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Arab News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
South Sudan says US deportees under government care
JUBA: War-torn South Sudan has said it is looking after a group of eight criminal migrants controversially deported from the United States. Only one of them is from South Sudan. The administration of US President Donald Trump is trying to move unwanted migrants to third countries as some nations refuse to accept returnees. The rest comprise two people from Myanmar, two from Cuba, and one each from Vietnam, Laos and Mexico. The decision has been fought in American courts. 'They are currently in Juba under the care of the relevant authorities, who are screening them and ensuring their safety and well-being,' the South Sudanese foreign ministry statement said late Tuesday. It did not give details, but said the 'careful and well-studied decision' was part of 'ongoing bilateral engagement.' 'South Sudan responded positively to a request from the US authorities as a gesture of goodwill, humanitarian cooperation, and commitment to mutual interests,' it added. United Nations experts, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but who do not speak on behalf of the UN, have criticized the move. 'International law is clear that no one shall be sent anywhere where there are substantial grounds for believing that the person would be in danger of being subjected to ... torture, enforced disappearance or arbitrary deprivation of life,' 11 independent UN rights experts said in a statement. The deportees left the United States for South Sudan in May but their flight ended up in Djibouti when a US district court imposed a stay on third-country deportations. That ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court earlier this month. The group arrived in South Sudan on June 5 with an official, speaking on condition of anonymity, saying they had been returned by US Marines. Foreign ministry spokesperson Apuk Ayuel Mayen said Juba maintains a strong commitment to its people, including 'its nationals returning under any circumstances' and 'persons with recognized links to South Sudan.' Simmering rivalry between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and his vice president Riek Machar boiled over into open hostilities in March. The tensions have raised fears of a return to full-scale war in the world's youngest country, where a civil war killed some 400,000 people in 2013-2018.
Arab News
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
UK police arrest over 20 supporters of now banned pro-Palestine group
On Saturday, supporters gathered in Parliament Square in Westminster, some holding placards that said 'I OPPOSE GENOCIDE. I SUPPORT PALESTINE ACTION.'Sky News footage showed some being led away in handcuffsLONDON: British police arrested over 20 people on suspicion of terrorism offenses after they showed support for the newly banned Palestine Action group in London on Saturday, hours after the proscription came into government moved to ban Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws last month after its activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged two planes in protest against what the group said was Britain's support for on Friday, the campaign lost an urgent appeal against the parliamentary vote to proscribe it as a terrorist organization, with the ban coming into force from UK laws, offenses include inviting support, expressing approval, or displaying symbols of a banned group and are punishable by up to 14 years in prison and/or a fine. Britain has proscribed 81 groups under anti-terrorism laws, including Hamas, Al-Qaeda and Saturday, supporters gathered in Parliament Square in Westminster, some holding placards that said 'I OPPOSE GENOCIDE. I SUPPORT PALESTINE ACTION.' Sky News footage showed some being led away in handcuffs from a statue of Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi in the square, as they shouted their Nations experts have accused Israel of carrying out 'genocidal acts' against Palestinians in the conflict in Gaza, which began after Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel has repeatedly dismissed such PARADE PROTESTPalestine Action has targeted Israel-linked companies in Britain in its protests, with interior minister Yvette Cooper saying that violence and criminal damage have no place in legitimate protest and that the group's activities justify of the decision, including some United Nations experts and civil liberties groups, have argued that damaging property does not amount to another protest on Saturday, five pro-Palestinian activists from the Youth Demand group were arrested after they threw red paint over US company Cisco's truck, which was participating in London's Pride parade, and glued themselves to the vehicle. The parade, which celebrates lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities, has since resumed, a separate police statement said.'Young people will not accept ... crimes against humanity,' Youth Demand's statement — which did not mention Palestine Action — said. It added that its activists targeted Cisco's float as the company supplies 'technology that is helping Israel.'Cisco did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside of business hours.
