livus

livus, 9 months ago

It already has been, which is why its better not to editorialise or it looks like a new/different article.

livus, 9 months ago (edited 9 months ago)

Additional context in this Windspeaker article from Dec 2022: Class action being pursued on coerced sterilization of First Nations, Inuit women in Quebec.

The lawsuit was originally against the hospital but the judge has only permitted it to be against the doctors.

Legal action is restricted to the single health authority because health services in Quebec must be sued individually.

The Joliette hospital is the same hospital that Joyce Echaquan, also an Atikamekw woman, died in in 2020. Echaquan streamed on Facebook the appalling racism she endured as she was mocked and insulted by female staff. A coroner’s inquest urged the Quebec government to recognize the existence of systemic racism and to make changes.

“The women who contacted us were all Atikamekw. Indigenous women who go to Joliette hospital are mainly Atikamekw,” said Lemay Langlois.

However, there are more than just Atikamekw women who have suffered forced sterilization, and more hospitals that have practised forced sterilization than just Joliette.

Last month, a report released by the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Health and Social Services Commission (FNQLHSSC) and the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT) indicated that as many as 55 First Nations and Inuit women had suffered forced sterilization in hospitals in Quebec. The last case was in 2019.

Free and Informed consent: Imposed sterilizations among First Nations and Inuit Women in Quebec was released Nov. 24 after being presented at the chiefs table of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec and Labrador.

The report outlined 35 specific cases. Co-author Professor Suzy Basile, Canada’s Research Chair on Indigenous Women’s Issues at UQAT, said they were expecting to hear from 20 more women.

livus, 9 months ago

From the article:

The lead plaintiffs, who are identified by the initials U.T. and M.X., are also putting some of the blame on an unnamed integrated health and social services centre, known in Quebec as a CISSS.

Identified only as CISSS A, the health authority is accused of having allowed, “by its actions or its negligence, that wrongful or criminal acts be perpetrated with complete impunity by doctors.”

The authorization states the two lead plaintiffs gave birth five times in hospital and that they were allegedly given tubal ligations after their fifth births.

U.T. denies having consented to the surgery, or even having been informed of it, while M.X. denies having consented in a “free and informed” manner, alleging undue pressure from the doctor.

The plaintiffs are claiming unspecified damages for women who allegedly underwent the procedures, as well as their partners, children and grandchildren, and heirs.

Judge Granosik wrote that the alleged actions of the doctors, if proven, “constitute a serious attack on fundamental rights and freedoms.”

“It is quite possible to argue that sterilizing a woman without her free and informed consent constitutes both a civil fault, an ethical fault, a criminal act and a violation of the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.”

A university study released late last year found there have been at least 22 cases of forced sterilization of First Nations and Inuit women in Quebec since 1980. The researchers at Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue reported that several of the 35 study participants did not realize they had been sterilized until years after, when they sought treatment for fertility issues.

Others who had signed a form consenting to the procedures said the information they received from medical staff had not been clear about the procedures’ impact on their future ability to have children, the authors reported.

The allegations included in the class action have not been proven in court.

Quebec’s Health Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

livus, 9 months ago

Yes, I hope so.

So far the person who owns the cable car has been arrested, not sure how that is going to help.

livus, 9 months ago (edited 9 months ago)

a bit like handcuffed yourself to your student loan lender, and giving them your wallet

My student loan lender is my country's government, and my loan is administered by the tax department, so... yeah...

livus, 9 months ago

This is especially bad for Haiti where 20,000 people have fled their homes due to gang violence this year.

livus, 9 months ago

From the article:

Mint on 20 August reported that after the UN World Food Programme, and three nations—Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines—had appealed to New Delhi to resume rice exports to their nations following India’s decision to suspend non-basmati white rice shipments to check prices effective from 20 July.

Bhutan requested India to allow rice exports after India’s ban on shipments of non-basmati rice caused global rice prices to rise. Bhutan in late July made a diplomatic request for rice shipments of up to 90,000 tonnes.

Similarly, a request from the Mauritius to exempt it from the prohibition for a supply of up to 14,000 tonnes was also received earlier this month.

