United States
UN report says Ethiopia’s war marked by ‘extreme brutality’
The U.N. human rights chief said Wednesday that Ethiopia’s yearlong war has been marked by “extreme brutality” as a joint investigation into alleged atrocities faulted all sides for committing abuses, and “the big numbers of violations” are linked to Ethiopian forces and those from neighboring Eritrea.
The investigation was hampered by authorities’ intimidation and restrictions and didn’t visit some of the war’s worst-affected locations.
The report, a rare collaboration by the U.N. human rights office with the government-created Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, was released a day before the war’s one-year mark and as Africa’s second most populous country enters a new state of emergency with rival Tigray forces threatening the capital.
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The U.N. told The Associated Press that the collaboration was necessary for its team to gain access to a troubled region that Ethiopian authorities have largely prevented journalists, rights groups and other outside observers from entering.
The conflict that erupted in Ethiopia’s Tigray region has killed thousands of people since the government of Nobel Peace Prize-winning Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed allowed soldiers from Eritrea to invade Tigray and join Ethiopian forces in fighting the Tigray forces who long dominated the national government before Abiy took office. Ethnic Tigrayans across the country have since reported being targeted with arbitrary detentions, while civilians in Tigray have described gang rapes, famine and mass expulsions.
“In western Tigray, it was apparent that the Tigrayans had left most of the areas, as it was difficult to find Tigrayans to interview,” the new report says.
The joint investigation covers events until late June when the Tigray forces regained much of their region, but it failed to visit some of the deadliest sites of the war, including the city of Axum, because of security and other obstacles. Notably, the report says, those obstacles included the Ethiopian government’s failure to release satellite phones procured for the investigation.
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The investigation says all sides, including forces from the neighboring Amhara region that have claimed western Tigray, have committed abuses, which may amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes. It breaks little new ground and confirms in general the abuses described by witnesses throughout the war. But it gives little sense of scale, saying only that the more than 1,300 rapes reported to authorities are likely far fewer than the real number.
Despite the report’s shortcomings, the prime minister’s office said in a statement that it “clearly
established the claim of genocide as false and utterly lacking of any factual basis.” The statement noted “serious reservations” about the report but claimed it laid “sinister allegations to rest.” And it acknowledged the need to “redouble our efforts” to hold perpetrators accountable. A high-level task force will be formed, it said.
Among the investigation’s findings: Several Ethiopian military camps were used to torture captured Tigray forces or civilians suspected of supporting them. Others were detained in “secret locations” and military camps across the country, with arbitrary detentions in many cases. Tigray forces detained some ethnic Amhara civilians in western Tigray in the early days of the war on suspicion of supporting the military, and in some cases tortured them.
“The Tigray conflict has been marked by extreme brutality. The gravity and seriousness of the violations and abuses we have documented underscore the need to hold perpetrators accountable on all sides,” said Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights. Reports of abuses such as summary executions in Tigray continue, she said.
And yet the report gives little sign that Eritrean soldiers were responsible for many of the atrocities, as witnesses have alleged from the earliest days of the war. Until March, Ethiopia’s prime minister denied they were even in the country.
Bachelet told reporters that while the report doesn’t explicitly mention that Ethiopian and Eritrean forces were responsible for the majority of the violations, “I would say that the big numbers of violations of human rights are linked to the Ethiopian and Eritrean defense forces.” She also noted “disturbing suggestions of ethnically motivated violence” that warrant further investigation. She denied the probe came under government pressure.
Ethiopia’s government imposed a blockade on Tigray since the Tigray forces regained control in June, cutting off almost all access for commercial goods and humanitarian aid. That followed large-scale looting and destruction of food and crops across the region that “has had a severe socioeconomic impact on the civilian population,” the report says. In addition, some camps for displaced people who fled the war didn’t receive food rations for months.
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The joint investigation, however, “could not confirm deliberate or willful denial of humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in Tigray or the use of starvation as a weapon of war.” It did call for further investigation.
The new report, based on more than 260 interviews with victims and witnesses, said it had received no response from Eritrea’s government or from Amhara regional officials, and the Tigray forces expressed its opposition to the involvement of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. The report acknowledged that the presence of EHRC staffers at times inhibited interviews.
The investigation says the Ethiopian government should “consider” setting up a court to ensure accountability and the international community should “support” the government in restoring stability. It also expresses concern that “investigations conducted by Ethiopian national institutions do not match the scope and breadth of the violations it has identified.”