The Guardian
04-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ban on Palestine Action to take effect after legal challenge fails
Being a member of, or showing support for, Palestine Action will be a criminal offence from Saturday after a last-minute legal challenge to suspend the group's proscription under anti-terrorism laws failed. A ban on Palestine Action, which uses direct action to mainly target Israeli weapons factories in the UK and their supply chain, was voted through by parliament this week but lawyers acting for its co-founder Huda Ammori had sought to prevent it taking effect. After a hearing at the high court on Friday, however, Mr Justice Chamberlain declined to grant her application for interim relief. It means Palestine Action will become the first direct action protest group to be banned under the Terrorism Act, placing it in the same category as Islamic State, al-Qaida and the far-right group National Action. UN experts, civil liberties groups, cultural figures and hundreds of lawyers have condemned the ban as draconian and said it sets a dangerous precedent by conflating protest with terrorism. Another hearing is scheduled for 21 July when Palestine Action will apply for permission for a judicial review to quash the order. In the meantime, and unless the judicial review is successful, membership of, or inviting support for, the group will carry a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
Reuters
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
British group Palestine Action seeks to pause government ban
LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - A co-founder of pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action asked a London court on Friday to pause a British government decision to ban it under anti-terrorism laws, a move her lawyers said was an "authoritarian abuse" of the law. Huda Ammori, who helped found Palestine Action in 2020, asked London's High Court to stop the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, before a full hearing of her case that banning Palestine Action is unlawful later this month. British lawmakers this week decided to ban the group in response to its activists breaking into a Royal Air Force base and damaging two planes, a protest against what it says is Britain's support for Israel. Proscription would make it a crime to be a member of Palestine Action that carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. Proscribed groups under British law include Islamic State and al Qaeda. Palestine Action has increasingly targeted Israel-linked companies in Britain with direct action. Critics of the government's decision, including some United Nations experts and civil liberties groups, say damaging property does not amount to terrorism. "This is the first time in our history that a direct action, civil disobedience group which does not advocate for violence has been sought to be proscribed as terrorists," Ammori's lawyer, Raza Husain, told the court. Husain described the government's decision as "an ill-considered, discriminatory, authoritarian abuse of statutory power that is alien to the basic tradition of the common law". Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Britain's interior minister, said this week that "violence and serious criminal damage has no place in legitimate protests". Husain said that "one may disagree with what Palestine Action do and think that criminal damage, trespass and burglary are wrong", but that designation the group as a terrorist organisation was "an abuse of language". A decision on whether to pause Palestine Action's impending proscription is expected later on Friday.
Globe and Mail
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
UN to vote on resolution demanding immediate Gaza ceasefire over U.S., Israel opposition
The United Nations General Assembly will vote on Thursday on a draft resolution that demands an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in the war in Gaza after the United States vetoed a similar effort in the Security Council last week. The 193-member General Assembly is likely to adopt the text with overwhelming support, diplomats say, despite Israel lobbying countries this week against taking part in what it called a 'politically-motivated, counter-productive charade.' General Assembly resolutions are not binding but carry weight as a reflection of the global view on the war. Previous demands by the body for an end to the war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas have been ignored. Unlike the UN Security Council, no country has a veto in the General Assembly. Thursday's vote also comes ahead of a UN conference next week that aims to reinvigorate an international push for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. The United States has urged countries not to attend. Israel commits 'extermination' in Gaza by killing civilians sheltering in schools, UN experts say In a note seen by Reuters, the U.S. warned that 'countries that take anti-Israel actions on the heels of the conference will be viewed as acting in opposition to U.S. foreign policy interests and could face diplomatic consequences.' The U.S. last week vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution that also demanded an 'immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire' and unhindered aid access in Gaza, arguing it would undermine U.S.-led efforts to broker a ceasefire. The other 14 countries on the council voted in favor of the draft as a humanitarian crisis grips the enclave of more than 2 million people, where the UN warns famine looms and aid has only trickled in since Israel lifted an 11-week blockade last month. The draft resolution to be voted on by the General Assembly on Thursday demands the release of hostages held by Hamas, the return of Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. It demands unhindered aid access and 'strongly condemns the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare and the unlawful denial of humanitarian access and depriving civilians ... of objects indispensable to their survival, including willfully impeding relief supply and access.' Israel deports Greta Thunberg after military seizure of Gaza-bound aid ship she was on 'This is both false and defamatory,' Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon wrote in a letter to UN member states, sent on Tuesday and seen by Reuters. Danon described the General Assembly draft resolution as an 'immensely flawed and harmful text,' urging countries not to take part in what he said was a 'farce' that undermines hostage negotiations and fails to condemn Hamas. In October 2023 the General Assembly called for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza with 120 votes in favor. In December 2023, 153 countries voted to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Then in December last year the body demanded – with 158 votes in favor – an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire. The war in Gaza has raged since 2023 after Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel in an October 7 attack and took some 250 hostages back to the enclave, according to Israeli tallies. Many of those killed or captured were civilians. Israel responded with a military campaign that has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. They say civilians have borne the brunt of the attacks and that thousands more bodies have been lost under rubble.
