Romania parliament gives green light to minority liberal govt

Yahoo – AFP, Ionut IORDACHESCU, November 4, 2019

Romanian Prime Minister Ludovic Orban is applauded by members of his
cabinet after a vote for a new government at the Romanian Parliament in
Bucharest on November 4, 2019 (AFP Photo/Daniel MIHAILESCU)

Bucharest (AFP) - Romania's pro-European liberals on Monday succeeded in getting parliamentary approval to form the next government, ending months of political uncertainty and paving the way for the new prime minister to appoint an EU commissioner.

The EU member's previous left-wing government -- besieged by protests over controversial judicial reforms and a perceived failure to fight corruption -- collapsed in a no-confidence vote last month.

President Klaus Iohannis then tasked Ludovic Orban, chief of the National Liberal Party (PNL), to form a new government, but his proposed minority line-up needed parliamentary approval.

A total of 240 lawmakers of the 465-member parliament -- just enough for the simple majority needed -- voted in favour of Orban's government.

"Our objective is to re-establish the confidence in Romania of our Euro-Atlantic partners," the former transport minister, 56, told lawmakers from his PNL and four small parties whose support he secured before the vote.

Orban is expected to appoint a new EU commissioner after nominees from the previous Social Democrat (PSD)-led government were rejected, leaving the new European Commission unable to start work.

"We will make a decision as soon as possible, after consulting the president and after a hearing in the parliament," Orban said after the vote.

He blamed PSD leader Viorica Dancila for the rejection of the first candidates in Brussels.

Incoming European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen -- who wants her new team to be up and running by December 1 -- has urged Romania to propose a new EU commissioner "without delay".

Presidential race

The crucial parliamentary vote also comes just ahead of a first round of presidential elections on Sunday with incumbent Iohannis, a former PNL leader himself, the clear front-runner.

The 17 cabinet members -- all from the PNL except for the defence and foreign ministers who have no party affiliation -- will be sworn in later on Monday.

Among its priorities, the government -- seen as a transitional one until the next parliamentary elections in late 2020 -- aims to keep the annual budget deficit under three percent of output, the EU limit, and to reverse the judicial reforms introduced by the PSD.

Dancila, whose government collapsed in the October 10 no-confidence vote, is also running in the weekend's presidential elections, but her chances are seen as slim.

The PSD boycotted Monday's vote. Afterwards, Dancila accused Iohannis of "confiscating the executive power".

"The aim of this government is to give Iohannis a second (presidential) term, and this is an insult to democracy," Dancila said.

Since taking power in late 2016, the PSD government faced massive protests and criticism from Brussels over reforms seen as helping politicians to escape corruption sentences.

MEPs disqualify two candidates for new EU Commission

Yahoo – AFP, Marc BURLEIGH, Clément ZAMPA, September 30, 2019

Incoming European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has suffered a
blow to her choice of team with two candidates being disqualified (AFP Photo/
FREDERICK FLORIN)

Brussels (AFP) - European lawmakers vetting candidates for the new European Commission on Monday declared two of the 26 unfit to take office due to conflicts of interest.

The nominees put forward by Hungary and Romania were rejected by the European Parliament's legal affairs committee just ahead of confirmation hearings for the team picked by incoming Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

A German member of the committee, Tiemo Woelken, tweeted that members had decided that Romania's Rovana Plumb and Hungary's Laszlo Trocsanyi are "unfit to become commissioners".

French member Manon Aubry told journalists a vote confirmed the committee's finding last week that the two commissioners "cannot take office because of conflicts of interest".

The decision weakens von der Leyen's hand as the European Parliament holds confirmation hearings for the remaining commissioner candidates, running from Monday to October 8.

It also obliges Hungary and Romania to put forward new candidates.

Most of the rest of the team chosen by von der Leyen -- who is already confirmed -- are expected to get through the grilling, forming a near gender-balanced executive drawn from across the European bloc's member states.

Members of the new European Commission with their portfolios (AFP Photo/

Patricio ARANA)

But the legal affairs committee pre-empted the wider parliament's hearings by using a new power to scrutinise candidates.

Trocsanyi, meant to take charge of EU enlargement issues, was tripped up over government contracts awarded to his law firm.