“Consignments of 60 containers carrying about 1,500 tonnes of non-basmati rice were due to sail on 19 August from Mundra port (in Gujarat). After the clearance, the containers will reach Mauritius in the first week of September before their rice stocks exhaust on 15 September. A total requirement of 14,000 tonnes of non-basmati rice is to be imported from India this year," one of the government officials said.

Mauritius is a close and trusted foreign partner of India and annually imports around 24,000 tonnes of long grain white rice that is consumed by vulnerable groups.

During April-June of the ongoing financial year, India exported 784.14 tonnes of rice to Mauritius as against 843.46 tonnes during the corresponding period last year. In 2022-23 financial year, nearly 10,040 tonnes rice were exported to the nation by India.

Queries mailed to the embassies of Mauritius and the Bhutan in New Delhi, and India’s department of food and public distribution remained unanswered at press time.

India is the world’s biggest rice exporter, accounting for nearly 45% of the global rice trade. In April-June of the current financial year, the country exported 1.55 million tonnes of non-basmati white rice and 371,000 tonnes of broken rice compared with last year’s 1.15 mt and 141,000 tonnes, respectively.Neighbouring countries, including Bangladesh and Nepal, are heavily dependent on Indian rice, while some African countries are purchasers of broken rice.

India’s rice export ban, however, allows for government-to-government deals and for requests made by “friendly countries" with genuine food-security needs...

livus, 9 months ago

I think South East Asia is likely to be hit hard by India's rice export ban.

livus, 9 months ago

From the article:

This is the second general election since the ouster of longtime ruler Robert Mugabe in a coup in 2017.

Twelve presidential candidates are on the ballot, but the main contest is expected to be between 80-year-old Mnangagwa, known as “the crocodile,” and 45-year-old opposition leader Nelson Chamisa. Mnangagwa narrowly beat Chamisa in a disputed election in 2018.

Chamisa hopes to break the ruling ZANU-PF party’s 43-year hold on power. Zimbabwe has had only two leaders since gaining independence from white minority rule in 1980.

A runoff election will be held Oct. 2 if no candidate wins a clear majority in the first round. The election also determines the makeup of the 350-seat parliament and nearly 2,000 local council positions.

“It’s becoming tougher to survive in this country,” said Basil Chendambuya, an early voter in a working-class township in Harare. “I am hoping for change. This is my third time to vote and I am praying hard that this time my vote counts.”
He said his two adult children are working menial jobs and surviving “hand to mouth.”

The southern African nation of 15 million people has vast mineral resources, including Africa’s largest reserves of lithium, a key component in making electric car batteries. But watchdogs have long alleged that widespread corruption and mismanagement have gutted much of the country’s potential.

European Union chief election observer Fabio Massimo Castaldo told reporters that around 30% of polling stations in Harare had significant delays in opening, often linked to the lack of essential materials, “notably, in many cases, paper ballots.”

The Zimbabwe Elections Support Network, a non-governmental organization, said the delays were “disproportionately concentrated” in urban areas, which are opposition strongholds.

“This is very strange,” Nevers Mumba, head of the regional Southern Africa Development Community observer mission, told reporters.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission acknowledged the late distribution of ballot papers at some polling stations and blamed it on printing delays “arising from numerous court challenges.” Governing party activists and the opposition had brought a flurry of cases over who could run in both presidential and parliamentary elections.

Chamisa alleged intimidation in rural areas but said his supporters should be patient. “We are winning this election,” he said. “They know it and that’s why they are panicking.”

Ahead of the election, opposition and rights groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International accused Mnangagwa of seeking to silence dissent amid rising tensions due to a currency crisis, a sharp hike in food prices, a weakening public health system and a lack of formal jobs.

After voting, Mnangagwa expressed confidence he would win. “If I think I am not going to take it, then I will be foolish,” he said. He encouraged people to be peaceful.

Mnangagwa was a close ally of Mugabe and served as vice president before a fallout ahead of the 2017 coup. He has sought to portray himself as a reformer, but many accuse him of being even more repressive.

Zimbabwe has been under United States and EU sanctions for the past two decades over allegations of human rights abuses, charges denied by the governing party. Mnangagwa has repeated much of Mugabe’s rhetoric against the West, accusing it of seeking to topple his regime.

The Carter Center, invited by the government to observe the polls, said 30 members of its 48-member observer team had not been accredited on the eve of the elections.

