University of Washington researchers have invented a cellphone that requires no batteries — a major leap forward in moving beyond chargers, cords and dying phones. Instead, the phone harvests the few microwatts of power it requires from either ambient radio signals or light.

The team also made Skype calls using its battery-free phone, demonstrating that the prototype made of commercial, off-the-shelf components can receive and transmit speech and communicate with a base station.

The new technology is detailed in a paper published July 1 in the Proceedings of the Association for Computing Machinery on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies.

“We’ve built what we believe is the first functioning cellphone that consumes almost zero power,” said co-author Shyam Gollakota, an associate professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the UW. “To achieve the really, really low power consumption that you need to run a phone by harvesting energy from the environment, we had to fundamentally rethink how these devices are designed.”

The team of UW computer scientists and electrical engineers eliminated a power-hungry step in most modern cellular transmissions — converting analog signals that convey sound into digital data that a phone can understand. This process consumes so much energy that it’s been impossible to design a phone that can rely on ambient power sources.

Instead, the battery-free cellphone takes advantage of tiny vibrations in a phone’s microphone or speaker that occur when a person is talking into a phone or listening to a call.

An antenna connected to those components converts that motion into changes in standard analog radio signal emitted by a cellular base station. This process essentially encodes speech patterns in reflected radio signals in a way that uses almost no power.

To transmit speech, the phone uses vibrations from the device’s microphone to encode speech patterns in the reflected signals. To receive speech, it converts encoded radio signals into sound vibrations that that are picked up by the phone’s speaker. In the prototype device, the user presses a button to switch between these two “transmitting” and “listening” modes.

Using off-the-shelf components on a printed circuit board, the team demonstrated that the prototype can perform basic phone functions — transmitting speech and data and receiving user input via buttons. Using Skype, researchers were able to receive incoming calls, dial out and place callers on hold with the battery-free phone.

“The cellphone is the device we depend on most today. So if there were one device you’d want to be able to use without batteries, it is the cellphone,” said faculty lead Joshua Smith, professor in both the Allen School and UW’s Department of Electrical Engineering. “The proof of concept we’ve developed is exciting today, and we think it could impact everyday devices in the future.”

The team designed a custom base station to transmit and receive the radio signals. But that technology conceivably could be integrated into standard cellular network infrastructure or Wi-Fi routers now commonly used to make calls.

“You could imagine in the future that all cell towers or Wi-Fi routers could come with our base station technology embedded in it,” said co-author Vamsi Talla, a former UW electrical engineering doctoral student and Allen School research associate. “And if every house has a Wi-Fi router in it, you could get battery-free cellphone coverage everywhere.”

The battery-free phone does still require a small amount of energy to perform some operations. The prototype has a power budget of 3.5 microwatts.

The UW researchers demonstrated how to harvest this small amount of energy from two different sources. The battery-free phone prototype can operate on power gathered from ambient radio signals transmitted by a base station up to 31 feet away.

Using power harvested from ambient light with a tiny solar cell — roughly the size of a grain of rice — the device was able to communicate with a base station that was 50 feet away.

Many other battery-free technologies that rely on ambient energy sources, such as temperature sensors or an accelerometer, conserve power with intermittent operations. They take a reading and then “sleep” for a minute or two while they harvest enough energy to perform the next task. By contrast, a phone call requires the device to operate continuously for as long as the conversation lasts.

“You can’t say hello and wait for a minute for the phone to go to sleep and harvest enough power to keep transmitting,” said co-author Bryce Kellogg, a UW electrical engineering doctoral student. “That’s been the biggest challenge — the amount of power you can actually gather from ambient radio or light is on the order of 1 or 10 microwatts. So real-time phone operations have been really hard to achieve without developing an entirely new approach to transmitting and receiving speech.”

Next, the research team plans to focus on improving the battery-free phone’s operating range and encrypting conversations to make them secure. The team is also working to stream video over a battery-free cellphone and add a visual display feature to the phone using low-power E-ink screens.

The largest Moro rebel group in the southern Philippines has declared its support for a “fatwa” against violent extremism earlier declared by a senior Islamic religious leader in Mindanao.

A statement by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) released on July 4 said it “fully endorses and supports such edicts without fear and reservation.”

Sheik Abehuraira Abdulrahman Udasan, mufti of the Bangsamoro in Mindanao, issued the “Shariah ruling,” or “fatwa,” against the entry and spread of violent radicalism or extremism” in any part of the region.

The “fatwa” states “an urgent need to fight violent extremism or radicalism, in compliance with the injunction of the Quran and the Prophetic Tradition.”

The MILF, which entered into a peace deal with the Philippine government in 2014, has been trying to help government efforts to rescue civilians in the ongoing conflict in Marawi.

Terrorist gunmen who claim to have links with the so-called Islamic State attacked Marawi on May 23 and continue to hold parts of the city.

The MILF said the “fatwa” must be “pursued vigorously to ensure that this violent extremism or radicalism shall not take root in any part of our communities.”

The rebel group said radicalism “has no basis whatsoever in any of the teachings of Islam,” adding that terror groups have been “creating intrigues and are sowing terror.”

The MILF urged the Filipino people “to close ranks and cooperate with one another in order to deny entry or sanctuary to this kind of people.”

The issuance of the “fatwa” came as the Philippine military announced that government forces continue to gain ground in Marawi.

The ongoing clashes have already resulted in the death of 337 terrorist gunmen, 82 government forces, and at least 44 civilians.

By Victoria Arnold

Individuals continue to be prosecuted for exercising their freedom of religion and belief in public, but the legal mechanism for doing so appears to be changing, Forum 18 has found. Officials are turning less to Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code and more to Article 5.26 (Parts 3, 4, and 5), which came into force in July 2016. These Parts of Article 5.26 offer far higher financial penalties.

Administrative Code Article 20.2, which punishes “violations of the established order of conducting public events”, has frequently been used against individuals and communities whose beliefs require them to share the tenets of their faith in public. Under Part 1 and Part 5, individuals may be fined 10,000 to 20,000 Roubles or sentenced to compulsory labour of up to 40 hours; under Part 2, individuals may receive a fine of 20,000 to 30,000 Roubles, compulsory labour of up to 50 hours, or up to 10 days in jail. Fines for organisations under Part 1 are 50,000 to 100,000 Roubles; under Part 2, 70,000 to 200,000 Roubles.

The number of prosecutions under Article 20.2 which reached court in 2016, however, shows a marked decrease on the previous year, particularly after the introduction of the new “anti-missionary” law in July 2016 .

The “anti-missionary” law and its associated punishments under Administrative Code Article 5.26 (Parts 3, 4, and 5) now appear to be becoming law enforcement’s primary means of controlling and penalising the expression of freedom of religion outside (and sometimes even within) the confines of places of worship. The maximum fines for both individuals and organisations under Article 5.26, Part 4 and for foreign individuals under Part 5 are much higher than under Article 20.2, Parts 1, 2 and 5.

Article 20.2 prosecutions in 2016 continued to result in heavy punishments, including fines of nearly two-thirds the average monthly wage and twice the average monthly pension, and, in one case, an eight-day jail sentence for sitting on a pavement singing religious mantras (see below). Particularly when appeals (from both sides) and re-trials are taken into account, cases can be costly in terms of time, effort, and money, even if defendants are ultimately exonerated.

Article 20.2

Administrative Code Article 20.2 is linked to the Demonstrations Law and punishes the “violation of the established procedure for organising or conducting a gathering, meeting, demonstration, procession or picket”. Its eight parts cover a variety of offences, but only Parts 1, 2, and 5 are known by Forum 18 to have been used against people who exercise freedom of religion or belief.

As well as individuals promoting their religious beliefs, members of public associations and political parties (such as Communists marking Lenin’s birthday), political demonstrators (such as those involved in anti-corruption protests on 26 March and 12 June 2017), and individuals protesting against social problems (such as rising utility costs or the introduction of new road tolls for lorry drivers) may also face charges under Article 20.2.

Eight Part 2 cases and four Part 5 cases in 2016 were based on a law enforcement interpretation of much outdoor religious activity as “picketing” (deemed unlawful if carried out by more than one person without notifying the authorities). Jehovah’s Witnesses, upon whom the burden of such cases principally falls, do not consider their actions to be picketing, but “religious service” and therefore do not think to inform the authorities.

Despite legal changes in 2012 and 2014 which give judges concrete grounds for dismissing cases in which police misapply the law, the situation remains confusing. In December 2012, responding to an appeal by two Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Constitutional Court ruled that notification of an event need only be submitted if the authorities are required to provide health and safety measures. The Religion Law was amended in 2014 to clarify in which places religious events may be freely held.

Nevertheless, police and prosecutors persist in bringing charges against individuals for publicly exercising freedom of religion and belief, often on a very small scale. In 2016, Forum 18 found ten prosecutions (five based on the same investigation – see below) which should not have been initiated in light of these legal changes. All but one of these defendants were acquitted by judges who cited the 2012 Constitutional Court ruling and/or the 2014 amendments in support of their decisions.

28 prosecutions in 2016

From an analysis of available court records, Forum 18 found 28 prosecutions to punish exercising freedom of religion or belief under Article 20.2 Parts 1, 2 and 5 in 2016 (all of individuals). Seven of these were under Part 1, 11 under Part 2, and 10 under Part 5.

In 2015, Forum 18 found 122 such prosecutions (including three of communities).

Overall, it appears that prosecutions in general under Article 20.2 (both religious and non-religious) have remained fairly stable, with a total of 387 in 2016 and 468 in 2015 under Parts 1, 2, and 5 (for all eight parts of Article 20.2, these figures were 843 cases in 2016 and 748 in 2015). Only in religion-related cases can a noticeable decline be observed.

There also appears to have been a decline towards the end of the year, with 10 cases reaching court between January and April and 13 between May and August, but only 5 between September and December.

These 2016 prosecutions led to 18 convictions (15 fines, one 8-day jail term, and three 20-hour community service sentences) and 11 acquittals (before appeals). Ten of the 18 convictions were challenged in higher courts. Only two of these appeals were successful. An appeal judge reduced fines in a further two cases. Police and prosecutors also appealed against five acquittals, but none of these was overturned.

In 2016, Forum 18 found eleven cases involving members of the Society for Krishna Consciousness (derived from six separate investigations), ten of Jehovah’s Witnesses (also from six investigations), one of an Evangelical Protestant, one of a Falun Gong adherent, one of a Baptist, and four of Christians of unspecified denomination.

These figures show a substantial decrease in prosecutions of Jehovah’s Witnesses, of which Forum 18 found 83 in 2015, and Baptists (9 cases in 2015). Hare Krishna and Evangelical Protestant prosecutions remain consistent (nine and three respectively in 2015).

Gender and geography

Of the 26 individuals known to have been prosecuted (two of them twice), eight were women and 18 were men.

Prosecutions took place in 13 of the Russian Federation’s 83 federal subjects (not counting Crimea and Sevastopol). Rostov and Tver Regions each saw four cases come to court, with three each in Kaliningrad and Magadan Regions and two each in Murmansk, Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Zabaikalsk and Primorye Regions and the Republic of Bashkortostan. The Tula and Orenburg Regions each saw one prosecution, as did Samara (though this was later transferred to Tver – see below).

In addition to the prosecutions found by Forum 18, similar cases have been brought in Russian-annexed Crimea.

Reasons for change

The decrease in prosecutions for exercising freedom of religion or belief under Article 20.2 can be largely accounted for by the massive decline in prosecutions under this Article of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who now face far more serious penalties (as well as halting of worship meetings, threats and vandalism) following the April 2017 ban on their activities.

In general, law enforcement attention towards Jehovah’s Witnesses intensified throughout 2016 and into 2017. Prosecutions have increased under Administrative Code Article 20.29, which punishes “production or mass distribution of extremist materials included in the published Federal List of Extremist Materials, as well as their production or storage for mass distribution”; several communities have been liquidated; and the Supreme Court ruled on 20 April 2017 that the Jehovah’s Witness Administrative Centre is an “extremist organisation” and all Jehovah’s Witness activity in Russia should be halted.

However, Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia now rarely engage in their traditional practice of standing in the street or parks, alone or in pairs, with trolleys of religious literature, a then spokesperson Ivan Belenko told Forum 18 in December 2016. Such activity frequently attracted charges of “unlawful picketing” under Article 20.2.

This, Belenko explained, is for two reasons: firstly, there is little literature left to offer, as so much has been banned as “extremist” and all imports have been impounded since March 2015; secondly, an amendment to the Demonstrations Law in March 2016 introduced a requirement to notify the authorities of a one-person “picket” if it made use of “prefabricated collapsible structures” such as stands and trolleys. Notification has not usually been necessary for one-person pickets.

Prosecutors and police initiated Article 20.29 prosecutions of Jehovah’s Witnesses in 2016 primarily after law enforcement raids on Kingdom Halls and believers’ homes, Forum 18 notes, or after they found links to the banned jw.org website on individuals’ social media pages. Only a handful of Article 20.29 prosecutions now arise from the apprehension of Jehovah’s Witnesses offering literature in public places.

Courts also declared five Jehovah’s Witness communities “extremist organisations” in 2016 (in Stariy Oskol, Belgorod, and Elista in February, Oryol in June, and Birobidzhan in October). If former members of these communities had engaged in any public expression of their faith, they may have been liable to criminal prosecution under Criminal Code Article 282.2 (organising or participating in the activities of a liquidated extremist organisation).

