World

Human rights groups on Friday warned Tehran will try to use an upcoming visit to Iran by a UN expert in order to avoid accountability.

Alena Douhan, the special rapporteur focused on the impact of unilateral sanctions, is due to begin a visit to Iran from Saturday, the United Nations has said.

The mission from May 7 to 18 will be the first to the Islamic republic by a special rapporteur since 2005.

In a statement Thursday, Douhan said she hoped to “gather first-hand information on the impact of unilateral coercive measures on the full realisation of all human rights” in Iran.

“My visit will aim at covering all walks of life and sectors affected by such measures,” said Douhan, whose official title is “special rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights.”

Her mission comes during a stalemate in talks between Iran and world powers to revive a 2015 agreement which gave Iran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear programme. In 2018 then-US president Donald Trump withdrew from the deal and imposed crippling sanctions on Iran, which then began rolling back its own commitments.

Douhan works under a mandate from the United Nations Human Rights Council.

But a group of 11 human rights groups warned in a statement Friday that Iran’s government will try to “instrumentalise” the visit “in a cynical attempt to deflect attention from its well-documented record of human rights violations”.

The visit “comes after 17 years of denial of access to any of the 14 UN human rights monitors that have requested to visit the country,” said the statement.

“By inviting the only expert whose mandate is to look at external actors’ liability for rights violations in the country, Iranian authorities exploit this visit in an inconspicuous attempt to blunt scrutiny of its record of non-cooperation with the UN human rights system,” said the statement signed by groups including United for Iran, Article 19 and Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre.

Douhan said she will “pay particular attention to the adverse effects on the most vulnerable segments of society, including in the current context of the Covid-19 pandemic”.

The rights groups say Iran has a history of blatant rights violations, and “legitimate concern over the impact of sanctions cannot and must not overshadow the Iranian authorities’ responsibility for failing to ensure — and sometimes actively restricting — access to health, work, education, internet and adequate living standards for all in Iran.”

They added: “The international community must not be fooled, and Iran should not be rewarded for its attempt to avoid accountability.” 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative party lost control of key councils in London, according to partial results from local and regional UK elections on Friday, with a potentially historic change looming in Northern Ireland.

The main UK opposition Labour party of Keir Starmer won control of long-term Conservative strongholds in the capital, including Margaret Thatcher’s “favourite” council Wandsworth, and Westminster for the first time since it was created in 1964.

Only about a third of English votes have been counted. Results from the remainder, as well as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are expected throughout the day.

The contest for the devolved assembly in Belfast could see a pro-Irish nationalist party win for the first time, with huge constitutional implications for the four-nation UK.

Predicted victors Sinn Fein — the former political wing of paramilitary group the IRA — are committed to a vote on reunification with the Irish republic to the south, a century after the island was partitioned.

The English results so far are not a landslide for Labour, which is seeking to capitalise on a cost of living crisis and Johnson’s own performance, including his unprecedented police fine for attending a lockdown-breaking party at Downing Street.

But Starmer, visiting Barnet, in northwest London, where Labour seized control of the council from the Tories, hailed what he called “a big turning point”.

“When it comes to London, you can hardly believe those names come off our lips. Wandsworth! They’ve been saying for years ‘You’ll never take Wandsworth from us.’ We’ve just done it! Westminster! It’s an astonishing result,” he told supporters.

– ‘Catastrophic’ –

The former chief of staff of Conservative ex-premier Theresa May said the results in London were “catastrophic”.

“Wandsworth and Westminster were flagship councils,” Gavin Barwell tweeted. “Losing them should be a wake up call for the Conservative Party.”

Party chairman Oliver Dowden, though, sought to play down Conservative losses, saying they were consistent with mid-term expectations, and insisted Johnson was not under threat.

The Barnet Labour group leader said the result was a reflection of disillusionment with the Tories, who are hoping to extend their 12 years in power for another term at the next general election, which is due by 2024.

“I think a lot of Conservatives haven’t voted this time, I think they feel alienated from No 10 and that they are, I don’t know, they’ve been disappointed with Boris Johnson and so not voting and I think that’s made a difference as well,” Barry Rawlings told the BBC.

Johnson, 57, won a landslide 2019 general election victory by vowing to take the UK out of the European Union, and reverse rampant regional inequality.

Despite making good on his Brexit pledge, the coronavirus pandemic largely stalled his domestic plans. 

But his position has been put in jeopardy because of anger at lockdown-breaking parties at his Downing Street office and the steeply rising cost of living.

Poor results could reignite questions about his leadership, putting his position in jeopardy.

