MS Risk Blog

Amnesty International Reports France Using State of Emergency Against Peaceful Protests

Amnesty International has reported that officials in France have used the state of emergency, which was imposed after the Paris attack of November 2015, in a bid to curb peaceful demonstrations. The rights group has indicated that hundreds of decrees wee issued under the emergency laws, banning public assemblies or individuals from protests.

According to a report compiled by Amnesty, between November 2015 and 5 May 2017, there were 155 decrees issued under the emergency powers prohibiting public assemblies. It goes on to state that there were also 639 measures aimed at preventing individuals from taking part in public assemblies, the majority of them related to protests against proposed labour law reforms. In a statement, Amnesty’s research Marco Perolini disclosed that “emergency laws intended to protect the French people from the threat of terrorism are instead being used to restrict their rights to protest peacefully,” adding “under the cover of the state of emergency, rights to protest have been stripped away with hundreds of activists, environmentalists, and labour rights campaigners unjustifiably banned from participating in protests.” Amnesty also reported that security forces used “unnecessary or excessive force” against peaceful protesters “who did not appear to threaten public order.”

The state of emergency allows searches without a warrant and people to be placed under house arrest. It is set to expire on 15 July, however President Emmanuel Macron has already disclosed that he will ask parliament to extend it for the sixth time until November. The measure was introduced in the wake of the attacks on 13 November 2015, when militants from the so-called Islamic State (IS) group killed 130 people in gun and bomb attacks around the capital.

Update: London Terror Attack

Twelve people have been arrested after the London terror attack on Saturday 3 June, which left seven people dead and 48 injured. The attack has since been claimed by the so-called Islamic State (IS) group, however they have provided nothing to back the claim.

Witnesses reporting a van travelling at high speed along London Bridge, hitting pedestrians at 21:58 BST on Saturday before crashing close to the Barrowboy and Banker pup. Three men then got out of the van and proceeded to stab people in nearby Borough Market. Witnesses at the scene reported the men wearing vests, which later were found to be hoaxes. The attackers were shot dead by eight officers who fired 50 bullets. A member of the public was accidentally shot. The three attackers were shot dead within eight minutes of the first 999 call being received.

The arrests occurred in Barking, east London, and follow a raid at a flat belonging to one of the three attackers. Of the twelve people arrested over the weekend, seven are women. A 55-year-old man has since been released without charge.

This is the third terror attack to occur in the UK in the past three months and comes after the car and knife attack that occurred in Westminster in March, in which five people were killed, and the Manchester bombing less than two weeks ago, in which 22 people were killed. While most political parties have suspended national general election campaigning, the prime minister confirmed that full campaigning would resume on Monday, with the general election to go ahead as planned on Thursday.

Prime Minister Theresa May has condemned the attack, stating that it was “time to say enough is enough.” The sense across London and the UK is that many are fed up with such attacks, a similar sense that is being felt across Europe as well. Terrorism against soft targets is beginning to feel, to some people, like the new normal – a brutal reality of the type of threat that jihadists have sought to achieve in all their attacks across Europe.  Since 2013, security services in the UK have foiled eighteen plots, with officials reporting that a large proportion of those have involved suspects who set out to commit acts of violence similar to the attack on Westminster Bridge and London Bridge. While plans to use bombs, such as the one used in the Manchester Arena attack last month, are rarer as plotters need to have technical skills for such an attack, attacking people with cars and knives is far easier and has long been encouraged by IS and other jihadist groups.

Over the weekend, supporters of IS celebrated the London attack, even before the terrorist group claimed responsibility. While IS did not claim responsibility for the attack until overnight 4 – 5 June, there was little doubt within the British intelligence community that this was a jihadist attack inspired by IS. Saturday’s attack follows a widely-circulated propaganda message that was posted by the group on social media urging its followers to attack civilians in the West using trucks, knives or guns. The message also makes reference to the current Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Last year, attacks intensified during the holy period, with deaths being reported in Istanbul, Dhaka and Baghdad. This increase in attacks is seen by analysts as a last desperate attempt by IS to its supporters, following multiple setbacks in the Middle East, where its self-proclaimed caliphate is rapidly shrinking. The ideology of IS however is likely to survive those defeats, and it is likely that it will continue to fuel terrorist attacks around the world for some time to come.

A Brief History of Major Palestinian Hunger Strikes in Israel – When, Why and What They Achieved.

More than 6,000 Palestinians are currently in prison for offences linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for charges ranging from stone-throwing to weapon possession and attacks that killed or wounded Israeli civilians and soldiers. Under international human rights law, prisoners must be guaranteed basic human rights, which include the right to maintain a family life and freedom from torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

The First:

18 February – 1 March 1969

Ramle Prison

Prisoners were protesting against meagre portions and poor-quality food, alongside the policy of banning writing stationary and being forced to address their jailers as “sir”. The strike ended when prison authorities put the prisoners in solitary confinement, which has been classified as torture by several human rights treaties.

