Region

GENEVA — UN rights experts voiced alarm on Tuesday at reports that imprisoned dissident Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Nourizad was so ill he risked "serious complications and possible death", demanding he be released immediately.

Nourizad, who has written and directed several films, has since 2019 been serving a prison sentence totalling over 17 years on charges of insulting Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to the human rights group Amnesty International.

"We are seriously concerned at the mistreatment of Mohammad Nourizad and his continued imprisonment for expressing his opinion," six independent UN experts, including those on the human rights situation in Iran, on torture, and on the right to freedom of expression, said in a statement.

The experts, who are appointed by the United Nations but do not speak on its behalf, warned against "his continued detention despite medical professionals finding he cannot stay in prison given his serious health condition".

"The resulting denial of adequate medical care may amount to torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment," they said.

The experts, who also included the UN special rapporteurs on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, on the right to physical and mental health and on extrajudicial executions, pointed out that Nourizad had carried out hunger strikes in detention and refused to take medications to protest his imprisonment and his family's mistreatment by the authorities.

"He has also reportedly attempted suicide in prison, and began to self-harm as a form of protest on February 19, 2021," their statement said.

This was particularly worrying, it said, since he has been diagnosed with a heart condition and has frequently lost consciousness while in detention.

He also suffers from diabetes, according to Amnesty, which last month warned that Iranian authorities were "cruelly toying with the life" of Nourizad.

The UN experts said the filmmaker was transferred to Loghman Hakim Educational Hospital in Tehran on April 14 after fainting, and had been injected with a substance he did not know the content of and had not consented to.

"It is clear that Mohammad Nourizad is not in a medical state to remain in prison," the experts said, pointing out that the Iranian judiciary's own legal medical organisation and other medical professionals had reportedly found he should be released on medical grounds.

"The Iranian authorities must release him immediately in line with these medical opinions and give him free access to the required medical care and treatment," they said.

The experts said Nourizad's treatment reflected that of many detained in Iran for "merely exercising their right to freedom of expression", including some who have reportedly died due to denial of adequate medical treatment.

"His case is emblematic of the situation many Iranian political activists face in detention," they said.

DAMASCUS — A Syrian former minister and a member of the Damascus opposition will face Bashar Al Assad in this month's presidential election, the constitutional court said Monday.

The court approved only three out of 51 applications to stand in the May 26 ballot, among them the 55-year-old president himself, widely expected to win a fourth mandate.

The court's president said in a press conference broadcast on state TV that Abdallah Salloum Abdallah, a state minister from 2016 to 2020, had been approved to run for president.

The third candidate was named as Mahmoud Marei, a member of the so-called "tolerated opposition" long described by exiled opposition leaders as an extension of the regime.

All 48 other applications were ruled out for "failing to meet constitutional and legal requirements", the court president said without elaborating.

They have until May 7 to appeal.

Applicants needed to garner support from at least 35 members of parliament, each of whom is only allowed to back one candidate.

Exiled opposition members are de facto ruled out by an electoral law that stipulates candidates must have lived in Syria continuously for at least the past decade.

The election will be the second since the start of a decade-long conflict that has killed over 388,000 people and forced more than half of Syria's prewar population from their homes.

Damascus has invited lawmakers from allied countries such Russia, Iran, China, Venezuela and Cuba to observe the electoral process.

In New York last week, Western members of the UN Security Council, led by the United States, France and Britain, rejected the outcome of the May 26 poll in advance, a position denounced by Russia as "unacceptable".

Assad, who has already been in power for 21 years, was elected by referendum in 2000 and 2007.

For the first multi-candidate poll in 2014, only two candidates besides Assad, out of 24 applicants, were allowed to run.

Campaigning is set to start on May 11, while Syrians abroad can vote at their embassies on May 20.

GAZA, Palestine — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to indefinitely postpone elections could rekindle tensions between his secular Fateh movement and Hamas, piling pressure on Abbas to set a new timeline for a vote, experts say.

Abbas last week declared that legislative and presidential polls set for May and July respectively, which would have been the first Palestinian elections in 15 years, should not be held until Israel guaranteed voting could take place in occupied East Jerusalem.

But even before he announced the delay, Abbas' critics forecast that he might use the complex Jerusalem issue as pretext to put off a vote in which Fateh faced setbacks.

Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey research, told AFP the 85-year-old Palestinian president had now confirmed those suspicions.

"It is clear that this [delay] is more about the expectation of the outcomes of the elections rather than the issue of Jerusalem," Shikaki said.

Fateh, which controls the Palestinian Authority based in the occupied West Bank, called the polls as part of a push to mend ties with its long-term rival Hamas, which runs Gaza.

But as the election approached, Hamas was seen as better organised than Fateh, which also faced challenges from splinter groups backed by powerful former insiders.

Shikaki described Abbas' unilateral decision to postpone the votes as "very destructive".

"It is not Israel who defeated the Palestinians, it is Abbas. He is the one making this decision," Shikaki said.

