Uzbek in Lombard Odier Money-Laundering Case Was Unfairly Detained, Says UN Panel
The June opinion by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention makes repeated references to the Swiss case against Gulnara Karimova and Lombard Odier, and while it isn't legally binding defense lawyers could use its conclusions to try to weaken the prosecutors' case.
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Los Angeles Times
3 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Congo and Rwanda-backed rebels pledge to end decades-long war. Here's what to know
DAKAR, Senegal — The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda-backed rebels have signed a declaration of principles for a permanent ceasefire in eastern Congo, where ethnic tensions and a quest for rich minerals have resulted in one of Africa's longest conflicts, with thousands killed this year alone. The African Union called Saturday's signing, facilitated by Qatar, a 'major milestone' in peace efforts. Qatari authorities said it paves the way for 'a comprehensive peace that addresses the deep-rooted causes of the conflict' in the Central African nation. Rwanda-backed M23 is the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups fighting for control in eastern Congo. With 7 million people displaced in the country, the United Nations has called the conflict 'one of the most protracted, complex, serious humanitarian crises on Earth.' The conflict can be traced to the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide of 1994, when Hutu soldiers and militias killed between 500,000 and 1 million minority Tutsis as well as moderate Hutus and the Indigenous Twa. When Tutsi-led rebels stopped the genocide and ousted the Hutu government, nearly 2 million Hutus fled into neighboring Congo, fearing reprisals. Rwandan authorities accused the authorities in Kinshasa of sheltering those responsible for the mass killings among the civilian refugees, most of whom had returned when Rwanda first invaded Congo in 1996. But Kigali said the remaining Hutu fighters in eastern Congo are still a threat to Rwanda's Tutsi population, and wants them neutralized. At least 6 million people have been killed since then in the conflict, mostly characterized by on-and-off fighting but also famines and unchecked disease outbreaks. Analysts have said a lot of interests in the conflict in Congo are tied to the mostly untapped minerals in the east, estimated to be worth as much as $24 trillion by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Trump administration has pushed to gain access to the minerals key to much of the world's technology. It is also to counter China, a key player in the region where the U.S. presence and influence have eroded. That is already playing out with KoBold Metals, a U.S. mining company that announced Friday it has signed an agreement with Congo for a 'large-scale minerals exploration program' in the east. Rwanda's interests are also tied to the minerals, although it often says its involvement is to protect its territory and punish those connected to the 1994 genocide. A team of United Nations experts said in a report in December that Rwanda was benefiting from minerals 'fraudulently' exported from areas under the control of the M23 rebels. Rwanda denied this. Although the M23 has touted itself as a group independent of Rwanda and capable of governing territories under its control, it still relies heavily on Kigali. U.N. experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan troops in eastern Congo. The U.N. and rights groups have accused both sides of committing atrocities and possible war crimes since fighting escalated in January. It includes children being killed in summary executions, the rape and sexual abuse of thousands of children, attacks on hospitals, forced recruitments and disappearance of residents in rebel-held areas. 'We cannot build peace without justice and reparation,' Goma resident Amani Muisa said. The declaration of principles was the first direct commitment by both sides since the rebels seized two key cities in eastern Congo in a major advance early this year. The signing sets in motion negotiations for a final peace deal, to be signed no later than Aug. 18. It also reflects provisions of a U.S.-brokered peace deal signed between Congo and Rwanda on June 27. However, the ink had barely dried on the document signed in Qatar before both sides appeared to contradict each other in interpreting a major highlight of the declaration on whether the rebels will withdraw from seized territories. Bertrand Bisimwa, an M23 leader, said Saturday on X that the declaration is 'not a question of withdrawal but of mechanisms for empowering the state, enabling it to assume its prerogatives and obligations.' M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka told the Associated Press in a telephone call, 'We are in Goma with the population and we are not going to get out.' But Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said the declaration takes into account 'the nonnegotiable withdrawal' of the rebels, followed by the deployment of government forces and institutions. Asadu writes for the Associated Press.
