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Zbigniew Brzezinski sem tehette meg, hogy kihagyja a világban kialakult helyzet értékelését az USA elnökválasztással összefüggésben. A Nobel Békedíj átadása alkalmából 2016. decemberben rendezett fórumon mondott beszédében, s annak szerkesztve a Huffington Postban. megjelent írott változatában  foglalta össze nézeteit a világ-hatalmi válságról és a lehetséges „hármas-szövetségről” az USA, Kína és Oroszország között.  Az eredeti angol nyelvű szöveget orosz fordításban közzétette a „Россия в глобальной политике” (Oroszország a globális politikában) c. folyóirat – az orosz Kül- és Biztonságpolitikai Tanács lapja – valamint sajátos magyarázatokkal ellátva, „Kettős sakk az USA-nak Kínától és Oroszországtól: Zbigniew Brzezinski időzavara” címmel, 2017. január 10-én az EurAsia Daily internet portál.

Érdemes tanulmányozni az eredeti gondolatokat és az értelmezésüket is. Lehet velük egyetérteni és tagadni is. Fontos azonban tudni, hogy amit Brzezinski ír a világban kialakult helyzetről, az eddig követett megoldások zsákutcába vezetéséről, és a feltételekről, amelyek teljesítésével – szerinte – megegyezésre juthatnak a meghatározó hatalmak a jövőről, mindaz a most zavaros körülmények között leköszönő neokon –neolib ideológiai elkötelezettségű gazdasági-politikai világ-elit szemlélete. Minden valószínűség szerint nem erre mennek tovább a folyamatok, de az amerikaiaknak a gondolkodásában mégis jelen lesznek.     

Közzé teszem mind a három írást eredetiben:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/us-china-russia-relations_us_586955dbe4b0de3a08f8e3e0?section=us_world

http://www.globalaffairs.ru/global-processes/Krizis-mirovoi-vlasti-i-troistvennyi-soyuz-SShA-Kitaya-i-Rossii-18528

https://eadaily.com/ru/news/2017/01/10/dvoynoy-shah-ssha-ot-kitaya-i-rossii-endshpil-zbigneva-bzhezinskogo?utm_source=smi2

 

By Ambassador Dhano Obongo

When I went to Australia in 1997 for resettlement as a political refugee, the commonwealth government offered the option to choose becoming an Australian citizen with the right to vote or to be a nonvoting indefinite resident. Voting is compulsory under the Australian constitution and political policy for citizens. I chose to become an Australian citizen.

Prior to a big ceremony organized by the Brisbane City Council (BCC), Lord Mayor, I swore an oath of allegiance and memorized ten points on the duties and responsibilities of a citizen. They wanted me to be knowledgeable that I must pay taxes to the government and protect Australian territory against foreign aggression. In return the commonwealth had responsibility toward citizens to deliver various social services

What does the Bible teach on these matters? In his letter to the church in Rome, the apostle, Paul, wrote in his 13th chapter, verses 1 - 7, that we are to submit to our rulers or leaders. The key word is submitted. Of course in those days, the rulers were pagans. Christians might be tempted to declare loyalty only to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and not submit to civil or political leaders.

But the Bible teaches that civil and political leaders are ordained by God. This was so even when we South Sudanese were in a persecuting state such as the Islamic government of the former united Sudan. See the first letter of Peter, chapter 2, verses 13 - 17. As Christian citizens we should do what is right and good as the Bible teaches.

However, when civil or political leaders exceed their proper authority, the Christian citizen is to conform to God's will rather than the government of His creatures. See Acts 4:19 and 5:29.

According to Biblical teaching, civil and political rulers are God's servants instituted for community advantage to defend the general public and preserve good order and legal behavior. The Roman sword was the symbol of good order and discipline (power) in Paul's day for the nation and the empire. Power was to preserve good order and behavior. If political leaders are predestined by God, then Christian citizens can appropriately and ethically support and respect rulers. As Christian citizens, we are obligated by biblical teaching to pay taxes. Rulers are stewards of revenue and God's instruments tasked to benefit society in general.

I would like to seize this opportunity to wish the Juba Monitor Editorial leadership , dear readers in general and specially my readers of my column ,people South Sudan and our beloved leadership a blessing Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. God bless our beloved country and our rulers.

Author can be reached via E-mail: dhano01obongo@gmail.com

Open Letter to Aweil East State's Governor, Hon.Deng Deng Akuei: A Case Of Majok-Yinh-Thiou or Majok, The So Call “Municipality!”

By Tito Awen Bol

Dear Governor, I am much perturbed, baffled, mind boggled and seriously ached by the issue of the so call Municipality of Majok-Yinh-Thiou which you have inadvertently or intentionally named thus forcing me to beseech through this open letter. But before I familiarize the readers with the term or the name Majok-Yinh-Thiou or just Majok as it is commonly known. Let me give the following assurances to the governor and the entire readership (I don't meant leadership): First, I will remain firm, respectful to avoid the usual berserk & oblivion from many writers and cordially I will stick to the issues matching the above subject. Secondly, I am not a rebel or anybody's sympathizer or stooge but a patriotic South Sudanese, a concerned native of Aweil East state and a beloved son of Malual Baai County. These days in our Country if one complains; he/she is connected to these nasty dark forces of rebellion so that the ‘interest group' could create antagonism and level their ground hoping to gain after tagging such individual with the bad tag as English proverb says, “give a dog a bad name and hang it.” Thirdly on the same, I am not writing as students' leader but an individual. So, if I err anywhere or you don't like what I wrote then consider it as my own with no connection to students in Kenya…so, for those who know my little title, hey my little leadership aside. Further still on this assurance, I am not very sure if your office Manager(s) and press personnel are ready to read or assume anything as rubbish and fail to bring it to your attention. If they do read; let them proof it by bringing this letter to your table because I have started this great concern with seriousness and am sure if not handled by your office then the community may need intervention from above and I am concretely sure that you are able to handle it without intervention from the above.

