Category Archives: Uncategorized

US Embassy Warning for the Kyrgyz Republic

The U.S. Embassy has received information indicating the possibility of terrorist attacks, which may potentially involve kidnapping and hostage taking, targeted against local authorities and foreign diplomats during the month of October in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Columbia Referendum: Voters Reject FARC Peace Agreement

On 3 October, voters in Colombia shockingly rejected a landmark peace agreement with FARC rebels. In the shock referendum result, 50.2% voted against the deal, which was signed last week by President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC leader Timoleon Jimenez after nearly four years of negotiations. The deal needed to be ratified by Colombians in order for it to come into force.

Colombians were asked to endorse or reject the peace agreement in a popular vote that took place on Sunday 2 October. The “yes” campaign had the backing not just of President Santos, but also of a wide array of politicians both within Colombia, and abroad, including United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. There was also a vocal campaign for a “no” vote, which was led by former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. Polls conducted ahead of Sunday’s vote suggested a comfortable wind for the “yes” campaign, however in a surprise result, 50.2% of voters rejected the agreement compared with 49.8% who voted for it. The difference with 98.98% of the votes counted was less than 54,000 votes out of almost thirteen million ballots. Turnout however was low, with fewer than 38% of voters casting their votes.

Country Divided

The country was divided regionally, with most of the outlying provinces voting in favor of the agreement and those nearer the capital and inland voting against it. In the province of Choco, which has been one of the hardest hit by the conflict, 80% of voters backed the deal. In the town of Bojaya, where at least 119 people were killed when a church was hit by FARC mortar bombs, 96% of residents voted “yes.” The capital, Bogota, also voted “yes” with 56%. In the eastern region of the country in the province of Vaupes, 78% voted in favor of the deal however in the eastern province of Casanare, 71.1% voted against it. It is an area where farmers and landowners have for years been extorted by the FARC and other illegal groups. In Antioquia, the home state of ex-President Uribe, 62% also rejected the deal.

Most of those who voted “no” have disclosed that they thought that the peace agreement was letting the rebels “get away with murder.” Under the agreement, special courts would have been created in order to try crimes that were committed during the conflict. Those who confessed to their crimes would have been given more lenient sentences and would have avoided serving any time in conventional prisons. For many Colombians, this was one step too far. Many also balked at the government’s plan to pay demobilized FARC rebels a monthly stipend and to offer those wanting to start a business financial help. “No” voters indicated that this amounted to a reward for criminal behaviour while honest citizens were left to struggle financially. Many also stated that they simply did not trust the rebels to kept their promise to lay down arms for good, pointing to previous failed peace negotiations when the rebels took advantage of a lull in fighting to regroup and rearm as evidence that the FARC had broken their word before. Others still were unhappy that under the agreement, the FARC would be guaranteed ten seats in the Colombian Congress in the elections in 2018 and 2022. They said that this would give the newly created party an unfair advantage.

What Does the “No” Campaign Want?

The main proponent of the vote against the agreement was former President Alvaro Uribe. Following the vote, Mr Uribe insisted that he was not opposed to peace however that he wanted to renegotiate some of the agreement, which he said needed “corrections.” Amongst the “corrections” he has demanded are:

• That those found guilty of crimes be barred from running for public office
• That FARC leaders serve time in prison for crimes committed
• That the FARC use their illicit gains to pay their victims compensation
• That no changes be made to the Colombian constitution

Addressing the nation after the surprise election result, President Santos disclosed that he accepted the result, noting however that he would continue working to achieve peace. He further indicated that the bilateral ceasefire between government forces and the FARC would remain in place. He has also told government negotiators to travel to Cuba in order to consult FARC leaders on the next move. Meanwhile the FARC leader has disclosed that the rebels remain committed to securing an end to the conflict, stating, “the FARC reiterates its disposition to use only words as a weapon to build toward the future

WHO: Yellow Fever Outbreak in Africa not an International Health Emergency

The World Health Organization reported late last month that the ongoing yellow fever outbreak in Africa is serious but that it does not warrant being declared an international health emergency.

