Day: December 4, 2019

A U.K-based correspondent for Dawn, Pakistan’s main English language newspaper, filed a story on the terror attack last Friday in London and her choice of words triggered criticism by several Pakistani government authorities.

The attacker, Usman Khan, 28, a British citizen whose family originates from Pakistan, put on a fake suicide vest on Friday and started attacking people with knives before he was confronted by bystanders and shot dead by police officers near London Bridge. He stabbed five people, two of whom died later of the wounds sustained in the attack.

The reporter’s identification of the attacker as a British citizen of Pakistani origin was deemed as unpatriotic and defamatory because of the usage of the phrase “Pakistani origin” and the linkage to Pakistan.  

Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Science & Technology, took to his official Twitter page and criticized Dawn’s writers and editors for the story.

“Dawn walas [people] please have some mercy on this Nation, shocked on your cheap attempt to link a British terrorist to Pakistan, Anwar Al Awlaki and Anjem ch[Chaudhary] both are brit origin nothing to do with Kashmir or Pak, Britain should handle its problem within—irresponsible n cheap attitude,” Hussain wrote in a tweet on Sunday.

Dawn walas please have some mercy on this Nation, shocked on your cheap attempt to link a British terroist to Pakistan, Anwar Al Awlaki and Anjem ch both are brit origin nothing to do with Kashmir or Pak, Britain should handle its problem within—irresponsible n cheap attitude pic.twitter.com/tvldBCNMUd

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) December 1, 2019

Hussain’s tweet was retweeted by Shireen Mazari, Pakistan’s Minister for Human Rights and she accused Dawn of pursuing an agenda.

“Dawn has its own agenda – read The News where their UK based reporter has given details of the man’s life incl the fact he was born in UK!,” she said.

Following these tweets, social media in Pakistan has been trending the hashtag #BoycottIndianDawn, accusing the media network of being anti-Pakistan and pro Indian.

Riots in Islamabad

On Monday evening, angry rioters surrounded Dawn’s Islamabad office, and called for staffers to be hanged.

The crowd reportedly shouted, “Long Live Pakistan Army, Death to Dawn” and harassed employees for several hours until police arrived to dispel the crowd.

An employee of the newspaper, who spoke to VOA on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said he was physically assaulted.

“They pushed me around and cornered me; they said they wouldn’t let me pass through until I shouted “Long Live Pakistan Army-Death to Dawn,” the employee said.  

The newspaper has not issued a statement on the attack against its office. However, they did publish an article, giving the accounts of what transpired over the weekend. The original story that sparked the controversy has not been removed from the newspaper’s website as of Tuesday evening.

Rights Groups Reactions

Several international and local rights groups and organizations advocating for the freedom of press voiced concerns over the incident and urged Pakistani authorities to ensure the safety of Dawn’s reporters in the country.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) issued a statement Tuesday calling on Pakistan’s Ministry of Human Rights and Information Ministry to address the situation.

“HRCP has received alarming reports that access to @dawn_com’s office in Islamabad is being blocked by protestors shouting pro-army slogans. We are seriously concerned about the security of Dawn’s personnel and urge @mohrpakistan and @MoIB_Official to take immediate action.” HRCP said in a tweet.  

Paris-based Reporter Without Borders, a global watchdog monitoring press freedom around the world, also issued a statement Tuesday urging authorities to take immediate measures.

“Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Pakistani authorities to issue a public and unequivocal condemnation of last night’s siege of the Islamabad headquarters of Pakistan’s oldest English-language daily, Dawn, by an angry crowd of demonstrators calling for it to be banned on completely spurious grounds,” the statement said.

In statement sent to VOA, New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an international organization defending reporters around the world, expressed concerns and urged Pakistan to investigate reports of death threats against journalists.  

“Pakistan authorities must prevent demonstrations against the Dawn newspaper from turning violent, and should investigate death threats made against its staffers,” CPJ said.

Local reaction

Some opposition figures also took issue with the threats made against Dawn.

Senator Usman Kakar, a member of Pakistan’s Senate’s Standing Committee on Human Rights and a member of the opposition party Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami (PMAP) party, deemed the incident as a serious threat to press freedom and urged the senate to discuss it.

