News archive: April 2012
10 April 2012
On 8 April 2012, Afghanistan and the United States concluded an agreement under which the US hands control of special operations missions to Afghan forces, including night raids, relegating American troops to a supporting role and bringing the raids under Afghan judicial authority.
Afghan forces can still call on American troops for help and authorize them to enter Afghan residences and private compounds. An interministry Afghan command center with representatives of the Defense and Interior Ministries, as well as the National Directorate of Security, would review or develop information about potential targets in consultation with Americans, who would continue to provide extensive intelligence support. The interministry group would then decide whether to go after a target and send Afghan special operations forces to carry out the raid. The Afghans can request American assistance at any point in the operation — for intelligence, for back-up military support, air support, medical evacuation and post-operation intelligence gathering.
The agreement covers all night raids carried out by special operations forces. However, a small number of night operations are conducted under other auspices, including special C.I.A.-trained units, that are not covered by the agreement.
Source: New York Times | U.S. Transfers Control of Night Raids to Afghanistan
10 April 2012
On 21 March 2012, the District Court of the Hague awarded €1 million ($1.33 million) in compensation to a Palestinian doctor tortured and jailed in Libya along with five Bulgarian nurses for purportedly infecting children with the AIDS virus, the doctor’s lawyer said Tuesday. The award is directed against 12 former Libyan government officials who were responsible for the torture.
Initially the claim was also directed at Gadaffi, but the Dutch government took the position that he had immunity and the complaint thus could not be served to him, after which his name was removed from the claim. As to the others, no issue of immunity was raised by either the government or the court, and the defendants did not appear. A parallel claim against Libya, that until now has refused to pay compensation, is pending before the Human Rights Committee (raising interesting questions of shared responsibility between states and individuals).
Source: Khaleej Times | Palestinian medic gets Libyan jail compensation
Source: The Guardian | Dutch court compensates Palestinian for Libya jail
10 April 2012
In an op-ed in the New York Times, Thomas L. Friedman explains how the Arab spring was driven not only by political and economic stresses, but, less visibly, by environmental, population and climate stresses as well. He notes: ´If we focus only on the former and not the latter, we will never be able to help stabilize these societies´.
Source: New York Times | The Other Arab Spring
4 April 2012
On 14 December 2011 the European Parliament decided not to renew the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Union and Morocco signed in 2005. This agreement granted licenses to EU vessels to fish in Morocco’s Atlantic waters, without distinguishing between the waters of Morocco and those of Western Sahara. Western Sahara is a territory annexed by Morocco, that continues to strive for self-determination. A 2002 legal opinion of UN Legal Advisor Hans Corell expressed that exploitation of the territory’s resources could only be considered legal if the Sahrawi population were consulted and benefited.
The vote in Parliament was largely based on a report by MEP Carl Haglund, who raised the question of the legality of an agreement including fishing rights off the coast of Western Sahara and the question of the benefit to the Sahrawi people.
Source: Think Africa Press | Unexpected Victory for Western Sahara Campaigners at the European Parliament
Source: Presseurop | Western Sahara sinks EU-Morocco accord