18 February – 26 February 1969

Kfar Yona Prison

At the same time, Palestinian prisoners protested similar conditions and called on the Israeli prison authorities to replace their plastic sleeping mattresses. They also achieved the permitting of stationary for writing letters to their families.

The First Death:

5 July – 12 July 1970

Asqalan Prison

During this hunger strike, Abdul Qader Abu al-Fahm became the first Palestinian prisoner to die during a hunger strike. Al-Fahm died as a result of force-feeding by prison authorities, who inserted a nasal feeding tube into his lungs instead of his stomach. Prisoners called for allowing stationery and clothes from their families, as well as increasing break time in the prison yard, but these requests were not fulfilled.

The Longest:

24 April – 26 June 2014

Multiple Prisons

About 90 administrative detainees launch a strike to protest their detention without trial or charges. Some 290 prisoners join, 70 of whom are hospitalised during the strike. The prisoners ended their strike after a deal was made with the Israeli Prison Service, however no solid promises were formed or upheld.

The Largest:

25 September – 14 October 1992

Most Prisons

Often considered one of the most successful hunger strikes in Palestinian history. Seven thousand prisoners stage the strike after the Labour Party wins the elections and amid speculations of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation. The strike results in major achievements, such as shutting down the isolation section of Ramle prison, stopping strip searches, increasing family visitation time and allowing cooking slates into the cells.

The Latest:

17 April – 27 May 2017

Multiple Prisons

Approximately 1,500 prisoners from across six jails participate in a hunger strike to coincide with Palestinian Prisoners Day. The strike is led by Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti. Prisoner demands include the installation of a public telephone in all prisons to allow communication with relatives, resuming bi-monthly family visits, allowing second-degree relatives to visit, increasing the duration of visits and allowing prisoners to take photographs with their families. The Israeli prison service said the inmates declared an end to the strike after Israel reached a deal with the Palestinian authority and the Red Cross for prisoners to receive a second family visit each month.

Brexit Talks Due to Begin on 19 June

This month, the European Union’s (EU) chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, disclosed that he does not want to consider the chance that talks on the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU could collapse. The statement comes after EU ministers on 22 May gave Mr Barnie the green light for talks to begin in June, after the UK election (8 June).

Mr Barnier, whose comments come after his UK counterpart, David Davis, made clear that the threat to walk out was genuine if the EU’s “divorce bill” was too high, stated “no deal” was no an option. UK ministers have reacted angrily to reports that the EU may demand as much as €100bn (£86bn; $112bn) from the UK. A range of figures has emerged for the amount the UK will be asked to pay when it leaves the EU, covering agreed commitments and liabilities. Furthermore, the EU is insisting that “sufficient progress” be made on the bill, citizens’ rights and the UK-Irish border before talks begin on a future trade agreement.

The first round of talks will begin on 19 June and Mr Barnier will report to EU leaders at a summit three days later. In a communiqué released on Monday 22 May, EU officials stressed that a key to the talks’ success would be their transparency for all sides.

US Will Not Widen Ban on Laptops in Cabin Luggage

According to a Homeland Security official, an American ban on taking laptops in cabin baggage on flights from several countries in the Middle East and North Africa will not be expanded, for now.

Reports had initially indicated that the ban on laptops and tablets in cabins of transatlantic flights to the US was “likely” to take place as an American delegation meet with European government officials earlier this month.  The move however has since been declined.  According to Homeland Security spokesman Dave Lapan, such a move could affect routes carrying as many as 65 million people a year on more than 400 daily flights.

Currently, US-bound passengers travelling from ten airports in eight countries are not able to carry large electronic devices on board and have to instead place these items in checked-in luggage in the hold. Since March of this year, this ban has affected flights originating in Amman, Jordan; Kuwait City, Kuwait; Cairo, Egypt; Istanbul Turkey; Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Casablanca, Morocco; Doha, Qatar; and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The nine airlines affected by this ban are Royal Jordanian, EgyptAir, Turkish Airlines, Saudia, Kuwait Airlines, Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways. Overall, these airlines operate about fifty direct flights to the US every day. Separately, there is also a British ban in place, which targets flights out of Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Tunisia.

The bans were introduced this year amidst growing fears that terrorists are perfecting explosive devices small enough to fit inside consumer electronics in an attempt to bring down commercial airlines. The move was reportedly linked to a threat from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and was prompted by intelligence. The group boasts one of the world’s most feared bomb makers – Ibrahim Hassan al Asiri. Authorities are concerned about plots similar to an incident that occurred in Somalia in February 2016 when a bomb hidden in a laptop blew open the side of a plane, failing however to bring it down. Only the bomber was killed in that incident.