“This issue needs to be brought up and discussed in the Senate. Media [in Pakistan] is scrutinized and under a lot of pressure…they are afraid of the establishment,” the senator told VOA.

Bilawal Bhutto–Zardari, the leader of Pakistan’s People’s Party, PPP, one of the main opposition parties in the country, criticized the government for tolerating attack against the media.

 “Visited the offices of @dawn_com today in Islamabad. Outrageous that a major media house can be attacked by a mob in our capital city right under the government’s nose. Senate Human rights committee has already taken notice of this latest attack on freedom of the press,” Zardari tweeted on Tuesday.

Government involvement

Some journalists in Pakistan allege that the Pakistani government organized the mob in an effort to silence an independent and credible news outlet in the country.  

Iqbal Khattak, the head of Freedom Network, a watchdog organization that monitors press freedom in the country, told VOA that the incident seemed pre-planned.  

“This incident was really dangerous. Journalists in Pakistan need to ask the government to investigate the matter and ask, ‘who these people were’ and ‘what their issue is’. It seems like the mob was staged,” Khattak said.

The ruling Pakistani Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has not immediately reacted to the riot incident and threats against Dawn.

VOA’s Aurangzeb Khan contributed to this report from Islamabad. Some of the information used in this report came from Reuters.

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The Organization of American States (OAS) should avoid “extreme” positions when confronting regional crises like Venezuela’s social and economic collapse and instead promote dialogue, a challenger for the body’s top job said on Tuesday.

Hugo de Zela, a longtime Peruvian diplomat and his country’s ambassador to the United States, is running to unseat the organization’s secretary-general, Luis Almagro, who is seeking a second five-year term. Almagro’s current term is set to end next May.

The OAS must push for problems to be solved within its member countries by facilitating dialogue between different factions, de Zela told Reuters on the sidelines of a diplomatic meeting in Bogota.

“If the organization puts itself on one of the extremes, it stops being effective at solving problems, it stops being present in the solution and it becomes part of the problem,” said de Zela. “That cannot happen.”

Venezuela’s economic and political crisis – which has led to widespread shortages of food and medicine and an exodus of people – has dominated recent OAS meetings, with some member states denouncing President Nicolas Maduro as a dictator, while others back him.

Member states have also tussled over the admittance to meetings of a representative sent by Venezuela’s opposition leader, Juan Guaido, who argues Maduro’s 2018 re-election was illegitimate. Guaido this year invoked the constitution to assume an interim presidency.

Almagro, a Uruguayan whose re-election bid is backed by the United States, Colombia and Brazil, has sought to ramp up pressure on Maduro, including refusing to rule out the use of force against his government last year.

“It’s evident that in Venezuela, there is an interruption of the democratic process, it’s evident that the Maduro regime lacks legitimacy, that’s not under discussion. But at the same time, to actively promote the use of force to solve the case of Venezuela is unreal and doesn’t help,” said de Zela.

“That is putting ourselves on an extreme. Talking constantly about the use of force to solve the issue of Venezuela is not an effective contribution or a realistic contribution.”

Venezuelans must solve their own problems through dialogue, de Zela added, saying free and fair elections must be held urgently in the oil-producing country.

“The OAS is not having, as it once did, an active role in cooperation to solve these things,” de Zela said. “There is a lack of dialogue between the member countries and the general secretariat.”

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Representatives from over a dozen nations that are signatories to a Cold War-era defense treaty for the Americas moved Tuesday to further isolate close allies of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with economic sanctions.

The 1947 Rio Treaty signatories concluded a meeting in Bogota by vowing to cooperate in pursuing sanctions and travel restrictions for Maduro government associates accused of corruption, drug trafficking, money laundering or human rights violations.

“The political, economic and social crisis in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela represents a threat for the peace and security of the continent,” Colombian Foreign Minister Claudia Blum said in the meeting’s final remarks.

While the United States and the European Union have targeted Maduro associates with economic sanctions, Latin American nations who are supporting opposition leader Juan Guaido have largely resorted to diplomatic pressure – and it will be up to each individual nation to decide how to move forward.

The promise of enhanced economic pressure against Maduro comes at a time when Venezuela’s opposition is faltering. Guaido has struggled to mobilize supporters onto the streets and dipped in popularity. Meanwhile, fissures within the opposition are coming to light amidst recent controversies involving alleged abuses of power.

