Catalonia vote poses big problems for Spain and aspiring new state

Students hold sit-in at the University of Barcelona, Spain. (AN photo)
Updated 29 September 2017
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Catalonia vote poses big problems for Spain and aspiring new state

BARCELONA: Millions of Catalans hope to go to the polls on Sunday to vote on whether the region should become independent from Spain, in a referendum fiercely opposed by the central government and which threatens to expose ruptures in the country’s 39-year democracy.
Catalonia, which has its own language and is a semi-autonomous region in Spain’s northeast, has long felt distinct from the Castilian heartlands.
After statutes to expand Catalonia’s autonomy were denied, despite approval from the Catalan and Spanish parliaments, separatists decided that independence was the only option for a region that comprises 16 percent of Spain’s population and accounts for a fifth of the economy and a quarter of exports.
Following a symbolic referendum in 2014 which drew a low turnout, but in which 81 percent of voters backed independence, Catalonia’s President Carles Puigdemont announced the Oct. 1 poll, which Spain’s government says is illegal because the constitution declares the “indissoluble unity” of the Spanish nation.
Madrid has taken draconian measures to prevent the referendum; about 10 million ballot papers have been confiscated and police have raided media offices, local government buildings and printing presses, also arresting officials. Referendum-related websites have been shut down, only to pop up elsewhere on the Internet.
Spain’s attorney-general has ordered Catalonia’s regional police, Mossos d’Esquadra, to be controlled from Madrid, while an estimated 16,000 police and security officers from other parts of Spain will be dispatched to Catalonia to stop the vote.
These harsh measures, which carry an implicit threat to suspend Catalonia’s semi-autonomy, have echoes of Spain’s fascist past. Spain returned to being a democracy in 1978 following the death of dictator Francisco Franco three years earlier. Franco’s army rebellion sparked the Spanish Civil War and the victorious fascists brutally repressed Catalan culture, language and institutions. The transition to democracy included a broad amnesty and today’s ruling People’s Party (PP) was founded by a cadre of former Francoist ministers in the 1970s.
“In Spain, Franco is never far away,” said Christophe Bostyn, international relations officer at Assemblea Nacional Catalana (ANC), a pro-independence civil group that has helped organize rallies supporting secession.
“The central government doesn’t respect autonomy — it sees Catalonia as its possession that cannot be questioned. They don’t have a negotiating culture — either you obey or we send in the police.”
Over 1 million people took to Barcelona’s streets on Catalonia’s national Day, Sept. 11, to demonstrate in favor of independence, and protests of varying sizes are now near-daily occurrences in the Catalan capital, yet everyday life continues unaffected. About 1.4 million people joined city-wide festivities last weekend for La Merc, a celebration of Barcelona’s patron saint, and protests seemed good natured; Catalonia is prosperous, peaceful and democratic, although many Catalans worry that welcome state of affairs is now in jeopardy.
Josep Tirapu was one of around 150 protesters gathered outside the University of Barcelona on Saturday to protest Madrid’s actions. The students aim to continue the vigil until polling day.
“We’re not all going to vote yes, the important thing is to defend democracy,” said Tirapu, 20, a law and politics undergraduate.
“We believe in our government, which has been preparing for this vote for many months. The state is trying to repress us, so we’re making it possible for the referendum to go ahead by taking to the streets.”
As with Brexit, traditional political leanings have been marginalized, with parties on the left and right in both the pro- and anti-independence camps. Like Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, leader of the PP, Catalan President Puigdemont fronts a right-wing party, yet the two men have bitterly opposing views on greater self-governance for the region.
Whether the vote will happen is uncertain. The Catalan government will shortly release the location of the polling stations, according to the referendum website, with organizers seemingly taking a flash-mob approach to try to outmaneuver Madrid.
“The referendum is going ahead,” said ANC’s Bostyn.
“We will see a massive mobilization of people. Beyond any doubts, yes will win.”
Should he be correct, Puigdemont has vowed to unilaterally declare independence within 48 hours, although that would be a symbolic gesture unless the Catalan government is willing and able to secure and defend its territory immediately.
“The division of the country is outlawed under the Spanish constitution,” said Dr. Rebecca Richards, a lecturer in law at Britain’s Keele University.
“If Catalonia decides to declare its independence and halt all exchanges with Spain, to essentially attempt to kick Spain out of the territory — that could get messy and potentially violent. What’s more likely is negotiating a new economic relationship with Spain, negotiating increased autonomy, or both. Spain has a lot to lose if it has a poor relationship with Catalonia.”
Ferran Brunet is founder of Societat Civil Catalana, which opposes the referendum. A professor of economics, Brunet warns of the calamitous effect unilateral independence would have on Catalonia, which would be left outside the EU.
“The referendum is illegal. People who are against the vote and those who wish to vote no have no voice,” said Brunet. “It’s a waste of public money. Catalans are divided, families are divided.”
Amid those schisms, Madrid’s heavy-handed approach is undoubtedly pushing many undecideds into the “yes” camp.
“The Spanish government is acting in an anti-democratic way,” said Anna Bertran, a pro-independence 25-year-old school teacher from Barcelona taking part in the student protest.
“It’s using the judiciary to try to stop the vote, rather than allowing political debate. It’s not a question of independence, it’s a question of having the right to vote. We’re not asking for any more than that — if ‘no’ wins the vote, I’ll respect the result.”
Others take a more cynical view of Puigdemont’s push for independence.
“It’s only the wealthy who want it,” said Ignacio Lamata, a volunteer at La Rosa de Foc, an anarchist bookshop in Barcelona’s seedy El Raval district owned by the far-left Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), which took up arms to thwart a fascist takeover of Barcelona at the outset of the civil war in 1936.
“Ask a factory worker and they don’t care — it’s the kids of Franco in charge, not only in Madrid, but Catalonia, and whatever the result those in power will just keep stealing and stealing. Nothing will change,” said Lamata.
His sentiments are not without foundation. In July, Prime Minister Rajoy testified in court as part of a corruption investigation involving the ruling PP that includes charges of organized crime, falsifying accounts, influence-peddling and tax crimes, Reuters reported, while in 2014 Jordi Pujol, the former long-serving Catalan president, admitted to over 30 years of tax fraud.


