UN experts urge US to end ‘double standards’ on Israel-Palestine conflict

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Geneva, Dec 12 (IANS) United Nations (UN) human rights experts condemned the US for its “double standards” in addressing violations of international law in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, urging an end to impunity for both Israel and its supporters.

At a press conference in Geneva, four experts, who serve as Special Rapporteurs to the UN Human Rights Council, urged the international community to hold Israel accountable for alleged violations of international law, including disproportionate violence, humanitarian blockades, and settlement expansion in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Xinhua news agency reported.

Margaret Satterthwaite, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, criticised the US government for undermining the International Criminal Court with “outrageous” threats and stressed the need for international justice to be equitably applied to all.

“It’s time to end the double standards,” Satterthwaite said.

Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, cited high civilian casualties and attacks on UN personnel as evidence of systemic violations by Israel, facilitated by a lack of international accountability.

“There are never sanctions on Israel,” Albanese said. “Judicial processes are either ignored or circumvented, trade continues, and diplomatic ties remain intact. Member States seem paralysed or awestruck, many of them still normalising the occupation.”

Ben Saul, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, criticised Israel’s use of counterterrorism rhetoric to justify extreme violence against Palestinians and the chronic dehumanisation of the Palestinian people over the past 14 months.

He called for credible investigations and an end to impunity, noting that violations have largely “gone unchallenged by the states that matter and that can have a real influence to change Israel’s behaviour.”

Saul specifically criticised the US as a major supplier of military hardware to Israel, accusing its lack of action to use its leverage to address human rights violations effectively.

George Katrougalos, Special Rapporteur on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, echoed the concern for the broader consequences of impunity for the international order, warning that Israel’s actions risk creating a two-tiered system where some states are immune to consequences.

–IANS

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South Korea: Martial law commander arrested over alleged insurrection

Seoul, Dec 17 (IANS) South Korea’s Army Chief of Staff Gen. Park An-su, who served as the chief commander during President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived imposition of martial law, was arrested on Tuesday, prosecutors said.

Park was arrested on a court-issued warrant on charges of playing a key role in an insurrection and abuse of power.

He became the fifth key figure who was arrested over Yoon’s December 3 failed bid to impose martial law.

So far, former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun, Lt Gen Yeo In-hyung, head of the Defence Counterintelligence Command, Lt Gen Kwak Jong-keun, head of the Army Special Warfare Command, and Lt Gen Lee Jin-woo, head of the Capital Defence Command, have been arrested.

On December 9, South Korean prosecutors investigating alleged treason following President Yoon’s short-lived martial law imposition questioned Gen Park, who had been named to lead the martial law command.

Park was grilled by prosecutors as a witness at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office for about eight hours from 6 p.m. Sunday to 2 a.m. on December 9.

Prosecutors have called in Park and other military leaders who were under the command of former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun during martial law enforcement on December 3 before planning to request an arrest warrant for Kim on treason and abuse of power charges.

Kim, who was put under emergency detention on December 6, was a central figure in Yoon’s abrupt martial law declaration that lasted six hours before being withdrawn due to a National Assembly vote against it.

Park told a National Assembly session on December 5 that he was not aware of the martial law declaration in advance.

Prosecutors reportedly asked the Army Chief what instructions and orders he received from whom before and after the martial law declaration and what roles he played in the process of distributing the martial law proclamation and deploying martial law troops.

On December 14, the National Assembly voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his botched imposition of martial law, suspending him from his duties until the Constitutional Court decides whether to reinstate him or remove him from office, with citizens cheering over his impeachment.

The impeachment motion against Yoon passed 204-85, with three abstentions and eight invalid ballots, after all 300 members of the Assembly cast their votes.

–IANS

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Andhra to provide 34 pc quota to backward classes in local bodies

Amaravati, Dec 23 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Monday announced that the government has decided to provide 34 per cent reservation to backward classes in local bodies.

He said the TDP-led NDA Government is committed to implementing 34 per cent reservation for BCs in nominated posts as promised. A law will also be enacted in this regard.

Naidu said a decision would soon be taken on making legislation. He promised that all the necessary measures would be taken to ensure that the 34 per cent quota for BCs would not face any legal issues. He asked officials to go ahead after a detailed study of the court judgments.