Jehovah’s Witnesses now face heightened danger of prosecution (both administrative and criminal) since the Supreme Court ordered their Administrative Centre to be liquidated as “extremist” on 20 April 2017.

Alexander Verkhovsky, Director of the Moscow-based SOVA Center for Information and Analysis, attributes the decline in Article 20.2 prosecutions of religious believers “partly” to the introduction of the so-called “missionary law”. This amendment to the Religion Law, which came into force on 20 July 2016, imposes restrictions on where and by whom beliefs may be shared, and prohibits imprecisely defined “missionary activity” by anyone without written permission from an officially recognised religious organisation or group, and by religious organisations not displaying their full legal names .

“Often, the police simply choose the law [under which to prosecute] at random”, Verkhovsky commented to Forum 18 on 4 July, “and the emergence of options leads to a redistribution.”

Lawyer Sergei Chugunov of the Slavic Centre for Law and Justice also confirmed to Forum 18 that the majority of such religion-related cases now attract charges under Article 5.26 instead of Article 20.2.

Same “offence”, different penalty

Administrative Code Article 5.26, Parts 4 and 5 – which came into force in July 2016 – punish violations of the “anti-missionary” law by Russian citizens and foreigners respectively (Part 3 fines religious organisations for the specific offence of not displaying their full official names during “missionary activity”).

Many of the prosecutions so far under Article 5.26, Parts 4 and 5 have been for activities which also fall under the scope of Article 20.2, such as the distribution of religious literature, open-air services and processions, and events held in rented premises.

In total, Forum 18 found 25 cases brought to court under Article 5.26, Parts 4 and 5 between 20 July and 31 December 2016 (five involving Jehovah’s Witnesses, five Pentecostals, 5 other Evangelical Protestants, two Hare Krishna devotees, two Seventh-day Adventists, two Baptists, two Buddhists, and one village elder in relation to a Pentecostal case). At least 14 of these featured activities could have been prosecuted under Article 20.2.

Of the 28 prosecutions under Article 20.2, Parts 1, 2, and 5 found by Forum 18 in 2016, 20 took place in the seven months to the end of July 2016 (when the “anti-missionary” amendment began to take effect), but only eight in the five months thereafter, with none at all found in October and November (the two in December involved the same person and were based on events he held in June).

Only one case so far is known to have involved charges under both Article 5.26 and Article 20.2. Andrei Puchkov, a Hare Krishna devotee in Tver, organised a procession in the city in October 2016, notifying the local authorities as required by law. Prosecutors accused him of both conducting “missionary activity” without written authorisation from a religious organisation or group (Article 5.26, Part 4), and “violating the established order of a public event” by carrying out “missionary activity” instead of the festival of Indian culture described in the notification (Article 20.2, Part 1). Puchkov was found guilty of the first alleged offence on 10 January 2017 and of the second on 22 February 2017.

Example cases under Article 20.2

Hare Krishna devotee Nikolai Kryukov received an eight-day jail sentence (under Article 20.2, Part 2) at Magadan City Court on 28 July 2016 for sitting outside a city centre shop and singing the mantra “Hare Krishna”, without having notified the city mayor’s office.

According to the written verdict, seen by Forum 18, a passer-by had called the police to report a group of people “performing religious rites and agitation in the streets of Magadan”. The witness claimed the men were trying to sell books, and that when he refused to take one on the grounds that he was of a different faith, Kryukov had told him all other religions were a lie.

Kryukov himself argued in court that he and his friends had made no impositions on anybody, had not handed out any literature, and had aimed only to bring “joy and happiness”. Judge Yelena Sidorovich, however, noted that this was a repeat “offence” and decided on detention as a deterrent.

Kryukov’s companions, Oleg Kim and Vladimir Gerasimenko, were charged under Article 20.2, Part 5. Judge Ilona Cherkasova acquitted the two men on 23 August 2016, however. She concluded that they had not violated any of the restrictions on participants in a public event (the offence covered by Part 5), and noted that the police had based the charges on the lack of notification (Part 2), for which Kim and Gerasimenko could not be held responsible as participants.

Kryukov and another Hare Krishna adherent, Dmitry Moskvichyov, had already been detained for six days for a similar alleged offence in Magadan in August 2015. They had no opportunity to organise proper legal support and were refused a vegetarian diet for three days. Gerasimenko, Kim, and a fifth man, Yevgeny Fedoreyev, who were also involved in the incident, were later charged in their home regions and fined.

Judgments continue to be inconsistent in 2016 prosecutions, with different outcomes in very similar cases heard in different courts or before different judges. Jehovah’s Witnesses E. Shevchenko and Ye. Zherebilova, for example, were charged under Article 20.2, Part 2, with “unlawful picketing” for displaying religious literature on information stands in a park in the Rostov Region town of Shakhta. Police and prosecutor’s office staff carrying out an “anti-extremism inspection” allegedly observed that the two women were standing only 25 metres apart (the minimum distance permitted between one-person pickets, which require no notification, is 50 metres). Judge Lidiya Cherepanova of Shakhta City Court found them guilty on 4 April 2016 and fined them each 20,000 Roubles.

Jehovah’s Witnesses Oleg Shekhanin and T. Shekhanina, however, were also charged under Article 20.2, Part 2, with “unlawful picketing” for standing together with religious literature displayed on a trolley on the river embankment in Kaliningrad – but were acquitted. Judge Irina Kuzovleva of the city’s Leningrad District Court decided on 22 January 2016 that the defendants “did not take an active part in the event by expressing opinions or making particular demands, and did not create a threat to public order or public security”.

Cases can also be long and complex, often with divergent outcomes for different defendants in the same case. Five Hare Krishna devotees were charged under Article 20.2, Part 5, for singing songs using amplification equipment at a bus stop in Tver and offering religious literature to passers-by. In the case materials, cited in court verdicts seen by Forum 18, police described this as a “public voluntary action”.

One man, Pavel Shiryayev, appeared in court in his home town of Samara on 7 April 2016 and received a fine of 10,000 Roubles. On appeal at Samara Regional Court on 21 June, his case was sent back for re-examination; at re-trial on 30 June at the original Krasnoglinsk District Court, it was transferred to Tver, where the alleged offence took place. Shiryayev was eventually acquitted by Judge Olga Baranova of Tver’s Central District Court on 2 November, on the grounds that the “event” had not threatened public order or safety and therefore had not required notification under the 2012 Constitutional Court ruling (for which, in any case, Shiryayev, as a participant, could not be held responsible).

Shiryayev’s fellow defendants faced a range of experiences in the court system. O. Gordeyeva was also fined 10,000 Roubles at Tver’s Kalinin District Court on 8 April. Her initial appeal was unsuccessful, but a subsequent supervisory appeal resulted in her case, too, being sent back for re-examination and transferred to the city’s Central District Court for jurisdictional reasons. She was acquitted by Judge Lyudmila Fokina, who also cited the 2012 Constitutional Court ruling and pointed out that “public voluntary action” was not a recognised category of public event.

Judge Aleksei Mikhailov found A. Chechelev guilty at Tver’s Central District Court on 12 May and fined him 10,000 Roubles. Chechelev did not appeal.

Judge Fokina also acquitted I. Ivanov on 30 June, citing the 2012 Constitutional Court ruling and the constitutional and international right to share one’s beliefs.

The fifth Hare Krishna devotee involved in the incident, Anastasiya Puchkova, did not come to trial. Judge Fokina returned her case to police twice (on 3 February and 2 June 2016) for technical reasons (including the fact that “public voluntary action” was not a category of public event recognised under the Demonstrations Law). It was not lodged a third time.

Although only one of the five ended up with a punishment, the others all had to undergo protracted and complicated court proceedings which did not conclude for many months after their alleged offence, which took place on 19 December 2015.

Known 2016 freedom of religion or belief Article 20.2 cases

– Article 20.2, Part 1

8 April

Name: Irina Filyayeva

Fine: 10,000 Roubles

Court: Moscow District Court, Kaliningrad

Situation: Evangelical Protestant pastor organised a religious service involving ten people in a conference hall on premises rented for a religious organisation’s convention, without notification; appeal judge notes that this should have been Part 2, but reclassification would worsen the defendant’s position, and that since event took place in premises rented for the purpose, no notification was required

Appeal: successful – 19 May 2016, Kaliningrad Regional Court

1 June

Name: Andrei Kharchev

Fine: unknown

Court: Monchegorsk City Court, Murmansk Region

Situation: Christian (of unspecified denomination and not representing a religious association) charged for handing out flyers in a public square inviting passers-by to his home for Bible study, without having notified the authorities; identical to later case below but for the use of sound-amplifying equipment

Appeal: unsuccessful – 7 July 2016, Murmansk Regional Court

23 June

Name: Andrei Kharchev

Fine: none – acquitted

Court: Monchegorsk City Court, Murmansk Region

Situation: Christian (of unspecified denomination and not representing a religious association) charged for handing out flyers in a public square inviting passers-by to his home for Bible study, without having notified the authorities; different judge from above concluded that this could not be interpreted as a “public event” (but that it was “preparatory agitation” for a public event in the form of a gathering)

Appeal: none

6 September

Name: I.B. Gaivoronsky

Fine: 10,000 Roubles

Court: Taganrog City Court, Rostov Region

Situation: Hare Krishna devotee held event with the aim of “popularisation of a healthy lifestyle based on spiritual values”; charged for not wearing/carrying sign showing that he was the organiser, and for holding an event with different aims, ie. “popularisation” of the Society for Krishna Consciousness

Appeal: none

20 September

Name: M.G. Mishenin

Fine: 10,000 Roubles

Court: Kirov District Court, Rostov-on-Don

Situation: organiser of a charity Asian cultural festival (dance, origami, displays of traditional costumes) “violated the established order of conducting an event” by distributing brochures on the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners

Appeal: unsuccessful – 30 November 2016, Rostov Regional Court

22 December

Name: G.A. Averyanov

Fine: 10,000 Roubles

Court: Soviet District Court, Tomsk

Situation: Hare Krishna devotee held an event on 11 June 2016 “with the aim of creating a benevolent festive atmosphere in the city and promoting a healthy lifestyle based on spiritual values”; charged for handing out religious literature when this had not been mentioned in the notification to the authorities

Appeal: none

22 December

Name: G.A. Averyanov

Fine: 10,000 Roubles

Court: Soviet District Court, Tomsk

Situation: Hare Krishna devotee held another event on 19 June “with the aim of creating a benevolent festive atmosphere in the city and promoting a healthy lifestyle based on spiritual values”; charged for handing out religious literature when this had not been mentioned in the notification to the authorities

Appeal: none

– Article 20.2, Part 2

22 January

Name: Oleg Shekhanin

Fine: none – acquitted

Court: Leningrad District Court, Kaliningrad

Situation: with another person (T.L. Shekhanina, see below), accused of unlawful picketing for offering religious literature (probably Jehovah’s Witness) from an information stand on an embankment; judge concludes that there is no evidence that the defendant organised the “event” (and therefore responsible for notification), and no grounds for reclassifying the “offence” under Part 5; judge also concludes that “by standing beside a mobile stand with religious literature, [the defendant] did not take an active part in the event by expressing opinions or making particular demands, and did not create a threat to public order or public security”

Appeal: none

22 January

Name: T.L. Shekhanina

Fine: none – acquitted

Court: Leningrad District Court, Kaliningrad

Situation: probably Jehovah’s Witness; same case as Oleg Shekhanin – see above

Appeal: none

1 April

Name: G.N. Vlasova

Fine: 20 hours’ community service

Court: Soviet District Court, Krasnoyarsk

Situation: Jehovah’s Witness – same case as Zaitseva below

Appeal: successful – 12 May 2016, Krasnoyarsk Regional Court

4 April

Name: E.V. Shevchenko

Fine: 20,000 Roubles

Court: Shakhta City Court, Rostov Region

Situation: Jehovah’s Witness accused of unlawful picketing for displaying religious literature on information stand in city park, with another Jehovah’s Witness (Zherebilova – see below) only 25 metres away; observed by police and prosecutor’s office officials carrying out an “anti-extremism” inspection

Appeal: none

4 April

Name: Ye. I. Zherebilova

Fine: 20,000 Roubles

Court: Shakhta City Court, Rostov Region

Situation: Jehovah’s Witness; same case as Shevchenko above

Appeal: none

3 June

Name: Tatyana Zaitseva

Fine: none – acquitted

Court: Soviet District Court, Krasnoyarsk

Situation: Jehovah’s Witness accused of unlawful picketing for standing with another person (same case as Vlasova – see above) with an information stand displaying religious literature on a pedestrian bridge adjoining a shopping centre; approached by a young man and woman, observed and photographed by men who later said they were from the FSB; judge concludes that defendant was not disrupting public order or disturbing anyone and that there was no “object” to picket – therefore no need to submit notification

Appeal: by prosecution, unsuccessful – 21 July 2016, Krasnoyarsk Regional Court

9 June

Name: V.A. Lopatkov

Fine: none – acquitted

Court: Shilka District Court, Zabaikalsk Region

Situation: Jehovah’s Witness charged for organising gathering in commemoration of Christ’s death at cultural centre; with reference to the 2012 Constitutional Court ruling, judge concluded that no notification was required

Appeal: by prosecution, unsuccessful – 11 July 2016, Zabaikalsk Regional Court

6 July

Name: S.S. Fedonin

Fine: none – acquitted

Court: Central District Court, Tula

Situation: Hare Krishna devotee organised a gathering at which mantras were sung; judge concluded that it did not violate public order, did not involve political agitation or the expression of “negative opinions”, and did not obstruct traffic or pedestrians – the fact that it was held outside the places designated in the Religion Law is not in itself grounds for notification being required; judge refers to 2012 Constitutional Court ruling