White House pressing Ukraine to draft 18-year-old men to help fill manpower needs to battle Russia

Updated 5 sec ago
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White House pressing Ukraine to draft 18-year-old men to help fill manpower needs to battle Russia

  • The outgoing Democratic administration wants Ukraine to lower the mobilization age to 18 from the current age of 25
  • The White House has pushed more than $56 billion in security assistance to Ukraine

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden’s administration is urging Ukraine to quickly increase the size of its military by drafting more troops and revamping its mobilization laws to allow for the conscription of troops as young as 18.
A senior Biden administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private consultations, said Wednesday that the outgoing Democratic administration wants Ukraine to lower the mobilization age to 18 from the current age of 25 to help expand the pool of fighting age men available to help a badly outmanned Ukraine in its nearly three-year-old war with Russia.
The White House has pushed more than $56 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s February 2022 invasion and expects to send billions more to Kyiv before Biden leaves office in less than months.
But with time running out, the Biden White House is also sharpening its viewpoint that Ukraine has the weaponry it needs and now must dramatically increase its manpower if it’s going to stay in the fight with Russia.
The official said the Ukrainians believe they need about 160,000 additional troops, but the US administration believes they probably will need more.


Baltic Sea wind farms impair Sweden’s defense, says military

Updated 27 November 2024
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Baltic Sea wind farms impair Sweden’s defense, says military

  • The revelation comes after the Swedish government blocked the construction of 13 offshore wind farms in the Baltic on November 4
  • “The Swedish Armed Forces have been clear in their evaluation regarding offshore wind energy in the Baltic Sea,” the military said

