Feed aggregator

Dès fin février 1916, à l’image de nombreuses unités de l’armée de Terre, le 3e régiment du génie (3e RG) est engagé sur Verdun et ses environs. Régiment décoré de la Croix de guerre 1914-1918, il s’est particulièrement illustré fin mai 1916 en contribuant à la reprise du fort de Douaumont. Retour sur les actions de l’un des nombreux régiments ayant œuvré lors de la Grande Guerre.

A protester demonstrating against Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa during a rally in downtown Hanoi on May 1, 2016. (HOANG DINH NAM/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

Last week, Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNCHR), called on the Vietnamese leadership to respect the right of freedom of assembly, after security officials stifled city-wide protests over an environmental disaster engulfing the country.

In a press briefing note released by UNCHR on May 13, the agency said it is “concerned about the increasing levels of violence perpetrated against Vietnamese protesters expressing their anger over the mysterious mass deaths of fish along the country’s central coast.”  

In recent weeks, Vietnamese citizens have rallied in the cities of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Vung Tau and Da Nang over reports that at least 100 tons of fish have died along a 200-kilometer stretch of coastland in central Vietnam since April.  Many of the protesters are angry over the slow response of the new leadership to pin the blame on a unit of Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics, which operates a $10.6 billion coastal steel plant in Ha Tinh province.

Vietnamese fishermen, whose income has been severely depleted by the pollution, led authorities to an illegal pipeline thought to be responsible for the poisoning of the fish, which was traced to the steel plant.  Formosa management claims to have safely treated the discharge, and initial government findings sought to deflect the blame from Formosa to a red tide caused by an algae bloom.  Newly-elected Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has promised a thorough investigation, vowing “We will not shield anyone found causing the pollution.”

Yet Vietnamese citizens are losing their patience, and the urge to demonstrate has been building momentum, alarming authorities. Vietnamese security apparatus allowed the first two protests on consecutive Sundays to attract hundreds of demonstrators.

Security officials cracked down on demonstrators the second week, however, using tear gas was used to disperse the crowd, and reportedly beating around  300 people and arresting others, according to the UNCHR report.  Videos and pictures circulating on Facebook also showed punches thrown and protesters being dragged off into buses.

In response to reports of demonstrators being beaten and arrested, the UNCHR issued the following statement: “We call on the Government of Viet Nam to respect the right to freedom of assembly in line with its international human rights obligations.”  This statement drew a harsh response from the permanent Vietnamese representative to the UNCHR,  Ambassador Nguyen Trung Thanh, who called the statement “inaccurate, unobjective and unverified.”  

While Article 25 of the 2013 Vietnamese Constitution ensures freedom of assembly and speech for its citizens, stating “The citizen shall enjoy the right to freedom of opinion and speech, freedom of the press, to access to information, to assemble, form associations and hold demonstrations,”  Ambassador Thanh noted that freedom of assembly must be exercised without detriment to public order “to ensure traffic order, security and safety for the people, especially the elderly, women and children.”

This past Sunday, Vietnam’s state television, and several other major state-run channels, warned potential demonstrators to ignore calls by “reactionary forces” who intend to disrupt public order, saying “their intention to abuse and disturb was revealed when many subjects called for using knives and petrol bombs to attack the functional forces and to overthrow the authorities.”   

Authorities were also quick to blame the demonstrations on an anti-government plot by a terrorist organization named ‘Viet Tan’ (Vietnam Reform). Viet Tan’s website claims it “engages in actions that empower the Vietnamese people”, with its mission to “overcome dictatorship, build the foundation for a sustainable democracy, and demand justice and human rights for the Vietnamese.”

While it is arguable whether the safety and security of the people were endangered by the demonstrations (or by Viet Tan), the state television broadcast, a shutdown of Facebook, and a heavy security presence in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were enough to quell any significant gathering of protesters on the third Sunday of protest.  No more than 100 protesters gathered in Ho Chi Minh City, most of whom were quickly dispersed or detained.  

U.S. President Barack Obama was originally scheduled to arrive in Vietnam on May 22, a Sunday in which protests could flare again, and also the day in which Vietnam holds its election of the nation’s lawmaking National Assembly.  His trip has now been moved to the 23rd, and although his itinerary is still under discussion, events on the ground in recent weeks may give the issue of human rights more prominence.  