As English says, “stitch in time saves nine.” This issue needs to be contained before it reaches far. But for non-natives of Aweil to understand, Majok-Yinh-Thiou is an area situated along the South Sudan-Sudan border within the former state of Northern Bahr el Ghazal (NBG) roughly 150 KM from Aweil town and it is found within the former County of Aweil East which is currently Aweil East State. Majok-Yinh-Thiou has never been a no-man land nor it has ever been a contested area but it belongs to the former Payam of Malual Baai which is currently Malual Baai County. Those who think that it is disputed are intentionally creating conflict among the peaceful people of Abiem East and this should be resolve earlier before it is late.

As result of Presidential Order No.36 which curved Aweil East from NBG as a state and you (Hon.Deng Deng Akuei) being nominated as its first governor; I was having it and still have it in mind that we (Abiem community) have advantage of experience and knowledge from you since you were a deputy Governor before Northern Bahr el Ghazal was partitioned. Hon.Governor, do you know that many people including myself were surprised and shocked to have heard that you announced eight Counties and named Majok-Yinh-Thiou as a Municipality under no County with its revenues going directly to the State Headquarters and administrators coming directly from state Headquarters under the disguise of it being disputed? First of all, did you mean Administrative Area (AA) within the state or you surely meant the Municipality? When we talk about Municipality, there are two things always involved: It should first belong to a certain administrative or political locality; say Payam or County at our level and, it should be a simple Geographical area (town/city.) But for this case Honourable, what is the square area of the so called Municipality of Majok-Yinh-Thiou? Kindly name it back as a Payam in Malual Baai County as obviously expected!

Is Majok-Yinh-Thiou contested by whom and since when?
In 2010 during the voter registration exercise, some individuals (not the whole community) from Madhol Payam (now Madhol County) decided to take their people to Majok for voters' registration contrary to the obvious. This issue brought a very big loggerhead and it almost brewed into conflict between the two beloved communities of Malual Baai and Madhol. When the then Chairman of National Electoral Commission (NEC) in NBG-Uncle Mawien Kuc saw that it might result into a fight, he went to the local government documents (which I believe are still there) and read through from 1970's elections' documents and drew the conclusion that the area belong to Malual Baai payam because those voting there those days are people of the present day Malual Baai County. Honourable, where did you get these logics of it being disputed again while it was settled by Uncle Mawiendit?

Is the land supposed to be owned by the host or the hosted?
Between 2008 and 2011, many returnees coming from Sudan as an impact of Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) found it appropriate to settle and be settled at Majok-Yinh-Thiou since the government of the former NBG and the NGOs received the returnees in the area. Many returnees from almost everywhere in Bahr el Ghazal including all the Counties of Aweil, Warrap, Abyei and Wau found it a good place to do business and farming hence choose to stay there which is the right of every citizen to stay anywhere in the Country. But could that renders Majok-Yinh-Thiou to be a disputed land because the kind owners (hosts) accepted to demonstrate hospitality to the hosted? So, is it right for the people of Warrap and Wau to claim that it belongs to them because their people were/are staying there? If no, then you know the answer or why doing the contrary Sir! Truth is as crystal and clear as mirror and it cannot be blocked by the image but the image of truth can be reflected. This is an open truth that can be reflected anywhere in the state including in the Transitional Legislative Parliament sittings and within your Cabinet meetings…reflect and imitate on this truth Sir.

Hon.Governor, remember that Malual Baai is the only one among the former 7 Payams of Aweil East County that never produce a national or state minister from 2005-2016 before 28 states were named not because its people never participated in the war of independence nor it is because its people are incapacitated in any capacity. But they never made noise against the state or national government not because they are unable to do so nor they were comfortable with such marginalization but because they are peaceful people. Remember, Malual Baai is the only area whose its vast Agricultural land of Tony-col is divided by rich ‘outside' politicians away from its sons without a single benefit to the host community which is against the land investment policies but these people never wanted to complain not because they don't see the injustice but they kept quite since they are peaceful and generous people. Kindly Honourable, don't provoke these peaceful people with your so call Municipality; you are a man I dearly respect. It is not a merry-go-round affair any more but a case to be answered and amicable solved. Hon.Governor, are you aware that the first teachers to be employed in Majok-Yinh-Thiou in 2005, 2006 and 2007 before the returnees influx were from Malual Baai Payam and under the payroll and supervision of Malual Baai Payam…if yes, how can you accept that it is disputed? If it is because of border revenues, then let the revenues go to the state or Juba since it is international border and the land remain to the owners as it is in our Transitional Constitution. Are you aware that any conflict that may result from this will be counted on your family and generation because you are the first Governor and you are openly manipulated to create or accepted to create non-existing problem? Any elder or chief (except the bribed) in Ajuongdit and Abiem knows where Majok belongs. The first people who settled in Majok-Yinh-Thiou are having their bloody relatives whom they shared the 3rd great grand-father in Kot-ic village of Wundeng sector today, likewise in the surrounding areas of Machar Akoon and others; their bloody-lineage-relatives are currently in Ameth and Akong villages of Lou sector, all in Malual Baai. You must make a reasonable resolve as quick as you can…even if there are hands of influence above you; be cautious, it is about the people and your personal reputation!

Recommendations:
1. Hon.Governor, go to the local government documents especially the 1970's elections of Sudan and read through to affirm, acquaintance and familiarize yourself on whom were the people living in Majok-Yinh-Thiou before the war of 1983,
2. Consult with Uncle Mawien Kuc on how he handled the same issue that arose in 2010,
3. Consult the local Chiefs and elders in Abiem and Abiem East especially on who were the first people to settle in Majok-Yinh-Thiou and surrounding areas of Machar Akoon. They will tell you who owned Majok that was killed to name the area after it. It was not even a bull but a he-goat with the colour-Majok and they will tell you even the surrounding story,
4. Malual Baai youths and chiefs should prepare an official petition and served to your office, copy the County Commissioner (Hon.Angach Akot Yak), National Transitional Parliament and Government of National Unity on the same and gazette the petition on the newspapers for further reference in case the state authority don't intend to solve,
5. If the state government is unable to resolve in a given period of time then you will be required to request the Transitional National Parliament to form a Parliamentary Committee to which the MPs of Abiem East in the National Parliament (who are currently in bed with this silence conflict for the reason known to them) should be members to investigate and give their recommendations,
6. As a second last resort, people of Malual Baai should hold a peaceful demonstration if attention is not given and subsequently as a step later; withdraw their confidence in your government and indeed the confidence in their area MPs and,
7. A case will be opened in Arbitration Chamber (if appropriately any) of the High Court against your government for creating the conflict among peaceful people of Abiem East.

