope to start implementing the first stage before the elections begin. We want elections without mercenaries, and we will start deporting small numbers, perhaps a hundred or two from each side every week, in addition to the material cost and the extremely sensitive security aspect represented in the fears of each party from the other side as a result of the withdrawal of its loyal elements. There are also fears that any external party will try to blow up the entire process, and that international support, specifically from the American and British sides, for this plan developed by the Libyan military leaders will be enough to strengthen their support in the face of any parties that refuse or obstruct in any way the start of its implementation, which will be discussed in all its details in a meeting in Geneva over a period of two days with the members of the UN mission.
Irregular immigrants are dead at sea and tortured on land
Washington expressed its concern about the events in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and the exposure of migrants in the Gargaresh region to killing and excessive use of force. The US embassy said in a brief post on its official account on the social networking site Facebook, that it shares with the United Nations mission in Libya, concerns about the fate of migrants and refugees in Libya and that human rights and the preservation of the dignity of all people, including migrants and refugees, must remain a priority for all governments. The embassy added that the events that occurred in Gargaresh raises concerns and must be investigated immediately. The United Nations Mission in Libya, in a statement, expressed grave concern about what was reported about migrants and refugees in the Gargaresh area of Tripoli who were killed and subjected to excessive use of force, which resulted in the death of a migrant and the injury of at least 15 others, during the Libyan security authorities’ raid on temporary homes and shelters, and indicated the arrest of at least 4,000 people, including women. And children, during this security operation, while unarmed migrants were harassed, beaten and shot inside their homes, stressing that most of the people who were arrested are now under arbitrary detention in detention facilities. It was reported by the Department for Combating Irregular Migration of the Ministry of Interior in the capital, Tripoli, and confirmed that the use of excessive, lethal and unjustified force during law enforcement operations is a violation of national and international law, calling for an investigation into the reported use of lethal force by the security forces.
The Red Crescent branch in the city of Zawiya said that the bodies were found, near the city in western Libya, and were handed over to the authorities for burial. Libyan health authorities have begun vaccinating migrants in the country against the coronavirus, in cooperation with the United Nations migration agency, and Libya has announced more than 34,400 cases of COVID-19 and 4,720 deaths.
The Libyan authorities announced the exhumation of 10 bodies from a new mass grave in the city of Tarhuna, in the west of the country. The “General Authority for Search and Identification of Missing Persons” said in a statement: “A new mass grave was found at the public landfill in Tarhuna,” and 4 unidentified bodies were recovered from the first site, while 6 unidentified bodies were extracted from the second site. A week ago, the authority announced, “5 bodies were exhumed from a new mass grave in the agricultural project 5 km in Tarhuna.
The number of mass graves discovered in Tarhuna has exceeded 35 cemeteries since the first grave was found in June 2020, according to the authority.
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