'Escalation' 

All Palestinian factions insist that voting be allowed in East Jerusalem, an area they claim as the capital of their future state.

Some 300,000 Palestinians live in the eastern part of the Holy City, seized by Israel in the Six Day War of 1967 and later occupied — a decision not recognised by most of the international community.

Hamas and other Abbas critics have said that hinging elections on whether Israel allows voting in Jerusalem gives Israel an unacceptable veto over the Palestinian right to vote.

Following the postponement, Hamas accused Abbas of perpetrating a “coup” against their partnership.

Rare protests against Abbas immediately flared both in Ramallah and in Gaza City.

For Naji Shurrab, political scientist at Gaza’s Al Azhar University, “the only solution now is to return to the elections.”

Israel has said it will not interfere in Palestinian elections.

But it has not commented on whether it would allow a repeat of the 2006 arrangement that saw some Palestinians symbolically vote at Jerusalem post offices.

Hamas won a surprise victory in that vote, a result not recognised by Fateh.

Hamas took power in Gaza after deadly clashes with their rivals the following year.

Abbas has no obvious solution to the Jerusalem challenge, and Shurrab warned that “an indefinite postponement could lead to an escalation” with Hamas.

The United Nations’ Middle East peace envoy, Tor Wennesland, on Friday voiced support for Palestinian voting in East Jerusalem.

But, he said, “setting a new and timely date for elections would be an important step in reassuring the Palestinian people that their voices will be heard.”

“A prolonged period of uncertainty risks exacerbating the fragile situation,” he added.

Fateh ‘fragmentation’ 

Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP that Palestinian factions will aim to “reformulate” an new election plan “in the coming weeks”.

But Adnan Abu Amer, a political scientist at Gaza’s Ummah University, told AFP that Fateh’s position could grow increasingly weak as the process drags on.

“Fateh is no longer united as before,” he said, referring to splinter factions including one led by Nasser Al  Kidwa, nephew of the late iconic Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Kidwa is backed by the popular Marwan Barghouthi, who is serving multiple life sentences in an Israeli jail.

Mohammed Dahlan, a former Fateh security chief exiled to the United Arab Emirates with access to considerable financial resources, is also challenging Abbas.

Fateh’s “fragmentation will favour Hamas’ interests” and have consequences for relations between them, Amer said.

Jamal Al Fadi at Al-Azhar University said Abbas needed to show “great wisdom” as he considers his next moves.

Otherwise, he warned, relations with Hamas could “deteriorate further”.

TRIPOLI — Libya's new interim government urged Turkey on Monday to "cooperate" over the withdrawal of foreign troops and mercenaries from the country, to help bolster a seven-month-old ceasefire.

"We call on Turkey to cooperate with us to put an end to the presence of all foreign forces and mercenaries, in order to preserve the sovereignty" of Libya, Foreign Minister Najla Al Mangoush said.

Libya's interim government came into being in March, replacing two rival administrations — one based in Tripoli and the other in the country's east.

The previous Tripoli-based administration relied heavily on Turkish military backing to repel a 2019-20 offensive by eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar, who was in turn backed by the eastern administration and foreign powers ranging from Egypt to Russia.

Both outgoing administrations gave their support to the new interim government, mandated to lead the country to elections in December amid a ceasefire agreed in October.

Mangoush spoke on Monday at a press conference alongside Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who is visiting Tripoli.

She stressed the "importance of Turkey's contribution to ending fighting and the stabilisation of the ceasefire throughout the country".

Cavusoglu for his part criticised those who "suggest... the Turkish presence in Libya is equivalent to that of illegitimate groups".

Cooperation between Turkey and Libya within the framework of a military accord signed in late 2019 "avoided Libya sinking into civil war", he contended.

"Our support has opened the way to a ceasefire and the installation of a new unified political executive," he added.

The establishment of the new government has generated cautious hope that the country can move beyond the conflict and chaos that has entrapped it since the overthrow and killing of longtime dictator Muammar Qadhafi in 2011.

But the continued presence of foreign fighters and mercenaries, estimated by the UN at 20,000, is widely perceived as a threat to the transition process.

PARIS — France has agreed to sell 30 more Rafale fighter jets to Egypt, a source close to the contract said on Monday, confirming an online report of a secret mega-defence deal.

Investigative site Disclose, citing confidential documents it had obtained, said the deal had been signed on April 26 at the behest of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi as part of defence contracts worth almost 4 billion euros ($4.8 billion).

It said that the deal consisted of three distinct contracts, by far the biggest being the 3.75 billion-euro purchase of 30 Rafale fighter jets from French producer Dassault.

Two contracts were also given to MBDA and Safran Electronics and Defence, which both produce equipment for missiles. The total volume of the transactions was thus 3.95 billion euros, it said.

A source close to the contract, who asked not to be named, confirmed to AFP that Egypt had ordered 30 more fighter jets but did not give details on the cost.