Appeal: none

28 July

Name: Nikolai Kryukov

Fine: none – 8 days’ administrative arrest

Court: Magadan City Court

Situation: Hare Krishna devotee accused of unlawful picketing for sitting on the pavement outside a shop with two others (Kim and Gerasimenko – see below) and singing the mantra “Hare Krishna”; defendant claimed they made no impositions on anybody, did not hand out any literature, and aimed only to bring “joy and happiness”; witness called the police to report a group of people “performing religious rites and agitation in the streets of Magadan” – claimed the men were trying to sell books and that Kryukov told him all other religions were a lie when he refused to take one on the grounds that he was of a different faith; other witnesses made similar claims about book-selling; mayor’s office testified that no notification had been received; judge notes repeat offence as aggravating factor and decides on detention as a deterrent

Appeal: none

4 August

Name: A.A. Kotov

Fine: none – acquitted

Court: Bezhetsk City Court, Tver Region

Situation: Jehovah’s Witness accused of organising a gathering of 46 people in rented premises to watch an internet broadcast of a worship service in Moscow, without having submitted notification of the event – defendant denied being the organiser and claimed that all necessary safety measures had been taken, so no notification was needed; acquitted with reference to October 2014 amendments re. rented premises and December 2012 Constitutional Court ruling re. health and safety

Appeal: none

23 September

Name: Aleksandr Dyomkin

Fine: none – acquitted

Court: Novosergiyevka District Court, Orenburg Region

Situation: (registered) Baptist church pastor accused of unlawful picketing for holding a children’s party in the yard of his prayer house; prosecutor changed text of charges when proceedings began, at first basing them on an anti-extremism inspection from 2 to 8 September, then on an inspection of compliance with the Demonstrations Law from 2 to 16 September

Appeal: by prosecution – unsuccessful, 21 October, Orenburg Regional Court

– Article 20.2, Part 5

9 March

Name: R.Zh. Nabiullin

Fine: unknown

Court: Uchaly District Court, Bashkortostan

Situation: Jehovah’s Witness accused of unlawful picketing for standing near a fountain outside a shopping centre with another person (S.R. Abubakirova – see below) and displaying religious literature on an information stand

Appeal: conviction upheld but fine reduced to 10,000 Roubles – 13 April 2016, Supreme Court of Bashkortostan

9 March

Name: S.R. Abubakirova

Fine: 15,000 Roubles

Court: Uchaly District Court, Bashkortostan

Situation: Jehovah’s Witness accused of unlawful picketing for standing near a fountain outside a shopping centre with another person (R.Zh. Nabiullin – see above) and displaying religious literature on an information stand

Appeal: conviction upheld but fine reduced to 5000 Roubles – 13 April 2016, Supreme Court of Bashkortostan

7 April

Name: Pavel Shiryayev

Fine: 10,000 Roubles

Court: Krasnoglinsk District Court, Samara Region

Situation: Hare Krishna devotee accused of participating in a “public voluntary action”, handing out religious literature and singing with amplification equipment at a bus stop – with five others – in Tver; same case as Ivanov, Gordeyeva, Puchkova, Chechelev

Appeal: sent back for re-examination – 21 June 2016, Samara Regional Court; transferred for jurisdictional reasons – 30 June 2016, Krasnoglinsk City Court; acquitted on re-trial – Central District Court, Tver, 2 November 2016

8 April

Name: O.I. Gordeyeva

Fine: 10,000 Roubles

Court: Kalinin District Court, Tver

Situation: Hare Krishna devotee accused of participating in a “public voluntary action”, handing out religious literature and singing with amplification equipment at a bus stop – with five others (see below)

Appeal: unsuccessful (not considered) – Tver Regional Court, 20 May 2016; transferred for jurisdictional reasons at supervisory appeal – Tver Regional Court, 16 August 2016; acquitted on re-trial – Central District Court, Tver, 27 September 2016

12 May

Name: A.A. Chechelev

Fine: 10,000 Roubles

Court: Central District Court, Tver

Situation: Hare Krishna devotee accused of participating in a “public voluntary action”, handing out religious literature and singing with amplification equipment at a bus stop – with five others (same case as Gordeyeva, Shiryayev, Puchkova, Ivanov)

Appeal: none

30 June

Name: I.A. Ivanov

Fine: none – acquitted

Court: Central District Court, Tver

Situation: Hare Krishna devotee, along with four others (see Gordeyeva, Chechelev, Shiryayev, Puchkova), sang songs using amplification equipment at a bus stop and offered religious literature from an information stand; interpreted by police as a “public voluntary action”, which the judge points out is not mentioned in the Demonstrations Law; judge cites constitutional and international right to share one’s beliefs and 2012 Constitutional Court judgement re. notification requirement; prayer and religious meetings should be classed as assemblies (sobraniya), which do not require notification; no reason to suppose that Ivanov was the organiser, rather than just a participant

Appeal: none

5 July

Name: S.A. Prokopenko

Fine: 20 hours’ community service

Court: Ussuriysk District Court, Primorye

Situation: unspecified Christian charged for handing out religious literature and talking about Jesus to passers-by (same case as Lavrinov – see below); argued that he was engaging in religious service, not a public event; judge concluded that he “openly demonstrated his religious beliefs in a place in which the mass presence of people may be expected, thus creating the danger of violating public order”.

Appeal: unsuccessful – 17 August 2016, Primorye Regional Court

5 July

Name: Ye.M. Lavrinov

Fine: 20 hours’ community service

Court: Ussuriysk District Court, Primorye

Situation: unspecified Christian charged for handing out religious literature and talking about Jesus to passers-by (same case as Prokopenko – see above); argued that he was engaging in religious service, not a public event; judge concluded that he “openly demonstrated his religious beliefs in a place in which the mass presence of people may be expected, thus creating the danger of violating public order”.

Appeal: unsuccessful – 8 August 2016, Primorye Regional Court

23 August

Name: Vladimir Gerasimenko

Fine: none – acquitted

Court: Magadan City Court

Situation: Hare Krishna devotee (same case as Kryukov, above (Part 2), and Kim, below) accused of unlawful picketing for distributing religious literature and playing music instruments outside a shop in central Madagan; police charges based on lack of notification, but judge concludes that this was not Gerasimenko’s responsibility as a participant, and he did not violate any of the legal restrictions on a participant

Appeal: by police, unsuccessful – 23 September 2016, Magadan Regional Court

23 August

Name: Oleg Kim

Fine: none – acquitted

Court: Madagan City Court

Situation: Hare Krishna – same case as Gerasimenko and Kryukov (see above)

Appeal: by police, unsuccessful – 29 September 2016, Magadan Regional Court

By Jonathan Newman*

“If steel and iron works, copper mines, and sawmills cannot be operated to their full capacity, the reason can only be that there are not enough buyers on the market ready to purchase their whole output at prices which cover the costs” wrote Ludwig von Mises in Human Action.1

Chairman Mao’s steel obsession

In his first Five Year Plan (1953–57) and the Great Leap Forward (1958–60), Chairman Mao steered communist China toward heavy industrial production. He was obsessed with steel production as a measure of a nation’s superiority, and so directed the population of China to produce as much steel as possible.

From 1952 to 1957, steel production tripled, but

this was regarded as inadequate, and during the GLF, the drive for steel turned into an all-consuming obsession, and the entire country was mobilized for this goal, despite the rhetoric of “simultaneous development of industry and agriculture.”2

During the Great Leap Forward, the Chinese resorted to backyard blast furnaces to further increase steel production, using any fuel they could get their hands on, including the wood from front doors, furniture, and coffins. They melted personal items like cookware and bicycles when they ran out of iron ore. The metals produced by such methods were weak and useless for construction; in some regions the metal content didn’t even qualify it as steel, but low quality pig iron.

The consequences for Mao’s steel obsession was more than just low-quality output: a death toll in the tens of millions as people starved due to the lack of food production or were killed or worked to death by the state.

Steel production and economic calculation

Such dire consequences are avoided in market economies because the production of goods, including capital goods, is strictly regulated by consumer demand. The production of one good is only profitable to the extent that the revenues exceed the costs of production, both of which depend on consumer demand.

Revenues are obviously dependent on what consumers are willing to pay for certain quantities of a good, but the costs of production are also totally dependent on consumer demand. The prices of factors of production are bid up to their anticipated discounted marginal revenue product (ADMRP). That is, the extra revenue the entrepreneur expects to be able to earn due to the employment of the factor, due allowance being made for time preference. And this extra revenue, of course, is dependent on the consumer.

To increase the production of a good, the specific factors of production must be bid away from other lines of production. The price offered must exceed what all other entrepreneurs think the factor’s ADMRP is.

Forcing an entire country to redirect almost all productive efforts and resources toward the production of steel means that the costs of production would rise to outrageous levels as factors are bid away from increasingly important uses. The forgone production of other goods is automatically taken into account in the market economy where entrepreneurs rely on economic calculation to make production decisions. Without market prices, like in Mao’s China, such economizing mechanisms are absent.

Trump takes a cue from Mao

The reason this is important today is because Trump has promised “bold action” against steel imports — steel imports from China, coincidentally — presumably to show off American “industrial might,” according to this article. Trump also believes action against imports will provide “a source of well-paying blue-collar jobs.” Mao would be proud.

In April, as a clever ruse to justify new protectionist measures, Trump instructed his administration to investigate the national security implications of importing steel. An announcement about the outcome of this charade is expected any day now.

Steel isn’t a great source of jobs

This comes at the same time economic commentators are fretting over workers being displaced by automation in many industries. Steel production is not immune; a certain plant in Austria needs “just 14 employees to make 500,000 tons of robust steel wire a year.” This, of course, does not include all of the labor required in earlier stages of production. The trend is magnificent all the same, even though the majority opinion is that it’s bad.

The lamenters don’t seem to understand that increased productivity in one industry frees up resources and laborers for other industries, and, since increased productivity means increased real wages, demand for goods and services will increase as well. They seem to have a nonsensical apocalyptic view of a fully automated future with piles and piles of valuable goods everywhere, but nobody can enjoy them because nobody has a job. I invite the worriers to check out simple supply and demand analysis and Say’s Law.

Technological innovations that displace workers are great because total production of all goods can increase, not just the goods in the newly advanced industry. Or, since we also enjoy leisure time, it means that our work weeks can get shorter without sacrificing our livelihoods. Of course, all changes in the economy require some reshuffling of resources, and in the case of temporarily displaced workers, that can be a difficult process (especially if those workers have to overcome and navigate through labor market interventions). But the positive effects of increased productivity undeniably rule out any proposal to stop or hinder such advancements through government force.

How much steel we produce should be determined by consumers

Even Mao would have invited technology to increase steel production, even if it meant that the backyard smelters were no longer needed to produce steel (assuming he could magically realize this without market prices). Those laborers could have been directed to agriculture and perhaps millions of people would have been saved from starvation. Technology, however, will never make socialism workable. Without market prices, even super-high-tech societies as seen in Star Trek or Star Wars can only work in fiction. Technology merely allows us to produce more. Deciding what to produce, in what quantities, using what resources, and all of the myriad production decisions requires market prices and economic calculation.

We have regressed to obsessing over domestic steel production, using industrial might, national security, and jobs as justification, but all three are flimsy when compared with what trade and market economies can accomplish. Neither Trump nor Mao can replace the sovereignty of the consumer over production.

The real bosses, in the capitalist system of market economy, are the consumers. They, by their buying and by their abstention from buying, decide who should own the capital and run the plants. They determine what should be produced and in what quantity and quality. Their attitudes result either in profit or in loss for the enterpriser. They make poor men rich and rich men poor. They are no easy bosses.3

• 1. P. 575.
• 2. Alfred L. Chan, Mao’s Crusade, p. 158.
• 3. Ludwig von Mises, Bureaucracy, pp. 20–21.

About the author:
*Jonathan Newman earned his PhD at Auburn University and is a Mises Institute Fellow.

Source:
This article was published by the MISES Institute

A report charging Saudi Arabia with funding extremism in Britain puts both the kingdom and Prime Minister Teresa May on the spot. The report also potentially strengthens Qatar’s insistence that support of extremism should be tackled regionally and that demands by an anti-Qatari, Saudi-UAE-led alliance be addressed to both sides of the divide in the Gulf crisis.

The report by the conservative Henry Jackson Society asserted that among Gulf states and Iran, Saudi Arabia was the primary funder of extremism in Britain as well as elsewhere. It said the kingdom “since the 1960s has sponsored a multimillion dollar effort to export Wahhabi Islam across the Islamic world, including to Muslim communities in the West.”

Publication of the report could not have come at a worse moment for the kingdom and Ms. May. Saudi Arabia together with the UAE has led a month-old diplomatic and economic boycott of Qatar, which they accuse of supporting extremism and terrorism. Qatar has denied the charges.

By the same token, the report increased pressure on Ms. May to publish a government report on funding of extremism in the UK that reportedly also points fingers at Saudi Arabia. Ms. May has said the government was reviewing its report and would decide on publication in “due course.”

In a statement, the Saudi embassy in London said any accusations that the kingdom had radicalised “a small number of individuals are baseless and lack credible evidence.” The embassy insisted that “we do not and will not condone the actions or ideology of violent extremism and we will not rest until these deviants and their organisations are destroyed.”