In conclusion, the whole community of Malual Baai County is looking forward to see a speedy positive response from your office or the state government of Aweil East.

Author is a dual student taking Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from University of Eldoret, Kenya, and concurrently taking an Associate Degree in Development Studies from University of Eastern Africa-Baraton, Kenya. Can be reached at: awenbol2007@yahoo.com or +254715873089

Kosovo : Belgrade met le paquet dans le Nord
Kosovo : la « Vallée ensoleillée », ce quartier pour les réfugiés serbes qui fait polémique
Nord du Kosovo : les institutions parallèles serbes, « une question de survie »
Association des communes serbes : vers une « Republika Srpska » du Kosovo ?

/ Courrier des Balkans, Tensions Nord Kosovo, Serbie, Relations régionales

Kosovo : Belgrade met le paquet dans le Nord
Kosovo : la « Vallée ensoleillée », ce quartier pour les réfugiés serbes qui fait polémique
Nord du Kosovo : les institutions parallèles serbes, « une question de survie »
Association des communes serbes : vers une « Republika Srpska » du Kosovo ?

/ Courrier des Balkans, Tensions Nord Kosovo, Serbie, Relations régionales

Le cessez-le-feu n’aura finalement pas duré longtemps dans l’est de l’Ukraine. Une trêve « illimitée » était en place depuis le 24 décembre entre l’armée ukrainienne et les rebelles prorusses. Mais depuis ce samedi, les deux camps s’accusent d’avoir mutuellement violé l'accord de paix de Minsk signé entre 2014 et 2015. Avec notamment des tirs qu'aurait subis l’armée ukrainienne près de Donetsk, bastion des séparatistes.

Son roman « Hôtel Problemski » (Christian Bourgois, 2005) décrivait de façon mordante la vie des demandeurs d'asile hébergés dans le centre d'accueil belge d'Arendonk. Avec cette nouvelle, rédigée au début de l'année 2016, l'écrivain flamand Dimitri Verhulst choisit au contraire de ne les évoquer qu'en faisant briller cruellement leur absence : dans les îles grecques, les vacanciers ont de tout autres préoccupations.

Marie-Anita Gaube. – « Extension du désir », 2015 www.ma-gaube.com

Et, comme plusieurs déjà l'avaient fait cette saison après s'être gauchement dépatouillées de leur jupe, cette petite bonne femme aussi (pas laide mais pas inoubliable) dit à Midas que ce n'était guère dans ses habitudes de plonger sous la couette avec un homme qui, dix heures plus tôt, n'était encore qu'un inconnu. Le genre à vouloir se dédouaner. Envers elle-même. Car elle connaissait évidemment les rumeurs à propos de ces hôtels-clubs de vacances où des dames font des avances au personnel parce que, comme chacun sait, l'occasion fait le larron. Mais elle-même n'était pas comme ça, non, personne ne pouvait en douter. Elle n'avait pas du tout réservé des vacances sur cette île avec l'arrière-pensée de s'envoyer en l'air. Mieux encore, elle avait toujours eu son opinion faite sur ce genre de destination. Elle mettait dans le même sac clubs de vacances avec animateurs et camps disciplinaires. Les city-trips européens correspondaient mieux à son caractère : Lisbonne, Berlin, Barcelone. Ou alors des perles moins connues comme Gand, si Gand ne se trouvait pas en Belgique, où l'on pouvait craindre un attentat. Deux ou trois jours, assez pour recharger les batteries, avec en poche une liste des choses intéressantes à voir dont on n'était pas obligé de cocher toutes les rubriques. Les grands poncifs la laissaient indifférente. Rendez-vous compte, elle avait réussi à aller deux fois à Rome sans voir le Colisée. La tour Eiffel, pour elle, n'était qu'un pylône électrique beaucoup trop grand pour le paysage. Elle connaissait les cartes postales, la réalité n'avait probablement rien à ajouter.

Cette fois, elle avait été trop fatiguée pour s'organiser un city-trip, pour des raisons qu'elle n'avait pas forcément besoin d'expliquer à un parfait inconnu (une histoire avec un type, supposa-t-il). Les sempiternelles flâneries dans des ruelles médiévales, les cavalcades entre musées et cathédrales, l'idée seule l'avait soûlée. Elle voulait se la couler douce, avoir droit à la paresse, au vide, on appelle ça des vacances à la plage : faire la crêpe toute la journée. Elle allait acquérir, ce faisant, un bronzage qui, pour la majorité de la gent touristique, représente la motivation essentielle. Mais c'était pour elle secondaire, quoique pas désagréable. Elle avait cherché sur Internet un lieu de villégiature, trouvé quelques incroyables promotions pour ceux qui se décident vite et tardivement. Elle avait déjà indiqué toutes les coordonnées de sa carte Visa, mais elle hésitait encore — elle était Balance, ces gens hésitent toujours, paraît-il —, fallait-il procéder au dernier clic ? Après avoir finalement tranché, elle avait été submergée par un sentiment de honte ; elle allait, hé oui, passer une semaine dans un de ces clubs de merde. Savait-il seulement, demanda-t-elle à son animateur après avoir fait l'amour, qu'elle avait dû aller dare-dare s'acheter un maillot juste avant le départ ? Plaisir aquatique : un oxymoron. Jadis, elle avait été ce genre de jeune fille qui prétend toujours avoir ses règles quand il y a natation à l'école.

Lui l'avait remarquée près de la piscine, ce midi, dans un bikini rouge, haut triangle et slip assorti de Hunkemöller, une marque qui, en général, n'a pas grand succès auprès des femmes qui apprécient au plus haut point la présence d'un beachboy et d'un banana colada. Son teint trahissait le fait qu'elle n'était pas sur l'île depuis longtemps, deux jours tout au plus, et qu'elle utilisait une lotion à indice de protection extrêmement élevé. Elle lisait Berlin Alexanderplatz.