David Smilde, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America, said the Rio Treaty’s resolution Tuesday marks a “small victory” for the opposition but “not enough to really put them in a different place.”

“Their strategy of maximum pressure seems to be stalling,” he said.

The 19 Rio Treaty member nations have been treading cautiously in pursuing economic restrictions against Venezuela while vowing not to invoke a provision in the accord that authorizes them to pursue a military intervention. The accord instructs signatories to consider a threat against any one of them a danger to all.

Colombian President Ivan Duque contends that Maduro is offering a safe haven to rebel factions of the National Liberation Army and dissidents with the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, an assertion the Venezuelan leader denies. Duque urged that nations embark on tougher sanctions going forward.

“Here there’s no invitation for use of force,” he said.

Despite repeated remarks from Rio Treaty members indicating they will not pursue a military response, Venezuelan leaders contend the signatories are plotting to overthrow Maduro and warning citizens that an intervention could be imminent.

“The people should be prepared and alert on the streets,” Diosdado Cabello, head of Venezuela’s all-powerful National Constitutional Assembly, said Tuesday.

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Argentina’s incoming cabinet has already been chosen and will be revealed on Friday, President-elect Alberto Fernandez said on Tuesday, while his team confirmed a few major picks, including the incoming foreign minister and chief of staff.

As the country and markets watch closely for the make-up of the Peronist’s core leadership team, the key economic roles are still under wraps, with talks ongoing about how those will be structured, a spokesman for the leftist leader said.

“The cabinet is defined. Everything is already chosen and we are all working. We will present it on Friday at 6 pm (2100 GMT),” Fernandez said a post on an official Twitter account.

This followed comments made on local radio station Metro 95.1.

The incoming center-left leader gave little detail away, though he downplayed the influence of his vice president-elect, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

Argentina’s creditors, energy investors and grains traders are watching Fernandez’s picks closely, worried that Latin America’s No. 3 economy could shift toward populism after four-years under market-friendly conservative Mauricio Macri.

The spokesman told Reuters that young political scientist Santiago Cafiero, heir to a historic Peronist family, will likely be Cabinet chief, and that former Buenos Aires governor Felipe Solá will take on the role of foreign minister.

Eduardo de Pedro, a “Kirchnerist” farther to the left in the Peronist political movement, will also be part of the cabinet, the spokesman said, without revealing his role.

“The aim is to make a cabinet that represents all sectors of Frente de Todos,” he said, referring to Fernandez’s coalition, which translates as “Front for All.” “The delay (naming the cabinet) is due to negotiations between the different sectors.”

Economy Roles Still Uncertain

Fernandez’s team has kept a tight lid on picks for the top economy role, though a few key people are likely to play at least some role either in the formal cabinet or as advisers.

In recent weeks so many names have been touted to head the economy that a running joke is that the candidates are so numerous they could fill a soccer stadium.

Heterodox economists Matías Kulfas and Cecilia Todesca, debt expert Guillermo Nielsen, and academic Martín Guzmán are highly likely to take on some form of economic roles.

One source with knowledge of the matter and some domestic media have also said that Miguel Angel Pesce, an economist, is in line to take the central bank presidency.

Fernandez’s spokesman said that the structure of the economic roles has not yet been defined, which could include a powerful ministry with many secretariats or several ministries.

Fernandez said on Tuesday that Fernandez de Kirchner, a divisive former president who clashed with creditors and the farm sector during her two-term administration, had given advice on the cabinet but denied she had installed her own people.

“Cristina influenced the make-up of the cabinet in the way a person whose opinion I value would but did not fill the cabinet with her own names. We are a united front. What I am looking for is that everyone is represented,” he said.

Veep

Fernandez, who will come into office on Dec. 10 after winning an October election against incumbent Macri, faces a string of challenges including reviving stalled growth and renegotiating a painful debt pile with global creditors.

The country’s economy has been mired in recession for much of the last year, with annual inflation above 50%, sky-high benchmark interest rates and the central bank forced to drain dollar reserves to prop up a tumbling peso currency.

The economic crisis hammered Macri, who lost by a landslide in an August primary election ahead of the Oct. 27 vote, which sparked a market crash as investors feared political uncertainty with the return of the Peronist left.

Argentina is in talks with creditors and the International Monetary Fund to ease the burden of the country’s sovereign debt, with restructuring talks involving a total of around $100 billion.

According to the outgoing government, about $28 billion worth of debt with private holders and international organizations is due to mature in 2020.

Argentine bonds, already trading at historic lows, were hit again on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced surprise tariffs on Monday targeting steel and aluminum imports from Argentina and Brazil.

In a tongue-in-cheek comment about his higher-profile running mate, Fernandez said he enjoyed U.S. series “Veep,” where former senator Selina Meyer rises to become president, but that it did not mirror the situation in Argentina.

“To clear up any doubts, I have no plans to resign or leave my position until the last day,” Fernandez said.

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U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, often spoke to Representative Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, as Giuliani peddled unproven allegations at the heart of the Trump impeachment inquiry, a congressional report said on Tuesday.

Previously undisclosed telephone records appended to a 300-page report by the Democratic-led committee showed that Nunes also contacted Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian-American businessman who was helping Giuliani and has been indicted on charges of violating campaign finance law. Parnas has pleaded not guilty.

Others with whom Giuliani had phone calls included current and former Nunes staffers, the White House budget office, and a journalist who promoted conspiracy theories involving Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden and the 2016 U.S. election.

Giuliani’s numerous calls with Nunes and aides are significant because, as the top Republican on the committee, the California lawmaker cited those same theories as he led the fight against impeaching Trump.

Bennett Gershman, a Pace Law School professor who specializes in government ethics, said the disclosures raised “ethics questions with respect to Nunes.”

“Just on the face of it, I would say Nunes has a lot of explaining to do,” Gershman said. “At the very least he should have recused himself and being as aggressive as he was with this lurking in the background, I would say it’s pretty shocking.”

Nunes’ office did not respond to a request for comment on the phone records.

Neither Giuliani nor his attorney, Robert Costello, responded to a request for comment on the report and on Nunes in particular.

The intelligence panel report, which will form the basis of any impeachment charges, accused Trump of using his power to push Ukraine to investigate Biden in return for a White House meeting for its newly elected president and $391 million in withheld security aid approved by Congress for Ukraine’s defense against Russia-backed separatists.

Representative Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the committee, declined to comment specifically on Nunes.

But, he said that it was “deeply concerning that at a time when the president of the United States was using the power of his office to dig up dirt on a political rival, that there may be evidence that there were members of Congress complicit in that activity.”

The phone records were obtained from AT&T, the report said. The company acknowledged it complied with a request.

Biden is a leading contender for the Democratic nomination to run against Republican Trump in the November 2020 election.

Parnas’ lawyer Joseph Bondy said his client was prepared to testify to Congress about the substance of the phone calls.

In an Oct. 5 interview with Reuters, Giuliani said he had been in contact with Nunes about Ukraine, but “not a lot” and that the lawmaker and his staff obtained information on their own.

“We’ve talked about some of it, yes, Giuliani said. “But we haven’t investigated it together.”

The call records showed that Giuliani maintained more frequent contacts with Washington officials than were disclosed in some two months of private and public testimony by current and former U.S. officials to House committees conducting the impeachment review.

In the hearings, Nunes cited the same unproven allegations supported by Giuliani that Biden tried to curb an investigation into a Ukrainian energy firm on whose board his son was a member. He and other Republicans also referred to the debunked conspiracy theory that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that interfered in the 2016 U.S. election.

The call records showed that over the course of four days in April, Giuliani had calls with Nunes, John Solomon, a conservative columnist whose articles for the Hill newspaper promoted the allegations, and Parnas.

On April 12, the records showed that Parnas called Nunes in the late afternoon. The call lasted for one minute. Less than an hour later, Nunes placed two calls to Parnas that appear to have gone unanswered. Parnas later called Nunes and the two spoke for more than eight minutes, according to the records.

During that same period, Giuliani received three calls from someone at the White House budget office, which in July held up the security aid to Ukraine.

On May 8, Giuliani spoke with Derek Harvey, a member of Nunes’ staff and a former White House official, and on May 10 with Kashyap Patel, a former Nunes staff member who is now a senior counterterrorism official at the White House’s National Security Council.

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