In a statement, Trocsanyi slammed the "blatant injustice" of his disqualification and vowed to fight it "before the responsible court of justice".

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had claimed the committee's move was motivated by Trocsanyi -- his former justice minister -- helping "to stop migration".

Plumb, a former Romanian labour minister, was stymied over two problematic loans that raised suspicions of corruption.

A vice chairman on the legal affairs committee, Sergey Lagodinsky, tweeted that the disqualifications were "a victory for parliamentary democracy".

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban claimed his candidate ran into trouble 

for helping to 'stop migration' (AFP Photo/ATTILA KISBENEDEK)

Uncomfortable questions

Hungary and Romania, while initially standing by their candidates, have said they have no lack of replacement names if necessary.

A spokeswoman for the European Commission said that von der Leyen would decide whether or not to ask for new nominees after she is officially informed by the parliamentary speaker of the committee's decision.

Some of the other designated commissioners also have clouds hanging over them.

But, while they were likely to have uncomfortable questions thrown at them in the public hearings, they were seen as being under less pressure.

The EU's anti-fraud office OLAF declined to recommend charges against Poland's candidate commissioner, Janusz Wojciechowski, after he reimbursed 11,250 euros ($12,300) for travel expenses improperly claimed while he was an MEP.

Ireland's Phil Hogan -- named to be EU commissioner for trade -- will be one 

of the first to appear in the hearings (AFP Photo/EMMANUEL DUNAND)

A similar OLAF probe into France's Sylvie Goulard remains open, but she too has already paid back 45,000 euros.

Belgium's Didier Reynders had a corruption probe against him set aside on Friday, while Spain's Josep Borrell -- named to become the EU's foreign policy chief -- was fined 30,000 euros last year for insider trading.

No British candidate

The European Parliamentary hearings were expected to also touch on a controversy over von der Leyen's decision to give the title of "Protecting our European Way of Life" to the commissioner in charge of migration.

Three commissioners-designate were to appear for hearings on Monday: Slovakia's Maros Sefkovic, to handle interinstitutional relations; Ireland's Phil Hogan, for trade; and Bulgaria's Mariya Gabriel, for innovation and youth.

The hearings end with von der Leyen's three executive vice presidents being quizzed.

Britain is the one EU member state without a future commissioner in the mix as its government is intent on it leaving the bloc on October 31, the day before the new European Commission takes office.

Pope apologises to Roma for Catholic Church's 'discrimination'

Yahoo – AFP, Mihaela RODINA, 2 June 2019

Pope Francis met with members of the Roma community

Pope Francis apologised to the Roma people on Sunday for the Roman Catholic Church's "discrimination" against them as he wrapped up a visit to Romania.

Making up around 10 percent of Romania's 20 million people, many Roma are marginalised and live in poverty and have suffered centuries of discrimination and insults.

"I ask forgiveness ? in the name of the Church and of the Lord ? and I ask forgiveness of you. For all those times in history when we have discriminated, mistreated or looked askance at you," the pope said in a speech to the Roma community in the central town of Blaj.

"My heart, however, is heavy. It is weighed down by the many experiences of discrimination, segregation and mistreatment experienced by your communities. History tells us that Christians too, including Catholics, are not strangers to such evil," he said.

"Indifference breeds prejudices and fosters anger and resentment. How many times do we judge rashly, with words that sting, with attitudes that sow hatred and division!"

Earlier, the pontiff beatified seven Greco-Catholic bishops jailed and tortured during the Communist era.

Pope Francis, seen holding an icon, said the beatified Catholic bishops, victims of 

political oppression, were "shepherds, martyrs of faith" whose gifts to the Romanian 

people in the early days of Communist rule were "freedom and mercy"

"The new blessed ones suffered and sacrificed their lives, opposing a system of totalitarian and coercive ideology," he told some 60,000 worshippers attending mass on a "Field of Liberty" in Blaj.

"These shepherds, martyrs of faith, garnered for and left the Romanian people a precious heritage which we can sum up in two words: freedom and mercy," added Francis, while praising the "diversity of religious expression" in mainly Orthodox Romania.

Regime officials detained the beatified bishops overnight on October 28, 1948, accusing them of "high treason" after they refused to convert to Orthodoxy.