STOCKHOLM: Offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea hinder the defense of Sweden and its allies, impairing the military’s ability to identify threats, it said on Wednesday.
The revelation comes after the Swedish government blocked the construction of 13 offshore wind farms in the Baltic on November 4, and stopped another off the island of Gotland on November 21 due to the military’s defense concerns.
On Wednesday the military said all wind farm projects in the Baltic would pose a problem.
“The Swedish Armed Forces have been clear in their evaluation regarding offshore wind energy in the Baltic Sea,” the military said in an email to AFP.
“It would pose unacceptable risks for the defense of our country and our allies,” it added.
The government said the towers and rotating blades of wind turbines emit radar echoes and generate other forms of interference.
The relative proximity of the 13 blocked projects to the “highly militarised” Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, which is sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, had been “central” in the government’s assessment, Defense Minister Pal Jonson said.
He said wind farms in the area could delay the detection of incoming cruise missiles, cutting the warning time in half to 60 seconds.
“We currently see no technical solutions or legal prerequisites for a coexistence of our defense interests and wind power in the Baltic Sea,” the Armed Forces said on Wednesday.
“The greatly deteriorated security situation after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine means that we can no longer accept any risks to our defense capability.”
“Our ability to detect incoming threats against both Sweden and our allies is vital. Our sensor chain plays a decisive role in this and it must be able to operate with the highest possible capability,” it said.
Tensions have mounted in the Baltic since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
With Sweden and Finland now NATO members, all of the countries bordering the Baltic are now members of the alliance except Russia.
The Swedish government has insisted that wind power expansion remained a priority, with electricity consumption expected to double by 2045 from the current level.
It has said other areas off Sweden’s southwestern and northeastern coasts were better suited for offshore wind projects.


ICC seeks arrest warrant for Myanmar junta chief over crimes against Rohingya

Myanmar's junta chief Gen. Min Aung Hlaing delivers a speech during a ceremony to mark the country's Armed Forces Day in Naypyid
Updated 27 November 2024
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ICC seeks arrest warrant for Myanmar junta chief over crimes against Rohingya

  • ICC prosecutor requests arrest warrant for Gen. Min Aung Hlaing
  • Hlaing accused of crimes against humanity, deportation and persecution of the Rohingya

The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor on Wednesday applied for an arrest warrant for the head of Myanmar’s military regime for crimes committed against the Rohingya Muslim minority.

Nearly a million people were forced to flee to neighboring Bangladesh from Myanmar’s Rakhine State to escape the 2017 military crackdown that UN experts have referred to as a “genocidal campaign,” amid evidence of ethnic cleansing, mass rape and killings.

ICC judges authorized an investigation into these events in 2019, saying that there was a “reasonable basis to believe widespread and/or systematic acts of violence may have been committed that could qualify as crimes against humanity.”

Although Myanmar is not a state party, Bangladesh ratified the ICC Rome Stature in 2010, which allows the court to have jurisdiction over some crimes related to the Rohingya because of their cross-border nature.

ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan announced the application for an arrest warrant for Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing during a visit to Bangladesh, where he met members of the displaced Rohingya population.

“My office is submitting applications to the judges of the pretrial chamber and this first application is for Min Aung Hlaing, the acting president of Myanmar and the head of the Defense Services of Myanmar. Other warrant applications will follow soon,” he said in a video message.

Hlaing took power from Myanmar’s elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, in a coup in 2021. Serving as commander in chief of the Tatmadaw, the armed forces of Myanmar, since 2011, he is accused of having directed attacks against Rohingya civilians.

The ICC chief prosecutor’s office said in a statement that Hlaing “bears criminal responsibility for the crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya, committed in Myanmar, and in part in Bangladesh” between Aug. 25, 2017 and Dec. 31, 2017 by the armed forces, “supported by the national police, the border guard police, as well as non-Rohingya civilians.”

The arrest warrant application “draws upon a wide variety of evidence from numerous sources such as witness testimonies, including from a number of insider witnesses, documentary evidence and authenticated scientific, photographic and video materials,” Khan’s office said.

Khan’s application is the first against a high-level Myanmar government official since the ICC investigation started seven years ago.

Nur Khan, a Bangladeshi lawyer and human rights activist, told Arab News it was a big development in the course of delivering justice to the Rohingya community and paving the way for the repatriation of Rohingya refugees.