The post UN Calls on Vietnam to Respect Freedom of Assembly appeared first on Foreign Policy Blogs.

By Mehreen Khan in London

The International Monetary Fund’s latest recommendations on Greek debt relief have leaked.

Yesterday, ahead of the latest meeting of eurozone finance ministers on May 24, the IMF repeated it would take part in Greece’s €86bn bailout only if its European partners could prove “the numbers add up”.

A key part of this calculation is for the fund to be fully assured that Greece’s debt mountain is finally placed on a sustainable downward trajectory.

Read more

Après plusieurs fausses affirmations et démentis, les premiers débris du vol MS804 qui s'est crashé alors qu'il reliait Paris au Caire ont été retrouvés à 290km au large des côtes égyptiennes, au nord d'Alexandrie. C'est ce qu'a affirmé l'armée égyptienne vendredi 20 mai.

read more

Die Innenminister der EU haben sich auf eine Verschärfung der Visaregelungen verständigt. Geplant ist, die Visumfreiheit bei Bedarf auszusetzen, um…

More than 700 billion rubles ($10.5 billion) was transferred illegally from Russia into offshore accounts in 2015, the Russian Interior Ministry announced Friday, the TASS news agency reported.

Les aéronefs français déployés sur la Base aérienne projetée (BAP) en Jordanie ont participé entre le 13 et 19 mai 2016 à la libération de la ville de Rutbah, située dans la province d’Al-Anbar au sud-ouest de l’Irak.

Ukrainian nationalists have leaked a second list of the personal details of journalists working in the Donbass and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine.

Selon la tradition républicaine, la défense est l’affaire de tout citoyen. Auparavant assuré par le service militaire, ce lien perdure par différentes actions au profit des jeunes, comme la journée défense et citoyenneté (JDC) ou encore les rallyes citoyens. Esprit de cohésion, solidarité, dépassement de soi… Des centaines de jeunes de toute la France ont vécu une journée en immersion auprès des militaires français.

L'essor des monnaies numériques comme le bitcoin excite la convoitise de Wall Street. Pourtant, ces monnaies électroniques furent conçues pour court-circuiter les banques. En croisant les aspirations de ceux qui contestent le pouvoir de la finance, elles auraient pu donner une nouvelle jeunesse (...) / Banque, Capitalisme, Économie, Finance, Histoire, Idées, Internet, Monnaie, Mutation, Technologie, Crise financière - 2016/03

AMENDMENTS 1 - 270 - Draft report on EU relations with Tunisia in the current regional context
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

OPINION on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Border and Coast Guard and repealing Regulation (EC) No 2007/2004, Regulation (EC) No 863/2007 and Council Decision 2005/267/EC
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Javier Nart

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

OPINION on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Border and Coast Guard and repealing Regulation (EC) No 2007/2004, Regulation (EC) No 863/2007 and Council Decision 2005/267/EC
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Javier Nart

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Obwohl eine britische Boulevardzeitung behauptet hat, die Queen befürworte den Austritt Großbritanniens aus der EU, hat sie das selbstverständlich…

BUDAPEST. Sok vita zajlik manapság, de van egy olyan ügy, amely megadja a közös nevezőt: a haza védelmének ügye - emelte ki a honvédelmi miniszter pénteken Budapesten, a tárca honvédelem napja alkalmából tartott központi ünnepségén.

A scent of great war is in the air. US deploys air defence systems in Romania and Poland. In some years, Russia will not be able to respond with a nuclear strike. So, which should be an asymmetrical response of Russia to new threats and challenges of the modern world?

Debris from the missing EgyptAir flight has been found floating in the Mediterranean, Greek and Egyptian officials say.

Three people die in a "terrorist-style attack" on a mosque in Tanzania during evening prayers, police say, amid fears of a growing threat from militant Islam.

Michel Maietta, directeur de recherche à l’IRIS et directeur Analyse et stratégie d’ACF international, répond à nos questions à l’occasion de sa participation au Sommet humanitaire mondial qui se tient à Istanbul les 23 et 24 mai 2016 :
– En quoi consiste l’Inter Agency Analyst Network, l’initiative que vous présenterez au Sommet humanitaire mondial ?
– Quels sont les enjeux de ce Sommet ?
– Pourquoi l’ONG Médecins sans frontières a-t-elle décidé de boycotter le Sommet humanitaire mondial ?