New York Post
5 hours ago
- New York Post
Vladimir Putin throws a tyrant tantrum — but Russia is big, brutish and bluffing
Russia's president declared this recession will not stand. Like a comic-book villain — melodramatic and delusional — Vladimir Putin seems convinced saying something makes it true. But the out-of-control inflation he wishes away doesn't answer to bluster: It empties stores and strains family budgets. Putin's superpowers are as real as those of the state he runs. Moscow's impotence is visible to anyone willing to look. Eleven years into its crusade against a neighbor one-quarter its size, Russia holds less Ukrainian ground than it did in 2022, and its latest tactics — terrorizing civilians — are best described as a tyrant tantrum. Each dawn brings killer drones and missiles aimed not at Ukraine's military targets but at apartment buildings, playgrounds, maternity wards. In Kherson, a Russian drone operator killed 1-year-old Dmytryk in his grandmother's yard. This was no isolated incident — the United Nations was investigating these 'human safari' attacks as crimes against humanity before this cold-blooded execution of a toddler made headlines. Russia's campaign to punish Ukraine for daring to exist is the flailing of a bully, full of rage, devoid of strength. As it struggles to conquer, Moscow turns to terror, but every strike only hardens Kyiv's resolve because Ukrainians know letting Russia get its way will not end the suffering — it'll multiply it. Some will say: Ukraine stands because we're helping. But how much are we really? A drip of aid here, a shipment of munitions there — delayed, debated, diluted. All told, America has spent less than 1% of its federal budget to help the bravest people on Earth defend themselves. If that fainthearted stream has kept Russia's army at bay, it doesn't prove our strength — it demonstrates Moscow's weakness. Russia thinks it's a superpower, but a superpower wouldn't stall out because someone across the ocean is struggling to help Kyiv while making sure Moscow can save face. What keeps Ukraine alive is not our help; it's a people who know what they're fighting for, facing a brutal colonizer that doesn't. 3 Russia's terrorism includes targeted strikes on civilians, like this one in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv this month. Ukrainian State Emergency Service Russia's even run out of basic food staples. Potatoes are a luxury. Prices have almost tripled in a year, and families are forced to ration. It's not a silly grocery-store problem — it's a window into an economy on the brink, strained by a criminal war of choice, sanctions and decades of embezzlement. Moscow launched an invasion it thought would be over in days: Soldiers packed parade uniforms and food rations for a week. But Ukraine refused to surrender, and it all went horribly wrong for Putin. In failing to win quickly, Russia did more than lose momentum — it lost autonomy. It now takes orders from Beijing. Bloomberg reports 92% of the foreign components found in Russia's killer drones are of Chinese origin. On nuclear weapons, Xi Jinping — the 'daddy,' to use NATO chief Mark Rutte's word — made himself abundantly clear: Their use is off the table. Russia may bluster and threaten, but the decision is no longer Moscow's to make. The credibility of Russia's nuclear threat lies in the eyes of the beholder — us. A superpower doesn't beg North Korea for artillery shells and Iran for drone technology. Moscow is reduced to knocking on the doors of pariah states that once depended on it. 3 Like a comic-book villain, Putin seems convinced saying something makes it true. Getty Images Russia racked up more than a million casualties trying to recolonize Ukraine. But fear not — the Kremlin has a magic trick up its bloodstained sleeve. Just as it outlaws recessions, it solves its demographic crisis by simply stopping the release of monthly population data. What about Russia's storied soft power — its grand ideology, rich heritage and claim to virtue? Moscow has skillfully exploited Western culture wars, positioning itself as the defender of traditional values to Americans fed up with woke politics. It's a façade. Russia has one of the world's highest divorce rates — 60% higher than the United States'. Its abortion rate is more than twice that of Ukraine's. Barely 1% of the population attended Christmas services last year. And at the center of it all sits the Russian Orthodox Church, less a religious institution than a state-security affiliate. When Tucker Carlson mourned the fate of Ukraine's Moscow Patriarchate, he left out two crucial details. First, it is Russia — not Ukraine — that has damaged or destroyed more than 600 houses of worship since 2014. And second, Ukraine isn't banning religion; it's evicting spies. In the middle of a war, who can blame Kyiv for trying to ensure priests are serving God, not the FSB? The collective West accounts for roughly half of global gross domestic product. Russia makes up less than 2%. It's no superpower — just a declining empire throwing a tantrum. Its invasion of Ukraine is real, as are the missiles killing innocent children in their sleep. But its foundation — economic, moral, demographic — is rotten to the core. And the only thing more dangerous than an aggrieved dictator is a world too polite, too naïve or too afraid to confront him. Andrew Chakhoyan is a University of Amsterdam academic director and served in the US government at the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