“Eventually, it will create psychological pressure on the Myanmar military junta. It will also pave the way for the world to create a sustainable solution to the Rohingya crisis, ensuring reparation with rights, dignity, and citizenship,” he said.

In 2022, the International Court of Justice, the UN’s top court, started a separate case brought by Gambia, which accused Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya. Five European countries and Canada have backed the proceedings.

“It’s true that a genocide had been conducted aiming to completely wipe out the Rohingya, and the Myanmar military has committed this crime. The Rohingya have been demanding for many years that those who are responsible for this genocide should be brought to trial,” Nur Khan said.

“We want to remain hopeful that this process will be expedited and that the Rohingya will get back their rights soon.”


Malaysian court drops one of the graft cases against jailed former premier Najib Razak

Updated 27 November 2024
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Malaysian court drops one of the graft cases against jailed former premier Najib Razak

  • Najib had already been convicted in his first graft case tied to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad state fund, or 1MBD, scandal

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: A Malaysian court on Wednesday dropped charges against jailed former Prime Minister Najib Razak over criminal breach of trust linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of a state fund.
Najib had already been convicted in his first graft case tied to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad state fund, or 1MBD, scandal and began serving time in 2022 after losing his final appeal in his first graft case.
But he faces other graft trials including Wednesday’s case in which he was jointly charged with ex-treasury chief Irwan Serigar Abdullah with six counts of misappropriating 6.6 billion ringgit ($1.5 billion) in public funds. The money was intended as 1MDB’s settlement payment to Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court discharged the pair after ruling that procedural delays and prosecutors’ failure to hand over key documents were unfair to the defense, said Najib’s lawyer, Muhammad Farhan. A discharge doesn’t mean an acquittal as prosecutors reserve the right to revive charges against them, he said.
“The decision today was based on the non-disclosure of critical documents, six years after the initial charges were brought up, which are relevant to our client’s defense preparation. Therefore the court correctly exercised its jurisdiction to discharge our client of the charges,” Farhan said.
Najib set up 1MDB shortly after taking power in 2009. Investigators allege more than $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by his associates to finance Hollywood films and extravagant purchases. The scandal upended Najib’s government and he was defeated in the 2018 election.
Najib, 71, issued a rare apology in October for the scandal “under his watch” but reiterated his innocence.
Last month, he was ordered to enter his defense in another key case that ties him directly to the 1MDB scandal. The court ruled that the prosecution established its case on four charges of abuse of power to obtain over $700 million from the fund that went into Najib’s bank accounts between 2011 and 2014, and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same amount.
In addition, Najib still has another money laundering trial. His wife Rosmah Mansor and other senior government officials also face corruption charges.


Pakistan ends lockdown of its capital after Imran Khan supporters are dispersed by police

Updated 27 November 2024
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Pakistan ends lockdown of its capital after Imran Khan supporters are dispersed by police

  • The police operation came hours after thousands of Khan supporters, defying government warnings, broke through a barrier of shipping containers
  • Tension has been high in Islamabad since Sunday when supporters of the former prime minister began a “long march” from the restive northwest to demand Khan’s release

ISLAMABAD: Authorities reopened roads linking Pakistan’s capital with the rest of the country, ending a four-day lockdown, on Wednesday after using tear gas and firing into the air to disperse supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan who marched to Islamabad to demand his release from prison.
“All roads are being reopened, and the demonstrators have been dispersed,” Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said.
Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, who was leading the protest, and other demonstrators fled in vehicles when police pushed back against the rallygoers following clashes in which at least seven people were killed.
The police operation came hours after thousands of Khan supporters, defying government warnings, broke through a barrier of shipping containers blocking off Islamabad and entered a high-security zone, where they clashed with security forces.
Tension has been high in Islamabad since Sunday when supporters of the former prime minister began a “long march” from the restive northwest to demand his release. Khan has been in a prison for over a year and faces more than 150 criminal cases that his party says are politically motivated.
Hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested since Sunday.
Bibi and leaders of her husband’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party fled to Mansehra in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the party still rules.
Khan, who remains a popular opposition figure, was ousted in 2022 through a no-confidence vote in Parliament.