The Greek-Catholic Church was outlawed under 1948-89 Communist rule.

Buried in secret

The bishops died of maltreatment, some still in jail, others in confinement in an Orthodox monastery. They were then buried in secret -- to this day the whereabouts of four of their graves is unknown.

The bars of the cells where they were held were symbolically incorporated into the throne built specially for the papal visit.

The bishops followed the Eastern Rite Catholic Church which emerged from an Orthodox schism at the end of the 17th century when the central region of Transylvania was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Romanian faithful in traditional dress turned out in their thousands to attend the pontiff's 

service in Blaj, notably home to thousands of Roma, a long marginalised community

While retaining Orthodox practices they recognised Roman Catholic papal authority -- unacceptable for the Communist regime which took power following World War II. Under a 1948 decree formally abolishing the Eastern Catholic churches, Greco-Catholics were forcibly obliged to return to the Orthodox fold.

Under such stark political repression, most Romanian Catholics -- who numbered more than 1.5 million in 1948, abandoned their faith and their community has shrunk to around 200,000 today in a country of 20 million, almost nine in 10 of whom profess Orthodoxy.

The politics which has seeped through Romania's modern religious history has poisoned inter-faith relations -- even if the papal visit has softened feelings to a degree.

"No matter where we go, to the town hall, to the police or to school, doors get closed," a 72-year-old Roma, who gave his name as Ion, told AFP.

Roma, originating from northern India, suffered around five centuries of slavery before the practice was formally abolished in 1856.

But they remain a mainly poor and marginalised community -- even if recent years have seen roads paved and homes getting running water and electricity.

A Romanian couple in Blaj hold a Vatican flag as they attend Pope Francis's mass

Seeking inclusiveness

Francis's arrival in Blaj to wind up his visit was part of his attempt at inclusiveness on his three-day visit to one of what remains Europe's poorest states.

Although Romania has developed apace since obtaining EU membership in 2007 there remain some "urban or rural ghettos where nothing has changed," according to sociologist Gelu Duminica, who heads the anti-discrimination Impreuna (Together) association.

Duminica and others in Blaj saw it as no coincidence that Francis, often seen as a defender of the rights of the most marginalised, chose the Barbu Lautaru district of Blaj, whose inhabitants are mainly Roma, to launch his appeal for tolerance and social inclusion.

"The pope's visit is a message for those who are marginalised, disregarded or not accepted by others," said Mihai Gherghel, an eastern Catholic priest, who supervised the construction of the Blaj church where Francis celebrated Sunday mass.

Romania's constitutional court backs rights for gay couples

Yahoo – AFP, 27 September 2018

Romania's constitutional court said gay couples (pictured June 2018) have the same
rights to a private life and a family life as heterosexuals and thus should benefit
from legal "recognition of their rights and obligations"

Romania's constitutional court ruled Thursday that gay couples should have the same family rights as heterosexuals, a judgment that runs counter to a referendum next month seeking to interdict gay marriage.

The court said gay couples had the same rights to a private life and a family life as heterosexuals and thus should "benefit, in the long term, from legal... recognition of their rights and obligations".

The landmark ruling comes before a referendum planned for October 6 and 7, seeking to restrict the constitutional definition of "family" to heterosexual, married couples.

The vote was called by a group called "Coalition for the Family" and others close to the Orthodox Church.

The proposal is to change the constitution to stipulate that marriage is between a man and a woman, and not simply "spouses", as it currently states.

The plebiscite has already been criticised by Amnesty International, which says it would breach international human rights standards and amount to homophobic discrimination.

Thursday's ruling was in a case brought by a US-Romanian couple who had asked the authorities to recognise their marriage, registered in Belgium, so the American could move with his husband to Romania.

The constitutional court based its judgment on a ruling issued in June by the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Romania is a very conservative country where most people are members of the Orthodox Church, and only legalised homosexuality at the beginning of the 2000s.

Rainbow flags fly across Europe at Gay Pride parades

Yahoo – AFP, June 9, 2018

Marchers carry a rainbow flag aloft at a Gay Pride parade in Zagreb, Croatia
(AFP Photo/STRINGER)

Bucharest (AFP) - Thousands of people took to the streets to support LGBT rights in cities across Europe on Saturday, with marchers waving rainbow flags and condemning discrimination in all its forms.