Contacted by AFP both the French defence ministry and Dassault declined to comment, but a government source, who asked not to be named, said: "Very advanced discussions have taken place with Egypt and the announcements could come very soon."

Disclose said that the financial portion of the agreement was being inked on Monday, with Egypt getting a loan guaranteed by France to make the purchases.

Key partner 

France regards Egypt as a key client of his defence industry. Egypt was the first foreign country to purchase the Rafale jets in 2015, buying 24.

Purchases by Qatar, India and Greece have turned the plane into one of France's main defence industry successes.

Disclose noted that the deal came in the wake of a hugely contentious state visit to Paris by Sisi in December hosted by President Emmanuel Macron.

Egypt and France have enjoyed an increasingly close relationship under the secular rule of former army general Sisi, with common interests in the Middle East and a shared suspicion of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Macron decorated Sisi with France's highest honour, the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, during the visit. That enraged activists who had asked him not to roll out the red carpet but instead to raise concern over the estimated 60,000 political prisoners languishing in Egyptian prisons.

The French president also ruled out making France's deepening defence and trade ties with Egypt conditional on the issue of rights.

"I think it is more effective to have a policy of dialogue than a policy of boycott which would reduce the effectiveness of one of our partners in the fight against terrorism and for regional stability," Macron said.

SFAX, Tunisia— Aminata Traoure survived a shipwreck in which she lost her baby daughter, her sister and her niece but she is determined to embark again on the illegal crossing to Europe.

For the 28-year-old from Ivory Coast, the perilous Mediterranean crossing from the North African nation of Tunisia is her only way to build a better future.

"Leaving Tunisia could ease my pain," said Traoure.

Her attempt ended in tragedy on March 9, when the rickety boat she had boarded capsized along with another in the Mediterranean, and she was flung into the waters with around 200 others.

Among the 39 who drowned was Sangare Fatim, her 15-month daughter.

Traoure said she would like to return home to Ivory Coast, 3,000 kilometres southwest across the sands of Sahara, but she can't afford it.

The price of the ticket — plus a fine for staying three years illegally in Tunisia — costs more than a crossing to Europe.

"I'll have to try again," she said.

The number risking the dangerous sea crossing from Tunisia is rising and for the first time the majority on the boats are not Tunisians.

During the first quarter of 2021, more than half of those arriving in Italy from Tunisia were mostly citizens from Sub-Saharan African countries, according to the Tunisian rights organisation FTDES.

So far this year at least 453 migrants have died trying to reach Europe from North Africa, the International Organisation for Migration says.

Around 100 of those had set off from Tunisia's port of Sfax.

'Hopes of their families' 

"Despite the shipwrecks, despite our mourning families, we are always ready to risk our lives," said Prista Kone, 28, also from Ivory Coast.

She attempted the crossing last year, but her boat was intercepted by Tunisian authorities.

Kone arrived in Tunisia in 2014 with a degree in business management and plans to pursue her studies.

But without money, she found work as a housekeeper, she said. She also discovered "the extent of racism" in Tunisia.

"My boss asked me not to touch her children because I am black!" Kone said. "When something was missing in the house, she accused me of stealing it".

On the streets "people called me 'monkey' and threw stones at me", she added.

It is a common story among her compatriots, packed into a small room in a working-class district in Sfax.

"If these people survived a shipwreck at noon, they would be ready to participate in another crossing at 1:00pm," said Oumar Coulibaly, head of the association of Ivorians in Sfax.

"For them it is Europe or death!"

Coulibaly believes there are some 20,000 people from Sub-Saharan nations in Tunisia, nearly two-thirds from Ivory Coast.

"They represent the hopes of their families," Coulibaly said. "Some came to continue their studies, to work, others were promised huge salaries, but... they were lied to".

Without employment permits, many work illegally and are grossly underpaid, all while facing regular abuse by police or citizens.

Summer surge ahead? 

FTDES president Alaa Talbi said migrants who have come for work in Tunisia want to leave, because "neither the legal framework nor the cultural framework favours integration".

Deals between Italy and Libya — another key jumping off point for Europe — have likewise "complicated departures", with more migrants trying to leave from Tunisia, he said.

Tunisia's economy has lurched from crisis to crisis since the country's 2011 revolution, most recently due to the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown measures.

With seas calmer in the looming summer months, many expect more Tunisians to risk the crossing too.

According to Catholic aid agency Caritas, people smugglers are luring migrants with tales that accommodation and jobs are now easy to find in Europe, claiming the virus has decimated the population

Sozo Ange, a 22-year-old Ivorian mother, has been in Tunisia for two years. For her, staying means — at best — life as a cleaning lady, earning enough to share a tiny room with several others and surviving off "soup from out-of-date turkey", she said.

"I'll leave here with my family, it is make or break," she said, breastfeeding her son.

Her husband, Inao Steave, 34, is employed in a bakery — where he is worked harder than his Tunisian colleagues.

"I can't let my child grow up like this," he said. "We are aware of the risks, but we have no choice — we will die or live in Europe!"