Los Angeles Times
19 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Congo and Rwanda-backed rebels sign declaration to end conflict in eastern Congo
DAKAR, Senegal — The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda-backed rebels on Saturday signed a declaration of principles in Qatar to end decades-long fighting and commit to a comprehensive peace agreement that would include the restoration of state authorities in key eastern cities controlled by the insurgents. Congo and the M23 rebels committed to 'building trust' through various measures, including an exchange of prisoners and detainees as well as restoring state authority in all parts of the country, including rebel-held areas, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al-Khulaifi, Qatar's minister of state, said at a briefing. It was not immediately clear whether the declaration involves M23's withdrawal from cities it controls, as the two parties seemed to interpret the agreement differently. Bertrand Bisimwa, an M23 leader, said on X that the declaration is 'not a question of withdrawal but of mechanisms for empowering the state, enabling it to assume its prerogatives and obligations.' M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka told the Associated Press in a telephone call, 'We are in Goma with the population and we are not going to get out.' But Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said the declaration takes into account 'the nonnegotiable withdrawal' of the rebels, followed by the deployment of government forces and institutions. Backed by neighboring Rwanda, M23 is the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups fighting for control in Congo's mineral-rich east. With 7 million people displaced in the country, the United Nations has called the conflict in eastern Congo 'one of the most protracted, complex, serious humanitarian crises on Earth.' Saturday's signing is the first direct commitment by both sides since the rebels seized two key cities in eastern Congo in a major advance early this year. A final peace deal is to be signed no later than Aug. 18, and it 'shall align with the Peace Agreement between Congo and Rwanda,' facilitated by the U.S. in June, according to a copy of the declaration seen by AP. M23 had been pushing for the release of its members held by Congo's military, many of them facing a death sentence. Congo had requested the withdrawal of the rebels from seized territories. 'The Declaration of Principles signed today paves the way for direct negotiations towards a comprehensive peace that addresses the deep-rooted causes of the conflict,' the Qatari minister said. Rwanda's Foreign Affairs Ministry called it 'a significant step forward' in ending the conflict. The U.S. State Department said in a statement that the United States remains committed to supporting 'a peace that results in the restoration of [Congolese] authority and inclusive governance' in the region. In Goma, the city at the center of the conflict, locals received the news of the signing with mixed feelings, with most expressing doubts over the possibility of a lasting peace without a provision for victims of the decades-long conflict. 'We cannot build peace without justice and reparation,' said Amani Muisa, a Goma resident. The document touches on most of the highlights of the peace deal Congo and Rwanda signed June 27, including the protection and safe return of millions who fled the conflict. Massad Boulos, a senior advisor to President Trump who attended the Doha-led talks, said Saturday: 'It is time to find a final solution' to the conflict, reiterating that the most important article of the agreement is the affirmation of state control in rebel-held territories. 'The issue requires dialogue, and following up on this dialogue, and requires persistence,' Boulos said. Another key issue the two sides will have to face is whether Rwanda will stop supporting the rebels, including the thousands of troops that U.N. experts said are in eastern Congo. When Rwanda and Congo signed the peace deal in Washington, Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said Rwanda agreed to lift its 'defensive measures' — suggesting a reference to its troops in eastern Congo — once Congo neutralizes an armed group whose members Kigali accuses of carrying out the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Analysts have said that it is going to be difficult for the M23 rebels to withdraw from the eastern Congolese cities of Goma and Bukavu and that it would depend on concessions the Congolese authorities agree to make. There have also been doubts about long-lasting peace if justice for the victims of the war is not addressed. Asadu writes for the Associated Press. AP journalists Ahmed Hatem in Cairo, Jean-Yves Kamale in Kinshasa, Congo, and Justin Kabumba in Goma contributed to this report.