Both Saudi Arabia and jihadists use the term ‘deviant’ to describe one another. In doing so, both acknowledge Sunni Muslim ultra-conservatism and jihadism’s common roots but accuse the other of having deviated from the right path.

A Saudi-UAE-led alliance gave Qatar a ten-day ultimatum that expired this week to meet 13 demands that beyond halting support for extremists and Islamists, included closing a Turkish military base in the Gulf state, lowering its relations with Iran, and shuttering Qatar-sponsored media, including the controversial Al Jazeera television network. The alliance threatened further sanctions if Qatar failed to meet the demands which the Saudis declared were non-negotiable.

Foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain, gathered this week in Cairo to decide how to respond Qatar’s rejection of their demands, said further steps to force Qatar’s hand would be decided at the “appropriate time.”

Sensitive to criticism of their demands by various Western leaders and calls by the United States, Europe, China and Russia for a negotiated end to the Gulf crisis, the ministers focused in a news conference on six extremism-related issues.

They demanded that Qatar commit to combat extremism and terrorism, suspend provocative acts and speeches that incite to hatred or violence, adhere to various Arab agreements, and stop interfering in the internal affairs of others and supporting illegal entities.

On paper, the demands look like the basis for a solution of the Gulf crisis. The problem is that there is widespread disagreement on what constitutes extremism, terrorism, and incitement to hatred or violence, and which organizations are illegal. Many view Wahhabism, the interpretation of Islam adopted by both Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as extremist. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have, moreover, banned the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that Qatar backs, and that is legal in the United States and Europe and has not been designated under international law by the United Nations.

Nonetheless, the demands buffeted by the Jackson Society report potentially open a door for Qatar to level the playing field by insisting that the accusations against it are in fact also being levelled against its detractors.

The Jackson Society report, despite the fact that there is little doubt that Saudi Arabia has massively promoted various forms of Sunni Muslim ultra-conservatism, regurgitates long-known facts and assertions. It is largely based on secondary sources, primarily media reports, rather than on independent investigation.

As a result, the report at some points jumps to conclusions while at others it appears to underestimate the impact of Saudi backing of Sunni Muslim ultra-conservatism. Quoting a book by BBC journalist Innes Bowen as well as a US State Department report on international religious freedom, the Jackson Society noted that the number of Salafi and Wahhabi mosques in Britain had increased from 68 in 2007 to 110 in 2014.

While that constitutes a substantial increase, the Jackson Society report failed to note the far more worrisome fact that almost half of Britain’s 1,750 mosques are Deobandi, a Saudi-backed South Asian strand of Sunni Muslim ultra-conservatism.

Usama Hasan, a scion of Britain’s foremost Salafi scholar, who was employed by the Dawa or proselytization department of the Saudi embassy in London before becoming head of Islamic studies at the Quilliam Foundation, estimated that at least half of the Deobandi mosques in Britain were Saudi funded. Saudi-backed Deobandi influence is magnified by the fact that a substantial number of UK-trained Muslim scholars are graduates of Deobandi institutions. A majority of militants in Pakistan adhere to Deobandism.

Similarly, a host of intelligence reports, politicians and pundits assert that Saudi-backed Sunni Muslim ultra-conservatism enables an environment that under certain circumstances breeds extremism. Nonetheless. despite preaching an intolerant, anti-pluralistic and supremacist brand of Islam, Sunni ultra-conservatism is not in and of itself violent nor does it lead by definition to extremism or violence.

Instead, ultra-conservatism complicates forging a synthesis between Islamic and Western values and serves as a catalyst for extremism among those segments of society in search of a meaningful life-guiding philosophy, desperate to vent frustration and anger, or seeking glory.

Noting that British “national counter-terrorism strategy has placed increased emphasis on addressing the role that non-violent Islamist extremism and extremist ideology plays in ultimately leading some individuals to commit acts of violence,” the report implicitly lays responsibility for political violence perpetrated by Muslims primarily at the doorstep of Saudi-backed ultra-conservatism.

It noted that “some of Britain’s most prominent Islamist extremist preachers — men such as Abu Qatada, Abu Hamza, Abdullah al Faisal, Sheikh Omar Bakri — have all sat within what can be described as a broadly Wahhabi/Salafi ideology.”

A Jordanian national, Omar Mahmoud Othman or Abu Qatada al-Filistini was extradited on charges of terrorism from Britain to Jordan where he was acquitted because of insufficient evidence. Mustafa Kamel Mustafa aka Abu Hamza al-Masri was convicted in both Britain and the US for terrorism.

A UK court convicted, Abdullah el-Faisal, a convert to Islam, to prison for stirring up racial hatred and urging his followers to kill Jews, Hindus, Christians, and Americans. A Syrian militant, Omar Bakri Muhammad, was barred in 2005 from returning to Britain where he had lived for 20 years. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison in Lebanon.

The Jackson Society report said that many of Britain’s Wahhabi and Salafi scholars had been educated in Saudi Arabia. It charged that they “assist with the spreading of hard-line and illiberal interpretations of Islam to the wider British Muslim community.” Citing media reports, the report listed a host of Saudi-funded mosques that had been associated with extremism.

“There have also been numerous cases of British individuals who have joined Jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria whose radicalisation is thought to link back to foreign funded institutions and preachers,” the report said. It identified the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Iran as also funding ultra-conservatism but focused primarily on Saudi activity.

The report asserted that some 24 Saudi-funded schools in Britain used Saudi schoolbooks that the Islamic State had introduced into its education system. Quoting the BBC, it said that some 5,000 British children were being educated in 2010 according to the official Saudi curriculum in weekend classes in some 40 clubs and schools.

To be fair, the report acknowledged that “it is rarely the case that a definitive or causative connection can be established between foreign funding and individuals being recruited into terrorism.” As a result, while the report identified various British extremists as having had Saudi links, it failed to prove beyond any doubt that Saudi-backed ultra-conservatism by definition leads to radicalization and political violence.

To Qatar’s disadvantage however, the report highlighted the London-based Al-Muntada Trust, which it said was funded by the Gulf state. The trust, which is also believed to have close ties to Saudi Arabia and militant Saudi Islamic scholars, held its 2013 conference in Doha, according to the report. The Trust has condemned various attacks in recent months in Britain that have killed scores of people, but as of this writing had yet to comment on the Jackson Society report.

“The trust has been connected with a number of mosques where radicalisation has taken place. Specifically, in the case of a group of young British men from Cardiff, it has been suggested that attendance at the Al-Muntada-linked al-Manar Mosque was significant in their radicalisation and decision to travel to Syria and join the Islamic State,” the report said.

Qatar benefits from the report even if it does not emerge from it smelling like roses. The fact that the report attributes primary blame to Saudi Arabia and identifies other Gulf states as well as Iran is likely to strengthen Qatar’s argument that the Saudi-UAE-led boycott is an attempt to undermine its sovereignty and that the solution to the Gulf crisis should be one that addresses problems of funding of extremism on a regional basis.

It is an argument that will resonate with many, but is unlikely to contribute to resolving the Gulf crisis unless all parties are persuaded to step back from the brink and sit around a negotiating table. So far, there is little indication that the Saudi-UAE-led alliance is willing to heed calls for a dialogue. Complicating mediation efforts is Qatar’s demand that the Saudi-UAE-led alliance lift its boycott before any talks get underway.

South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has extended his condolences to the family of world renowned trumpeter and head of the Gauteng Music Academy, Johnny Mekoa, who passed away on Monday.

Mekoa established the Gauteng Music Academy in 1994, which focused on teaching communities jazz, especially the youth.

In 2015, President Zuma conferred Mekoa the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver, an award for South African citizens who have excelled in arts, culture, literature, music, journalism and sport.

“We have lost a remarkable musician and teacher, who contributed immensely to the music sector and selflessly imparted his musical knowledge and skills to aspirant musicians, especially children from poor backgrounds.

“May his legacy be an inspiration to others to be selfless teachers in different fields in order to build a better and prosperous South Africa. We wish to convey our sincere condolences to the Mekoa family and the music industry at large. May his soul rest in peace,” said President Zuma.

Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa has also paid tribute to Mekoa.

“The nation has lost one of its most talented and selfless musical sons,” said Minister Mthethwa.

The life and times of Johnny Mekoa

Mekoa was born Ramakgobotla John Mekoa in Benoni in 1945. He wanted to pursue a musical education and career, but circumstances at the time in apartheid South Africa did not allow him to do so.

However, together with other musicians, he continued to play in bands and groups and inspired new generations and new sounds. Many times he was prevented from travelling abroad by the apartheid government by refusing to give him a passport. But his consolation was, as he has said, that: “The bands we played in kept the hopes and dreams of the masses alive.”

After 20 years of working as an optical dispenser, Mekoa finally, at the age of 41, commenced with formal tertiary studies in music and earned a Bachelor Degree in music from the then University of Natal.

He later took up a Fulbright Scholarship and studied for a Master’s Degree in Music at the University of Indiana in the United States.

Mekoa received numerous awards over the years and two honorary doctorates.

His important contribution to arts education was through the establishment of the Music Academy of Gauteng in 1994. This initiative has grown over the years and has nurtured many new talents. It has been a breeding ground for youth who went on to become acclaimed jazz musicians.

The academy received an International Jazz Education Network Award for five years in a row. The Department of Arts and Culture recently funded the building of student accommodation residences at the Gauteng Music Academy through the community art centres’ capital works budget.

Minister Mthethwa said Mekoa has been a life-affirming force in musical education.

“He was not only content to play an instrument and to bask in the light of his own creativity and glory, but in the spirit of ubuntu, he needed to share that light with others. He lived his life to the full, with conviction and true to the dictum: ‘Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend!

“Over the years, Johnny Mekoa has done so much to provide musical skills to talented youth and he has pursued this calling to teach and impart knowledge with both passion and perseverance. His own contribution to South African music has been immense. From optical dispenser to heading a music academy, he certainly had the vision for looking ahead and addressing the needs of new times,” said Minister Mthethwa.

In an interview for the book Unsung Jazz Musicians Under Apartheid, Mekoa explained that: “You know, one had to go back to school. We knew that Mandela was going to be released. I knew it, so I said to myself: go back to school Johnny, get yourself ready, so that when we take over, we can be qualified. We have to take our destiny into our own hands. You had to prepare yourself educationally, spiritually and otherwise. To position yourself in such a way to shape the direction of young musical talent in our country.”

Minister Mthethwa said Mekoa will be remembered for his life’s work and his love for people, for encouraging youth and sustaining African music.

“Our condolences go to his family, his friends, his fellow musicians and teachers and to his students.”

Chairperson of the Living Legends Legacy Programme, Welcome Msomi, said Mekoa was committed to raising the status of young musicians to achieve excellence.

“This is a testament to his tireless work in establishing and maintaining the Gauteng Music Academy and against all the odds, he made it happen. So many of our people are going to miss him dearly. His amiable spirit translated into his enthusiastic disposition at the living legends project by bringing together many others in transferring their skills to next generation of jazz musicians.

“He successfully organised and hosted three living legends masterclasses during the course of 2016 and 2017 at his music academy where saxophonists Stompie Manana, Barney Rachabane and one of the last living Manhattan Brothers vocalists, Sanza Loate, participated,” said Msomi.

(RFE/RL) — U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States is prepared to cooperate with Russia in Syria, including on military matters, in a renewed gesture at reconciliation ahead of a meeting this week between the two nations’ leaders.

Tillerson said late on July 5 that the United States is open to establishing no-fly zones in Syria in coordination with Russia as well as jointly setting up mechanisms to monitor cease-fires and to ensure delivery of humanitarian aid.

The U.S.-Russia cooperation would create stability in Syria, Tillerson said, as U.S.-backed forces continue their assault on the Islamic State extremist group, which he said is “badly wounded” and on the “brink of complete defeat.”

“If our two countries work together to establish stability on the ground, it will lay a foundation for progress on the settlement of Syria’s political future,” Tillerson said.

Tillerson’s statement came as U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time on July 7 at a Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. The two are expected to discuss Syria, in what Tillerson said he hoped would be a “good exchange.”

It was Tillerson’s first detailed statement addressing the war in Syria. He stressed that the administration’s goals are to prevent a resurgence of extremism from emerging in areas that U.S.-backed forces have recently liberated from IS control, and to enable Syrian civilians to return to their homes and rebuild their lives there.

“While there are no perfect options for guaranteeing stability, we must explore all possibilities for holding the line against the resurgence of ISIS or other terrorist groups,” he said.

“The United States believes Russia, as a guarantor of [Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s] regime and an early entrant into the Syrian conflict, has a responsibility to ensure that the needs of the Syrian people are met and that no faction in Syria illegitimately re-takes or occupies areas liberated from ISIS’ or other terrorist groups’ control,” he said.

“Russia also has an obligation to prevent any further use of chemical weapons of any kind by the Assad regime,” he said.

Tillerson said further U.S. cooperation with Russia would build on already successful efforts to avoid accidental clashes as both nations have waged battles on Syrian territory in recent months.

“The United States and Russia have already achieved progress in establishing deconfliction zones in Syria that have prevented mutual collateral damage,” he said. “This cooperation…is evidence that our two nations are capable of further progress.”

The ten-day Turkish-Georgian-Azerbaijani military drills, the Caucasus Eagle, with the participation of special operations forces, ended in Turkey on June 14, 2017. The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan said that in September this year that joint computer-assisted staff-level exercises will also take place among the soldiers of the armed forces of these three countries.