Several local human rights activists, including lawyers and a clergyman viewed as critical of the government, also were denied accreditation to observe the vote. The U.S. State Department condemned Zimbabwe’s decision to deny accreditation to them and to several foreign journalists.

livus, 9 months ago (edited 9 months ago)

Well, obviously Ukraine has got their own war now, so the military trade relationship they had with the Myanmar junta must be well and truly over. I hope.

But the others seem like likely candidates.

I just took a look and it seems like some of the biggest Foreign Direct Investment in Myanmar in the past couple of years has been Singapore and China; other direct investors are Japan, South Korea, Bangladesh, India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the UK, the US, Switzerland, Belize, Seychelles, Samoa... (sources include Reuters last year, the junta this year. But there was a huge funding drop this year according to The Irrawaddy).

livus, 9 months ago

A range of countries have been complicit in genocides in Myanmar over the years. The stated aim of the semi democracy period was to attract foreign investment.

livus, 9 months ago

Eh, Aung San Suu Kyi's policies were more pro-China than the Tatmadaw junta's are. Beijing would probably have preferred her leadership.

livus, 9 months ago

From the article:

“The climate crisis is now turning extremely severe in Kerala. Contrary to the last four years, when the state witnessed high-intensity rains during the Southwest Monsoon, resulting in many floods and landslides, now there are ominous signs of a fast-approaching drought,” said P Abubacker, president of the Ummini Padasekhara Samithy, a forum of rice growers in the Ummini region of the Palakkad district.

“Palakkad is the traditional rice bowl for the rest of Kerala. We, the farmers here, have almost abandoned paddy’s first crop season cultivation due to the lack of rains and escalating heat levels. Paddy seedlings are wilting, and we have no means to recover from the crisis now,” he added.

Known as the gateway of monsoon in the country, Kerala is now staring at the worst drought in the past few years, having recorded a 44 percent deficit in seasonal rainfall. Reports from across the state indicate the situation is headed for the worse.

In the Udumbanchola taluk in the high ranges of the Idukki district, pepper farmers are also worried. The lack of rains has badly affected the flowering of pepper vines in the region, where the deficit this year has been estimated at 61 percent.

In the absence of rain, pepper vines lack new sprouts. In Kerala, Wayanad and Idukki are the major pepper growing areas, and the farmers feel production would be dismal this time because of the climate change-induced change in rain patterns.

Across the state, insecurity is heavy among the growers of cardamom, ginger, coffee and other cash crops as well.

“The heat ​now feels unprecedented compared with the last 10 years. Cultivation is badly affected as plants are wilting​ under the scorching sun,” said Echome Gopi, a small-scale farmer​ of Kalpetta in the Wayanad district.

​>The east-flowing Kabini River remains almost dried up in the Pulpally and Mullankolli panchayats of Wayanad. Kabini is the major feeder of South India’s inter-state river Cauvery.
waterKerala is now facing an unprecedented kind of worsening climatic situation.

​In the low-lying Kuttanad region of the Alappuzha district, the lack of rain poses a major threat to rice cultivation, a situation exacerbated by the high intrusion of saline water from the sea.

​In Kuttanad, the residents are forced to depend on the contaminated water in the surrounding backwater region for their domestic needs. They must wait for government boats to meet the safe drinking water sources demand.

​In the tribal heartland of Attappad, the scarcity of drinking water is acute. Wells and ponds have dried up in the area, where groundwater has been depleted to alarming levels.

In the Eruthempathy, Vadakarapathy, and Kozhinjampara panchayats in Palakkad, residents have to wait for the water-carrying trucks that arrive thrice a week.

“We have had only two-three spells of rain since January. This is the time to sow seeds, but there is no water. We are also going to face a severe drinking water crisis. The agriculture office gave us vegetable seeds for the Onam market, but we could not do anything,” lamented SP Venkatachalam, a tribal farmer from Santhanpara​ in Idukki.

KP Rajappan Nair, another farmer from Pooppara in Idukki, echoed his concerns. “This year, agriculture will be a complete loss due to the unavailability of water. The Poopara area is well known for its agriculture, but this Onam, we will not have any of our products in the market,” Nair said.

​Across the state, the heat level has also started rising due to the absence of rain. On Saturday, the Integrated Rural Technology Centre at Palakkad recorded 32.3 degrees Celsius as the daytime temperature. Normally, it is below 28 in August and September.

