OCCUPIED WEST BANK  –   Israeli authorities have renewed a closure order on Al Jazeera’s office in the occupied West Bank, days after the Palestinian Authority suspended the network’s broadcasts for four months. Israeli soldiers posted an extension order on the entrance of the building housing Al Jazeera’s offices in central Ramallah, a city in the occupied West Bank under Palestinian Authority (PA) control, on Tuesday morning. The document renews the closure starting on December 22 for 45 days.

According to Al Jazeera’s Arabic channel, the commander of the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank, Avi Balut, said that the order was justified because the office was being used for “incitement and support for acts of terrorism”. Last September, Israeli forces raided Al Jazeera’s Ramallah office and issued an initial 45-day closure order. Staff were instructed to leave the premises and take their personal belongings. Later, Israel’s government announced it was also revoking the press credentials of Al Jazeera journalists in the country.

The move followed a decision in May to ban Al Jazeera from broadcasting from Israel. The network’s offices were also closed for 45 days; an order that has been extended several times. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has long been at odds with Al Jazeera. Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza last October, the network has faced repeated attempts to silence its reporting through arrests, imprisonment and attacks on its journalists. Al Jazeera has condemned and denounced Israel’s orders on its office in Ramallah. In a statement in September, the network said: “The raid on the office and seizure of our equipment is not only an attack on Al Jazeera, but an affront to press freedom and the very principles of journalism.”

“These oppressive measures are clearly intended to prevent the world from witnessing the reality of the situation in the occupied territories and the ongoing war on Gaza and the devastating impact on innocent civilians.” The PA has also suspended all Al Jazeera broadcasts from the occupied West Bank and placed restrictions on anyone working for the network, it says on grounds that the channel violates Palestinian laws, and that Al Jazeera is tampering with and interfering in Palestinian internal affairs. Al Jazeera has slammed the decision, branding it a move “in line with the [Israeli] occupation’s actions against its staff”. (Al Jazeera)

Photo: A military vehicle moves in a street outside the building where the Al Jazeera office is located, in Ramallah, the occupied West Bank. (Reuters)

PORT-AU-PRINCE –  More than 5,600 people were killed and thousands more injured or kidnapped in 2024 due to soaring levels of gang violence in Haiti, the United Nations said. In a statement released on Tuesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk condemned the “absolute horrors” faced by the population of the Caribbean country noting rights abuses and corruption are also rife. Armed gangs maintain control of most of the capital Port-au-Prince following an outbreak of violence last year. At the same time, the police are also accused of perpetrating violence against gang suspects, as the ongoing conflict serves to make worse the political instability that has plagued the island nation for decades.

“These figures alone cannot capture the absolute horrors being perpetrated in Haiti but they show the unremitting violence to which people are being subjected,” Volker said. The UN statement noted that at least 207 people were killed in early December in a massacre orchestrated by the leader of the powerful Wharf Jeremie gang in the Cite Soleil area of the capital. Moreover, the UN Human Rights Office also documented at least 315 lynchings of gang members and people allegedly associated with gangs, on some occasions reportedly facilitated by Haitian police officers, and 281 cases of alleged summary executions involving specialised police units in 2024.

“It has long been clear that impunity for human rights violations and abuses, as well as corruption, remain prevalent in Haiti,” Turk said. Last November, the UN ordered the evacuation of its staff from Haiti’s capital due to clashes between armed gangs, the police and civilians armed with machetes. However, the UN highlighted that it is “not leaving Haiti” but only “adapting its operations” by moving its staff to safer parts of the country and others working remotely. Turk called for the national police force to hold accountable officers reportedly involved in rights abuses with international help.

“Restoring the rule of law must be a priority,” Turk said, calling for the Kenyan-led UN mission tasked with quelling the violence to be granted “the logistical and financial support it requires to successfully implement its mandate”. A 430-strong UN-backed security mission comprised mostly of Kenyan police, was sent last June to support Haiti’s understaffed police department. But violence has continued to grow. Turk said the full implementation of UN Security Council-mandated sanctions and an arms embargo must be used.

“Weapons flowing into Haiti often end up in the hands of the criminal gangs, with tragic results: thousands killed, hundreds of thousands displaced, essential infrastructure and services, such as schools and hospitals, disrupted and destroyed,” he said. The Haitian government, backed by the US and by other Caribbean nations, has also been calling for the UN Security Council to authorise a full-scale peacekeeping operation. But Russia and China, permanent members of the Security Council, have opposed the move, insisting that efforts to stop the gang violence should instead be focused on strengthening the Haitian police. (Al Jazeera)

Photo: A woman with two children carries their belongings as residents of the Lower Delmas flee their homes due to gang violence, in Port-au-Prince. (Reuters)

“The crisis of 1982 will portray Bouterse as a national hero in our history and as a man who managed to evade capture until his final days. They could never lock him up.  The social unrest that would be triggered by his imprisonment would be misused politically, so he decided to take a step back. That is why he left. He did not know fear. He did know love for all Surinamese people,” said the deputy chairman of the National Democratic Party (NDP), Ramon Abrahams, at the funeral service of the honorary chairman of the NDP,  Desiré Delano Bouterse.

Abrahams explained that just like the former chief of staff and former president of Suriname, he also returned to Suriname after having served in the Dutch army. He arrived in Suriname in November 1975. Five years later Bouterse became known worldwide because of the military coup of 1980. According to Abrahams, Bouterse was the engine behind the multi ethnic character of the February 25 Movement and the NDP. The constitution of 1987 was established thanks to a national referendum. “The second republic of Suriname became a reality back then,” said Abrahams who claimed that The Hague managed to frustrate things by financing internal factors and filling the media with nonsense. Abrahams concluded his speech by urging his fellow citizens to search for that what Bouterse was seeking for Suriname and the people of Suriname. “There is much work to be done. Comrade Desi, rest in peace.”

In order to protect the confidentiality of the elections on Election Day, May 25th, the administration of President Chandrikapersad Santokhi has decided to take strict measures. One of the measures is a proposed ban on ballot selfies. This means that it is not allowed to take selfies in the voting booths. The ban is aimed at making sure that political parties can’t force voters to take ballot selfies in exchange for rewards.

Home Affairs (BIZA) Minister Delano Landvreugd revealed this measure in response to questions from MP Rabin Parmessar (NDP). 

MP Parmessar expressed his concern regarding the ballot selfie phenomenon.

“The proposed measures clearly state that it is forbidden to enter the voting booths with a smartphone,” said Minister Landvreugd who added that the voting booths will be transparent to make sure that voters are discouraged from taking ballot selfies. Five years ago voters were given a smartphone by political parties to take ballot selfies. In exchange for their vote, the voters could keep the smartphone or were given money as a reward. Other political parties and many citizens disapproved of the fact that voters were given bribes by people who wanted to determine the outcome of the general elections in their favor.

44 political organizations have been registered at the Independent Election Bureau (OKB). The actual number of political parties that is allowed to participate in the general elections of May 25th, 2025 will be announced after February 24th when the registration period has been concluded. It has not been ruled out that new political parties will also run for office. The number of political parties that will participate in the elections will also determine the physical size of the voting ballot.

“The more political parties sign up for the elections, the bigger the voting ballot will be,” said Home Affairs Minister Delano Landvreugd.