“We don’t have enough transparency,” Bachelet said.
Miller lauds role of US Fulbright alumni in boosting friendship
US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller has appreciated the role of Bangladeshi Fulbright alumni in building bridges of friendship between the two countries.
“Through the Fulbright programme, you cultivated long lasting friendships with students, scholars, and community leaders in the United States and worldwide and you returned to Bangladesh and share your knowledge and ideas,” Ambassador Miller told Bangladeshi Fulbright alumni.
Renowned economist Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya (Fulbright Scholar, 2004) delivered the Fulbright Day keynote address on Thursday.
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Ambassador Miller and Deputy Chief of Mission Helen LaFave joined hundreds of U.S. government-funded exchange programme alumni to celebrate the Fulbright programme’s 75th anniversary through a two-day virtual conference.
Vice Chancellor of the University of Dhaka Professor Dr. Md. Akhtaruzzaman (Fulbright Scholar, 2002), joined the opening ceremony as the chief guest on Wednesday.
US for opposing targeted violence, orchestrated hate
The United States has urged all to remain steadfast in opposing targeted violence and orchestrated hate, and work to ensure all are able to attend a religious service or celebration without fear of violence because of their faith.
“Everyone must remain steadfast in opposing targeted violence and orchestrated hate,” said the US Embassy in Dhaka in a statement on Tuesday.
The US Embassy sent their condolences to the families of victims of recent religious violence. “Freedom of religion is sacrosanct.”
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The United States stands with Bangladeshis of all beliefs calling to preserve diversity, unity, and mutual respect, reads the statement.
Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the government remains "concerned" that certain vested quarters are carrying out such pre-meditated attacks to gain some dubious political mileage.
"It is regrettable that the local elements that opposed Bangladesh’s independence 50 year ago are still propagating their toxic narratives to instigate violence, hatred and bigotry," MoFA said.
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When the people of Bangladesh were celebrating the Durga Puja in a joyous mood, there emerged reports of attacks on Hindu religious sites and idols in different parts of the country.
“My condolences to victims of recent violence affecting Durga Puja celebrations. UK stands with those working for religious tolerance and harmony, in Bangladesh and around the world," British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Chatterton Dickson tweeted on Tuesday.
Global Covid cases top 241 million
The overall number of global Covid cases has now surged past 241 million, despite the ongoing mass inoculations in several countries.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total Covid case count and fatalities stand at 241,115,485 and 4,905,196, respectively, as of Tuesday morning.
The US has recorded 45,050,910 cases and 726,196 fatalities to date, according to the university data.
Brazil currently has the world's second-highest pandemic death toll after the United States and the third-largest caseload after the United States and India.
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Brazil has registered 21,651,910 cases so far. The country's Covid death toll has also risen to 603,465 as it has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,094,373 on Tuesday, as 13,058 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry data.
The number of new Covid cases registered in the past 24 hours is the lowest in 231 days, according to the health ministry.
Besides, as many as 164 deaths due to the pandemic were reported since Monday morning, taking the total toll to 452,454.
Meanwhile, Russia has reported its largest daily number of new coronavirus infections, more than 70% up on the number a month ago as the country faces a sustained rise in cases.
The national coronavirus taskforce of Russia on Sunday said that 34,303 new infections were recorded in the previous day, compared with the 20,174 reported on September 19. The death toll of 999 was barely lower than the record 1,002 deaths reported on Saturday.
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Russian authorities have tried to speed up the pace of vaccinations with lotteries, bonuses and other incentives, but widespread vaccine scepticism and conflicting signals from officials stymied the efforts. The government said this week that about 43 million Russians, or some 29% of the country’s nearly 146 million people, are fully vaccinated.
Situation in Bangladesh
Covid-19 in Bangladesh claimed 10 more lives and infected another 339 people in 24 hours till Monday morning.
Both fatality and infection figures marked a slight fall from Sunday when 16 new Covid-related deaths and 314 fresh cases were reported in 24 hours.
With the fresh numbers, the Covid fatalities reached 27,778 while the caseload climbed to 1,565,827 in Bangladesh, according to the Directorate General of the Health services (DGHS).
Of the latest deceased, four were men and six were women.
Read: Covid in Bangladesh: Six more lives lost in 24 hours
On the 41st epidemiological week of the pandemic from October 11 to October 17, 46 of the 80 deceased Covid patients had comorbidities.
Comorbidity means the simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient. Its rate in Covid-related deaths in the country for the last seven days is 57.5 percent.