Labour is bidding to leapfrog the Conservatives into second place in Scotland, behind the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), and remain the largest party in Wales, where 16 and 17-year-olds are eligible to vote for the first time. 

– Sinn Fein rise –

The contest for the 90 seats in Northern Ireland’s power-sharing assembly is set to capture attention, after numerous polls put Sinn Fein ahead. 

The pro-UK Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and cross-community Alliance Party were tied for second.

First results are expected on Friday but counting is set to continue into Saturday. Early indications were that turnout was about 54 percent — down from nearly 65 percent in 2017.

Sinn Fein has dialled down its calls for Irish unity during campaigning, saying it is “not fixated” on a date for a sovereignty poll, instead focusing on the rising cost of living and other local issues.

Party vice president Michelle O’Neill has insisted voters are “looking towards the future” with pragmatism rather than the dogmatism that has long been the hallmark of Northern Irish politics.

O’Neill’s DUP rivals have sought to keep the spotlight on possible Irish reunification in the hope of bolstering their flagging fortunes.

In February, its first minister withdrew from the power-sharing government in protest at post-Brexit trade arrangements, prompting its collapse. 

DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has said that his party would not form a new executive unless London rips up the trading terms, known as the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Israeli security forces launched a manhunt Friday for two Palestinians suspected of killing three Israelis in an attack that came as the Jewish state marked its founding.

The attack on Thursday night in Elad, a central city mainly populated by ultra-Orthodox Jews, was the sixth in which Israelis have been targeted since March 22.

Witnesses told AFP that two assailants leapt from a car swinging axes at passers-by, leaving three of them dead and four wounded, before fleeing in the same vehicle.

The attack came hours after clashes between Israelis and Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, a highly contested site in Jerusalem’s Israeli-annexed Old City that has been the focal point during weeks of violence.

It followed a tense period in which the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the Jewish festival of Passover and the Christian holiday of Easter overlapped.

Palestinians have been angered by an uptick in Jewish visits to the Al-Aqsa compound, where by long-standing convention Jews may visit but are not allowed to pray.

Israel has said the status quo would remain unchanged at the site known to Jews as the Temple Mount.

The Elad attack was condemned by the United States and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, who warned it could lead to spiralling violence.

But Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian armed group, praised the attack, calling it a consequence of unrest at Al-Aqsa. Neither group claimed responsibility.

“This operation demonstrates our people’s anger at the occupation’s attacks on holy sites,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said of the attack in Elad.

“The storming of the Al-Aqsa mosque cannot go unpunished.”

– ‘Pay the price’ –

Israeli security forces have mounted a massive search operation for the attackers, identified by the police as Assad Yussef al-Rifai, 19, and Subhi Imad Abu Shukair, 20.

As helicopters and drones roared overhead in search of the perpetrators, young ultra-Orthodox Jewish men in crisp white shirts were seen linking arms and chanting near the scene of the attack.

Women gathered on balconies overlooking the site, as masked forensic officers packed the bodies of the dead into bags and police stopped and searched cars.

Police asked the public to provide information on the suspects after publishing their pictures and names. They were described as residents of the village of Rummanah near Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

Israel’s Defence Minister Benny Gantz announced measures to stop them escaping.

Alon Rizkan of the Magen David Adom emergency response service said the “scene of the attack was complex”, adding he had seen a 40-year-old man lying dead near a roundabout, another man unconscious at an adjoining park and a wounded man next to him. Both later died of their injuries.

The dead were identified by Israeli media as Yonatan Habakuk, 44, and Boaz Gol, 49, both from Elad, and Oren Ben Yiftah, a 35-year-old from the central city of Lod.

“We will get our hands on the terrorists… and ensure they pay the price,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said.

The majority of Elad’s 50,000 residents are members of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, known as haredim.

Gantz announced a closure of the West Bank — in place for the anniversary — would remain in force through Sunday.

– Spate of attacks –

Prior to Thursday’s incident, a string of attacks since March 22 had killed 15 people, including an Arab-Israeli police officer and two Ukrainians, in separate attacks inside Israel.

Two of the deadly attacks were carried out in the Tel Aviv area by Palestinians.

A total of 27 Palestinians and three Israeli Arabs have died during the same period, among them perpetrators of attacks and those killed by Israeli security forces in West Bank operations.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said “the joy of independence day had been interrupted in an instant”.

For Palestinians, the anniversary of Israel’s 1948 declaration of independence marks the Nakba, or “catastrophe”, when more than 700,000 fled or were expelled during the war surrounding Israel’s creation.