« Un livre formidable, et une adaptation au cinéma tout aussi formidable », lui avait lancé Midas, frôlant son fauteuil de plage tandis qu'il se dirigeait en flânant vers le stand de tir à l'arc.

Sa remarque aurait pu être celle du garçon vachement cool. Le meilleur truc pour séduire. Car on peut sans doute dire à chaque lectrice à demi nue qu'elle a quelque chose d'extraordinaire entre les mains, et qu'il doit en exister une adaptation cinématographique. D'ailleurs, la plupart de ces touristes ne lisent probablement que des livres qui sont effectivement devenus des films. Elles lisent le bouquin grâce au film. Pour autant qu'elles lisent.

Le club avait une petite bibliothèque, pas tant par conviction, mais parce que ça faisait bien sur le site Web de l'hôtel, une petite rubrique supplémentaire dans la liste de tous les conforts disponibles. L'animatrice qui se tenait tous les jours de 10 heures à 16 heures derrière le comptoir s'ennuyait comme un rat mort et avait les ongles les mieux entretenus de tout le personnel.

Midas s'intéressait aux livres que lisaient les femmes à la piscine : ils trahissaient leur langue, leur origine. L'une d'elles lisait As Cinquenta Sombras de Grey tout en n'étant pas trop laide. Il lui souhaita alors, l'air de rien : boa tarde. Il parlait sept langues, et pour au moins quatre d'entre elles il les avait apprises au lit. Ce que l'on pouvait interpréter littéralement, car jadis c'est toujours couché qu'il avait étudié pour ses examens. Pendant toutes ses années d'adolescence, son matelas avait été son biotope, mi-bureau, mi-lieu de sommeil.

Le titre de ce livre-ci posait cependant un problème. Berlin Alexanderplatz n'avait sans doute pas été traduit. S'y risquerait-on ? Berlin, place Alexandre ? Il avait donc choisi de la saluer en anglais. Un livre formidable, un film formidable. Et voici posée la première pierre. Bingo.

Une femme en maillot Hunkemöller devant un échantillon de littérature universelle : pour une bonne part de la gent masculine, rien de bien passionnant en perspective. Midas n'aura pas à craindre une grande concurrence de la part de ses collègues.

Il avait dû, à 16 heures, recruter parmi les gens à la piscine pour les jeux-apéro. Il détestait cette partie de son boulot, mais parvenait bien à le cacher. La plupart du temps, il lui suffisait de crier : « Jeux-apéro ! », et les candidats se précipitaient vers lui. Des hommes gros, des hommes musclés, des dames trop minces, des dames avec des bourrelets : les jeux-apéro étaient adorés par des possesseurs de corps hétéroclites. Elle avait jeté un regard méfiant sur le remue-ménage depuis son fauteuil de plage, utilisant son livre comme écran de protection, faisant semblant de lire, craignant qu'on ne lui adresse la parole. Mais les angoisses existent pour être confirmées : on lui adressa bel et bien la parole !

Elle n'avait jamais été une participante, à rien. L'esprit d'équipe lui était toujours resté étranger. C'est avec un dégoût quasi digne d'une explication scientifique qu'elle avait toujours considéré l'esprit grégaire des associations de jeunesse. Mais ça lui semblait trop long à expliquer, une explication qu'elle ne devait à personne, et certainement pas à un animateur : « Je suis comme je suis, point barre. »

Elle eut la sensation d'être observée, son quant-à-soi fut interprété par les autres comme un reproche. Si l'humanité ne pouvait s'unir dans l'idiotie, alors dans quoi donc ? Son arrogance la rendait complice de tout ce qui allait mal dans le monde. Et par conséquent, pour dire quelque chose, elle demanda ce qu'étaient les jeux-apéro.

« Les jeux-apéro ? Bof, un truc stupide. »

Elle ne pouvait savoir combien cet animateur futé était sincère en disant ça.

« Et pourquoi ferait-on un truc stupide ? 

— Parce que c'est stupide ! »

Ça avait beau être plausible, ce n'était pas de cette façon qu'il allait la convaincre.

« Tu vois, c'est vraiment nul. On jette des balles dans des trous faits dans une planche, et celui qui obtient le plus de points reçoit un cocktail gratuit offert par le club. Rien d'autre. Ça dure cinq minutes. Et, pendant ce temps, tes yeux se reposent de ta lecture. »

Stupide, le jeu l'était, indubitablement ; on pouvait le déduire de la joie bruyante qu'il provoquait chez une trentaine de désœuvrés. Elle-même, depuis le jardin d'enfants, n'avait plus rien fait d'aussi infantile, jeter des balles dans les trous d'une planche, allez, et elle eut en outre à déplorer l'existence bien réelle de la baraka des débutants. Sa victoire fut acclamée par une bande de Britanniques, des célibataires dotés hélas de cordes vocales performantes. Ils avaient déjà tellement bu qu'ils allaient assurément se taper tout à l'heure, sous le soleil de plomb, un fameux coup de bambou.

Il l'a emmenée au bar, où Nikos, le champion d'Europe des barmans (disait-on), se préparait pour son one-man-show. Sa devise : le shaker, c'est pour les filles ; le pilon, c'est pour les garçons ! Devant sa Belle Pêche, les abstinents de la plus stricte observance viraient de bord. « En fait, je ne bois jamais pendant la journée », disait la belle pas inoubliable.

Pas de problème, on avait aussi des cocktails sans alcool, ici. Les gosses de 5 ans en raffolaient. Et puis, pas besoin de prendre trop à la lettre les règles des jeux-apéro, si elle avait envie d'un Coca ou d'un café, c'était OK. Après un examen superficiel de la carte des boissons, elle se décida pour une Black Widow Spider, une cochonnerie à base de Coca, de glace vanille et de réglisse. Lui prit un Henri Bardouin et, vu que le barman n'avait pas attendu qu'il ait choisi, elle en déduisit qu'il s'en envoyait plusieurs par jour. Le métier d'animateur était certainement pénible pour le foie et pour le zob.

