Nov. 28 (UPI) -- The European Union's Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday that public administrations may ban overt religious symbols, like headscarves, in order to create a neutral environment as long it does not single out a particular religion.
The bloc's top court said such a rule must not discriminate in favor or against any specific religion and must be limited "to what is strictly necessary."
The decision stems from a Belgian woman who charged that not wearing an Islamic headscarf violated her religious freedom, leading to the administration in the municipality of Ans to ban all overt religious signs from being worn.
"In order to put in place an entirely neutral administrative environment, a public administration may prohibit the visible wearing in the workplace of any sign revealing philosophical or religious beliefs. Such a rule is not discriminatory if applied in a general and indiscriminate manner to all of that administration's staff," the court said.
The court said while each member state and infra-state body has a "margin of discretion" in designing its neutral policies, it said that rules must be made in a "consistent and systematic manner, and the measures adopted to achieve it must be limited."
The same court ruled in 2021 that private employers in the European Union could prohibit headscarves if it's part of a comprehensive ban on all religious and political symbols in relation to a policy on neutrality.
That decision arose from a case brought by two Muslim women working in Germany, reaffirming a similar decision made in 2017.
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“Europe is in shock,” write Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Evelyn Markus in our lead story today.
The cause of that shock is the triumph of Geert Wilders in last week’s Dutch elections. That the anti-immigration populist now leads the largest party in the Dutch parliament is indeed a stunning outcome given his status as an outcast from the mainstream of Dutch politics.
But zoom out and his victory is entirely in keeping with a continent-wide trend. In Italy, Giorgia Meloni has been in office for a year. In Germany, the right-wing AfD party is rising in the polls. In France, Marine Le Pen is more popular than Emmanuel Macron.
In 2016, the twin electoral wins for Donald Trump and Brexit were said to herald the arrival of a populist moment. That was seven years ago. This populist moment now seems to be lasting an awfully long time.
And yet serious, good-faith examinations of why outsider parties are faring so well are hard to come by. Instead, we must wade through unhelpful, knee-jerk descriptions of everyone from an Argentine libertarian to an Italian Catholic national-conservative to a Dutch agnostic nativist as “Trump-like.” The comparison usually prefaces a shallow, parochial analysis.
In a post on the recent string of victories for radical right-wingers, the economist and blogger Tyler Cowen noted that “if you can’t talk about/think about/write about these developments without perpetually moralizing, it is hard to be an intelligent commentator today,” adding that “if your main theory here is ‘racism,’ your contribution to the discourse probably is negative.”
Cowen also suggests that since these parties keep winning elections, “you can’t call them ‘far right’ anymore! How about ‘deep center?’ ” I take the point, but I’m not sure that’s quite right either. But whatever we call Wilders et al., their impact on European politics is only growing.
Today, we offer two stories pegged to events on the other side of the Atlantic that offer more light than heat, helping us to understand a continent in revolt.
First, Ayaan and Evelyn explain the success of Geert Wilders through firsthand experience. They write that they are not shocked by his victory “because we are both Dutch—and because we both left the Netherlands because of the phenomena that have now brought Wilders to power.”
Our second piece is by the French thinker Christophe Guilluy, who says his country is in “economic, social, and cultural chaos” but that “there is one hope left. It is not a hope placed in politicians, or in intellectuals and certainly not in ideologues; rather it is one founded on the majority’s instinct for survival.”
Read his full essay, on how ordinary French people can save the French Republic:
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At least 40 civilians were killed in an attack on Sunday in Djibo, in northern Burkina Faso, the UN Human Rights Office said Tuesday.
"A large number of Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) fighters attacked a military base, homes and Internally Displaced People's camps in the city Djibo, in the Sahel region, killing at least 40 civilians and injuring more than 42," the UN agency said.
An army detachment in Djibo in northern Burkina Faso was the target of the attack, according to security sources.
"The attack began around 3pm (local time and GMT) on Sunday and was carried out by several hundred armed men who tried in vain to penetrate the (military base)," said the source.
They added that the attackers were hit by army aircraft.
The security source said that the attack was carried out by "several waves of armed groups" for more than three hours.
A follow-up search for the assailant survivors of the attack on Monday "made it possible to neutralise several dozen other terrorists", the source said.
The Burkina Faso Information Agency said "more than 400 terrorists (were) destroyed during the counter-offensive by the Burkinabe Armed Forces against nearly 3,000 criminals who tried to seize the town of Djibo".
I wonder if you can believe that?
The country is battling an insurgency that spilled over from neighbouring Mali in 2015 and has left more than 17,000 civilians and soldiers dead and displaced 2 million people.
Burkina Faso is ruled by a transitional government put in place after a September 2022 coup.
The junta-led government has been conscripting men over 18 for its anti-insurgent fight.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Niger’s junta has signed a decree revoking a 2015 law that was enacted to curb the smuggling of migrants traveling from African countries through a key migration route in Niger en route to Europe, according to a government circular issued on Monday.
“The convictions pronounced pursuant to said law and their effects shall be cancelled,” Niger’s junta leader, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, said in a Nov. 25 decree, a copy of which was seen Monday by The Associated Press.
All those convicted under the law would be considered for release by the Ministry of Justice, Ibrahim Jean Etienne, the secretary general of the justice ministry said in the circular.
The revocation of the law adds a new twist to growing political tensions between Niger and EU countries that sanctioned the West African nation in response to the July coup that deposed its democratically elected president and brought the junta into power.
Niger’s Agadez region is a gateway from West Africa to the Sahara and it has been a key route both for Africans trying to reach Libya to cross the Mediterranean to Europe and for those who are returning home with help from the United Nations.
But the route has also become a lucrative place for people smugglers, prompting Niger's government, working with the European Union, to sign the 2015 law to stop the movement of at least 4,000 migrants which the UN estimates travel through Agadez every week without travel documents.
