The Humanion: London: England: United Kingdom: Year Zeta: Day 160: Tuesday: March 02: 2021: Cogito Ergo Sum: Descartes

|| Hope Is the Seed Sign and Science of Progress: Join and Support Us  ||

|| Jurisprudence || Sudan: Unlawful Detentions by Rapid Support Forces: The Authorities Should Take Urgent Steps to Ensure That the RSF Stops Acting Outside the Law and That All Civilian Detainees Are Immediately Released: Human Rights Watch ||

|| Monday: March 01: 2021 || ά. On February 23 Sudan announced it had passed laws, ratifying both the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the United Nations Convention against Torture. Human Rights Watch urges the Government to formalise the ratification process, with no reservations and additionally ratify the optional protocol to CAT, allowing international monitors to inspect detention sites.

Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces:RSF, acting without lawful authority, arbitrarily detained dozens of civilians, including, political activists, in the capital, Khartoum during 2020, Human Rights Watch said today. The detainees were held incommunicado or in circumstances, constituting enforced disappearances. The authorities should take urgent steps to ensure that the RSF stops acting outside the law and that all civilian detainees are immediately released.

|| Jurisprudence || Nepal: Human Rights Commission’s Integrity in Jeopardy: Lack of Transparency in Appointments Undermine Effectiveness Public Confidence ||

|| Monday: March 01: 2021 || ά. The Nepal government should immediately withdraw an ordinance, that undermines the independence of constitutional human rights bodies and rescind recent appointments, that were made without consultation or parliamentary approval, Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists:ICJ and Amnesty International said today.

These government actions undermine public trust and confidence in the integrity of the judiciary and other constitutional bodies, such as, the National Human Rights Commission and the Election Commission. The illegitimate appointments process is not simply an abstract irregularity but, will lead to ineffective and weak implementation of critical mandates to protect human rights and other rule of law objectives, the group said.

|| Jurisprudence || Baangladesh: The UN High Commissioner For Human Rights Urges Transparent Probe Into the Death in Custody of a Writer and a Review of the Law Under Which He Was Charged ||

|| Monday: March 01: 2021 || ά. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on today for a transparent investigation into the death in custody of a writer in Baangladesh, who was held in pre-trial detention for nine months for publishing an article and sharing online posts, critical of the Government’s COVID-19 response. Writer Mushtaq Ahmed died on February 25 after he was transferred to a prison hospital for treatment.

The Baangladeshi authorities have announced that they would investigate his death, according to a news release by OHCHR. ‘’The Government must ensure that its investigation into Ahmed’s death is prompt, transparent and independent.” Ms Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said. She urged the authorities to conduct a review of the Digital Security Act, under which Mr Ahmed was charged; suspend its application; and release all those, detained under it for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and opinion.

|| Asia || Turkey: Violation of Osman Kavala’s Rights Intensifies: Release Osman Kavala ||

|| Monday: March 01: 2021 || ά. The Turkish government’s failure to comply with a binding European Court of Human Rights order to release the human rights defender Mr Osman Kavala should prompt Council of Europe action against Turkey, Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists and the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project said today.

The three non-governmental organisations presented the recommendation in a submission to the Committee of Ministers, the Council of Europe’s inter-governmental body, responsible for overseeing the implementation of European Court of Human Rights judgments. The committee is to review Turkey’s non-compliance with the Strasbourg court’s judgment on Mr Kavala’s case for the fourth time at its March 09-11, 2021 session. Mr Kavala has been held in pretrial detention since November 2017.

|| Africa || Chad: Authorities Must Investigate the Raid and Killings at the Presidential Contender’s House ||

|| Monday: March 01: 2021 || ά. Responding to a raid by Chadian security forces on the house of opposition presidential candidate Mr Yaya Dillo and the subsequent killing of, at least, two members of his family, Mr Abdoulaye Diarra, Amnesty International’s Central Africa researcher, said, “Authorities in Chad must urgently launch an independent, impartial and effective investigation into the use of fatal force during a raid on opposition presidential contender Yaya Dillo’s house and the killing of his family members.