« L'idée, maintenant, c'est de boire nos cocktails ensemble au bar ? Je ne connais pas vraiment les coutumes de ces clubs de vacances, c'est la première fois que je me retrouve larguée dans un de ces bazars. »

La boisson lui était offerte en sa qualité de triomphatrice d'un petit jeu débile, ni plus ni moins, et si elle avait envie de la lamper quelque part seule dans un coin, c'était son affaire.

« Mon livre est resté sur mon fauteuil de plage. »

En vérité, pas mal de choses avaient déjà été volées dans cet hôtel, mais un livre, jamais.

Une petite conversation de politesse au bar, à propos de ces questions dont animateur et client parlent toujours lors d'un premier contact, et à son grand étonnement elle avait même ri à plusieurs reprises de ses plaisanteries bordées de noir. Elle s'était dit : ce bonhomme a une vieille âme et ne le sait pas. Elle le remercia pour le verre, et retourna auprès de son livre.

Les rencontres dans un club de vacances se produisent selon une valse à contresens : pendant la journée on lie connaissance au bord de la piscine, quasi nus, et le soir, au bar, on poursuit la conversation, on s'engage vers l'autre, on se dévoile, habillés chic et de pied en cap. Midas avait déjà souvent été fasciné par le fait qu'il pouvait rencontrer une femme, une fille aux seins nus, libre et naturelle, et que c'était la chose la plus normale au monde... et puis que cette même femme, plus tard, se mettait à faire des chichis au moment d'enlever son soutien-gorge, jouant les timides.

La nouvelle venue apparut au bar vers 21 h 30, seule, comme elle l'avait été toute la journée, en jeans et tee-shirt sans slogan. Son animateur de l'après-midi était déjà là, seul également, bizarrement installé devant un Henri Bardouin. Elle s'était attendue à ce que ces types fussent constamment harcelés par un essaim de filles. Ils avaient à prodiguer d'urgence les premiers soins aux femmes récemment divorcées. Mais, malgré la présence de nombreuses demoiselles, dont un certain nombre avaient fait précéder leurs vacances de trois mois de régime strict, il était assis là, sur son haut tabouret, manifestement pas intéressé par la belle viande offerte. Il aurait été un peu étrange de ne pas lui souhaiter le bonsoir, elle le connaissait, non ? Il était jusqu'à nouvel ordre le seul représentant de l'espèce humaine qu'elle connût sur cette île, et elle demanda si ça ne le dérangeait pas qu'elle s'asseye près de lui.

« Tu en as finalement eu marre de lire ?

— Je ne sais pas si je dois absolument lire ce truc jusqu'au bout. C'est bien écrit, c'est même superbement écrit, mais c'est tout le temps la même chose. »

Ça, il en convenait volontiers. Beaucoup d'écrivains rataient la marche vers le chef-d'œuvre absolu parce que leur envie d'écrire un gros bouquin était trop forte. Et elle tint pour possible qu'il eût effectivement lu Berlin Alexanderplatz.

Elle prendrait bien un verre ?

Un gin-tonic alors. Pour le moment, tout le monde buvait du gin-tonic. Même se soûler la gueule a ses modes.

Il remarqua que la musique la dérangeait. « Sorry, mais ici, sur l'île, ils croient que le hit-parade a un effet stimulant sur la libido. » Et avant de s'en être bien rendu compte, elle lui balançait la question : alors quelle musique, d'après lui, serait bénéfique à la libido ? Elle ne connaissait aucun des artistes qu'il lui cita. Sa première tache de vieillesse, sans doute.

Elle trouvait que PJ Harvey était ce qu'un haut-parleur pouvait sortir de plus bandant. Bandant, suffisait qu'elle prononce le mot, et elle se sentait déjà toute chose.

Deux heures plus tard, ils l'avaient fait ensemble, de la façon dont tous les enfants pensent que leurs parents le font exclusivement. Elle avait regardé le ventilateur tourner gentiment au plafond. Qu'elle ait eu un orgasme, elle l'attribua au gin-tonic et parce que ça faisait déjà un peu trop longtemps. Ils étaient couchés côte à côte sur le dos. Éphémères et vides. Et elle fut soudain prise d'un fou rire : nom d'un chien, elle l'avait fait avec un animateur !

Et lui avec une prof. Une Danoise. Sa quatrième cette saison. Sa quatrième prof. Sa neuvième Danoise.

Traduit du flamand par Danielle Losman.

Benjamin Moukandjo a ouvert le score à la 34e minute pour le Cameroun. Issoufou Dayo égalise pour le Burkina Faso à la 75e.

Ambassadeur de Palestine en France, Salman El Herfi revient sur les objectifs de la conférence de Paris pour la paix. Les Palestiniens en attendent un message de la communauté internationale en direction de la société israélienne, l'appelant à un rejet de la posture guerrière de Benyamin Netanyahou et de ses alliés.

Les jeunes socialistes ont fait passer un grand oral samedi, à Paris, aux candidats à la primaire de la gauche. L’occasion de sonder une jeunesse souvent tiraillée entre plusieurs candidats et parfois tentée d’aller voir ailleurs qu’au PS.

Nathalie Sandoz met en scène une farce signée Mayenburg qui pointe la dérive d’une société peinant à reconnaitre chacun pour ce qu’il est, jusqu’à produire de dangereux clones qui excluent les autres…

Sans le dire, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita se sait sans doute un peu redevable à la France pour son élection en 2013.

Le gouvernement lance ce "pilotage national quotidien" notamment pour que des "places exceptionnelles" d'hébergement soient mobilisées.

WASHINGTON. Donald Trump megválasztott amerikai elnök a The Wall Street Journal című lapnak adott interjújában bejelentette, hogy találkozót tervez Vlagyimir Putyin orosz elnökkel, s egyúttal sejtetni engedte azt is, hogy visszavonhatja az Oroszország ellen Barack Obama által decemberben hozott szankciókat. Szólt arról is, hogy nem feltétlen híve az "egy Kína-politikának".