Indeed, we see that the representatives of the countries’ military command meet each other on a regular basis.

However, along with the positive aspects of the trilateral cooperation of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, the chances that it will grow into a full-fledged regional military and political bloc, are minimal.

The ideological basis of the tripartite union is the thesis that “despite our differences, we are united”. As such, the foreign policy objectives of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey are too different from each other for the creation of a more permanent military bloc. It’s not a simple task to combine the Euro-Atlanticism of Georgia, the neutrality of the Azerbaijan and Turkey’s expansionism even in case that these countries have common interests in the energy sector. Additionally, if Ankara is ready to support Baku in the Karabakh conflict, Georgia and Armenia have close economic ties.

There is no doubt that Tbilisi won’t dare to risk those ties for the sake of the integrity of the tripartite union. The prospect of a military alliance is not disputed by the representatives of the foreign and defense ministers of the three countries, but the key point of strengthening cooperation is the development of energy and transport fields.

Recently it was claimed by Mesut Özcan, acting chairman of Turkish Foreign Ministry’s Center of Strategic Research that the strength of unions is checked by time and it depends on the interests of the strongest part of the union – Turkey.

The future of EU-Russia relations is even more uncertain than ever before. Every man may observe only deterioration. Mass media broadly covered the extension of the bloc’s economic sanctions against Russia by six months until January 31. European Union leaders made such decision on June, 22 during a two-day summit in Brussels. This step followed the Washington’s decision to broaden its sanctions against Moscow.

But this is only a visible part of world politics based on the clear desire to punish Russia for annexation of Crimea. The US and European politics continue to consider the sanctions the only effective mechanism to influence Kremlin. Though there is no great success. Sanction cause counter-sanctions and so on and so forth. May be it is high time to try other tools of international diplomacy? Where are talented diplomats who could reverse the situation and prevent further confrontation? It is absolutely urgent because it turned out that Europe punishes not only Moscow but itself.

The most complicated and demonstrative situation is in energy sector. After a decline in gas consumption in 2001-2014, Europe has begun to consume more. For example, last year, the EU consumed 447bn c m, of which 34% was Russian gas. The demand is expected to go even higher because in the next decade, Europe will run short of its gas reserves. Nothing to do, Europe has to cooperate with Russia and try to find the consensus.

The US has its own opinion on this matter. The US also offer gas to Europe. Washington and Moscow are real rivals in the gas supplies to the European states. Some European leaders are even sure the senators were pursuing US economic interests at Europe’s expense. This fact proves the Senate bill that says “The United States government should prioritize the export of United States energy resources in order to create American jobs, help United States…, and strengthen United States foreign policy.”

That seems aimed against Nord Stream 2, the proposed Russian pipeline across the Baltic Sea to Germany, bypassing Ukraine. Investors in Nord Stream 2 include five major European companies: Anglo-Dutch Shell and Austrian OMV, German Uniper and Wintershall, French ENGIE. It expected to be very profitable for the states participated in the project. But the US considers it a threat to its own economic interest and successfully uses political background in order to oppose the realization of the commercial project.

Though the US is increasing its liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity, it’s not clear whether the price of US gas will be lower than that of the Russian pipeline gas, supplied by Russian Gazprom. At this point, large-scale US LNG exports to Europe appear to be a money-losing enterprise aimed at gaining market share. There is nothing common with politics.

Nowadays Europe should clearly defend its interests and be able to distinguish the real politics from private business interests. It is obvious that the US forces Europe to harden sanctions against Russia and Russian energy sector not because of the Ukraine or Crimea, but because of own economic interests. It is not clear why Europe should be committed to American economic interests and continue political confrontation with an economically more profitable partner under the cover of imposed political motives.

By Jim Garamone

The United States military stands ready to provide options to President Donald J. Trump, but diplomatic and economic efforts remain the tools of choice to convince North Korea to stop its nuclear and missile programs, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters here today.

“The president’s been very clear, and secretary of state’s been very clear that we are leading with diplomatic and economic efforts,” Mattis said during an impromptu news conference in the Pentagon. “The military remains ready in accordance with our alliance with Japan, with Korea.”

The North Korean launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on July 4 is a very serious escalation and provocation, Mattis said, and also an affront to the United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Diplomatic Effort

The secretary stressed that the effort against North Korea is purely diplomatically led. The weapons of choice are economic sanctions, but these will be buttressed by military capabilities. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is the administration point man with regard to North Korea. “We stand ready to provide options if they are necessary,” Mattis said.

Diplomacy with regard to North Korea has not failed, Mattis said. He cited Army Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea, saying America and South Korea have exercised extreme self-restraint in avoiding war. He noted the shelling of South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island in 2010, the sinking of a South Korean ship earlier that year and other provocations at sea, on land and in cyberspace. “Our self-restraint holds, and diplomatic efforts remain underway as we speak,” he said.

The United States is working with allies to influence North Korea. U.S. officials are also working with China – North Korea’s benefactor and largest trading partner – to place more pressure on North Korean leaders to stop the nuclear and missile programs.

Launch Analysis Continues

The secretary said the Defense Department is still analyzing intelligence from the North Korean launch. “It clearly had a booster, which was a new development on a previous missile,” he said.

Mattis said he was not surprised that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un launched the missile. “We assume these sorts of things from him,” the secretary said. “Right now that’s why we’re called … the sentinels for this country. We were on duty. … The radars were up and operating. We knew it as soon as he fired it that it had been fired — literally.”

In response to numerous media questions about a ban on the entry to Azerbaijan for Russian citizens, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday that its citizens going to that country are subject to ethnic discrimination.

Since the start of this year, 25 Russian citizens have been denied entry into Azerbaijan, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, adding that they were, on average, detained for many hours at the Baku airport (in a number of cases, without food, water or medical assistance, and in one case the detained person was a woman with a four-year-old child) and then forced to leave at their own expense.

“The ‘grounds’ for these outrages were Armenian surnames, first names or the patronymics of our citizens. But there were also cases where persons with Russian last names, names and patronymics were questioned to identify their ‘Armenian ancestry,'” according to the Foreign Ministry.

The Russian Embassy in Baku and the Russian Foreign Ministry have issued several notes, demanding that an end be put to this outrageous practice, followed by an investigation and due inquiry into the behavior of the officials at Heydar Aliyev International Airport.

“We have proceed from the assumption that, as Azerbaijan presents itself, the country is a model of ethnic and religious tolerance and multiculturalism, that recently declared its intention to establish an Azerbaijani-Armenian public dialogue,” the Foreign Ministry said, adding, “But our expectations have failed to materialise. There was no investigation of these incidents. A reply from Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry says “Azerbaijan must apply the relevant regulations to a number of persons to prevent undesirable excesses.” We regard this reply as vague and unsatisfactory. Unfortunately, it shows that Russian citizens arriving in Azerbaijan still run the risk of falling victim to arbitrary treatment.”

An anti-G20 rally in Hamburg has erupted into a violent confrontation between police and protesters. Officers were attacked by rioters and responded with pepper spray and water cannons. Sporadic clashes on the streets of the German city continued into the night.

“There have been offenses committed by smaller groups [but] we now have the situation under control… I was there myself, I’ve seen nothing like that before,” Hamburg police spokesman Timo Zill told German broadcaster ZDF.

The march started off relatively peacefully as activists marched through the streets, chanting slogans and holding banners. It’s not clear who or what exactly triggered the fighting, but several loud bangs were heard, followed by bottles being thrown in the direction of riot police which had assembled nearby.

Police used pepper-spray on rioting protesters.

Water cannons were deployed by authorities and several people appear to be injured as a number of people have been seen on the ground or with bloody faces being led away by police.

At the start of the skirmish organizers appealed for calm, as a voice over the loudspeaker asked protesters to refrain from throwing bottles.

Footage from the scene at some point showed columns of green and orange smoke rising above the crowds.

According to RT’s correspondent on the scene, Peter Oliver, one of the protesters grievances was that they received no clear directives from the police as to where they were allowed to march and so found themselves kettled by officers in riot gear once they took a few steps.

“They are macing everyone,” one witness at the scene told RT. “As far as I could tell, they were attacking the demonstration with no reason.”

“I’m from Hamburg, [and] I’ve never seen anything like this. We’ve had fights about squatted houses and all that, [but] I’ve never seen anything like that. The aggression, as far as I could tell, the purposelessness… my face hurts, I’ve got mace and everything, this is unbelievable.”

The Welcome to Hell march is taking place one day before the G20 summit kicks off in Hamburg.

Police have estimated around 12,000 people attended the march. Earlier, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said there was a hard-core of 8,000 leftist militants who were ready to use violence.

According to an official police statement, the trouble began when officers tried to separate aggressive black-bloc militants from peaceful protesters at the St. Pauli Fish Market but were met with bottles, poles and iron bars, prompting them to use justifiable force.

As a result of the violence organizers have declared the protest over, but it appears as though thousands of activists and protesters remain on the streets, facing down police armed with batons, water cannons and pepper spray, and fighting is continuing.

This is not the first violent incident to have erupted in the run-up to the G20 summit. Police also responded to a Tuesday protest which turned violent and on Wednesday night, a Porsche dealership was targeted in an arson attack which resulted in eight luxury cars being destroyed.

Over 15,000 more officers deployed to Hamburg from across the country to deal with any unrest, as well as specialist vehicles such as armoured cars, water cannons and helicopters.

Protests have been banned from Hamburg’s inner city and on roads leading to the airport. Activists have accused Hamburg authorities of suppressing their right to legitimate protest, but the city says it can take no chances with the safety of the thousands of foreign delegates who will attend the G20, including world leaders such as Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Justin Trudeau.

Fearful of rioting, local people are avoiding the city center. Businesses have boarded up their windows and some have stuck anti-G20 posters to their doors, to avoid being the target of anti-capitalist rioters.

By Henry Ridgwell

In his first major public speech in Europe, U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that the values of the West are under attack and questioned whether its people have the will to fight for it.

Speaking in Warsaw, Poland, the president said “The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive. Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders?”

“While we will always welcome new citizens who share our values and love our people, our borders will always be closed to terrorism and extremism of any kind,” he added to applause from the 5,000-strong crowd.

Many Poles are supportive of President Trump’s proposed ban on immigration from some Muslim countries, and are fiercely opposed to accepting quotas of refugees from Europe.

The president said he had called on Muslim nations to drive out the menace of terrorism.

“We must stand united against these shared enemies to strip them of their territory and their funding, and their networks, and any form of ideological support that they may have.”

Throughout his speech the passionate crowd – many of whom had reportedly been bussed in from across Poland – repeatedly chanted “Donald Trump” and “USA”.

Small groups of protestors, many of whom demonstrated against President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, were kept well away from the speech in Warsaw’s Krasninski Square.

Speaking in front of a monument to the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, Trump lavished praise on his Polish hosts and hailed their fight for freedom from Nazi and Communist rule.

“Those heroes remind us that the West was saved with the blood of patriots; that each generation must rise up and play their part in its defense,” he told the cheering crowd.

Trump praised Warsaw for meeting its NATO defense spending target of 2 percent of GDP – and said U..S pressure on NATO allies was yielding results.

“As a result of this insistence, billions of dollars more have begun to pour into NATO… the United States has demonstrated not merely with words but with its actions that we stand firmly behind Article 5, the mutual defense commitment,” he said.

That confirmation comes as Poland and many other NATO countries are shaken by Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

Trump is due to hold his first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in the German city of Hamburg, which starts Friday.

The warm welcome in Poland was a boost for Trump ahead of that summit, says Marek Matraszek, Chairman of lobbyist firm CEC Government Relations.

“It will show voters in the United States and it will show Brussels, that actually it’s probably not wise to think that one can garner up a coalition of resistance to Trump as some would like to see; that there are countries in central Europe that actually really don’t want to see that and actually do want to see the United States working with Europe militarily and economically,” Matraszek told VOA in an interview.

News conference

At a news conference earlier with his Polish counterpart, Trump said he believes Russia may have tried to interfere in the 2016 US election, but said others may have been involved.

He also pledged to end Poland’s dependence on Russian gas and to boost LNG shipments from the United States.

President Trump warned he would take unspecified action against North Korea after its recent missile test – which Pyongyang claims proves it has the technology to make intercontinental ballistic weapons.

MRS. TRUMP: Hello, Poland! Thank you very much. My husband and I have enjoyed visiting your beautiful country. I want to thank President and Mrs. Duda for the warm welcome and their generous hospitality. I had the opportunity to visit the Copernicus Science Centre today, and found it not only informative but thoughtful, its mission, which is to inspire people to observe, experiment, ask questions, and seek answers.

I can think of no better purpose for such a wonderful science center. Thank you to all who were involved in giving us the tour, especially the children who made it such a wonderful experience.

As many of you know, a main focus of my husband’s presidency is safety and security of the American people. I think all of us can agree people should be able to live their lives without fear, no matter what country they live in. That is my wish for all of us around the world. (Applause.)

Thank you again for this wonderful welcome to your very special country. Your kindness and gracious hospitality will not be forgotten. (Applause.)

And now it is my honor to introduce to you my husband, the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. (Applause.)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. That’s so nice. The United States has many great diplomats, but there is truly no better ambassador for our country than our beautiful First Lady, Melania. Thank you, Melania. That was very nice. (Applause.)

We’ve come to your nation to deliver a very important message: America loves Poland, and America loves the Polish people. (Applause.) Thank you.