However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 percent compared to the same period.
Besides, the recovery rate rose slightly to 97.61 percent, with 509 more patients getting cured during the period.
So far, 1,528,371 people have recovered from the deadly virus infection, the DGHS said.
Brazil's COVID-19 death toll tops 600,000
Brazil, which has the world's second-highest death toll from COVID-19 behind the United States, saw its death toll exceed 600,000 on Friday.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Health, the South American nation logged 600,425 deaths and 21,550,730 cases, after registering 615 deaths and 18,172 cases in the last 24 hours.
Brazil managed to emerge from the healthcare collapse caused by the second wave of COVID-19 infections between March and June, and is currently in a stable situation, with an average of 453 deaths per day, the lowest figure since November 2020.
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It took the country 111 days to go from 500,000 COVID-19 deaths to 600,000, in contrast to the 51-day period it took to jump from 400,000 to 500,000 deaths registered in the first half of the year.
Brazil has the third-largest caseload worldwide, after the United States and India.
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According to official data, Brazil has fully vaccinated 97.2 million people, or 45.5 percent of the population, while 148.8 million people, or 69.7 percent, have received one dose.
Refugee admissions hit record low, despite Biden's reversal
Refugee admissions to the United States fell to a record low during the 2021 budget year, despite President Joe Biden's pledge to reverse the sharp cuts made by the Trump administration, according to figures obtained by The Associated Press.
A total of 11,445 refugees were allowed into the United States during the budget year that ended on Thursday, according to a person with access to the information who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the figure.
That number does not include the tens of thousands of Afghans brought to the United States as American troops withdrew from Afghanistan, ending the 20-year war there. Many of those Afghans were allowed into the country under a different legal status known as humanitarian parole, which is why they are not included in the refugee tally.
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Still the number highlights Biden's challenges in reversing the restrictive refugee policies set by former President Donald Trump's administration, which targeted the program as part of a broader campaign to slash both legal and illegal immigration to the United States.
The U.S. president determines the cap on refugee admissions each budget year, which runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. Biden didn't take office until almost four months after the last fiscal year began.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the number.
The 11,445 refugee admissions total falls far below the nation’s cap of 62,500 for the 2021 budget year that Biden set in May. It's also below the record-low ceiling of 15,000 that Trump had initially set for the year.
Biden initially indicated he would not override the 15,000-person cap, saying in an emergency determination that it “remains justified by humanitarian concerns and is otherwise in the national interest."
But that brought sharp rebuke from Democratic allies who criticized him for not taking the symbolic step of authorizing more refugees this year. The White House quickly reversed course and raised the cap, though Biden said at the time that he did not expect the U.S. would meet the new 62,500 ceiling with only four months left in the 2021 budget year, given the ongoing restrictions put in place due to the coronavirus pandemic and work the administration says is needed to rebuild the program.
Refugee advocates said the record-low number reflects the damage done by the Trump administration to the program. Before the 2021 budget year, the lowest number of refugees allowed in was during the 2020 budget year when the number hit 11,814.
The historical yearly average was 95,000 under previous Republican and Democratic administrations.
The Biden administration has expanded the narrow eligibility criteria put in place by his predecessor that had kept out most refugees, among other steps. But critics say it's not enough and that the Biden administration has moved too slowly.
It remains to be seen whether refugee admissions will reach anywhere near the 125,000 cap that Biden has set for the current budget year, which started Friday.
Read:Many migrants staying in US even as expulsion flights rise
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, one of nine U.S. agencies working to resettle refugees, said efforts need to be accelerated to add personnel overseas, do more remote interviews and relieve the enormous backlog of refugee applications.
She said that while the program was gutted by the Trump administration, it is now Biden's responsibility to revive it.
“If we are to reach President Biden’s goal of welcoming 125,000 refugees, the administration must be aggressive and innovative in ramping up processing," she said in a statement.
Mark Hetfield of HIAS, another resettlement agency, agreed that Biden “should have done better."
“What this record low number really shows ... is that the administration needs to remove the red tape and other obstacles that hinder the resettlement program from effectively responding to emergencies like Afghanistan," he said.
Biden, who co-sponsored legislation creating the refugee program in 1980, has said reopening the door to refugees is “how we will restore the soul of our nation.”
PM to meet the press at 4pm
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to address a press conference at 4pm on Monday on the outcome of her recent visit to the United States for joining the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The Prime Minister will attend the press conference at her official residence Ganobhaban. Some journalists will be in the Ganobhaban, while others will remain connected from the Prime Minister’s Office through a virtual platform.