American president-elect Donald Trump has said that no more detainees should be transferred out of America’s war on terror detention camp in Guantanamo Bay. He takes office on 20 January 2017, which leaves the Obama administration just a few days to get men cleared for transfer out of Cuba. Among those waiting to see if their cases go through in time are three Afghans, money changer Wali Mohammed, chokidar Abdul Zahir and seller of plastic flowers Bostan Karim. All have been in detention since 2002 and, AAN’s Kate Clark reports, the cases against them were always among the flimsiest.

When Obama came into office in 2009, he vowed to close Guantanamo down. Congress blocked this, stopping him from transferring detainees to the American mainland for trial or incarceration. His only success has been in reducing the population; it should be down from 242 in 2009 to, if all goes to plan, around 40 by 20 January 2017 when he leaves the White House. Anyone remaining after that, it would seem from Trump’s statements on Guantanamo, is likely to be there a very long time. During the election campaign, he praised the detention camp, saying he would like to bring more detainees there. (He also praised waterboarding, although he said it was not “tough enough” and even if it did not work, he would authorise it because “they deserve it anyway for what they do to us.”) Then, on 3 January 2017, Trump tweeted that no more detainees should be transferred; they were “extremely dangerous people,” he said and “should not be allowed back onto the battlefield.”

Prisoners cleared for transfer

In mid-December 2016, there were still 22 detainees who had been cleared for transfer by a body known as the Periodic Review Board – which can also order the continuing detention or military trial of detainees. The New York Times reported that the US government had found countries willing to take 17 or 18 of them:

The effort was part of a burst of urgent, high-level diplomatic talks aimed at moving as many as possible of Guantánamo’s 22 prisoners who are recommended for transfer. By law, the Pentagon must notify Congress 30 days before a transfer, so the deadline to set in motion deals before the end of the Obama administration was Monday [19 December 2016]. By late in the day, officials said, the administration had agreed to tell Congress that it intended to transfer 17 or 18 of the 59 remaining detainees at the prison; they would go to Italy, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Four prisoners were transferred out of the detention facility on 5 January 2017 – all Yemenis bound for Saudi Arabia. The deadline for the others is now approaching fast. Trump’s assessment that these men are extremely dangerous belies the facts, at least for Wali Mohammed, Abdul Zahir, and Bostan Karim. An earlier in-depth investigation by AAN, “Kafka in Cuba: the Afghan Experience in Guantanamo” (which contains sourcing for all the information cited in this dispatch) uncovered just how thin the cases against these three men were. None had been detained on the battlefield. Two had been handed over by Pakistan and the third detained by US forces from his home after a tip-off which proved to be wrong; their case files contain very little, or no evidence of wrongdoing, but rather fantastical allegations, based on hearsay, double hearsay (X said Y said Z was a terrorist), testimony obtained through torture and unverified and unprocessed intelligence reports known as IIRs, some from foreign intelligence services, including the Pakistan’s ISI. Such reports typically bear cautions such as: “WARNING: THIS IS AN INFORMATION REPORT, NOT FINALLY EVALUATED INTELLIGENCE.” There are also some gross factual mistakes in the files. It looks likely that Wali Mohammed and Zahir were victims of mistaken identity. Details of their cases and the other two Afghans still in Guantanamo can be found in an annex at the end of this dispatch.

Prisoners due to remain

If the 17 or 18 detainees do manage to get out before 20 January, that will still leave four or five other men also cleared for transfer, including (according to The New York Times article cited earlier) an Algerian, a Moroccan and a Tunisian, whom the administration is “reluctant to repatriate for reasons having to do with their home countries.” The US will not release people without security guarantees and assurances that they will not be tortured; it is not clear what the problem is in these men’s cases. There is also, reported the paper “a stateless Rohingya man whom no country [has] offered a home.”

The Periodic Review Board had recommended that ten of the other remaining detainees should stand trial in military tribunals in Guantanamo. All have been charged and one has already been convicted. The remaining 27 detainees, who include two Afghans, Harun Gul and Muhammad Rahim(1) have been called ‘forever prisoners’. The Periodic Review Board has ordered them to remain in detention without trial; they are considered too dangerous to release, but the US authorities do not have court-worthy evidence against them.

Both Harun and Rahim are accused of being facilitators for al Qaeda and have been detained since 2007. Harun was captured in Afghanistan probably by the National Directorate of Security, the NDS (the US said it did, the NDS said it did not), and Muhammad Rahim in Pakistan by the ISI. Again, neither was detained in battle; their cases are also based on intelligence. There is far less information in the public domain about their cases than the Afghans detained in earlier years. Neither has had the opportunity to publically defend himself, even in the limited ways open to those men detained earlier.

From court documents, Harun Gul looks to have possibly been a low-level Hezb-e Islami commander, in charge of a handful of men in Nangarhar in the post-2001 era, but allegedly also working as a courier for al Qaeda. In June 2016, the Periodic Review Board encouraged him to continue to “work with his family and representatives on his future plans and be forthcoming with the Board in future reviews.” It sounded like a hint that if he was more organised, the Periodic Review Board might assess his case differently and decide that rather than him continuing to be a ‘forever prisoner’, it could recommend his transfer. Harun Gul had another review on 11 January 2017, but the Periodic Review Board will not decide on his case for months, not until long after the new president takes office.

The fifth Afghan still in Guantanamo, Muhammad Rahim also from Nangarhar, was the last person ever to be rendered and tortured by the CIA and brought to Cuba. The US accuses him of having worked with al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. He is the only Afghan in Guantanamo that has been classed as ‘high value’ by the US authorities. His case is so secret his lawyer has complained he cannot say why he thinks his client is innocent because that would reveal classified information. Although the US has not revealed the evidence against Rahim, the sources of that evidence can be seen in court documents from 2010 and they are the same as in the other cases AAN has investigated: hearsay, double hearsay, testimony obtained under torture and unverified and unprocessed intelligence reports.

Prospects for the five Afghan detainees

There are no prospects, at the moment, of Rahim being cleared for transfer. The Periodic Review Board’s assessment of him was unequivocal: “…his indifference to the impact of his prior actions, and.. his extensive extremist connections provide him a path to re-engagement.”