The law empowered security forces and the courts to prosecute smugglers who faced up to five years in prison if convicted.
While the law transformed Niger into a migration hub housing thousands of migrants being returned to their countries, the UN human rights office has also noted that it “led migrants to seek increasingly dangerous migratory routes, leading to increased risks of human rights violations.”
Following the July 26 coup, which deposed Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, Western and European countries suspended aid for health, security and infrastructure needs to the country, which relies heavily on foreign support as one of the least developed nations in the world.
Rather than deter the soldiers who deposed Bazoum, the sanctions have resulted in economic hardship for Nigeriens and emboldened the junta. It has set up a transitional government that could remain in power for up to three years.
(AP)
Michael Kovrig, the former Canadian diplomat detained in China, is denying allegations that he conducted covert intelligence work that led to his arrest and the detention of fellow Canadian Michael Spavor.
“I was never involved in espionage activities,” Kovrig told Global News.
“Any insinuation that I was anything but open and honourable in my interactions with Michael Spavor is false.”
The comments were made in response to a recent report in the Globe and Mail newspaper, citing unnamed sources, which claimed Spavor blames the Canadian government and Kovrig for his detention. According to the report, Spavor is seeking a multi-million-dollar settlement from Ottawa, alleging he was detained because he unwittingly provided intelligence on North Korea to Kovrig.
Kovrig told Global News that when he first saw the report, he was shocked and confused.
“I thought it was either Chinese disinformation or the results of something like a game of ‘broken telephone,'” he said.
The ‘Two Michaels’ became known internationally following their arrests by Beijing in 2018 on charges of espionage. The Canadian government said that Kovrig and Spavor were political pawns, arbitrarily detained in response to the arrest of Chinese tech executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver at the request of the United States.
After nearly three years, Meng’s extradition case was dropped and she was allowed to return to China on Sept. 24, 2021. ‘The Michaels’ were freed hours later.
It took Trudeau's government nearly 3 years to figure out a way to drop charges against Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Huawei, and daughter of the founder. She should never have been arrested in the first place.
Prior to his detention, Kovrig had worked as a diplomat at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing from 2014–2016. He then took an unpaid leave to join the International Crisis Group, an independent global think tank.
“In both of my roles, one area I worked on was trying to engage China in an effort to get the North Koreans to stop developing and proliferating nuclear weapons and missile technology,” Kovrig said.
“So of course we were interested in better understanding the DPRK (the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea). That involved talking with people who were knowledgeable about the country, doing analysis and making recommendations.”
Spavor, Kovrig’s former friend and fellow Canadian ex-pat, had unique access to North Korea. The entrepreneur had moved to China and was working to drum-up investments in the Hermit Kingdom.
In 2013, Spavor made headlines when he helped to facilitate a trip to North Korea for American basketball star Dennis Rodman. That led to Spavor’s unlikely friendship with North Korea’s reclusive dictator, Kim Jong Un.
Spavor’s social accounts showed images of he and Kim sharing cocktails aboard one of Kim’s private boats. It is alleged that Spavor later recounted his experiences to Kovrig over drinks.
Spavor’s lawyers claim that unbeknownst to him, Kovrig then shared that intelligence with officials in Ottawa and in Beijing, which ultimately led to Spavor’s arrest.
Kovrig denied ever conducting any covert intelligence gathering. Regarding his discussions with Spavor, Kovrig told Global News: “He knew he was talking to a diplomat.”
“As a diplomat, I wrote diplomatic reports for Global Affairs Canada. As a Crisis Group adviser, I write for the public and my work is published on ICG’s website and in the media,” he said.
“In both roles, I was and always am forthright and open about my identity, my employer and the substance of my work.”
Guy Saint Jacques, Canada’s former ambassador to China from 2012 -2016, defended Kovrig’s position and denied allegations that he was a spy.
“Kovrig was a good political officer. And there is an important distinction with spying work and political reporting work,” Saint Jacques told Global News. “Diplomats that are assigned to political sections abroad are charged with doing political reporting. Of course, in a country like China, it’s very difficult to have access to good information because it’s so opaque.
“Michael, being able to travel around, anyone at the embassy would have been interested to hear what he had learned during his trips. And Michael Kovrig was very open about this. This was not done in secret.”
Saint Jacques believes Spavor’s arrest was more likely due to his work in North Korea, which was well known.
“I think that the Mr. Spavor was watched by the Chinese security people. And the reason for this is that China considers North Korea as its backyard,” he said.
“And here is a foreigner, a Canadian, who has very close access to the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, something that no Chinese has. And for that reason, there was a bit of jealousy or concern of how influential Mr. Spavor could be. And from my perspective, I think this is the main reason why he was arrested by the Chinese.”
Beijing capitalized on the allegations in the Globe and Mail report, defending its prosecution of Kovrig and Spavor.
In a statement, China’s embassy in Ottawa said the two Canadians were “suspected of committing crimes endangering China’s national security.”
“Recent relevant reports once again prove that the above facts cannot be denied,” the embassy said.
Kovrig told Global News that he’s “deeply saddened to see a few fragmentary comments from anonymous sources get turned into a false media narrative.”
He said being forced to respond to false claims felt all too reminiscent of his time in captivity.
“As a detainee, you have to defend your own identity, your sense of truth and reality, against relentless efforts to force you to accept a fake reality,” he said.
“This (recent report) brought it back into the present and reopened old wounds. It felt like once again being subjected to a false narrative while everyone is watching.”
A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada echoed that sentiment: “Perpetuating the notion that either Michael was involved in espionage is only perpetuating a false narrative under which they were detained by China.”
Spavor and his lawyers declined to comment on the allegations.
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