The Poles have not only greatly enriched this region, but Polish-Americans have also greatly enriched the United States, and I was truly proud to have their support in the 2016 election. (Applause.)

It is a profound honor to stand in this city, by this monument to the Warsaw Uprising, and to address the Polish nation that so many generations have dreamed of: a Poland that is safe, strong, and free. (Applause.)

President Duda and your wonderful First Lady, Agata, have welcomed us with the tremendous warmth and kindness for which Poland is known around the world. Thank you. (Applause.) My sincere — and I mean sincerely thank both of them. And to Prime Minister Syzdlo, a very special thanks also. (Applause.)

We are also pleased that former President Leck Walesa, so famous for leading the Solidarity Movement, has joined us today, also. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

On behalf of all Americans, let me also thank the entire Polish people for the generosity you have shown in welcoming our soldiers to your country. These soldiers are not only brave defenders of freedom, but also symbols of America’s commitment to your security and your place in a strong and democratic Europe.
We are proudly joined on stage by American, Polish, British, and Romanian soldiers. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you. Great job.

President Duda and I have just come from an incredibly successful meeting with the leaders participating in the Three Seas Initiative. To the citizens of this great region, America is eager to expand our partnership with you. We welcome stronger ties of trade and commerce as you grow your economies. And we are committed to securing your access to alternate sources of energy, so Poland and its neighbors are never again held hostage to a single supplier of energy. (Applause.)

Mr. President, I congratulate you, along with the President of Croatia, on your leadership of this historic Three Seas Initiative. Thank you. (Applause.)

This is my first visit to Central Europe as President, and I am thrilled that it could be right here at this magnificent, beautiful piece of land. It is beautiful. (Applause.) Poland is the geographic heart of Europe, but more importantly, in the Polish people, we see the soul of Europe. Your nation is great because your spirit is great and your spirit is strong. (Applause.)

For two centuries, Poland suffered constant and brutal attacks. But while Poland could be invaded and occupied, and its borders even erased from the map, it could never be erased from history or from your hearts. In those dark days, you have lost your land but you never lost your pride. (Applause.)

So it is with true admiration that I can say today, that from the farms and villages of your countryside to the cathedrals and squares of your great cities, Poland lives, Poland prospers, and Poland prevails. (Applause.)

Despite every effort to transform you, oppress you, or destroy you, you endured and overcame. You are the proud nation of Copernicus — think of that — (applause) — Chopin, Saint John Paul II. Poland is a land of great heroes. (Applause.) And you are a people who know the true value of what you defend.

The triumph of the Polish spirit over centuries of hardship gives us all hope for a future in which good conquers evil, and peace achieves victory over war.

For Americans, Poland has been a symbol of hope since the beginning of our nation. Polish heroes and American patriots fought side by side in our War of Independence and in many wars that followed. Our soldiers still serve together today in Afghanistan and Iraq, combatting the enemies of all civilization.

For America’s part, we have never given up on freedom and independence as the right and destiny of the Polish people, and we never, ever will. (Applause.)

Our two countries share a special bond forged by unique histories and national characters. It’s a fellowship that exists only among people who have fought and bled and died for freedom. (Applause.)

The signs of this friendship stand in our nation’s capital. Just steps from the White House, we’ve raised statues of men with names like Pułaski and Kościuszko. (Applause.) The same is true in Warsaw, where street signs carry the name of George Washington, and a monument stands to one of the world’s greatest heroes, Ronald Reagan. (Applause.)

And so I am here today not just to visit an old ally, but to hold it up as an example for others who seek freedom and who wish to summon the courage and the will to defend our civilization. (Applause.) The story of Poland is the story of a people who have never lost hope, who have never been broken, and who have never, ever forgotten who they are. (Applause)

AUDIENCE: Donald Trump! Donald Trump! Donald Trump!

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much. Such a great honor. This is a nation more than one thousand years old. Your borders were erased for more than a century and only restored just one century ago.

In 1920, in the Miracle of Vistula, Poland stopped the Soviet army bent on European conquest. (Applause.) Then, 19 years later in 1939, you were invaded yet again, this time by Nazi Germany from the west and the Soviet Union from the east. That’s trouble. That’s tough.

Under a double occupation the Polish people endured evils beyond description: the Katyn forest massacre, the occupations, the Holocaust, the Warsaw Ghetto and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the destruction of this beautiful capital city, and the deaths of nearly one in five Polish people. A vibrant Jewish population — the largest in Europe — was reduced to almost nothing after the Nazis systematically murdered millions of Poland’s Jewish citizens, along with countless others, during that brutal occupation.

In the summer of 1944, the Nazi and Soviet armies were preparing for a terrible and bloody battle right here in Warsaw. Amid that hell on earth, the citizens of Poland rose up to defend their homeland. I am deeply honored to be joined on stage today by veterans and heroes of the Warsaw Uprising. (Applause.)

AUDIENCE: (Chanting.)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: What great spirit. We salute your noble sacrifice and we pledge to always remember your fight for Poland and for freedom. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.)

This monument reminds us that more than 150,000 Poles died during that desperate struggle to overthrow oppression.
From the other side of the river, the Soviet armed forces stopped and waited. They watched as the Nazis ruthlessly destroyed the city, viciously murdering men, women, and children. They tried to destroy this nation forever by shattering its will to survive.

But there is a courage and a strength deep in the Polish character that no one could destroy. The Polish martyr, Bishop Michael Kozal, said it well: “More horrifying than a defeat of arms is a collapse of the human spirit.”

Through four decades of communist rule, Poland and the other captive nations of Europe endured a brutal campaign to demolish freedom, your faith, your laws, your history, your identity — indeed the very essence of your culture and your humanity. Yet, through it all, you never lost that spirit. (Applause.) Your oppressors tried to break you, but Poland could not be broken. (Applause.)

And when the day came on June 2nd, 1979, and one million Poles gathered around Victory Square for their very first mass with their Polish Pope, that day, every communist in Warsaw must have known that their oppressive system would soon come crashing down. (Applause.) They must have known it at the exact moment during Pope John Paul II’s sermon when a million Polish men, women, and children suddenly raised their voices in a single prayer. A million Polish people did not ask for wealth. They did not ask for privilege. Instead, one million Poles sang three simple words: “We Want God.” (Applause.)

In those words, the Polish people recalled the promise of a better future. They found new courage to face down their oppressors, and they found the words to declare that Poland would be Poland once again.

As I stand here today before this incredible crowd, this faithful nation, we can still hear those voices that echo through history. Their message is as true today as ever. The people of Poland, the people of America, and the people of Europe still cry out “We want God.” (Applause.)

Together, with Pope John Paul II, the Poles reasserted their identity as a nation devoted to God. And with that powerful declaration of who you are, you came to understand what to do and how to live. You stood in solidarity against oppression, against a lawless secret police, against a cruel and wicked system that impoverished your cities and your souls. And you won. Poland prevailed. Poland will always prevail. (Applause.)

AUDIENCE: Donald Trump! Donald Trump! Donald Trump!

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you. You were supported in that victory over communism by a strong alliance of free nations in the West that defied tyranny. Now, among the most committed members of the NATO Alliance, Poland has resumed its place as a leading nation of a Europe that is strong, whole, and free.

A strong Poland is a blessing to the nations of Europe, and they know that. A strong Europe is a blessing to the West and to the world. (Applause.) One hundred years after the entry of American forces into World War I, the transatlantic bond between the United States and Europe is as strong as ever and maybe, in many ways, even stronger.

This continent no longer confronts the specter of communism. But today we’re in the West, and we have to say there are dire threats to our security and to our way of life. You see what’s happening out there. They are threats. We will confront them. We will win. But they are threats. (Applause.)

AUDIENCE: Donald Trump! Donald Trump! Donald Trump!

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We are confronted by another oppressive ideology — one that seeks to export terrorism and extremism all around the globe. America and Europe have suffered one terror attack after another. We’re going to get it to stop. (Applause.)

During a historic gathering in Saudi Arabia, I called on the leaders of more than 50 Muslim nations to join together to drive out this menace which threatens all of humanity. We must stand united against these shared enemies to strip them of their territory and their funding, and their networks, and any form of ideological support that they may have. While we will always welcome new citizens who share our values and love our people, our borders will always be closed to terrorism and extremism of any kind. (Applause.)

AUDIENCE: Donald Trump! Donald Trump! Donald Trump!

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We are fighting hard against radical Islamic terrorism, and we will prevail. We cannot accept those who reject our values and who use hatred to justify violence against the innocent.

Today, the West is also confronted by the powers that seek to test our will, undermine our confidence, and challenge our interests. To meet new forms of aggression, including propaganda, financial crimes, and cyberwarfare, we must adapt our alliance to compete effectively in new ways and on all new battlefields.

We urge Russia to cease its destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere, and its support for hostile regimes — including Syria and Iran — and to instead join the community of responsible nations in our fight against common enemies and in defense of civilization itself. (Applause.)

Finally, on both sides of the Atlantic, our citizens are confronted by yet another danger — one firmly within our control. This danger is invisible to some but familiar to the Poles: the steady creep of government bureaucracy that drains the vitality and wealth of the people. The West became great not because of paperwork and regulations but because people were allowed to chase their dreams and pursue their destinies.

Americans, Poles, and the nations of Europe value individual freedom and sovereignty. We must work together to confront forces, whether they come from inside or out, from the South or the East, that threaten over time to undermine these values and to erase the bonds of culture, faith and tradition that make us who we are. (Applause.) If left unchecked, these forces will undermine our courage, sap our spirit, and weaken our will to defend ourselves and our societies.

But just as our adversaries and enemies of the past learned here in Poland, we know that these forces, too, are doomed to fail if we want them to fail. And we do, indeed, want them to fail. (Applause.) They are doomed not only because our alliance is strong, our countries are resilient, and our power is unmatched. Through all of that, you have to say everything is true. Our adversaries, however, are doomed because we will never forget who we are. And if we don’t forget who are, we just can’t be beaten. Americans will never forget. The nations of Europe will never forget. We are the fastest and the greatest community. There is nothing like our community of nations. The world has never known anything like our community of nations.

We write symphonies. We pursue innovation. We celebrate our ancient heroes, embrace our timeless traditions and customs, and always seek to explore and discover brand-new frontiers.

We reward brilliance. We strive for excellence, and cherish inspiring works of art that honor God. We treasure the rule of law and protect the right to free speech and free expression. (Applause.)

We empower women as pillars of our society and of our success. We put faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, at the center of our lives. And we debate everything. We challenge everything. We seek to know everything so that we can better know ourselves. (Applause.)

And above all, we value the dignity of every human life, protect the rights of every person, and share the hope of every soul to live in freedom. That is who we are. Those are the priceless ties that bind us together as nations, as allies, and as a civilization.

What we have, what we inherited from our — and you know this better than anybody, and you see it today with this incredible group of people — what we’ve inherited from our ancestors has never existed to this extent before. And if we fail to preserve it, it will never, ever exist again. So we cannot fail.

This great community of nations has something else in common: In every one of them, it is the people, not the powerful, who have always formed the foundation of freedom and the cornerstone of our defense. The people have been that foundation here in Poland — as they were right here in Warsaw — and they were the foundation from the very, very beginning in America.

Our citizens did not win freedom together, did not survive horrors together, did not face down evil together, only to lose our freedom to a lack of pride and confidence in our values. We did not and we will not. We will never back down. (Applause.)

AUDIENCE: Donald Trump! Donald Trump! Donald Trump!

PRESIDENT TRUMP: As long as we know our history, we will know how to build our future. Americans know that a strong alliance of free, sovereign and independent nations is the best defense for our freedoms and for our interests. That is why my administration has demanded that all members of NATO finally meet their full and fair financial obligation.

As a result of this insistence, billions of dollars more have begun to pour into NATO. In fact, people are shocked. But billions and billions of dollars more are coming in from countries that, in my opinion, would not have been paying so quickly.

To those who would criticize our tough stance, I would point out that the United States has demonstrated not merely with words but with its actions that we stand firmly behind Article 5, the mutual defense commitment. (Applause.)

Words are easy, but actions are what matters. And for its own protection — and you know this, everybody knows this, everybody has to know this — Europe must do more. Europe must demonstrate that it believes in its future by investing its money to secure that future.

That is why we applaud Poland for its decision to move forward this week on acquiring from the United States the battle-tested Patriot air and missile defense system — the best anywhere in the world. (Applause.) That is also why we salute the Polish people for being one of the NATO countries that has actually achieved the benchmark for investment in our common defense. Thank you. Thank you, Poland. I must tell you, the example you set is truly magnificent, and we applaud Poland. Thank you. (Applause.)

We have to remember that our defense is not just a commitment of money, it is a commitment of will. Because as the Polish experience reminds us, the defense of the West ultimately rests not only on means but also on the will of its people to prevail and be successful and get what you have to have. The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive. Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it? (Applause.)

We can have the largest economies and the most lethal weapons anywhere on Earth, but if we do not have strong families and strong values, then we will be weak and we will not survive. (Applause.) If anyone forgets the critical importance of these things, let them come to one country that never has. Let them come to Poland. (Applause.) And let them come here, to Warsaw, and learn the story of the Warsaw Uprising.

When they do, they should learn about Jerusalem Avenue. In August of 1944, Jerusalem Avenue was one of the main roads running east and west through this city, just as it is today.
Control of that road was crucially important to both sides in the battle for Warsaw. The German military wanted it as their most direct route to move troops and to form a very strong front. And for the Polish Home Army, the ability to pass north and south across that street was critical to keep the center of the city, and the Uprising itself, from being split apart and destroyed.