The Board might change its recommendation for Harun from continuing detention to transfer, but if it does, this will be after Trump takes office. His lawyer, Shelby Sullivan-Bennis of human rights organization Reprieve, is trying to stay optimistic, despite the looming Trump presidency. She told the Associated Press it was still possible Trump would retain some current policies on Guantanamo once his administration had studied them, “At this point, we are all just keeping our fingers crossed for the best outcome.”

As for the three Afghans cleared for transfer, even if they do get out of Guantanamo, the impact of a decade and a half in prison will remain. A secret assessment of Zahir from 2008, published by WikiLeaks, revealed that he had “chronic lower back pain, sciatica,” and had gone through “hunger striking not requiring enteral feeding, and has a history of major depressive episodes.” His lawyer, Shayana Kadidal, described his life as “irretrievably damaged.” Wali Mohammed’s only son was killed in a road accident as he drove from Pakistan to Kabul to try to reclaim his father’s shop in Kabul’s money market. AAN was told by other money changers that a “strongman” had sold the shop and pocketed the proceeds. Most of our clients, Kadidal has said, “leave [Guantanamo] not angry but rather broken and depressed.”

The Guantanamo detention camp is now into its 16th year (it was opened on 11 January 2001) and will soon be into its third American president. Obama inherited it from Bush and, despite his election promises to close down the facility, will soon bequeath it to Trump. Afghans were, by far, the largest national group there, comprising more than a quarter of the 781 men ever held. Among the 220 Afghan detainees were a scattering of Taleban, but also farmers, taxi drivers, shopkeepers, a few children and one Shia Muslim. Three Afghans died in custody. Almost all of the rest were eventually freed. Whether, at the end of this week, two or five Afghans remain in Guantanamo now depends on last minute work by the Obama administration and host countries to complete the transfers.

Annex: The Afghans still in Guantanamo

Haji Wali Mohammed, a 53 years old money changer from Baghlan, has been detained for more than 15 years. He was picked up by the ISI in Pakistan in January 2002, he believes, because a tribal jirga had just ruled he was owed money by a man who was an ISI agent, and handed over to the Americans. According to his own detailed account, he was tortured by Pakistan and then by the Americans in Bagram, Kandahar and Guantanamo. The US accused him of being a financier for al Qaeda, the Taleban and Hezb-e Islami. It has never provided evidence that he was doing anything other than running a legal business; money changers in the Central Money Market have always worked with the Kabul government, including the Taleban’s, to ensure the supply and stability of the currency. Indeed, Wali Mohammed had been something of a failure as a money changer, losing half a million dollars in a shared arbitrage scheme with the Central Bank; he was heavily in debt when detained.

When ruling on his petition for habeas corpus, the judge, despite having allowed the government to present evidence kept secret from Wali Mohammed and his lawyer, dismissed the US government’s assertion that Wali Mohammad had “hobnobbed constantly with U.S. enemies and flew all over Europe at bin Laden’s command.” She found it “not credible” that Wali Mohammed could have acted as al Qaeda’s money manager after he had lost so much of the Central Bank’s money, although she did think he had been financing the Taleban and Hezb-e Islami. At the time of his arrest, Hezb-e Islami was not a party to the conflict, nor was it listed as a terrorist organisation, so this accusation should, anyway, have been irrelevant. Wali Mohammed has had the backing of all the other money changers in the Central Money Market in Kabul; they wrote to the US authorities arguing for his release. This was a significant show of support as they represent all parts of the country and strands of opinion.

Wali Mohammed was cleared for transfer on 26 September 2016. His lawyer, contending he had been a victim of mistaken identity, said he had been “very unlucky – most of all in having an extremely common name.”

44 year old Abdul Zahir was detained from his home in Logar by the US military and CIA after a tip-off that he possessed “weapons of mass destruction” in July 2002. Years later, in 2015, it was revealed the Americans had found only salt, sugar, and petroleum jelly at his home. Nevertheless, he ended up in Guantanamo. He had worked as a choki dar (an unarmed guard or doorman) and translator for an Arab commander with al Qaeda, Abdul-Hadi al-Iraqi, before 2001. Although such employment was not uncommon or particularly controversial in the hard-pressed economic times of the Taleban regime, the US contended he had been ideologically committed and was “a trusted member of al Qaida.”

Zahir was also in a car in 2002 from which a grenade was thrown at western civilians. One, a Canadian journalist, was seriously injured. Zahir was put on military trial at Guantanamo in 2006, on charges of “conspiring to commit war crimes, aid the enemy and attack civilians,” although the prosecutor accepted he had not thrown the grenade. The trial collapsed: already in shambles – the applicable law had not been decided and there was no-one to translate for Zahir – it was finally halted after the Supreme Court ruled that the president lacked the constitutional authority to hold such trials.

In July 2015, the Periodic Review Board recommended he be transferred and made a sort of admission that mistakes had been made. It said he had had a “limited role in Taliban structure and activities,” and had “probably [been] misidentified as the individual who had ties to al-Qaeda weapons facilitation.”

Bostan Karim, a seller of plastic flowers from Khost, was accused of being the leader of an al Qaeda IED cell. He was detained by Pakistani police in 2002 on a bus as he travelled to Miram Shah after another passenger, Wazir, had passed a broken Thuraya satellite telephone to Karim; the police had been taking Wazir off the bus for questioning and he said he gave the phone to Karim because he feared the police would steal it. Both men ended up in Guantanamo, although Wazir was released in 2007. The Pakistanis and Americans later asserted – for reasons which are incomprehensible – that the phone was being used as a detonator for IEDs. They did not explain why a terrorist would be taking a detonator out of Afghanistan. Nor did they say why possession of a satellite phone, then in common use in Khost, was evidence of wrong-doing. The judge in Karim’s petition for habeas also agreed the phone was evidence that Karim was an al Qaeda terrorist.

Karim’s fate came to be bound up with his former business partner, Obaidullah, whose house in Khost had been raided a month earlier by the US military and CIA after a tip-off. Obaidullah was tortured and ‘confessed’ that both he and Karim were in the same al Qaeda IED cell. He was also sent to Guantanamo. There was some other evidence against Obaidullah, although it fell away substantially during his habeas petition and appeals. There was never any evidence at all that Karim was an insurgent. However, the case against each man came to prop the other’s up. The judge in Obaidullah’s habeas petition said that his “long-standing personal and business relationship with at least one al Qaida operative [Karim],” was one reason why he must also have been a member; the judge in Karim’s case quoted his fellow judge who had said that Obaidullah was more likely than not “a member of an al Qaeda bomb cell committed to the destruction of [US] and Allied forces,” as evidence against Karim.