​In the four months of Southwest monsoon, two months are already over, and experts say a drought that may spread over at least four months is now on the cards.

This contradicts the earlier forecast of above-normal rainfall issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for the southern peninsula.

​>The scarcity of rains has also evoked larger concerns in the power sector. As per figures available on 20 August, only 36 percent of water remains in the reservoirs managed by the state electricity board.

[Article continues]

livus, 9 months ago

From the article:

Deputy Inspector General of Administration Police Noor Gabow, who is leading the Kenyan mission, did not return a message seeking comment.

Earlier this month, the U.S. said it would introduce a U.N. Security Council resolution that would authorize Kenya to lead a multinational police force and provide 1,000 officers. No timetable for the resolution has been given.

Kenya’s announcement raised concerns, given that its police force has been criticized for alleged killings and torture. On Wednesday, a former police officer considered to be Haiti’s most powerful gang leader warned he would fight any foreign armed force if it committed any abuses.

From January 1 until Aug. 15, more than 2,400 people in Haiti were reported killed, more than 950 kidnapped and another 902 injured, according to Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Among those killed this week is a local municipal representative, his wife and child, she said.

Shamdasani noted that the Grand Ravine gang began attacking several neighborhoods last week, killing some people for supporting a violent uprising by civilians that targets suspected gang members.

Since late April to mid-August, more than 350 people have been lynched as part of the movement dubbed “bwa kale.” Among them are 310 alleged gang members, 46 members of the public and a police officer, she said.

Haiti’s National Police forced the gang out of one area on Tuesday, Shamdasani said.“However, the situation remains extremely insecure as the police subsequently withdrew and gang members are still operating in surrounding areas,” she said.

The violence forced some 5,000 people to flee their homes this week. They joined more than 200,000 others who have done the same since last year, with many staying in makeshift and extremely unsanitary shelters.

Overall, at least 15 people were killed from Aug. 13-16 during the attack by the Grand Ravine gang, including two police officers and two children, according to the Center for Analysis and Research on Human Rights, a Haitian nonprofit. More than two dozen homes also were torched, the group said.

On Thursday, Jerry Chandler, Haiti’s civil protection director, held a press conference to provide limited details on those affected by the recent surge in violence.

“Unfortunately, the Civil Protection cannot for the moment draw up an exhaustive assessment because we do not have access to the areas,” he said. Chandler added that the government is distributing water and hot meals to those displaced.

Haitian gangs have grown more powerful since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, and they are estimated to now control up to 80% of the capital of Port-au-Prince.

livus, 9 months ago

From the article:

Saudi border guards have fired small arms and sometimes mortar shells at Ethiopian migrants trying to enter the Gulf kingdom through Yemen, killing hundreds of people since last year, New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) alleged on Monday.

The group's report draws on interviews with 38 Ethiopians and four relatives of people who tried to cross into Saudi Arabia from Yemen between March 2022 and June 2023, in addition to using satellite imagery, videos and photos.

Recent investigations by HRW have suggested that the killings are still taking place....

"Saudi officials are killing hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers in this remote border area out of view of the rest of the world," HRW researcher Nadia Hardman said in a statement.

Hardman told DW about the processes of interviewing people but also conducting a digital investigation, which she said "really exposes visually what is happening."

"Through satellite imagery we're able to plot Saudi border guard posts all along the border, demonstrating that the Saudis knew or should have known that they were firing on migrants and asylum seekers and women and kids," she said.

"Generally smaller groups trying to cross were faced with shootings by Saudi border guards, but [there was] really quite terrible stuff where people said that they were asked what limb of their body they wanted to have shot and then they were shot in that limb," Hardman told DW.

"Many people now have lifelong injuries and are stranded with limited medical assistance inside Yemen," Hardman said.
Some interviewees also said border guards sometimes asked victims "in which limb of their body they would prefer to be shot," the report said. 

"All interviewees described scenes of horror: women, men, and children strewn across the mountainous landscape severely injured, dismembered, or already dead," it said.

The latest killings appear to be "widespread and systematic" and may amount to crimes against humanity, Hardman said...

According to The Associated Press, a Saudi government official, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly, called the HRW allegations "unfounded and not based on reliable sources."