Peaceful parades took place across European cities including the capitals of Italy, Greece, Latvia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania and Poland.

In Bucharest, some 3,000 people marched through the city centre with many celebrating a ruling made by the EU's top court earlier this week.

The European Court of Justice ruled in favour of Romanian gay man Relu Coman's right to have his US husband Robert "Clai" Hamilton live with him in Romania.

"Clai and I are two people who did not accept discrimination. If more of us did the same, the world would be better," Coman told AFP at the march.

Romania does not recognise same-sex marriage and had argued that Hamilton was not entitled to EU residency rights awarded to spouses.

The European court ruling means that same-sex partners of EU citizens have the right to live in any member state whatever their nationality, even in countries that do not recognise gay marriage.

Two men kiss at the Baltic Pride parade in Latvia's capital Riga (AFP 

Photo/Ilmars ZNOTINS)

In Warsaw, tens of thousands marched for the annual "Equality Parade" to protest discrimination not just against LGBT people but also women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities.

Organisers said 45,000 people took part, while the town hall gave a lower estimate of 23,000.

'Love knows no boundaries'

"I come from a small town and first marched for equality 10 years ago, without telling my parents," Dominika Wroblewska said at the Warsaw parade.

"It's very moving for me, especially since I came out a year ago," she said.

Rainbow flags fly at the parade in Riga (AFP Photo/Ilmars ZNOTINS)

Her partner Alicja Nauman said she was marching "because I want to live in a place where all love is accepted, because love knows no boundaries".

"The situation in Poland is bad because same-sex couples cannot marry or adopt children."

Thousands, including members of a LGBT police association, also turned out for the 14th edition of Gay Pride in Athens.

The Athens events had previously been largely shunned by institutions and notably harassed by far-right groups, but this year's edition was attended by a delegation from the liberal-conservative New Democracy party.

Not to be outdone, the facade of parliament, overlooking Syntagma square at the heart of the festivities, was symbolically lit up in all colours of the rainbow in a government initiative.

Since the leftist government took office in 2015, Greece has extended civil partnerships to same-sex couples, authorised sex changes from the age of 15 and legislated for children to be adopted by same-sex partners -- though New Democracy voted against the reforms which the powerful Orthodox Church also opposes.

The "Baltic Pride" parade in Latvia's capital Riga included members of the gay community from fellow Baltic states Estonia and Lithuania.

A handful of anti-gay protesters rally before the parade in Riga (AFP Photo/

Ilmars ZNOTINS)

One of the organisers, Kaspars Zalitis, told AFP that about eight thousand people marched.

"Latvia is in last place in the European Union when it comes to the rights of LGBT people," Zalitis said.

"There is no protection against hate crimes, no respect for trans people, that's why we think this issue is greatly urgent."

About 30 people protested before the start of the parade in Riga, following a call by a rightwing group for a demonstration against "the promotion of homosexuality".

In Rome, thousands also marched Saturday just days after Italy's new families minister from the far-right League party caused a storm, saying homosexual families do not legally exist.

"It's very important that we're here, because we need to respond and show that it's not true that we don't exist," said Andrea, 27.

Top EU court rules same-sex partners have residence rights

Yahoo – AFP, June 5, 2018

The European Court of Justice has ruled that same-sex partners of EU citizens
 have the right to live in any member state whatever their nationality (AFP Photo/
ANDREI PUNGOVSCHI)

Luxembourg (AFP) - Same-sex partners of EU citizens have the right to live in any member state whatever their nationality, even in countries that do not recognise gay marriage, the bloc's top court ruled Tuesday.

EU laws on freedom of movement extend to the non-European spouses of EU citizens and the European Court of Justice judgement means this also includes same-sex partners.

The decision, based on a case from Romania, risks further embittering relations between more socially tolerant member states to the west of the EU and conservative countries to the east.

The Luxembourg-based court recognised that EU member states "have the freedom whether or not to authorise marriage between persons of the same sex".

However, it added "they may not obstruct the freedom of residence of an EU citizen by refusing to grant his same-sex spouse, a national of a country that is not an EU member state, a derived right of residence in their territory."

