27, September 2020
US: Trump nominates conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett to Supreme Court 0
Donald Trump nominated on Saturday Amy Coney Barrett for the US Supreme Court to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Barrett is a federal appeals court judge known for her conservative legal positions on key issues.
Barrett, 48, was appointed by Trump to the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017. She has proven reliably conservative in that post, voting in favor of one of Trump’s hardline immigration policies and showing support for expansive gun rights. She also authored a ruling making it easier for college students accused of campus sexual assaults to sue their institutions.
Abortion rights groups have expressed concern that Barrett would vote as a justice to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalised abortion nationwide.
Although she has not yet ruled directly on abortion, Barrett twice signaled opposition to rulings that struck down Republican-backed Indiana abortion-related restrictions – one in 2018 requiring fetal remains to be buried or cremated after an abortion, the other in 2019 involving parental notification – voting to have those decisions reconsidered.
Religious dogma
In February 2019, Barrett joined a ruling that upheld a Chicago measure that places limits on anti-abortion activists gathered outside abortion clinics. The ruling, written by Judge Diane Sykes, said the court had to apply Supreme Court precedent.
During her 2017 confirmation hearing for her current post, US Senator Dianne Feinstein told Barrett, “The dogma lives loudly within you”. Barrett said her religious faith would not affect her decisions as a judge.
In June, Barrett dissented when a three-judge panel ruled in favor of a challenge to Trump’s policy to deny legal permanent residency to certain immigrants deemed likely to require government assistance in the future. In January, the Supreme Court, powered by its conservative majority, allowed the policy to take effect.
She also authored a ruling that makes it easier for college students who have been accused of sexual assault to challenge how their schools dealt with their cases. Barrett and her colleagues revived a lawsuit by a male student who had been suspended from Purdue University after sexual assault allegations. He accused the school of discriminating against him on the basis of his gender.
She wrote that in the case it was plausible Purdue officials chose to believe the female accuser “because she is a woman” and to disbelieve the male student accused “because he is a man.”
Barrett indicated support for gun rights in a 2019 dissent when she objected to the court ruling that a nonviolent felon could be permanently prohibited from possessing a firearm.
“Founding-era legislatures did not strip felons of the right to bear arms simply because of their status as felons,” Barrett wrote.
Conservative record
Barrett, born in New Orleans, received her law degree from Notre Dame Law School, a Catholic institution in Indiana. She is a devout Catholic. She is married to Jesse Barrett, a lawyer in private practice and a former federal prosecutor in Indiana. They have seven children, two of whom were adopted from Haiti.
She previously served as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a stalwart conservative who died in 2016.
In a 1998 law journal article she and another author said that Catholic judges who are faithful to their church’s teachings are morally precluded from enforcing the death penalty and should recuse themselves in certain cases.
Abortion rights groups, worried about preserving the 1973 ruling that a woman has a constitutional right to have an abortion, point to a 2003 law journal article in which Barrett argued that courts could be more flexible in overturning prior “errors” in precedent.
Barrett has also spoken publicly about her conviction that life begins at conception, according to a 2013 article in Notre Dame Magazine.
Her writings also signal views on other contentious topics including healthcare. In a law review article published in 2017, she criticized conservative Chief Justice John Robert’s major 2012 ruling preserving Obamacare.
“Chief Justice Roberts pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute,” Barrett wrote.
‘People of Praise’
Barrett and her family have been members of a Christian religious group called People of Praise, according to other members.
Craig Lent, the group’s overall coordinator, said in 2018 that the organisation, which is officially ecumenical but whose membership is mostly Catholic, centers on close Christian bonds and looking out for one another. They also share a preference for charismatic worship, which can involve speaking in tongues.
Certain leadership positions are reserved for men. And while married men receive spiritual and other advice from other male group members, married women depend on their husbands for the same advice, Lent said.
“We’re not unaware that could be misunderstood. Every member is free and responsible for their own decisions. No one should be servile, no one should be domineering,” Lent said.
Some women in leadership positions used to be called handmaids, but now are referred to as “women leaders,” Lent said, to avoid the perception of servility.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)
28, September 2020
Biya’s continued stay in power: Repression of protests and attacks against the media must be investigated 0
Cameroonian authorities have to investigate the excessive use of force during peaceful protests in Yaounde and other cities in Cameroon on 22 September 2020. They must immediately release all protesters who were arrested solely for expressing their opinion and investigate attacks against journalists ill-treated and arrested for collecting information on the protest. The protests were organised by the Mouvement pour la Renaissance du Cameroun (MRC) to demand the departure of the President of the Republic.
“It is unacceptable that the security forces used lethal force against peaceful protesters, arrested and humiliated people only because they were exercising their right to protest. The authorities must investigate these human rights violations and explain why one of the protesters died and others were injured and illtreated. The authorities must ensure that those suspected to be responsible are brought to justice”, said Fatou Jagne Senghore, Regional Director of ARTICLE 19 West Africa.