He offered no evidence to support the assertion.

Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia denied a UN report from October claiming that "cross-border artillery shelling and small arms fire by Saudi Arabia security forces killed approximately 430 migrants" in southern Saudi Arabia and northern Yemen during the first four months of 2022.

[Article continues]

livus, 9 months ago

Yes, I will be surprised if it's not true but I would like to see some more investigative reporting on this.

livus, 9 months ago

I agree with a lot of what they are saying, but I think there's a big downside potential for co option and legislative capture for their own ends.

livus, 9 months ago

From the article:

A 2021 United Nations report said around 87% of the $540 billion in total annual subsidies to agricultural producers included measures that were price distorting and potentially harmful to nature and human health.

In addition, subsidies caused $4-$6 trillion in damage to nature each year, a landmark 2021 UK report on the economics of biodiversity said.

While a global deal to preserve biodiversity, including reform of subsidies, was struck in December in Montreal, it was crucial that richer countries acted quickly, said Helena Wright, policy director at the FAIRR Initiative, a grouping of investors managing $70 trillion focused on farming issues.

"Investors are calling on the G20 to lead by example and ensure these commitments are met – to the benefit of the climate and nature."

To help fix the issue, the investors called for governments to link their financial support to the sector with their environmental obligations, including the Paris Agreement on climate change and the pledge to protect biodiversity.

They should also shift incentives to focus on sustainable agriculture; remove subsidies from products with a high impact on climate-damaging emissions, such as dairy or red meat; and increase funding to help workers impacted by the switch...

Launched in 2016, the FAIRR Initiative provides data, research and advocacy initiatives that address the risks and opportunities in the food sector.

Among its most high-profile wins was the successful lobbying of the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization to create a global roadmap for the food sector out to 2050, with the results due to be released at November's COP28 climate talks in Dubai.

A call two years ago for G20 nations to disclose targets to reduce agricultural emissions in their national net-zero plans was also picked up by the COP28 hosts, who are asking governments to sign a declaration that includes such a pledge.

livus, 9 months ago

From the article:

This unit, established with the aim of preventing Sri Lankans going abroad on tourist visas from becoming victims of human trafficking and providing proper guidance to Sri Lankan migrant workers, is expected to focus more attention on those who primarily go to Malaysia, Oman, Dubai and Abu Dhabi on tourist visas.

The SMPU will be in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week at the airport premises.

This unit, operated under the leadership of the National Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force (NAHTTF) established under the Ministry of Defense, consists of the officers of Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), Department of Immigration and Emigration (DIE), Criminal Investigation Department (CID), and State Intelligence Service (SIS) with a major contribution from the SLBFE to its operations.

The unit can achieve its objectives more efficiently, since it is possible to cover various aspects related to the field of migration by working together in several organizations that contribute to the prevention of illegal foreign employment and human trafficking, the Minister said.

It is hoped that the experience gained by reviewing the daily reports obtained by this unit which was established as a pilot project for three months, and paying attention to the new trends in the world related to human trafficking, will lead to the next steps to prevent Sri Lankan migrant workers from becoming victims of human trafficking.

The Select Committee of Parliament to ensure gender equity and equality in May instructed the respective authorities to implement a ‘Safe Migration Promotion Unit’ as a three-month pilot program to prevent illegal migration following the November 2022 human trafficking incident reported in Oman.

livus, 9 months ago

He was also among the worst men in the world.

livus, 9 months ago

Thank you! It was interesting seeing some themes or structures of feeling across the different genres.

(Having trouble with kbin today, so sorry about the double post before).

livus, 9 months ago

I never understood it either.

But now I'm on kbin and can interact with mastodon I follow a few of them that I see in my magazine. There seem to be a lot of scientists posting stuff like sea ice updates.

livus, 9 months ago

Thanks!

livus, 9 months ago

I would point to history though

Just curious, are you pointing to history because you are adhering to moral relativism (i.e you think that doing those things was just fine because so many people thought it was)?

livus, 9 months ago

I'm actually not trying to argue with you, @Candelestine, just trying to work out what your perceived "objective position" is so I can understand you. It does kind of sound like moral relativism if you think "wrong" is only a construct.

If that's the case, I can see why you don't believe in inalienable human rights.