The court was ruling in the case of Romanian man Relu Coman and his American husband Robert Hamilton, who were married in Brussels in 2010 and two years later sought to move to Romania.

The Romanian authorities refused to give Hamilton permission to live in the country for more than three months on the grounds that he could not be classified as Coman's spouse because the laws there do not recognise same-sex marriage.

The couple brought a case for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, arguing that Coman's right to freedom of movement, guaranteed by EU law, had been curtailed by the restriction placed on his husband.

The case went to the Romanian Constitutional Court, which asked the ECJ whether under EU law Hamilton should be regarded as Coman's spouse.

"In the directive on the exercise of freedom of movement, the term 'spouse', which refers to a person joined to another person by the bonds of marriage, is gender-neutral and may therefore cover the same-sex spouse of an EU citizen," the ECJ said.

'Victor for equality'

EU member states are free to decide whether or not to allow same-sex marriage in their own territories, the court said, but refusing to recognise a union lawfully made in another EU country "may interfere with the exercise of that citizen's right to move and reside freely".

The court said the obligation to recognise same-sex marriages for the purpose of granting residence rights "does not undermine the national identity or pose a threat to the public policy" of the country involved.

"We can now look in the eyes of any public official in Romania and across the EU with certainty that our relationship is equally valuable and equally relevant, for the purpose of free movement within the EU," Coman said in a statement released by ILGA-Europe, which campaigns for rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

"We are grateful to the EU Court and to the many people and institutions who have supported us, and through us, other same-sex couples in a similar situation. It is human dignity that wins today."

The Romanian courts will now have to rule on Coman and Hamilton's case based on the ECJ judgment.

Evelyne Paradis, ILGA-Europe executive director, said Tuesday's ruling was a victory for "equality, fairness and pragmatism".

The court "has confirmed that rainbow families should be recognised equally in the eyes of the law on freedom of movement. Now we want to see the Romanian authorities move swiftly to make this judgment a reality," Paradis said in a statement.

Romania's long battle with corruption

Yahoo – AFP, February 2, 2017

Romanian riot police stand guard as people demonstrate against controversial
decrees to pardon corrupt politicians and decriminalize other offenses in front of the
 government headquarters in Bucharest, on February 1, 2017 (AFP Photo/
DANIEL MIHAILESCU)

Bucharest (AFP) - Romanians protested in huge numbers this week against government decrees that many fear will undermine the long battle against an insidious phenomenon that has long plagued the EU country: corruption.

The biggest demonstrations since the fall of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989 saw as many as 300,000 people hit the streets overnight Wednesday to Thursday in the capital Bucharest and other cities.

This followed the issuing of a government decree 24 hours earlier that decriminalises certain corruption offences and makes abuse of power punishable by jail only if the sums involved exceed 44,000 euros ($47,500).

Brussels is watching

The European Union has long taken Romania to task over slow progress dealing with corruption and organised crime since the ex-communist country joined the bloc together with Bulgaria in 2007.

Brussels has carried out what is known as a Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) review on both countries even though both have chafed at the procedure, feeling they are being unfairly targeted.

Graft watchdog Transparency International ranked Romania below all but three of its fellow EU states in a January report based on public perception of the prevalence of corruption. Worldwide, the country ranked 57th in the world.

Between 2014 and 2016, 1,171 people were found guilty of abuses of power which collectively earned them a fine surpassing a billion euros ($1.1 billion). More than 2,000 cases remain open.

Romanian riot police stand guard as people demonstrate against controversial 

decrees to pardon corrupt politicians and decriminalize other offenses in front of the

 government headquarters in Bucharest, on February 1, 2017 (AFP Photo/

DANIEL MIHAILESCU)

A total of 27 officials, including former prime minister Victor Ponta, have faced justice in Romania in 2015, a national record. Aside from Ponta, five ministers, 16 lawmakers and five senators faced trials.

Former social democratic prime minister Adrian Nastase is the most eye-catching case of a former high-ranking official to be found guilty. He received two jail terms on two counts of corruption, marking a turning point in the anti-graft fight.

Nastase was found guilty of misusing 1.5 million euros of funds for an unsuccessful 2004 presidential campaign and attempted suicide in a bid to avoid jail. Released in the first instance in 2013, he was again placed behind bars in early 2014 for receiving bribes totalling 630,000 euros before being released seven months later.