“One person was reportedly killed, at least ten wounded and 60 arrested including five media professionals. Some of them were victims of ill-treatments”
The Mouvement pour la Renaissance du Cameroun (MRC) called for a series of peaceful protests across the country to demand the departure of the President of the Republic. On 21 September 2020, Communication Minister and Government spokesman Rene Emmanuel Sadi announced during a press conference the ban on the demonstration, describing it as calls for popular uprising and overthrow of institutions by leaders of a political party, such decision undermines the right to free expression and peaceful protest.
On 22 September, activists responding to the call of the MRC, stormed the streets in different cities of Cameroon to peacefully protest. But the security forces used tear gas and a water cannon to disperse the protesters. According to media reports, one person was reportedly killed, at least ten were wounded and 60 people arrested, including five media professionals. Some of the protesters were ill- treated, and security forces reportedly ordered those arrested to sit on the ground and forced them to sing a chant to glorify the President of Republic.
No one should lose their life, or fear torture or ill-treatment because of exercising their right to protest. The police should have facilitated this peaceful protest, but instead, they used force to disperse the protesters. ARTICLE 19 has reviewed three videos of the protests and all appeared to be peaceful. When attending a protest, the police should be guided by the presumption of peacefulness, rather than assuming there will be violence and resort to using force.
“Five media professionals were arrested. Although Rodrigue Ngassi identified himself to Security forces as Media cameraman, they arrested him and twisted his arm.”
ARTICLE 19 urges the authorities to ensure the protection and safety of journalists, to tolerate media reports on dissident opinions, especially during protests and to unconditionally release all those arrested only for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association.
The police arrested five media professionals: Tah Jarvis, Tebong Christian Lindovi Ndjio, Rodrigue Ngassi Polycarpe Essomba. The Equinoxe tv channel has in their news broadcast condemned how the security forces treated Rodrigue Ngassi. He identified himself as a cameraman to the security forces, but they arrested him, and twisted his arm and put a foot on his neck. Rodrigue Ngassi was later released and urged the Cameroonian police to respect journalist doing their job.
Polycarpe Essomba, a Radio France International reporter was beaten, while he was covering the demonstration. The police hit him with a truncheon and took him to a police station, released him after two hours. Lindovi Ndjio, Journalist of “Nouvelle Expression”, Tah Jarvis and Tebong Christian respectively Journalist and Cameraman of “ My Media prime” were finally released on the evening of 23 September 2020 in the second day of their arrest.
“The arrest of the journalists, who were just doing their work, is a violation of media freedom. The role of the media is to report and inform the public about anything relevant to them. The authorities shouldn’t intimidate journalists and restrict the right to access to information.”
“Journalism is not a crime. It is not enough to release the arrested journalists. Any charges should be dropped. The Government must shed light on the ill-treatments and the motivation of their arrests against these journalists. Cameroon must end the cycle of impunity for attacks against journalists and brutal repression of protesters” urged Fatou Jagne Senghore.
It is very risky to work as a journalist in Cameroon, and the protection of the media continues to deteriorate. Following attacks on the press, ARTICLE 19 has interviewed the data journalist Paul Joël Kamtchang, Executive Secretary of ADISI Cameroon, who stated: “The protection of journalists in the exercise of their profession is deplorable in Cameroon. The authorities seem to believe they are above the law; they think they can muzzle journalist on duty.”
We call on the African Commission Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to information to urge the government of Cameroon to respect their obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and guarantee media freedom.
“We are asking the African Commission Special Rapporteur to monitor the situation and urge the government to investigate these violations and make sure that Cameroon will not continue to prevent, hinder or restrict unduly the right to protest and to attack media.”
The right to protest enables citizens to participate actively in the socio-political life of their country. Cameroon’s 1996 Law on the revision of the Constitution guarantees the freedoms of expression, assembly and association, press freedom and the right to protest. Also, the Constitution prohibits the use of the torture, and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.
ARTICLE 19 has underlined in its principles of the right to protest that States should not prevent, hinder or restrict the right to protest except to the extent allowed by international human rights law and standards.
By banning and using excessive force to disperse a peaceful protest, Cameroon has violated its international obligations. For example, Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Article 9 of African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter) guarantee that everyone should be able to express their opinions without interference. The Guidelines on Freedom of Association and Assembly in Africa underline that protest is a right, for which organisers don’t need prior authorisation.
By using excessive force, the authorities failed to ensure the safety of the public and to safeguard the human rights of all persons during the protest as stated in the African Commission Guidelines for the Policing of Assemblies by Law Enforcement Officials in Africa. Moreover, the excessive use of force doesn’t comply with the requirements of the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms and the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the Guidelines on Freedom of Association and Assembly in Africa.
At the UN Human Rights Council, during its last UPR review in 2018, Cameroon received recommendations to ensure that any restrictions on freedom of assembly and demonstration should be in line with international obligations. Unfortunately, the country only noted these, and in practice, Cameroon continues to restrict the freedom to protest. For example, in January 2019 when the authorities banned “marches blanches” following the announcement of the Presidential election results which were contested by the MRC. The security forces used excessive force to disperse the protesters with tear gas and bullets and arrested several demonstrators including the prominent opposition leader Maurice Kamto.
Culled from Sierra Leone Telegraph