Karim had also been a missionary with Jamat al-Tabligh, an organisation with millions of followers in south Asia which proselytises among Muslims, urging them to lead better lives. It has endured a historical and sometimes violent antipathy from militants, including the Afghan and Pakistani Taleban, who dislike its view that now is the time for preaching (dawa), not war (jihad). US intelligence, however, classes Jamat al-Tabligh as a “terrorist support entity” and Karim’s membership and Obaidullah’s occasional attendance at meetings additional proof of them having been terrorists. Karim told one of his review boards at Guantanamo:

First of all, I am not a member of the Taleban and I’m not a member of al-Qaida. I’m a business man. I have two stores. In one store, I sell plastic flowers. In the other store, I rent furniture and dishes for special occasions. I am a missionary; I go house-to-house, village-to-village, spreading my religion.

Bostan was also ‘accused’ of having an uncle who was a member of Hezb-e Islami in the 1980s. At the time, it was actually America’s favourite faction among the mujahedin whom it then supported in their fight against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. In one of the bizarre mistakes that litter the files of the Afghan detainees in Guantanamo, the file describes Hezb-e Islami in the 1980s as “one of the seven Al Qaida terrorist groups operating in Pakistan.” It was of course one of the seven Afghan, mujahedin groups fighting in Afghanistan. At that time, al Qaeda had yet to be founded.

Karim was cleared for transfer by the Periodic Review Board on 2 June 2016. (Obaidullah was released two months later in August 2016 and sent to the United Arabic Emirates where he is believed to be in a ‘de-radicalisation’ programme and still in some form of detention.)

Harun Gul, a 35 year old from Nangarhar, was detained in Afghanistan in 2007 and accused of being a Hezb-e Islami commander and facilitator for al Qaeda. Of all the Afghans, the least is known about his case. However, one document presented to the court in Muhammad Rahim’s petition for habeas corpus quoted notes from Harun’s interrogation (Harun testified against Rahim, although possibly under torture). The notes said Harun Gul had been in charge of six armed groups in Nangarhar province, each with three to five men, and a total operational budget for each group of 20,000 to 40,000 Pakistani rupees (roughly 200-400 US dollars) every one to three months. This does not read like the “senior commander of Hezb-e-Islami/Gulbuddin” the US claimed to have captured. The US said Harun admitted to serving as a courier for the senior leadership of al Qaeda. However, he has described being tortured, and said his captors in Afghanistan “blindfolded, shackled, and hung him by the arms while they were still cuffed behind his back, stripped and tortured him…. kept [him] alone and naked in a cell without even a bucket as a toilet.” He has said that, during interrogations in Guantanamo, he was “shackled for up to twelve hours without water or food in a position that allowed him to neither fully stand nor sit, preventing any sleep.”

On 14 July 2016, the Periodic Review Board recommended his continuing detention, although also hinting that he might be cleared for transfer if he was more forthcoming.

Muhammad Rahim from Nangarhar is accused of having been a facilitator and translator for Osama bin Laden. He was detained by Pakistan in February 2007 and handed over to the CIA; it appears the ISI said he might know the whereabouts of bin Laden. Rahim was rendered to Afghanistan and tortured. In all, he was subject to eight sessions of sleep deprivation, including three which lasted for more than four days and one, the last, which lasted for almost six (138.5 hours). The interrogation was such a failure that the CIA held an internal enquiry, concluding that the fact they had known nothing about Rahim prior to questioning him had been the problem. Nevertheless, when it transferred him to Guantanamo, the CIA announced to the world that it had captured “a tough, seasoned jihadist” who had “bought chemicals for one attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan,” a man who was “best known in counter-terror circles as a personal facilitator and translator” for bin Laden and who had “helped prepare Tora Bora as a hideout for bin Laden in December 2001.”

His case is classified, so it is difficult to assess it, but court documents show he apparently admitted to working with al Qaeda commanders before 2001 and up to their escape from Tora Bora into Pakistan. However, all the serious allegations both before and after 2001 are sourced to unverified and unprocessed intelligence information reports and, to some extent, other detainees’ testimony, including Harun’s.

Like Harun, Rahim has been given no chance to defend himself publically. He has, however, written a series of funny and apparently perceptive letters to his lawyer which have been published. In them, he jokes about the local wildlife in Cuba, discusses pop culture and American television and calls Donald Trump an idiot and, rather than a war hero, a “war zero.”

On 9 September 2016, the Periodic Review Board, 9 September 2016, accepted the US military’s case against him and recommended his continuing, indefinite detention.

 

 

(1) Readers may have noticed two spellings for Mohammad used in this piece. They are as per the original US documents.

Le 14 janvier 2017, près de 6 mois après avoir lancé l’opération européenne de reconstruction des forces armées centrafricaines (l’European training mission en Centrafrique), le général de division Eric Hautecloque-Raysz, commandant du premier mandat d’EUTM-RCA, a transféré ses responsabilités au général de brigade belge Herman Ruys.

POZSONY. A kormány nem a megbízási szerződésre való munkavállalást kifogásolja. A munkaügyi tárca által előkészített törvénymódosítás célja jobban ösztönözi az embereket a munkavállalásra – jelentette ki Ján Richter munkaügyi miniszter. Jozef Mihál ellenzéki képviselő viszont attól tart, az idénymunkásokat foglalkoztató cégek elveszítik a lehetőséget, hogy elég alkalmazottat találjanak.

Le futur président gambien a été invité au sommet Afrique-France qui se tient ce samedi à Bamako. Un nouveau signal fort envoyé à Yahya Jammeh, cinq jours avant la fin officielle de son mandat.

Cet article Gambie : Adama Barrow présent au sommet Afrique-France à Bamako est apparu en premier sur JeuneAfrique.com.