Ponta stands accused of graft on two counts, the more recent linked to campaign financing which saw him take office in 2012.

Ponta is accused of soliciting financial aid from a businessman to cover the costs of a trip to Bucharest by a "foreign political personality" -- in the shape of former British leader Tony Blair. In exchange the businessman, who said he stumped up 220,000 euros to promote the trip, would receive a seat in parliament.

In another case, in 2015, Ponta was accused on 17 counts including forgery and complicity in tax evasion as well as money laundering between 2007-2011, when he was working as a lawyer.

Related Article:

Romanian government to repeal decree decriminalizing official misconduct

Could the US be tried for war crimes in Afghanistan?

The ICC is looking into possible war crimes committed by the US in Afghanistan. There are doubts about whether any CIA agents will ever be prosecuted for torture - but there are other options.

Deutsche Welle, 15 November 2016

 The alleged kidnapping, torture and rape of detainees in Afghanistan by US armed forces are coming under more scrutiny at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

Chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda's annual Preliminary Examination Activities report for 2015 found that "members of the US armed forces and the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) resorted to techniques amounting to the commission of the war crimes of torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, and rape."

The prosecutors have found evidence that 61 detainees were subjected to "torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity" in Afghanistan between May 2003 and December 2014 (mostly at the outset of the war in 2003 and 2004). Meanwhile, the CIA is being investigated for the same crimes - as well as rape - against 27 detainees in Afghanistan and secret prisons in Poland, Romania and Lithuania.

Fatou Bensouda presented the report 

this week

Systematic cruelty

The ICC also underlined that the alleged crimes seemed to have been part of an officially sanctioned system "approved at senior levels of the US government." "The alleged crimes were not the abuses of a few isolated individuals," it read. "Rather, they appear to have been committed as part of approved interrogation techniques in an attempt to extract 'actionable intelligence' from detainees."

This systematic nature of the crimes increased their "gravity," the report added, and caused considerable suffering: "Some victims reportedly exhibited psychological and behavioral issues, including hallucinations, paranoia, insomnia, and attempts at self-harm and self-mutilation."

Andreas Schüller, program director for international crimes at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), welcomed the report, but emphasized that this was just part of a wider examination, and that the ICC itself was part of an international judicial process that also involves military and civilian courts in the US and elsewhere: there are criminal investigations and pending court cases ongoing in Spain, Germany, Poland, Romania and Lithuania into alleged crimes committed by the CIA - either because they were perpetrated on their territories or with the collusion of their security forces.

The ECCHR itself filed a lawsuit on behalf of the German-Lebanese man Khalid el Masri, who was a victim of the CIA's extraordinary rendition program and says he spent several months being tortured in Afghanistan.

"You also have cases currently open on Guantanamo against US officials by the French judiciary, where former Guantanamo commander Geoffrey Miller has been summoned earlier this year to appear as an accused witness," said Schüller. (Miller, a retired US army general, ignored the summons.)

Overcoming the obstacles

The fact that the US, like many African countries, is not a party to the ICC is not an obstacle to the investigation. For one thing, Afghanistan ratified the Rome Statute that underpins the court in 2003, and therefore any crimes carried out on its territory (whether by military personnel or not) are within ICC jurisdiction.

German citizen Khalid el Masri was
abused in Afghanistan by CIA agents

Moreover, as the ICC itself pointed out in a statement on Tuesday, its prosecutor's office is obliged to investigate all alleged crimes brought to its attention, regardless of potential legal problems. In the case of Afghanistan, prosecutors said on Tuesday that they will decide "imminently" whether to seek authorization to open a full-scale investigation.

But whether that will ever lead to any prosecutions of CIA agents is very doubtful. "It's not realistic, because the US has not signed the statute, and even if it had, the US government has said repeatedly that it will not extradite any of its citizens to the ICC," said Wolfgang Heinz, senior policy adviser at the German Institute for Human Rights.

Nevertheless, should the ICC decide to pursue its investigations and if it identifies US suspects living in other countries, it could seek their extradition. "That's been done before - the US embassy will apply pressure of course, but then you're not absolutely safe," Heinz said.