Every night, the Poles put up sandbags amid machine gun fire — and it was horrendous fire — to protect a narrow passage across Jerusalem Avenue. Every day, the enemy forces knocked them down again and again and again. Then the Poles dug a trench. Finally, they built a barricade. And the brave Polish fighters began to flow across Jerusalem Avenue. That narrow passageway, just a few feet wide, was the fragile link that kept the Uprising alive.

Between its walls, a constant stream of citizens and freedom fighters made their perilous, just perilous, sprints. They ran across that street, they ran through that street, they ran under that street — all to defend this city. “The far side was several yards away,” recalled one young Polish woman named Greta. That mortality and that life was so important to her. In fact, she said, “The mortally dangerous sector of the street was soaked in the blood. It was the blood of messengers, liaison girls, and couriers.”

Nazi snipers shot at anybody who crossed. Anybody who crossed, they were being shot at. Their soldiers burned every building on the street, and they used the Poles as human shields for their tanks in their effort to capture Jerusalem Avenue. The enemy never ceased its relentless assault on that small outpost of civilization. And the Poles never ceased its defense.

The Jerusalem Avenue passage required constant protection, repair, and reinforcement, but the will of its defenders did not waver, even in the face of death. And to the last days of the Uprising, the fragile crossing never, ever failed. It was never, ever forgotten. It was kept open by the Polish people.

The memories of those who perished in the Warsaw Uprising cry out across the decades, and few are clearer than the memories of those who died to build and defend the Jerusalem Avenue crossing. Those heroes remind us that the West was saved with the blood of patriots; that each generation must rise up and play their part in its defense — (applause) — and that every foot of ground, and every last inch of civilization, is worth defending with your life.

Our own fight for the West does not begin on the battlefield — it begins with our minds, our wills, and our souls. Today, the ties that unite our civilization are no less vital, and demand no less defense, than that bare shred of land on which the hope of Poland once totally rested. Our freedom, our civilization, and our survival depend on these bonds of history, culture, and memory.

And today as ever, Poland is in our heart, and its people are in that fight. (Applause.) Just as Poland could not be broken, I declare today for the world to hear that the West will never, ever be broken. Our values will prevail. Our people will thrive. And our civilization will triumph. (Applause.)

AUDIENCE: Donald Trump! Donald Trump! Donald Trump!

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you. So, together, let us all fight like the Poles — for family, for freedom, for country, and for God.

Thank you. God Bless You. God bless the Polish people. God bless our allies. And God bless the United States of America.

Thank you. God bless you. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

Qatar’s HE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said Thursday that the siege imposed on the State of Qatar is an act of aggression and an insult to any independent and sovereign country.

In an interview with CNN network, HE the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that if we are looking at the demands presented to the State of Qatar, there are accusations that Qatar is supporting terrorism and demands related to shutting free speech, shutting media outlets and expelling opponents as well as other demands which are against the international law, such as withdrawing the Qatari nationality from certain individuals and return them to their countries of origin.

HE stressed that the State of Qatar wouldn’t comply with any demands that it considers a violation of international law and would not comply with any action limited to the State of Qatar alone and that any solution must include everyone, not Qatar alone.

HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said that they are accusing the State of Qatar of having special relations with Iran, while they did not take any action against Iran itself. Therefore, the measures that were taken against the State of Qatar is an act of aggression and is relating to other reasons, not Iran, he added.

HE the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that shutting down Al Jazeera is out of the question, stressing that any demand that affect the sovereignty of the State of Qatar will not be discussed.

HE affirmed that no money from Qatar is going out of the country to finance terrorism, stressing that “if there is any Qatari who are involved in financing any terrorist organization, he will be held accountable for the wrongdoing he has done.”

On a previous statement by HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani that the concept of terrorism may differ in the State of Qatar from some other countries, HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani stressed that Qatar remains committed to this position saying that the government recognizes a group as terrorist if it is designated by the UN Security Council or if there is proof it has committed violence.

Regarding the presence of Hamas movement’s leaders in the State of Qatar and in light of classifying the movement by some countries such as Israel and the United States on the list of terrorism, HE the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that “Hamas representation in Qatar is a political office. It is not an military presentation.”

HE explained that the current political leadership of the movement is in Gaza and some of its leaders in the State of Qatar who came to participate in negotiations of the national reconciliation in which Qatar plays the role of mediator. These negotiations are supported by the international community and in coordination with the United States, he said stressing that that State of Qatar does not support Hamas, but it supports the people of Gaza.

On the State of Qatar’s supporting of the Muslim Brotherhood group, which is classified by Egypt as a terrorist group, HE the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that Egypt classifies them as a terrorist group, but for us in Qatar we do not, adding that the State of Qatar does not support the Muslim Brotherhood group and they do not exist in the country. The Muslim Brotherhood is a political group that are working in countries such as Bahrain which is one of the siege countries, HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said adding that this is a double standard that one of the demands is to classify the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group at a time when the Bahraini parliament includes members of this group.

Regarding Al Nusra Front in which the State of Qatar helped to release a US journalist held in custody, HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani stressed that dealing with Al Nusra Front or other does not mean our support for its ideas and regarding this issue, we only played a mediator role in facilitating dialogue with them and we have no direct communication with them.

On the role of US President Donald Trump and his administration in this crisis, HE the Foreign Minister said that the US-Qatari relations are very strong and the American administration plays a major role in solving the crisis as it tries to resolve this conflict and there are many steps taken by the American side to urge the siege countries to present their demands so that there is a role for the United States in mediation to resolve the crisis.

President Trump held via telephone a conversation with HH the Emir during which he stressed the need to resolve the crisis and called for non-escalation, HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said adding that this is the United States’ position for us.

On the real reasons behind this crisis, HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said that we believe that the independence and policy of the State of Qatar may be behind this crisis. Qatar’s policy has always been independent and despite our visions’ differences with the other parties, this has never affected the collective security of the Gulf states, he said. We have never sought to target the security of any Gulf country because such a matter would have its consequences on the State of Qatar, he added.

The progress achieved by Qatar might have been one of the motives of the crisis because the big countries may be bothered that a small country will influence its role, HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said, however, the State of Qatar did not do so, but was only an active player at the international level through the use of international mechanisms in a clear, public and transparent manner as an attempt to unite peoples in order to achieve peace in the world and our pursuit is to solve problems through diplomacy means.

The biggest loser in Georgia’s recent special Congressional election—besides the Democratic candidate—may well have been Planned Parenthood. The nation’s leading purveyor of abortion poured $734,000 into the failed campaign of Jon Ossoff—second in spending only to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Making it even more painful for them, the winner, Karen Handel, has long been an outspoken critic of Planned Parenthood’s radical abortion practices.

The defeat continues a downward political spiral for Planned Parenthood. In 2012, according to Ballotpedia, the organization’s political arm successfully backed President Obama’s re-election, and supported the winner in 15 of 18 U.S. House and Senate races it targeted.

Four years later, however, its political fortunes plummeted. The Planned Parenthood Action Fund backed Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump for president, reporting expenditures of over $30 million in that losing effort. Planned Parenthood heavily focused its resources on six swing states: Wisconsin, Ohio, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. Trump defeated Clinton in four of the six. The organization also backed the losing candidate in seven out of 10 U.S. Senate races it targeted.

Now comes the defeat in Georgia—on the heels of an earlier special Congressional election in Montana, where the Planned Parenthood Action Fund launched a six-figure ad campaign for Democratic nominee Rob Quist. Quist lost to Republican Greg Gianforte—even after Gianforte had been charged with assaulting a reporter just before the election.

This downturn in Planned Parenthood’s political fortunes seems to coincide with its being exposed, in a recent series of undercover videos, as trafficking in the sale of body parts from aborted babies. It is also consistent with surveys like a recent Gallup poll that show a clear majority of Americans believe abortion should be illegal or legal only in a few circumstances—a clear rejection of the Roe v. Wade mandate, abortion at any time for any reason, that is embraced and practiced by Planned Parenthood.

A hundred years ago, Planned Parenthood was begun amid the racist and anti-Catholic rantings of its founder, Margaret Sanger. Yet even she—while determined to prevent the “lesser breeds” from reproducing—could not bring herself to embrace abortion.

For her modern day heirs, however, the indiscriminate killing of children in the womb is no problem—and if a profit can be turned by selling their body parts, so much the better.

No wonder that Americans are increasingly rejecting candidates backed by this extremist organization. How appropriate that an endorsement from this agent of death is fast becoming the kiss of death for political office-seekers.

Muslims from Russia’s Middle Volga region who went to fight for the DNR and LNR in Ukraine were motivated by their sense of belonging to the Russian world Vladimir Putin has talked so much about, according to Rais Suleymanov, editor of Musulmansky mir and someone long rumored to be close to Russia’s security agencies.

But in a preservation to the 12^th Congress of Anthropologists and Ethnologists of Russia in Izhevsk this week, the often controversial specialist on Islam in Russia says that those Muslims who went defined the concept of “’the Russian world’” in two very different ways (ruskline.ru/news_rl/2017/07/05/chto_est_russkij_mir/).

“For one group of Muslim volunteers,” Suleymanov says, “the ideology of ‘the Russian world’ was conceived as a return to a model of the Soviet Union,, to be sure in a renewed format (the conception of ‘USSR 2.0’) and the war in the Donbass was seen as a struggle with fascism.” Thus, these Muslim volunteers had “Soviet ideological convictions.”

According to the speaker, “the second group of Muslim volunteers from the Middle Volga view ‘the Russian world’ as the reunification with Russia of territories populated by ethnic Rusisans, the ideal for whom is the Russian Empire, and the battle in the Donbass is seen as a Russian irredenta.”

Suleymanov says that “for the majority of Muslim volunteers from the Middle Volga is characteristic a double ethnic identity: while not denying their Tatar or Bashkir origin, they consider themselves [ethnic] Russians and such self-identification peacefully exists in their consciousness.”

Many of those who did choose to volunteer, however, chose to do so in order to escape from their everyday life and to change it, something that affected their own “self-assessment and gave rise to a sense of serving a noble goal and being useful,” he argues.

Intriguingly, Suleymanov says that “Muslim volunteers from the Middle Volga have not always remained Muslims. Some of them decide that their Russianness means they must become Orthodox or neo-paganist. Which of these they actually chose, he says, depended on what the Russian volunteers around them practiced.

The reason that they could change their religious affiliation, he argues, is “their own weak Muslim religiosity, the influence of their military comrades, and the emotional boost from participating in ‘the Russian spring.’” Nonetheless, Suleymanov acknowledges, many Tatar volunteers have remained Muslim.

Some of them, he says, inscribed their weapons with the words “Allah is With US!” “In their understanding,” he argues, “the Muslims of Russia, fighting for Novorossiya are fighting for the interests of Russia where traditional Islam is triumphing over anti-Russian directions of radical tendencies of foreign Islam.”

Suleymanov’s argument is one that many in Moscow security community would find congenial, but the sample size for his conclusions was very small. Some Tatars and Bashkirs did in fact go to the Donbass to fight for Moscow’s agenda, but their number was too small to make sweeping conclusion about the attitudes of Muslims, Tatars, or anyone else.

Qatar’s rejection of the demands by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt to end the Gulf’s biggest diplomatic crisis only shows its intention to continue with its policy aimed at destabilizing security in the region, the Anti-Terror Quartet (ATQ) said on Friday.

“The Qatari government’s intransigence and rejection of the demands … reflects the extent to which (Qatar) is linked to terrorism and its continued attempt to sabotage, undermine security and stability in the Gulf and the region, and deliberately harm the interests of the peoples of the region, including the fraternal people of Qatar,” the group said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

It said the Qatari government “has thwarted all efforts and diplomatic good offices to resolve the crisis, a fact that confirm its intransigence and rejection of any settlement, reflecting its intention to continue its policy aimed at destabilizing security of the region.”

The group thanked Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of the State of Kuwait, for his efforts to resolve the crisis with the Qatari government.

Unfortunately, the group said, all such well-meaning efforts were made useless by the Qatari government’s “lack of tact and respect for the diplomatic principles” toward Kuwait’ when it “leaked the list of demands”. The leak was meant to thwart the efforts of Kuwait to find a solution to the dispute, officials from the four countries have said.

The four countries severed on June 5 all diplomatic ties with Qatar over allegations that the emirate bankrolled Islamist extremists and had close ties with regional troublemaker Iran.

On June 23, they issued a 13-point list of demands, including the shutdown of broadcast giant Al-Jazeera, as a prerequisite to lift the sanctions, which include the closure of Qatar’s only land border and suspension of all flights to and from the country.

In its response that it handed via the Emir of Kuwait, Doha rejected the demands as “unrealistic” and “were made to be rejected.”

The group on Friday asserted that their demands have been made “as a result of the hostile Qatari government practices, and its continued violation of pledges, particularly the Riyadh Agreement signed by Qatar in 2013 and the Supplementary Agreement and its Executive Mechanism, in 2014.”

By Faisal J. Abbas*

To set the record straight, I do not think any journalist should call for the closure of a media organization. But we must not accept that objecting to, and seeking to limit, terrorist propaganda is falsely portrayed as a crackdown on professional journalism.

I think including the closure of Al Jazeera as one of the 13 demands by the Anti-Terror Quartet (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt) was not carefully thought through. But this does not mean the Qatari-owned news network should be allowed to get away with inciting murder.