Last week, the Gaza Strip’s Islamist rulers Hamas threatened Israel with rockets and attacks on synagogues if its security forces carried out further raids on the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

“Whoever has a rifle must have it ready, and whoever does not have a rifle must prepare their knife or their axe,” said Yahya Sinwar, Hamas chief in the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian enclave.

The latest violence on Thursday at Al-Aqsa came following a tense April, in which nearly 300 people were injured in clashes between police and Palestinians at the site.

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An Indian climber has died in Nepal near the summit of the world’s third-highest peak, expedition organisers said Friday, the third fatality of this year’s busy Himalayan spring climbing season. 

Narayanan Iyer, 52, died Thursday at an altitude of 8,200 metres (26,900 feet), near the top of Mount Kanchenjunga.

“He was slower than others and we had two guides assist him. He was very exhausted, couldn’t continue and collapsed,” Nivesh Karki of expedition company Pioneer Adventure told AFP. 

Karki said that Iyer’s family had been informed and the company is working out details for the recovery of his body.

Nepal has issued 68 permits to foreign climbers for the 8,586-metre (28,169-foot) Kanchenjunga this season and several made it to the summit on Thursday. 

Iyer is the third climber to die in Nepal this year.

Last month, a Greek climber died on the 8,167-metre (26,795-foot) Dhaulagiri after he fell ill while descending.

Days later, a Nepali climber who was carrying equipment uphill was found dead on Mount Everest. 

Nepal, home to eight of the world’s highest peaks, usually attracts hundreds of adventurers during the spring climbing season, when temperatures are warm and winds are typically calm.

The country only reopened its peaks to mountaineers last year after the pandemic shut down the industry in 2020. 

But with coronavirus cases receding, expedition operators in Nepal are hopeful of a busier climbing season this year.

Nepal’s government has already issued permits to 918 mountaineers for the season, including 316 for Mount Everest.

Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

– Hundreds evacuated from Mariupol –

Hundreds of civilians have been evacuated from the devastated city of Mariupol and its besieged Azovstal steel plant in a UN-led rescue operation, the Ukrainian president’s office says.

“We have managed to evacuate almost 500 civilians,” Andriy Yermak, who heads Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, said on Telegram.

He said Kyiv will “do everything to save all its civilians and military” stuck in the southern port city, adding that the operation was ongoing.

– Mariupol factory ceasefire in doubt –

The Russian military had announced a three-day ceasefire starting Thursday at Azovstal, where Ukrainian forces are making a last stand.

But a commander of the Azov regiment that is defending it says in a video on Telegram that “heavy bloody fighting continues”, accusing Russia of violating its promise of a ceasefire.

President Vladimir Putin says the Russian army is “still ready” to give safe passage to civilians trapped at Azovstal.

“As for the militants remaining at Azovstal, the Kyiv authorities must give them an order to lay down their arms,” the Kremlin quotes Putin as saying.

– Pentagon denies helping target Russian generals –

The US Defense Department denies providing intelligence on the locations of Russian generals on the battlefield so that Ukrainian forces could kill them.

“We do not provide intelligence on the location of senior military leaders on the battlefield or participate in the targeting decisions of the Ukrainian military,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby says, responding to an explosive New York Times report on US support for Ukraine’s military.

Separately, US media reports Washington had shared intelligence that helped Ukraine sink the Russian warship Moskva last month.

But a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, tells AFP that the United States does not “provide specific targeting information on ships”.

– West slowing, not hindering operation: Kremlin –

The Kremlin accuses the West of preventing a quick end to Russia’s military campaign.

“The United States, Britain, NATO as a whole hand over intelligence… to Ukraine’s armed forces on a permanent basis,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov tells reporters. 

“Coupled with the flow of weapons that these countries are sending to Ukraine, these are all actions that do not contribute to the quick completion of the operation.”

But Peskov says the West is “incapable of hindering the achievement” of the Russian operation’s goals.

– Donor conference, crowdfunding –

More than six billion euros ($6.3 billion) were collected at a Ukraine donors’ conference in Warsaw, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki says.

Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky launches a global crowdfunding platform — United24 — to help Kyiv win the war with Russia and rebuild the country’s infrastructure.

Ukraine’s government in April estimated the cost of rebuilding after the war to be at least $600 billion (570 billion euros).

– Fiji seizes oligarch’s yacht –

Fiji authorities seize Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov’s $300 million yacht after a US request to hold the vessel for violating sanctions and for alleged ties to corruption, the US Justice Department says.

The 348-foot (106-metre) “Amadea” was berthed in Lautoka, Fiji in the South Pacific when local authorities took control of it.