Since it was first identified in Angola in December 2015, yellow fever has spread to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is believed to have sickened more than 6,300 people and killed about 400, despite millions of doses of vaccine having been sent repeatedly to Angola. In August, some 7.7 million people were vaccinated in a major campaign that was launched in the “high risk” DRC capital Kinshasa, along with 1.5 million in other parts of the country. In Angola, 2.4 million people have been vaccinated, making 11.6 million in all.

The campaigns have depleted the global stockpile of 6 million yellow fever vaccine doses twice this year already, which according to the WHO is unprecedented. The vaccine shortage has now become so acute that officials have begun diluting the vaccine by 80 percent in a bid to stretch the supply. The four major manufacturers who supply the global stockpile have worked around the clock in order to replenish the stockpile.

Last month, the UN health agency convened an emergency committee of experts to consider the outbreak’s status, stating afterwards that the increase of the mosquito-spread haemorrhagic fever appears to have slowed. The WHO further reported that since 12 July there have been no new infections reported in what is an “extremely positive” trend. The upcoming rainy season has raised fears of further spread of the worst outbreak in decades. It also noted that intense population movements across the border to neighbouring Republic of Congo pose a risk of further spread, adding that the Brazzaville government should consider a “pre-emptive vaccination campaign in high-risk areas,” noting that the virus was moving towards Central and Eastern Africa.

German Chancellor Calls on EU to Sign Agreement with North African States to Curb Migration

Last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on the European Union (EU) and North African countries to do deals modelled on a controversial agreement that was signed with Turkey earlier this year to stem migrant flows to Europe.

Under the EU-Turkey agreement, Ankara agreed to take back one Syrian who made it to Greece in return for being allowed to send one from its massive refuge camps to the bloc in a more orderly redistribution programme. The agreement also pledges billions of euros in EU aid to Turkey, along with visa-free European travel for Turkish citizens and accelerated EU membership talks.

Last week, the German Chancellor told regional daily Neue Passauer Zeitung, “we must agree on similar deals with other countries, such as in North Africa, in order to get better control over the Mediterranean Sea refuge routes.” She further stated, “such agreements are also in the interest of the refugees themselves,” pointing to the huge risks that migrants take in crossing the Mediterranean in rickety vessels, as well as the large sums that they have to pay smugglers for the perilous sea passage.   She added, “it is safer for them and there are good reasons for them to remain in Turkey, close to their homeland, where the cultural and language barriers are lower,” defending the agreement with Turkey as “correct, as before,” and stating, “we should work to ensure that it lasts.” Merkel has also urged EU partners to stop up to their responsibilities in taking in refuges who had arrived in Greece. Prior to the EU-Turkey agreement taking effect, some 45,000 refugees had arrived in Greece as Macedonia closed its borders to the migrants.

There are increasing concerns across the EU that the pact with Turkey to curb migrant flows could collapse as a rift deepens over Ankara’s crackdown following a failed coup. Turkey angrily rejects EU criticism that its post-putsch purges might violate rights norms that Ankara must meet under the agreement in return for visa-free travel for Turks and accelerated negotiations for bloc membership. Hungary has already announced that it will build a second fence along its southern border with Serbia that would effectively enable it to keep out any major new wave of migrants should the EU-Turkey agreement collapse.

Columbia and FARC to Ratify Peace Accord this Month

According to Spain’s acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Columbia’s government will ratify a peace accord with the Marxist rebel group FARC on 26 September.

On 25 August, the government of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos reached a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to end the group’s 52-year-old war against the Colombian state. On 29 August, Colombia’s FARC rebel force formally ordered its fighters to observer a ceasefire, which still has to go to a plebiscite vote on 2 October. The agreement, which was reached after almost four years of talks in Cuba, will see the FARC rebels hand their weapons over to UN-sponsored monitors and reintegrate into civilian life.

More than 220,000 people have been killed in the conflict, tens of thousands have disappeared and millions have fled their homes in a bid to escape the violence.