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Photo: Dutch appeal court has ruled in favour of Mirjam van Reisen, professor and human rights activist in a case filed by Bahibi, the center of the Eritrean intelligence in the Netherlands. Credit: Tilburg University.

Dutch Court Rules Against 'Center of the Eritrean Intelligence Network'

By Martin Plaut*

AMSTERDAM (IDN-INPS) – In 2015, Dutch professor and human rights advocate Mirjam van Reisen was interviewed by Dutch radio station 'BNR Nieuwsradio' about people with ties to the Eritrean regime being employed as interpreters at the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND).

Van Reisen is professor at the Tilburg University and Leiden University.

In response to her remarks in this interview, the then chair of the Young People's Front for Democracy and Justice (YPFDJ) in the Netherlands, a nationalist Eritrean Diaspora youth organisation connected to the Eritrean ruling party, the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), started legal (interim injunction proceedings) against Van Reisen.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 15 December 2017

Photo: Setsuko Thurlow delivering her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. Credit. Norwegian Nobel Committee.

'Listen To Our Testimony. Heed Our Warning'

By Setsuko Thurlow

Setsuko Thurlow is a Japanese-Canadian nuclear disarmament campaigner who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. She is a leading figure in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. Thurlow accepted the prize on behalf of the campaign at a ceremony in Oslo on 10 December 2017, together with Beatrice Fihn, the executive director of ICAN. Following are extensive excerpts from her Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech. – The Editor

OSLO (IDN) – It is a great privilege to accept this award, together with Beatrice, on behalf of all the remarkable human beings who form the ICAN movement. You each give me such tremendous hope that we can – and will – bring the era of nuclear weapons to an end.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 15 December 2017

Photo: A worker sorts a green leaf tea before it reaches the main processing floor at the Kitabi Tea Processing Facility in Rwanda. Credit: A’Melody Lee / World Bank

Global Upturn Offers Prospects For Sustainable Growth

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Despite an upsurge in world economic growth, which has reached 3 per cent – the highest since 2011 – very few least developed countries (LDCs) are expected to reach the Sustainable Development Goal target for GDP growth of "at least 7 per cent" in the near term (SDG 8.1), says a new United Nations report.

Goal 8 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals – with 169 targets – adopted in September 2015 by the international community envisages promoting "inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all". Its target 1 stresses the need to "sustain per capita economic growth in accordance with national circumstances and, in particular, at least 7 per cent gross domestic product growth per annum in the least developed countries."

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 14 December 2017

Photo: The file photo shows a view of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly.

World Powers Trade Insults Over Rights Abuses in Iran, N. Korea

By John J. Metzler*

This article is being reproduced with permission of WebPublicaPress, which carried it on November 28t, 2017 with the caption 'UN Theatre of Absurd'. – The Editor

UNITED NATIONS (IDN-INPS) – A key UN Committee has condemned Iran's widespread use of the death penalty and has urged the Islamic Republic to eliminate "all discrimination and rights violations against women and girls."

In a separate resolution, the Third Committee roundly chastised North Korea's grave human rights situation and the communist country's consistent use of torture and prison camps to control its population.

: UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 14 December 2017

Photo: Ambassador Galo Yepez, Director of NGOs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of the Republic of Ecuador, addressing on behalf of the Group of 77 and China the High-Level Opening Ceremony of the Global South-South Development (GSSD) Expo 2017 on 27 November in Antalya, Turkey. Credit: UNOSSC

South-South Cooperation Complements North-South Coaction

By Ambassador Galo Yepez

Ambassador Galo Yepez is Director of NGOs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of the Republic of Ecuador. Following are extensive excerpts from his statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China at the High-Level Opening Ceremony of the Global South-South Development (GSSD) Expo 2017 on 27 November in Antalya, Turkey. Read our report on the Expo. – The Editor.

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) - The Global South-South Development (GSSD) Expo this year highlights the South-South Cooperation in the Era of Economic, Social and Environmental Transformation. In this regard I have to emphasize that South-South cooperation is a manifestation of solidarity among peoples and countries of the South that contributes to their national well-being, national and collective self-reliance and the attainment of the 2030 Agenda.

: UN Bureau; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; The Group of 77; 13 December 2017

Photo: In the third row from top, French President Macron (right) and UN Secretary-General Guterres (on his right) listen to a presentation at the One Planet Summit. Credit: A.D. McKenzie.

One Planet Summit Spotlights Funding to Fight Climate Change

By A.D. McKenzie

PARIS (IDN) – Financing is key in the fight against climate change, said delegate after delegate at the One Planet Summit in Paris December 12, and this meeting was all about the money: where to invest it and where not.

The World Bank Group announced that it would not be financing upstream oil and gas after 2019, except for certain projects in the “poorest countries”, where there is a clear benefit in terms of energy access for those in need.

“The policy will change and change dramatically,” said World Bank president Jim Yong Kim.

: A.D. McKenzie; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 13 December 2017

Photo: A meeting of the IPNDV in session. Credit: IPNDV

Monitoring Dismantlement Key to Eliminating Nuclear Weapons

By Jamshed Baruah

NEW YORK (IDN) – Since the United Nations General Assembly adopted on July 7, 2017 the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, urging the prohibition and complete elimination of the atomic arsenal, the question of verification and the dismantlement of nuclear weapons has acquired particular importance. Because there are several areas where adequate technologies either need to be developed or re-engineered.

Over the past four decades, the United States and the Soviet Union as well as its successor the Russian Federation have used a series of bilateral agreements and other measures to limit and reduce their substantial nuclear warhead and strategic missile and bomber arsenals.

: Jamshed Baruah; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 12 December 2017

Photo: U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson addresses reporters during a joint statement to the media with European Union High Representative Federica Mogherini, in Brussels, Belgium on December 5, 2017. [State Department Photo/ Public Domain]

Iran Deal 'Key Strategic Priority' for Global Security, Mogherini Tells Tillerson

By Kelsey Davenport

Kelsey Davenport is director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association. This article was first published in their blog with the caption 'Tillerson, Mogherini Meet Ahead of Key JCPOA Deadlines'. – The Editor

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini reiterated to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that the EU would work with the United States to address shared issues related to Iran, "on the basis of continued U.S. implementation of the nuclear deal" and outside of the agreement itself.

Mogherini and Tillerson discussed the nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) during a Dec. 5 bilateral meeting in Brussels.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 12 December 2017

Photo: Roman siege and destruction of Jerusalem (David Roberts,1850). Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Trump's Damning Move Raises the Stakes Over Jerusalem

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - Poets as diverse as William Blake and Yehuda Amichai have sung the praises of the heavenly Jerusalem, a land without strife or rancour, war or bitterness, envy, acquisitiveness or hatred.

Until last week and President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s de facto capital, Israel, Fatah, Hamas and their common interlocutor, the U.S., had the historic opportunity to take a giant step towards making the present day Jerusalem acquire, at least in some of its aspects, the earthly prototype of the heavenly Jerusalem.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 12 December 2017

Photo: Drago Kos, Chair of the OECD Working Group on Bribery and former Chair of the Slovenian Anti-Corruption Commission – pictured in 2011 as President of the Council of Europe’s Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO). Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Miles To Go Before Corruption Is Rooted Out

Viewpoint by Drago Kos

Drago Kos chairs the OECD Working Group on Bribery. The following is his statement on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. Working with over 100 countries, the OECD is a global policy forum that intends promotes policies to improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. – The Editor

PARIS (IDN) – Corruption facilitates some of the most important global threats of our time, such as terrorism, climate change and the refugee crisis. It’s vital that we ramp up our fight to contain this threat to our economies and societies.