– Sell seized assets: EU chief –

The European Union should confiscate and sell Russian assets it has seized and use the proceeds to rebuild Ukraine, EU chief Charles Michel says, echoing an idea already floated in the United States. 

The EU said early last month it had frozen 30 billion euros ($31.5 billion) in assets linked to blacklisted Russian and Belarusian individuals.

– Eastern assault continues –

The governor of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region Pavlo Kyrylenko says at least 25 civilians were wounded in an overnight Russian strike on the city of Kramatorsk.

Moscow seeks to establish “full control” of the regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, and to maintain a land corridor to occupied Crimea.

The Ukrainian army meanwhile says it has retaken control of “several settlements on the border of Mykolaiv and Kherson regions”. 

– Russia, Israel and the Holocaust –

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett says Putin has apologised for remarks made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who claimed Adolf Hitler may have had “Jewish blood”. 

The comments had sparked outrage in Israel.

A Kremlin summary of the Bennett-Putin call, which came as Israel marked 74 years since the creation of the Jewish state, made no mention of a Putin apology.

It did, however, note that the leaders discussed the “historic memory” of the Holocaust.

– Zelensky invites German leaders –

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is yet to commit to visiting Kyiv, even after Ukraine’s leader invited him and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier — three weeks after the German president was snubbed by Kyiv.

– NATO, Sweden and the Baltic Sea –

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says the alliance could heighten its presence around Sweden and the Baltic Sea to protect the country from Russian interference during a potential membership application.

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For Valeriy Stavichenko, the sight of mangled Russian war equipment perched along the pavement in downtown Kyiv triggers feelings of bliss in the heart of the 71-year-old Soviet Army veteran. 

“I’m happy,” he said with a grin after inspecting the pockmarked tail of a downed Russian fighter jet. 

“The more destroyed enemy vehicles we have, the closer victory is,” said Stavichenko, who stumbled on the bits and pieces of the Russian war machine on a recent walk in the Ukrainian capital.

The battered war trophies stood in stark contrast to the birdsong and blooming chestnut trees lining the quiet avenue in the capital’s government quarter. 

The display outside the National Museum of Military History — featuring the fighter jet’s tail and a smashed infantry fighting vehicle — was unveiled last week as part of a project dreamed up by another Ukrainian veteran. 

The exhibit’s curator Pavlo Netesov hopes the freshly destroyed equipment will serve as a visible reminder of the war’s toll to residents in downtown Kyiv — who have been largely spared from the harsh ground fighting that has erupted elsewhere in the country. 

“I want people through those things to understand this war as I see it, as it’s going on,” Netesov told AFP.

For weeks, Netesov witnessed the brutal toll of the war first-hand as a volunteer member of the Ukrainian military deployed in Kyiv’s suburbs, where he helped beat back Russian forces while also collecting equipment, weapons, and keepsakes from the battlefield. 

Along with the trophies on display in Kyiv, Netesov has decorated his personal office with an array of war memorabilia amassed in Ukraine over the years, with lamps fashioned from mortar shells and shoulder-fired rockets adorning the walls. 

– ‘We have to win’ –

In the future, Netesov hopes to line the entire avenue outside the military history museum with various war remnants, insisting that preserving the memories of the conflict’s brutal costs will be vital for Ukraine as the nation moves forward. 

“It’s a normal practice to exhibit war trophies, but it’s not about swagger,” said Netesov. “It’s important for me to preserve those artefacts to show that it really happened.”

The sight of the conflict’s detritus just blocks from President Volodymyr Zelensky’s war-time headquarters triggered a range of reactions from passersby — blank stares, selfies and brief chuckles.

But not all were pleased with the presence of the battered war trash. 

Twenty-eight-year-old attorney Inna Hopaitsa said the remnants unearthed memories of the first dark days of the Russian invasion and the overwhelming fear that waylaid people across Ukraine. 

“It’s really painful and hard,” said Hopaitsa, her voice cracking.

But she admitted that preserving the “heroic deeds” of the Ukrainian military was a necessary endeavour. 

Since Ukrainian fighters scored a stunning defeat against Russian forces on the outskirts of Kyiv in late March, much of the destroyed equipment and armour from the fighting has been towed away and cleared from the roads leading to the capital. 

The ruined tanks, artillery pieces, and armoured fighting vehicles will likely end up in scrap yards or  museums. 

While looking over the shattered infantry vehicle, Inna’s husband Valeriy Hopaitsa said he was more ambivalent about the future of the war’s remnants, insisting there were more pressing matters at hand. 

“First, we have to win,” said the 26-year-old. “Only then can we decide what to do with these vehicles and remains.”