Archive for category: News

The United Nations’ top official for counterterrorism and human rights has slammed the mass Internet surveillance techniques by the US and the UK, describing them as a “systematic interference” and a clear violation of human rights to privacy.

In a damning report, the UN special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, Ben Emmerson QC, condemned the Internet spying of individuals by government agencies such as the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the US National Security Agency (NSA).

Responding to a question from Press TV’s correspondent, Emmerson said he was equally concerned about efforts by Western governments to suppress “extremist speech” in coordination with the owners of Twitter and Facebook.

“It is an important question. It covers a very wide substantive scope, because suppression of extremist views depends upon who is deciding on whether a view or an organization is extremist,” he said.

In presenting his report to the UN General Assembly, Emmerson warned that intelligence and law enforcement agencies were able to inspect literally every Internet user in countries such as the UK, France and the US.

“States with high levels of Internet penetration can thus gain access to the telephone and email content of an effectively unlimited number of users and maintain an overview of Internet activity associated with particular websites,” he said.

The special rapporteur said the spy agencies contravene Article 17 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, which he described as the most important legally-binding treaty provision guaranteeing the right to privacy at the universal level.

“This [surveillance] amounts to a systematic interference with the right to respect the privacy of communications and requires a correspondingly compelling justification,” Emmerson stated.

Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who is now in exile in Russia, revealed mass surveillance efforts by the NSA and the GCHQ last year.

According to the documents, US intelligence agencies, with help from their counterparts in the UK, were prying on the communications of non-US citizens, including their use of sites such as social network Facebook and Internet search engine Google.

Snowden also revealed the agencies’ spying on the mobile phone records of senior European politicians, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

SB/HRJ

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has instructed three ministries to step up efforts to find culprits behind recent acid attacks in the central city of Isfahan amid national outrage over the inhumane assaults.

Rouhani on Thursday tasked the ministries of the interior, intelligence and justice with launching an investigation into the sensitive case after he was briefed about the acid attacks against young women in Isfahan.     

The president also condemned the “inhuman acts” and expressed sympathy with the victims of the attacks.

Reports of a spate of acid attacks against women in Isfahan have triggered grave concerns among the Iranian public and led to widespread speculations in the press and social media.

Iranian authorities also said that security forces have arrested a number of suspects in connection with the attacks, but have not confirmed claims that the women were attacked because they were not dressed appropriately as required by the Islamic dress code.

On October 20, Iranian Judiciary spokesman Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i pledged serious and prompt action regarding the attacks.

He vowed maximum punishment possible for the perpetrators.

He described the acid attacks as unfair, murderous and violent and said, “The issue will be examined immediately and the perpetrators will be given the maximum punishment possible.”

On Wednesday, people held separate gatherings in the capital, Tehran and Isfahan to vent their anger over the acid attacks.

DB/NN/KA

 

China along with 20 other nations have inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a new Beijing-backed infrastructure lender for Asia.

The MOU to set up the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was signed during a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in the Chinese capital on Friday.

“In China we have a folk saying,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said after the ceremony, adding, “If you would like to get rich, build roads first, and I believe that is a very vivid description of the very importance of infrastructure to economic development.”

Authorities said that the bank, which is anticipated to have an initial capital of USD 50 billion mostly provided by China, aims to meet the need for the construction of dams, ports, power plants and telecommunications networks in Asia.

Regional economic giant India and smaller but economically vibrant countries such as Singapore and Vietnam were among the signatories to the initiative in the absence of US allies – Japan, South Korea and Australia.

The MOU signatories are due to discuss the bank’s specifics in the coming months, according to a statement from Singapore’s Finance Ministry.

China, whose president proposed the bank at a gathering of Asia-Pacific nations last year, seeks to play a greater part in international organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, dominated by Europe, the US and Japan.

The world’s second-largest economy also is supporting another USD 50 billion-lending institution, the New Development Bank, which is sponsored by the BRICS countries that also include Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa.

MR/NN/KA

 

Pakistani religious scholars have censured Saudi Arabia for the death sentence handed down to prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, Press TV reports.

On Thursday, the clerics took to the streets of Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi and denounced the Saudi government for issuing the verdict against Nimr.

They described the death sentence given to the dissident Saudi cleric as politically motivated. They also blamed Saudi Arabia for the creation of Takfiri terrorist groups such as the ISIL.

On October 19, hundreds of people gathered in front of the Saudi Embassy in London and protested the Saudi court ruling against Nimr.

The gathering came a day after the supporters of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement staged a protest rally outside the Saudi Embassy in the capital, Sana’a, demanding Nimr’s release.

Nimr was sentenced to death by the so-called Specialized Criminal Court in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on October 15. In reaction to the sentence, people took to streets in the city of Qatif in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province and condemned the ruling.

Amnesty International has called the death sentence “appalling,” saying the verdict should be quashed.

Nimr has been given the death sentence on charges of harming the kingdom’s security and making anti-government speeches.

He is the Imam of al-Awamiyya mosque in Qatif and has spent most of a two-year detention in solitary confinement at the al-Ha’ir prison in Riyadh, according to Amnesty International.

MP/HJL/MHB

Security forces in Tunisia have clashed with militants in two separate incidents ahead of the North African country’s parliamentary elections.

On Thursday, police surrounded a house where suspected militants had sheltered in the Oued Ellil suburb of the capital, Tunis. The gunmen had earlier killed one police officer and wounded another during a shootout.

Witnesses at the scene said neighboring houses were evacuated and gas, electricity and water supplies were cut.

Interior Ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Aroui said the gunmen’s goal was to disturb the elections.

Earlier in the day, security forces arrested two men armed with assault rifles following a clash in the town of Kebili. A bystander was killed during the exchange of fire.

Tunisia is set to hold parliamentary elections on Sunday, and approximately 5.2 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots.

Over 13,000 candidates started their official electoral campaigns around three weeks ago for the 217 seats in the country’s National Assembly.

The Islamist Ennahda Movement and the secular Nidaa Tounes Party are expected to win the majority of the votes in the upcoming elections.

Authorities have warned that militants would launch a spate of attacks in an attempt to disrupt the elections and destabilize the country.

MP/HJL/MHB