Mr Yaya Dillo has stated that his mother, his son and three of his supporters were killed during a raid by security forces. According to the government, the police attempted to serve two judicial warrants and responded to gunfire coming from Mr Dillo’s house and that two people were killed and five injured, including, three members of the security forces. “These killings highlight the high tension in Chad, ahead of next month’s election, characterised by human rights violations with bans on demonstrations and arbitrary arrests already in place. There are, also, reports of an internet shut down, in what is an unjustified attack on media freedom and freedom of expression.’’

|| Political Economics || Lessons From the Texas Energy Crisis For Emerging LNG Importers in Asia ||

|| Monday: March 01: 2021: Sam Reynolds Writing || ά. During last week’s extreme winter weather, surging electricity demand collided with falling generation, forcing the Texas grid operator to implement rolling blackouts. In many cases, blackouts lasted for over 24 hours, causing fuel and electricity supply shortages and disruptions throughout the gas supply chain. At least, 04.5 million Texans were at one point without electricity and more than 30 deaths have been attributed to power losses, though, the final toll could be much larger.

News of the Texas power crisis has spread throughout Asia, where energy growth markets, such as, Vietnam, the Philippines and Baangladesh are considering US liquified natural gas:LNG imports as an alternative to coal-fired electricity generation. But the events in Texas have highlighted the risks, inherent in LNG imports for both the energy transition and climate change adaptation.

|| Life Elle || WHO Expert Panel Strongly Advises Against the Use of Hydroxychloroquine to Prevent COVID-19 ||

|| Tuesday: March 02: 2021 || ά. The World Health Organisation:WHO’s Expert Panel strongly advises against the use of Hydroxychloroquine to prevent COVID-19. The Drug is no longer a research priority and resources should focus on other more promising drugs to prevent COVID-19. WHO Guideline Development Group:GDG Panel of international experts said in The BMJ today, that the anti-inflammatory drug Hydroxychloroquine should not be used to prevent infection in people, who do not have COVID-19.

The Panel’s strong recommendation is based on the high certainty evidence from six randomised controlled trials, involving over 6,000 participants with and without known exposure to a person with COVID-19 infection. The high certainty evidence showed that Hydroxychloroquine had no meaningful effect on death and admission to hospital, while moderate certainty evidence showed that it had no meaningful effect on laboratory confirmed COVID-19 infection and it, probably, increases the risk of adverse effects.

|| United Kingdom || The Brithdir Nursing Home Inquests: I Hope That Society and All State Agencies Can Learn From These Painful Episodes and Ensure That the Abuse of the Elderly Will Not Occur in Any Care Home: Baroness Greengross ||

|| Monday: March 01: 2021 || ά. Baroness Greengross of Notting Hill has released a statement in support of the inquest into the death of six individuals, who died whilst in the care of a nursing home in South Wales. The inquest will not only investigate the circumstances, leading up to these individuals' deaths between 2003 and 2005, it will, also, consider the wider policy issues in the social care sector, that may have had an impact. In light of the recent Government white paper, ‘Working Together to Improve Health and Social Care For All’, setting out the legislative proposals for Health and Care Bill, published on February 11, 2021, the findings of this inquest could provide some important insight.

In her statement, Baroness Greengross welcomed the the inquests, despite the difficulties, caused by COVID-19, into the deaths of six individuals, who died while they were patients at Brithdir Nursing Home in New Tredegar, South Wales between 2003 and 2005, including, Edith Evans, 85, Evelyn Jones, 87 and Stanley Bradford, 89. The inquest started on January 18, 2021 and is expected to run until late March 2021. The families are being represented on a pro bono basis by a team at Hogan Lovells.  This inquest arises out of Operation Jasmine, which was a police investigation by Gwent Police.