He alleged that the previous government reduced the quota for BCs from 34 per cent to 24 per cent in local bodies and as a result, they lost 16,500 posts.

Chairing a review meeting on the progress of the promises being implemented to the BCs that have been made during the electioneering, the Chief Minister on Monday directed the officials to do some more exercise to see to it that there will be no legal tangles or technical snarls will arise to the special law proposed for the safety and security of the BCs.

As promised during the recent Assembly elections, he said a special legislation will be brought for the safety of the community.

A ministerial committee, formed to study the feasibility of the move, recently submitted its preliminary report on this. During Monday’s review meeting, the officials briefed the Chief Minister on this preliminary report after which he directed them to do some more exercise on this so that there will not be any legal tangles after the law is enacted.

Naidu alleged that because of the negligence adopted by the previous ruling dispensation, the BCs suffered heavily.

The Chief Minister gave clear instructions to the officers to undertake necessary repairs on a war footing basis to the girls’ hostels. He also directed the officials to clear the dues of diet bills which have been pending for a long time.

A total of Rs 110.52 crore of diet bills were pending during the previous government and after the TDP-led NDA came to power, bills worth Rs 76.38 crore were cleared. On Monday, the Chief Minister told the officers to clear the remaining bills too.

–IANS

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National Awardee film-maker and ‘parallel cinema’ doyen Shyam Benegal dies at 90 (Ld)

Mumbai, Dec 23 (IANS) Shyam Sunder S. Benegal, a multiple National Award winner and among the pioneers of ‘parallel cinema’ – with silver screen classics like “Junoor”, “Ankur”, “Manthan”, “Zubeida” and “The Making of the Mahatma” – passed away after a long battle with a kidney disease, his family said here on Monday.

A second-cousin brother of the late legend, actor-film-maker Guru Dutt, Benegal was 90 and breathed his last at a private hospital in Mumbai. He is survived by his wife Nira and their daughter Pia.

Conferred the Padma Shri (1976), the Padma Bhushan (1991), the Dadasaheb Phalke Award (2005) and many other national-international honours, Benegal had celebrated his 90th birthday (December 14) with many colleagues from the film industry present to meet and greet him.

The details of the last rites of his mortal remains are not yet known.

Born in Hyderabad on December 14, 1934, Benegal belonged to a Konkani-speaking Chitrapur Saraswat Brahman lineage, with his photographer-father Sridhar B. Benegal having roots in Karnataka.

At the tender age of 12, the little Shyam had shot a film using a camera presented by his dad, who inspired and nurtured his interest in film-making that became his career for over six decades.

Later, Benegal went onto study MA (Economics), founded the Hyderabad Film Society, and later started his career in 1959 as a copy-writer with Lintas Advertising Agency in Mumbai, where he rose to be the Creative Head, with over 900 ad films and sponsored documentaries under his belt.

In 1962, Benegal made his first Gujarati documentary film, “Gher Betha Ganga” (Ganga At Doorsteps), taught at the prestigious Film & Television Institute of India from 1966-1973, and later served as its Chairman twice (1980-1983 & 1989-1992).

With over 70 documentaries and short films to his credit, and a stint in the USA, Benegal made his first full-length Hindi feature film, “Ankur” (1974), that shot him to fame, bagging 3 National Awards, another 43 national-international awards/honours.

Over a film career spanning more than 60 years, Benegal made many classics like “Manthan” (1976), “Bhumika” (1977), “Junoon” and “Kalyug” (1979), “Aarohan” (1982), “Mandi” (1983), “Trikaal” (1985, “Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda” (1993), “The Making of the Mahatma” (1996), “Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero” (2005), “Welcome to Sajjanpur” (2008), “Mujib: The Making of a Nation” (2023), to name a few prominent ones.

He also made noteworthy and award-winning documentaries, including on India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, “Jawaharlal Nehru” (1982) and “Nehru” (1985), on the legendary film-maker Satyajit Ray, Tata Steel’s Platinum Jubilee, A Festival of India, Lost Childhood, and many more.

Benegal created memorable television serials like: “Yatra” (1986), “Bharat Ek Khoj” (1988), “Sankranti” (1997), “Samvidhaan” (2014), among several others.

Tributes poured in for Benegal on social media from actors, actresses, producers, directors, his colleagues in the Indian and international film fraternity, media groups and his legion of fans and admirers.

–IANS

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