Read: PM to address press conference Monday
Sheikh Hasina returned home on Friday last from Washington, wrapping up her two-week foreign trip.
On September 17, the Prime Minister left Dhaka to attend the 76th UNGA. She reached New York on September 19 after a two-day stopover in Finland.
During her stay in New York from September 19 to 24, Hasina addressed the UNGA general debate (Sept 24), attended high-level events and bilateral talks with heads of governments, states and organisations.
She also planted a honey locust tree and unveiled a bench at the UN gardens dedicating these to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the occasion of his birth centenary.
In New York, Hasina was honoured with the ‘SDGs Progress Award’ in recognition of Bangladesh’s achievement in sustainable development from 2015 to 2020.
Read: Hasina places six proposals before world to fight Covid
The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and other several organisations, including the Earth Institute of Columbia University and the Centre for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, jointly conferred the award on her.
Later, the Prime Minister went to Washington DC on September 25.
During her stay in Washington, Hasina opened the newly-constructed ‘Bangladesh House’ and planted a fringe tree on its premises.
PM to address press conference Monday
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will address a press conference on Monday afternoon on the outcome of her recent visit to the United States for joining the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The Prime Minister will attend the press conference at 4pm on Monday, said PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim.
Read: PM Hasina leaves Finland on way back home from USA
Sheikh Hasina returned home on Friday last from Washington, wrapping up her two-week foreign trip.
On September 17, the Prime Minister left Dhaka to attend the 76th UNGA. She reached New York on September 19 after a two-day stopover in Finland.
During her stay in New York from September 19 to 24, Hasina addressed the UNGA general debate (Sept 24), attended high-level events and bilateral talks with heads of governments, states and organisations.
Read: Hasina leaves Washington for home
She also planted a honey locust tree and unveiled a bench at the UN gardens dedicating these to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the occasion of his birth centenary.
In New York, Hasina was honoured with the ‘SDGs Progress Award’ in recognition of Bangladesh’s achievement in sustainable development from 2015 to 2020.
The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and other several organisations, including the Earth Institute of Columbia University and the Centre for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, jointly conferred her with the award.
Read: Hasina places six proposals before world to fight Covid
Later, the Prime Minister went to Washington DC on September 25.
During her stay in Washington, Hasina opened the newly constructed ‘Bangladesh House’ and planted a fringe tree on its premises.
US hits 700,000 COVID deaths just as cases begin to fall
The United States reached its latest heartbreaking pandemic milestone Friday, eclipsing 700,000 deaths from COVID-19 just as the surge from the delta variant is starting to slow down and give overwhelmed hospitals some relief.
It took 3 ½ months for the U.S. to go from 600,000 to 700,000 deaths, driven by the variant’s rampant spread through unvaccinated Americans. The death toll is larger than the population of Boston.
This milestone is especially frustrating to public health leaders and medical professionals on the front lines because vaccines have been available to all eligible Americans for nearly six months and the shots overwhelmingly protect against hospitalizations and death. An estimated 70 million eligible Americans remain unvaccinated, providing kindling for the variant.
“You lose patients from COVID and it should not happen,” said Debi Delapaz, a nurse manager at UF Health Jacksonville who recalled how the hospital was at one point losing eight patients a day to COVID-19 during the summer surge. “This is something that should not happen.”
Despite the rising death toll, there are signs of improvement.
Nationwide, the number of people now in the hospital with COVID-19 has fallen to somewhere around 75,000 from over 93,000 in early September. New cases are on the downswing at about 112,000 per day on average, a drop of about one-third over the past 2 1/2 weeks.
Deaths, too, appear to be declining, averaging about 1,900 a day versus more than 2,000 about a week ago.
The easing of the summer surge has been attributed to more mask wearing and more people getting vaccinated. The decrease in case numbers could also be due to the virus having burned through susceptible people and running out of fuel in some places.
READ: China to continue supporting Bangladesh until final win against COVID: Envoy
In another development, Merck said Friday its experimental pill for people sick with COVID-19 reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half. If it wins authorization from regulators, it will be the first pill for treating COVID-19 — and an important, easy-to-use new weapon in the arsenal against the pandemic.
All treatments now authorized in the U.S. against the coronavirus require an IV or injection.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease specialist, warned on Friday that some may see the encouraging trends as a reason to remain unvaccinated.
“It’s good news we’re starting to see the curves” coming down, he said. “That is not an excuse to walk away from the issue of needing to get vaccinated.”
Unknowns include how flu season may strain already depleted hospital staffs and whether those who have refused to get vaccinated will change their minds.
“If you’re not vaccinated or have protection from natural infection, this virus will find you,” warned Mike Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.
Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, began seeing a surge of COVID-19 hospitalizations in mid-July, and by the first week of August, the place was beyond capacity. It stopped elective surgeries and brought in military doctors and nurses to help care for patients.
With cases now down, the military team is scheduled to leave at the end of October.
READ: Covid-19: 23 more die, 860 new cases in Bangladesh
Still, the hospital’s chief medical officer, Dr. Catherine O’Neal, said the rate of hospitalizations isn’t decreasing as quickly as cases in the community because the delta variant is affecting more young people who are otherwise healthy and are living much longer in the intensive care unit on ventilators.
“It creates a lot of ICU patients that don’t move anywhere,” she said. And many of the patients aren’t going home at all. In the last few weeks, the hospital saw several days with more than five COVID-19 deaths daily, including one day when there were 10 deaths.
“We lost another dad in his 40s just a few days ago,” O’Neal said. “It’s continuing to happen. And that’s what the tragedy of COVID is.”
As for where the outbreak goes from here, “I have to tell you, my crystal ball has broken multiple times in the last two years,” she said. But she added that the hospital has to be prepared for another surge at the end of November, as flu season also ramps up.
Dr. Sandra Kemmerly, system medical director for hospital quality at Ochsner Health in Louisiana, said this fourth surge of the pandemic has been harder. “It’s just frustrating for people to die of vaccine-preventable illnesses,” she said.
At the peak of this most recent wave, Ochsner hospitals had 1,074 COVID-19 patients on Aug. 9. That had dropped to 208 as of Thursday.
Other hospitals are seeing decreases as well. The University of Mississippi Medical Center had 146 hospitalized COVID-19 patients at its mid-August peak. That was down to 39 on Friday. Lexington Medical Center in West Columbia, South Carolina, had more than 190 in early September but just 49 on Friday.
But Kemmerly doesn’t expect the decrease to last. “I fully expect to see more hospitalizations due to COVID,” she said.
Like many other health professionals, Natalie Dean, a professor of biostatistics at Emory University, is taking a cautious view about the winter.
It is unclear if the coronavirus will take on the seasonal pattern of the flu, with predictable peaks in the winter as people gather indoors for the holidays. Simply because of the nation’s size and diversity, there will be places that have outbreaks and surges, she said.
What’s more, the uncertainties of human behavior complicate the picture. People react to risk by taking precautions, which slows viral transmission. Then, feeling safer, people mingle more freely, sparking a new wave of contagion.
“Infectious disease models are different from weather models,” Dean said. “A hurricane doesn’t change its course because of what the model said.”
One influential model, from the University of Washington, projects new cases will bump up again this fall, but vaccine protection and infection-induced immunity will prevent the virus from taking as many lives as it did last winter.
Still, the model predicts about 90,000 more Americans will die by Jan. 1 for an overall death toll of 788,000 by that date. The model calculates that about half of those deaths could be averted if almost everyone wore masks in public.
“Mask wearing is already heading in the wrong direction,” said Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the university. “We need to make sure we are ready for winter because our hospitals are exhausted.”
US calls for 'full & transparent' probe into Mohib's murder
The United States has called for a "full and transparent" probe into prominent Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah's killing, with an aim of bringing the perpetrators of the crime to justice.
Mohib (44) was allegedly shot to death at a Rohingya camp in Bangladesh by unknown gunmen on September 29.
Read:Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah buried in Ukhiya camp
American Secretary of State Antony J Blinken said in a statement that the US is "deeply saddened" and "disturbed" by the murder of the Rohingya Muslim advocate and community leader.
"Mohib Ullah was a brave and fierce advocate for the human rights of Rohingya Muslims around the world. We urge a full and transparent investigation into his death with the goal of holding the perpetrators of this heinous crime accountable," he said.
The US Secretary of State said that Mohib travelled to the Human Rights Council in Geneva and to the United States to speak at the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom in 2019.
Read: Fortify Rights seeks probe into Rohingya leader Mohib’s killing
"During his trip, he shared his experiences with the President and Vice President and spoke together with other survivors of religiously motivated persecution," Secretary Blinken said.
"We will honor his work by continuing to advocate for Rohingya and lift up the voices of members of the community in decisions about their future," he added.