There are a few issues with the ongoing debate about the channel that must be clarified before dwelling further. First, freedom-of-expression advocates must realize that Al Jazeera English (AJE), which many worldwide watch and enjoy, has nothing to do in terms of tone, editorial guidelines or media ethics with its older sister Al Jazeera Arabic (AJA).

The latter can and should, at the very least, be described as a scar on the face of Middle Eastern journalism. There is such a difference between the two channels that the longstanding joke in the Middle East when someone asks to put on Al Jazeera is: “Which one, the beauty or the beast?”

A fetish for terrorist content

The Anti-Terror Quartet’s demand should have been carefully articulated to outline that the grievance with AJA is not that it criticizes neighboring countries, but that it has long served as a platform for hate-preachers and terrorists.

This is in no way a made-up accusation, nor is it only a Saudi, Emirati, Bahraini or Egyptian one. The channel was dubbed a “terror network” by the administration of former US President George W. Bush, and was criticized extensively, including in 2001 by the New York Times (NYT) for turning the late global terrorist Osama bin Laden into “a star.”

The NYT seems to have softened its position, with a recent editorial defending Al Jazeera in light of the recent list of demands, which is admirable coming from a fellow media organization.

But limiting criticism of Al Jazeera to saying it “is hardly perfect,” and praising it to the level of saying it enjoys “international journalistic standards,” is an outrageously false claim that is a disservice to NYT readers, unless whoever wrote the editorial is unaware of the channel’s ongoing fetish for terrorist content.

I say “ongoing” because only recently, Al Jazeera became the platform of choice for the notorious Al-Nusra Front leader Abu Mohammad Al-Julani — a US-designated terrorist, blacklisted worldwide, who has called Al-Qaeda’s stance “noble.” AJA was also the platform the Muslim Brotherhood cleric Yusuf Qaradawi used to promote anti-Semitism and infamously bless suicide attacks, such as in a 2013 interview.

So to all our colleagues in AJE who participated in the channel’s recent video campaign in response to the Anti-Terror Quartet’s list of demands — particularly Western journalists such as British presenter Felicity Barr, who seems to have been deliberately pushed to the forefront of this video by Al Jazeera’s management — I say the following:

We all agree that “journalism is not a crime.” But what you AJE staffers should do, since you also “have demands,” is take them to your colleagues in your sister Arabic channel and ensure that journalism does not become a crime by giving a platform to those who bless the killing of innocents in both your home countries and mine.

• Faisal J. Abbas is the editor in chief of Arab News. He can be reached on Twitter @FaisalJAbbas

By Madeline Asta*

Brazil is currently facing its worst recession in decades while corruption allegations consume the nation’s attention, moving vital resources away from the country’s most vulnerable. Economic uncertainty and the wave of corruption exposures are causing enormous concern, but stabilization seems unlikely as more charges continue to be inflicted upon politicians, including the de facto president Michel Temer. Government money flows into expanding the judiciary branch and raising government salaries, but funding for social programs designed to overcome the historical inequality in the country, alleviate poverty, and reduce drug-related violence is limited, if at all. The fight against corruption dominates Brazil’s political sphere as opposing parties seek to gain political power, leaving the nation’s most vulnerable even further behind.

The ruling party in government today is Temer’s Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (Partido do Movimento Democrático Brasileiro, PMDB). Using the economic downturn under the ousted former President Dilma Rousseff, of the Workers’ Party (Partidos dos Trabalhadores, PT), as an excuse, competing parties launched an investigation into how her coalition campaign for reelection in 2014 was funded. Aécio Neves, of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira, PSDB), initiated judicial action against Rousseff and Temer, her vice-president at the time. Recently, Neves admitted that he began the investigation “just to annoy” Rousseff and her party.[i] Meanwhile, Temer was convicted of violating election laws and banned from running from office for eight years.[ii] However, after Rousseff’s illegitimate impeachment, he has assumed political control until the 2018 election.

Following one percent economic growth in the first three months of 2017, PMDB officials claim that the recent recession is now over.[iii] However, 14 million people are still unemployed and Brazil’s stock market plummeted after recordings of Temer taking bribes were leaked in May.[iv] Additionally, Temer’s tight economic policies have limited public spending on education, healthcare, and social programs. Any small economic recovery has only been felt by Brazil’s economic elites. Elected officials and elite public employees continue to enjoy large salaries, but the austerity measures enacted under Temer limit the availability of social policies to a number of vulnerable Brazilians. Further, the corruption investigations are discovering that politicians are manipulating government funds by funnelling public money into personal accounts. When politicians divert social funds, they are stealing resources vital to existing social programs.

Corruption in Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro suffers from high poverty and soaring crime rates, and many of the state’s social programs are failing due to lack of funding. On June 13, one of Brazil’s former governors of Rio de Janeiro, Sérgio Cabral, was found guilty of accepting over $800 thousand USD in bribes from a construction company to conduct overpriced projects on an oil-refinery owned by Petrobras, the state-owned oil company involved in a multitude of corruption allegations.[v] Cabral, a member of PMDB, who is also believed to have diverted over $100 million USD from public to personal accounts while in office, was sentenced to 14 years and 2 months in prison for his actions.[vi] As governor, Cabral pioneered social programs to expand the state’s payroll in order to increase employment and create a police pacification unit (UPP).[vii] The UPP, initiated in 2008, aimed to remove heavily armed gangs from the city’s favelas, and create permanent police posts to prevent a resurgence of a gang presence.[viii] Additionally, the project sought to improve schools, health clinics, and sewage systems in favelas.[ix] While many residents were pleased with a lowered gang presence in favelas, the communities have become militarized settlements and pledged social improvements were left largely unrealized.[x] The public funds Cabral embezzled were necessary to maintain the UPP, which is now failing due to lack of funding. Of the $100 million USD Cabral is suspected of transferring into his personal accounts, $67.1 million USD were meant to improve building works in favelas.[xi]

Further, due to the actions of Cabral and other government officials, Rio de Janeiro found itself claiming a “state of calamity” in June 2016 when the state declared bankruptcy and could not meet the financial commitments it made for the Olympic Games.[xii] While Cabral and other politicians were accepting egregious bribes and using public funds for private uses, civil servants were not being paid.[xiii] In May 2017, Governor Fernando Pezão extended the calamity status to the end of 2018 because the state could not pay off its debts to the federal government on time.[xiv] Budget cuts have accompanied the admission of bankruptcy and many of Cabral’s social initiatives have failed, leaving civilians worse off than before the projects had been initiated.

Failed social programs tend to make crime increasingly appealing as civilians turn desperate and resort to robbery and drug-related activities for sources of income.[xv] On the other hand, many police officers in Rio de Janeiro have not been receiving paychecks and are not being offered training upon being hired.[xvi] Due to this lack of training and little incentive to work, officers often resort to violence when dealing with people living in favelas. As previously documented by COHA,[xvii] this violence is targeted towards young black men and the officers are repeatedly not held accountable for their actions.[xviii] Amnesty International has found that the Rio de Janeiro police “have unnecessarily and excessively used lethal force, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people over the past decade.”[xix] While the UPP initially had success removing drug gangs from Rio de Janeiro’s favelas and reducing murder rates by 40 percent between 2008 and 2012, a lack of follow-up investment and political will to maintain the program is allowing for a resurgence of crime — seen through the excess of both gang and police violence.[xx] In January and February of this year in Rio de Janeiro alone, there was a 78 percent increase in killings during police operations from 2016, a majority of these victims being young black men.[xxi]

With political attention distracted by corruption allegations, police-related violence has surged in their frequency as their actions are left unregulated and funds for training programs no longer exist. Violence in favelas directly affects the civilians living in these marginalized communities, including innocent bystanders who are often caught in police-gang crossfire. In theory, the solution to increased police violence is investment to better law enforcement training, as well as improving social programs to provide alternatives to drug and crime related income. However, corruption underlies Brazil’s political system, and the national focus on fighting it prevents effective national security plans from being created and sustained.

Conclusion

As more and more Brazilian politicians are indicted for corruption, it is revealed that copious amounts of public funds have been tampered with. In addition to Cabral, over 100 politicians have been charged for corruption, including Temer, and many others are currently under investigation.[xxii] The exposure of the widespread corruption that plagues Brazil’s political system continues to maintain, to a certain extent, an explanation of why many social programs fail to provide for the nation’s poor. In response to the increased crime rates, particularly in Rio de Janeiro, Temer had promised to release a new national security plan.[xxiii] While this initiative will aim to address the rising crime, it would also most likely intensify the militarization of Brazil’s law enforcement. Nevertheless, following his indictment on June 26 for accepting R$500,000 ($151,650 USD) in bribes from the local meatpacking company JBS, this plan seems to have been put on hold.[xxiv] Brazil suffers from immense income disparities, and they are only exacerbated by politicians’ illicit handling of public money and the utter nonchalance over public improvements. Even though corruption consumes the national focus, there must be a redirection of government attention in order to address Brazil’s other deep social issues.

*Madeline Asta, Research Associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs

Additional editorial support provided by Aline Piva, Research Fellow and Head of Brazil Unit, Liliana Muscarella Research Fellow, and Jack Pannell and Martina Gugliemone, Research Associates at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs

[i] ”Aécio diz que entrou com ação para anular eleição ‘só para encher o saco’” May 20, 2017. Brasil 247. https://www.brasil247.com/pt/247/minas247/296682/A%C3%A9cio-diz-que-entrou-com-a%C3%A7%C3%A3o-para-anular-elei%C3%A7%C3%A3o-%E2%80%9Cs%C3%B3-para-encher-o-saco%E2%80%9D.htm

[ii] Greenwald, Glenn. “Credibility of Brazil’s Interim President Collapses as He Receives 8-Year Ban on Running for Office” June 3, 2016. The Intercept. https://theintercept.com/2016/06/03/credibility-of-brazils-interim-president-collapses-receives-8-year-ban-on-running/

[iii] “Brazil emerges from recession as GDP grows 1%” BBC. June 1, 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-40120364

[iv] Ibid.

[v] “Former governor convicted in Brazil” Latin News. Latin News Daily. June 14, 2017. https://www.latinnews.com/component/k2/item/72440.html?period=2017&archive=807656&Itemid=6&cat_id=807656:former-governor-convicted-in-brazil

[vi] Ibid.

[vii] Ibid.

[viii] Brooks, Brad. “Rio’s slum ‘pacification’ effort stalls as killings tick up” Reuters. August 4, 2016. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-rio-security-idUSKCN10F1XE

[ix] Ibid.

[x] Ibid.

[xi] “Brazil: Why pacification failed” Latin News. Latin American Security and Strategic Review. May 2017. https://www.latinnews.com/component/k2/item/72247.html?period=%20&archive=26&search=cabral&Itemid=6&cat_id=807430:brazil-why-pacification-failed.

[xii] Kennedy, Merrit. “Rio’s Governor Declares ‘State of Calamity’ Ahead of Olympic Games” NPR. International. June 18, 2016. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/18/482593048/rios-governor-declares-state-of-calamity-ahead-of-olympic-games.

[xiii] Chade, Jamil. “Stadium deals, corruption and bribery: the questions at the heart of Brazil’s Olympic and World Cup ‘miracle’” The Guardian. April 23, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/apr/23/brazil-olympic-world-cup-corruption-bribery

[xiv] “Brazil: Why pacification failed” Latin News. Latin American Security and Strategic Review. May 2017. https://www.latinnews.com/component/k2/item/72247.html?period=%20&archive=26&search=cabral&Itemid=6&cat_id=807430:brazil-why-pacification-failed.

[xv] Ibid.

[xvi] Kennedy, Merrit. “Rio’s Governor Declares ‘State of Calamity’ Ahead of Olympic Games” NPR. International. June 18, 2016. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/18/482593048/rios-governor-declares-state-of-calamity-ahead-of-olympic-games.

[xvii] Muscarella, Liliana. “Olympic Death Toll in Rio” August 5, 2016. Council on Hemispheric Affairs. http://www.coha.org/olympic-death-toll-in-rio/.

[xviii] “The Deadly Side of the Rio 2016 Olympics.” Amnesty International. Accessed June 28, 2017. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2016/06/deadly-side-rio-olympics-2016/.

[xix] “Brazil: You killed my son: Homicides by military police in the city of Rio de Janeiro”. Amnesty International. August 3, 2015 https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr19/2068/2015/en/.

[xx] Brooks, Brad. “Rio’s slum ‘pacification’ effort stalls as killings tick up” Reuters. August 4, 2016. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-rio-security-idUSKCN10F1XE

[xxi] “Brazil: Spike in killings by Rio police as country faces UN review” Amnesty International. May 4, 2017. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/05/brazil-spike-in-killings-by-rio-police-as-country-faces-un-review/

[xxii] Watts, Jonathan. “Brazil’s corruption inquiry list names all the power players – except the president” The Guardian. March 15, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/15/brazil-corruption-investigation-list-politicians-michel-temer.

[xxiii] “Former governor convicted in Brazil” Latin News. Latin News Daily. June 14, 2017. https://www.latinnews.com/component/k2/item/72440.html?period=2017&archive=807656&Itemid=6&cat_id=807656:former-governor-convicted-in-brazil

[xxiv] “Brazil’s Temer indicted for corruption” Latin News. Latin News Daily. June 27, 2017. https://www.latinnews.com/component/k2/item/72602.html?period=2017&archive=807845&Itemid=6&cat_id=807845:brazil-s-temer-indicted-for-corruption.