Not only that, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) can also file charges against European governments suspected of colluding in the CIA's human rights abuses. This has happened before: in 2014, the Polish government was convicted of collusion in the CIA's extraordinary rendition program and ordered to pay compensation to two men.

The US' alleged crimes are not the only ones being examined in Afghanistan - those perpetrated by the Taliban, other anti-government groups, and Afghan government forces are also mentioned in the report, as are war crimes by various parties in eight other conflict zones around the world - in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South America.

Romania nightclub fire death toll rises as protests continue

The death toll following a fire a nightclub in Romania's capital has risen to 44. Anti-governement protests continued over the weekend on a smaller scale, despite Prime Minister Victor Ponta's resignation.

Deutsche Welle, 8 Nov 2015

The director of Romania's burns hospital in Floreasca, Cristian Nitescu, said on Sunday that most recent deaths were as a result of burns-related injuries. Some of them had been transferred to the Netherlands for treatment.

"The next seven days will be the most difficult with regards to treating the wounded," Health Minister Nicolae Banicioiu said on Saturday.

"We welcome any help, any medical teams coming from abroad," Banicioiu added.

A fire broke out at a club, the "Collectiv" nightclub in Bucharest, last Friday after fireworks were let off during a band's performance. The pyrotechnics set fire to flammable sound insulation, triggering a stampede as revelers ran to the sole exit. In addition to the deaths, some 180 people were injured - many with severe burns.

Romanian authorities have since detained the nightclub's three bosses on manslaughter charges. The trio had no authorization to hold either concerts or pyrotechnic shows.

Mass protests

The blaze sparked mass anti-government protests in Romania, with many demonstrators saying that the sub-standard safety measures at the club reflect the country's wider corruption concerns.

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta - who is currently on trial facing corruption charges - stood down with his cabinet on Wednesday.

Christian Popescu Piedone, the district mayor of Budapest's Sector 4 also resigned, saying he was "morally guilty" for the disaster.

ksb/rc (AFP, AP)

EU states agree relocation of 120,000 refugees 'by large majority'

Yahoo – AFP, 22 Sep 2015

Migrants walk through the Hungarian countryside after crossing the border

with Croatia on September 21, 2015 (AFP Photo/Attila Kisbenedek)

Brussels (AFP) - EU interior ministers on Tuesday approved by a "large majority" a plan to relocate 120,000 refugees around the bloc but only after overriding fierce opposition from central and eastern European countries.

"Decision on relocation for 120,000 persons adopted today, by large majority of member states," the EU's Luxembourg presidency said in a tweet after an emergency meeting in Brussels.

"We, Slovaks, Romanians, Hungarians against, and Finland abstained. The resolution was accepted," Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said in a separate tweet.

The four countries, led by Hungary, are bitterly opposed to the European Commission plan, insisting Brussels has no right to make them take in thousands of the people seeking refuge in Europe.

To do so, amounts to a violation of national sovereignty, they argue.

An EU diplomat told AFP the decision was taken by so-called qualified majority vote.

It means that the Commission failed to get unanimous backing from all 28 member states for its relocation plan ahead of an emergency EU leaders summit Wednesday on the worst migrant crisis since World War II.

The squabble was a repeat of the interior ministers meeting last week but this time, pressed by France and Germany, the plan was put to a vote.

The outcome is binding on all 28 member states although implementation may prove problematic given the depth of opposition and the issue will very likely feature again at Wednesday's summit.

Last week's meeting did endorse plans to relocate a separate 40,000 refugees which the Commission unveiled in May as the crisis deepened.

The diplomat said that of the 120,000, some 66,000 migrants who have been granted asylum will be relocated from Greece and Italy which along with Hungary have borne the brunt of the flood of migrants fleeing war and turmoil across the Middle East and Africa.

That leaves 54,000 places -- which Hungary had rejected in its opposition to the Commission plan -- to be redistributed.

EU sources said earlier Tuesday Greece and Italy may get most of these places, while others now finding themselves in the frontline such as Austria and Croatia could also get additional help.

The new EU refugee quotas pic.twitter.com/TKBzHw23pt

— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) 23 september 2015

Related Article:

"The New Human P1" - Sep 19-20, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - New