Republicans want to know if Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package risks sending inflation skyrocketing, while Democrats are likely to stress ongoing economic inequality.
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Trump’s Growing Legal Troubles May Ruin His Comeback
Former President Trump’s legal problems deepened significantly Monday — and the trouble threatens to damage any future political ambitions he may harbor.
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Trinidad & Tobago: Violence Against Women Difficult to Eliminate
Twenty-three-year-old Andrea Bharatt went missing on January 29, last seen alive as she and a friend got into a taxi after work. The friend made it home; when Bharatt didn’t, her father called her mobile. Eventually, a man answered and demanded money, though a ransom amount was never specified. On February 4, despite the efforts of law enforcement and civilians alike, Bharatt’s body was found at the base of a precipice in northeast Trinidad.
Her murder prompted a national outcry, especially as it came just two months after the abduction of teenager Ashanti Riley, who herself took “public” transportation and ended up dead. (The car in which Bharatt was abducted bore a false hired car license plate.)
The Bharatt case, however, has been plagued by controversy. Two of the suspects have died since being detained by police. The first, Andrew Morris—according to a media release from the Commissioner of Police—died because of co-morbidities after having fallen off a chair. A private autopsy subsequently revealed he was beaten to death. Furthermore, doubt has been cast as to his involvement in the crime, as he told police he was only in the business of renting cars.
The second, Joel Balcon (aka Devon Charles), who had 70 charges against him including rape and “grievous” sexual assault, died in the intensive care unit of a public hospital. As many as 45 of the cases against him were pending at the time of his detention by police.
Such glaring missteps have focused the spotlight on the country’s inept criminal justice system as well as its culture of misogyny and gender-based violence. For some, it has also revealed how citizens struggle to effect real change and the ways in which government processes often lag behind, despite protests and petitions:
A history of violence against women
A 2002 United Nations (UN) report by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women found that as far back as the 1990s, gender-based violence, including sexual attacks on women and young girls, was “pervasive” and had “long been a matter of grave concern for the Government.”
At the time, the government implemented a robust and comprehensive programme to specifically tackle domestic violence, but decades later, rates of gender-based violence are still predominant in the country.
In 2020 alone, 45 women and two girls were murdered.
Day by day, year after year, women are under attack. In 2014, senior counsel Dana Seetahal was gunned down in her car, the victim of an execution-style killing. In 2015, television presenter Marcia Henville was murdered in her home, reportedly the victim of domestic violence.
In 2016, after the body of Asami Nagakiya, a steelpan player from Japan who was visiting Trinidad and Tobago for Carnival, was found under a tree in the Queen’s Park Savannah on Ash Wednesday morning, then mayor of Port of Spain, Raymond Tim Kee, added insult to injury by saying “women have a responsibility to ensure they are not abused during the Carnival season.” Protests over victim-blaming ensued and the mayor eventually resigned.
Women are harassed on the street and in their places of work. By the close of 2016, when 20-year-old bank employee Shannon Banfield went missing and was later found in the storeroom of a variety store in Port of Spain, people said, “Enough is enough.”
Yet, 2017 had barely begun when the first female murder of that year occurred, that of a schoolgirl. Then, after the murder of Jamilia Derevenax, whose throat was slit by an assailant she knew, in the parking garage of a popular cineplex, Prime Minister Keith Rowley suggested that women should choose their partners wisely to avoid violence, demonstrating how well entrenched the victim-blaming response is, even as women continued to be killed.
Emotional, physical and sexual abuse
A 2017 Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) National Women’s Health Survey for Trinidad and Tobago showed relatively high statistics for emotional, physical and sexual abuse against women, both in relationships and with “non-partners,” from a survey field of 1,079 interviewees.
More than 30 per cent of women, for instance, reported having experienced either physical or sexual partner violence or both, at least once. Close to one in three women experienced sexual violence, including rape, attempted rape, unwanted touching, and reported sexual violence. For many, this happened before the age of 18. The report also found that at 21.3 per cent, cases of non-partner sexual violence were almost four times higher than acts of sexual violence perpetrated by a partner (5 per cent).
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLC3AyUFRN1
The way forward
The National Women’s Health Survey laid out several recommendations for ways in which gender-based violence could be combated in Trinidad and Tobago—suggestions which echo those of many social media users—including more adequate spaces and services for women leaving violent domestic situations, procedural review, mandatory human rights, gender sensitivity, and on-the-job training for police officers (though there is a Gender-Based Violence Unit in the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service), educational campaigns that “deconstruct some of the gendered perceptions that fuel male violence,” and trustworthy health services.
Some, however, realised that the root of the problem goes much deeper. After Bharatt’s abduction, activist “Tillah Willah” shared a video of the calypsonian Scrunter’s 1979 song “Take The Number,” which advised women to make a note of the license plate of any car they get into, commenting: Scrunter sing this in 1979. 2021 come and allyuh still blaming women if they can’t figure out what a predator looks like instead of changing the way we raise boys to think women’s bodies are property.
Writer Debbie Jacob, who runs an educational programme for prisoners, feels change needs to start at the top: Police and prisons are not functioning anywhere near the level they should be functioning. We choose to perpetuate irrelevant education and throw people — innocent and guilty — into prison, which is basically a school for crime.
We don’t have enough educational programmes, skill-based programmes and rehabilitation programmes are virutally nonexististent in prisons. We don’t have any rehabilitation programmes for sexual offenders in our prisons. We are not holding anyone accountable in this country.
We don’t care about people being in prison to study the craft of crime for over a decade before the courts that can’t hear cases fast enough throw the case out. And those of us who are trying to address the crime problem and offer solutions can’t get traction or consistency to function. Dysfunction and apathy prevail in this country with periodic outbursts of anger and disgust when a crime occurs. Victims deserve better than this. Start asking questions at the top. What is being done?
Since Bharatt’s murder, parliament has passed the Evidence Bill, which will introduce more modern mechanisms for evidence gathering in criminal trials. More controversially, pepper spray has been approved as a self-defense tool, though anyone who wants to purchase the product will require a permit to do so.
Citizens understand that it is time for immense change, but with the above measures not really addressing the causes of the problem, the question remains: will those with the power to effect change make the necessary moves to protect women?
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T&T Has No Deal Yet to Buy COVID Vaccines from India
Renuka Singh
There is no agreement yet between T&T and India for either the purchase or donation of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishield vaccines. This was confirmed yesterday by Indian High Commissioner Arun Kumar Sahu who said this country’s order of 250,000 vaccines from the Serum Institute in India has not been finalised.
Guardian Media contacted the High Commissioner last week about the status of this country’s order of Indian-made vaccines. In a response yesterday, the High Commissioner’s office said it is willing to help expedite the order but only after T&T “places an order with the Serum Institute directly and reaches a commercial agreement.”
“The external supplies of vaccines are an ongoing process, depending on availability and domestic requirements,” the office said. It added that in the coming weeks, Indian vaccines are expected “to reach some of the Caribbean countries whose governments have requested India for donation” but gave no further details.
“The total donation of vaccine to the Caribbean countries is expected to be around 500,000 doses,” High Commissioner Sahu said.
T&T, through Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne, began discussions about purchasing 250,000 orders of the vaccine on February 16, one day after the Serum Institute received Word Health Organisation (WHO) approval. Browne has written to his Indian counterpart, Dr S. Jaishankar, for help in getting the required export approval.
“Keeping in mind our own domestic demand and other commitments for made in India vaccines, our long-standing friendly relations with the Government and people of Trinidad and Tobago, we will try our best to expedite this approval process,” the High Commissioner said.
However, he pointed out: “The High Commission is not aware of any proposal from the Trinidad and Tobago Government requesting for gifting of vaccines by the Government of India.”
The Government of India donated some 50,000 doses of vaccines to Barbados, another 70,000 to Dominica and will contribute some 500,000 vaccines to Caricom. By yesterday’s count, India has donated 6.75 million doses and dispatched another 22.3 million doses on commercial terms to 28 countries.
Barbados has gifted T&T 2,000 doses of vaccines, enough to vaccinate 1000 people, and 3,000 to Guyana.
“In the Latin America and Caribbean region, Mexico has already purchased 0.87 million doses; Brazil has purchased 2 million doses, and Argentina purchased 5.8 million doses,” the Commissioner said. “India has also donated 200,000 doses for UN Peacekeeping Force.”
More than 90 countries are looking for Indian vaccines either through donation or commercial purchase and as of yesterday, some 28 countries have benefited from made in India vaccines.
T&T began the rollout of the 2,000 vaccines last Wednesday in Trinidad and in Tobago on Saturday. The first doses have already been administered and the second doses are expected to be administered within the next 12 weeks.
At a press conference yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley warned that smaller countries are being overlooked in their attempts to get COVID-19 vaccine supplies. He and Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said the government is trying to manoeuvre around an unequal market.
According to Dr Rowley, some smaller countries are not even being allowed inside the door to place orders.
However just last week he was confident about the supply to T&T saying then that “monies have been paid, local preparations have been made, orders, negotiations outside of COVAX supply are currently underway and we are close to receiving and using our anticipated supply.”
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Perth man with backwards swastika painted on wanted over blowtorch attack
A man with a swastika painted backwards on his forehead has launched a bizarre racist attack on an innocent mother and her 15-year-old daughter in Perth.
Security footage captured the wanted man walking casually from a Gosnells shopping centre yesterday with a deodorant can and a gas lighter in his hands, and the Nazi symbol incorrectly painted above his eyes.
WA Police said he went on to use the two innocuous items as a makeshift blowtorch, blasting flames at a mother and her daughter, which he told them was because they were indigenous.
"The comments were that vile they don't bear worth repeating," Detective Senior Sergeant Sean Bell said.
https://twitter.com/JerrieDemasi/status/1364108066132688903
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The 40-year-old mother received minor burns to her arm, her daughter was not injured.
"Any assault on a mother and her daughter simply going about their lawful business trying to get something to eat for dinner is atrocious," Senior Sergeant Bell said.
"But when you add in the racial element it's certainly not tolerated by society and we treat it very seriously."
It comes less than a week after police charged two Perth Neo-Nazis for planning an armed prison break. Police do not believe yesterday's attack was sophisticated.
Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit www.crimestopperswa.com.au.
ILO: Growth of Digital Labor Needs Regulation
GENEVA (ILO News) – Digital labour platforms have increased five-fold worldwide in the last decade according to the ILO’s latest World Employment and Social Outlook 2021 report.
This growth has underlined the need for international policy dialogue and regulatory cooperation in order to provide decent work opportunities and foster the growth of sustainable businesses more consistently.
According to the report World Employment and Social Outlook 2021: The role of digital labour platforms in transforming the world of work , digital labour platforms are providing new work opportunities, including for women, persons with disabilities, young people and those marginalized in traditional labour markets. Platforms also allow businesses to access a large flexible workforce with varied skills, while expanding their customer base.
The report focuses on two main types of digital labour platform: online web-based platforms, where tasks are performed online and remotely by workers, and location-based platforms, where tasks are performed at a specified physical location by individuals, such as taxi drivers and delivery workers. Its findings are based on surveys and interviews with some 12,000 workers and representatives of 85 businesses around the world in multiple sectors.
New challenges for workers and businesses
The challenges for platform workers relate to working conditions, the regularity of work and income, and the lack of access to social protection, freedom of association and collective bargaining rights. Working hours can often be long and unpredictable. Half of online platform workers earn less than US$2 per hour. In addition, some platforms have significant gender pay gaps. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed many of these issues, says the report.
Many businesses face challenges relating to unfair competition, non- transparency with regard to data and pricing, and high commission fees. Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) also have difficulties accessing finance and digital infrastructure
“All workers, regardless of employment status, need to be able to exercise their fundamental rights at work”
Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General
The new opportunities created by digital labour platforms are further blurring the previously clear distinction between employees and the self-employed. Working conditions are largely regulated by the platforms’ terms of service agreements, which are often unilaterally determined. Algorithms are increasingly replacing humans in allocating and evaluating work, and administering and monitoring workers.
With platforms operating across multiple jurisdictions, coherent and coordinated policies are needed to ensure they provide decent work opportunities and foster the growth of sustainable businesses, the report says.
“Digital labour platforms are opening up opportunities that did not exist before, particularly for women, young people, persons with disabilities and marginalized groups in all parts of the world. That must be welcomed. The new challenges they present can be met through global social dialogue so that workers, employers and governments can fully and equally benefit from these advances. All workers, regardless of employment status, need to be able to exercise their fundamental rights at work,” said ILO Director-General Guy Ryder.
Digital divide
The costs and benefits of digital platforms are not shared equally across the world. Ninety-six per cent of investments in such platforms are concentrated in Asia, North America and Europe. Seventy per cent of revenues are concentrated in just two countries, the United States and China.
Work on online web-based platforms is outsourced by businesses in the global North, and performed by workers in the global South, who earn less than their counterparts in developed countries. This uneven growth of the digital economy perpetuates a digital divide and risks exacerbating inequalities.
A way forward
Many governments, enterprises and workers’ representatives, including unions, have begun to address some of these issues but their responses are varied. This leads to uncertainty for all parties.
Since digital labour platforms operate across multiple jurisdictions, international policy dialogue and coordination is needed to ensure regulatory certainty and the application of international labour standards, says the report.
It calls for global social dialogue and regulatory cooperation between digital labour platforms, workers and governments, which could lead over time to a more effective and consistent approach towards a number of objectives to ensure that:
- Workers’ employment status is correctly classified and is in accordance with national classification systems.
- There is transparency and accountability of algorithms for workers and businesses.
- Self-employed platform workers can enjoy the right to bargain collectively.
- All workers, including platform workers, have access to adequate social security benefits, through the extension and adaptation of policy and legal frameworks where necessary.
- Platform workers can access the courts of the jurisdiction in which they are located if they so choose.
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Turks & Caicos Opposition in Landslide Poll Victory
The main opposition Progressive National Party (PNP) secured a landslide victory when the citizens of Turks and Caicos went to the polls in a general election on Friday.
Led by businessman Charles Washington Misick, the PNP obtained a landslide 14 to 1 victory over the incumbent People’s Democratic Movement (PDM).
According to the territory’s supervisor of Elections, Dudley Lewis, the opposition party won nine of the 10 electoral district seats and all five of the At Large seats.
Misick, 70, is a former chief minister and the brother of former premier Michael Misick.
The PDM, in a major defeat, saw their leader, Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson, who was elected the country’s first female premier in 2016, losing her seat.
The only successful PDM candidate was former health minister Edwin Astwood who won the Grand Turk South.
Meanwhile, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in a statement on Saturday said that the CARICOM Elections Observation Mission (CEOM) that monitored the polls, said that the process was free and fair “and the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands must be commended for this.”
“The peacefulness of the elections that transpired on 19 February 2021 reflected the tranquility of the society of the Turks and Caicos Islands,” said the three-member CEOM team that was deployed to observe the electoral process across the territory.
CMC
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If you joined the GameStop frenzy or dabbled with bitcoin, get ready for the tax man
“My Robinhood tax form for 2020 is 374 pages. Day trading is fun,” said one entrepreneur.
Damage to United Boeing 777 engine consistent with metal fatigue, NTSB says
The focus is more on engine maker Pratt & Whitney and analysts expect little financial impact on Boeing, but the issues are a fresh headache for the planemaker.
‘Crisis? What Crisis?, Democracy OK in Haiti’-Pres. Moise Tells UN
Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise told the UN Security Council that “democracy was doing well in Haiti” despite its ongoing political crisis, an assertion challenged by the United States, which called on him to quickly put an end to his era of “rule by decree.”
Moise has been ruling by decree for a year because there currently is no parliament, and only a third of its senators are in office. Legislative elections due in 2018 were delayed.
He also maintains that his term lasts until February 2022 — but the opposition argues it should have ended two weeks ago, in a standoff over disputed elections.
During a rare address by a head of state — countries are usually represented by the foreign minister — Moise said that in four years, his country “had had to face down bids to interrupt the constitutional order through violence.
“At the base of all this, there is a rejection of the democratic regime and of elections as the only means of access to the management of the affairs of the state,” he said, lauding his own administration’s “tireless efforts… to appease the sociopolitical climate.”
“We are facing a powerful lobby which has great resources,” he said during a speech that lasted 27 minutes, instead of the 15 normally granted, and that was marred by the sound and image cutting out because of a poor internet connection.
He said this lobby was associated with “sore losers” and has violently blocked the senate’s regular functioning, preventing the government from being formalised and voting on a budget and an electoral law.
The president promised “limited use” of presidential decrees until the next general election scheduled for September, but Washington asked him to stop using them at all, while France said that several of the more recent ones were “a source of concern.”
Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the acting US ambassador to the UN, reiterated “the need to bring the current period of rule by decree to a swift conclusion.”
He said such measures should only be taken when absolutely necessary and in issues such as security and election preparations.
“We urge the government of Haiti to hold overdue legislative elections as soon as possible in order to restore the parliament’s constitutional role,” he said.
“Recent actions unilaterally removing and appointing three supreme court judges, creating a national intelligence agency, and actions constraining the role of Haiti’s independent audit agency risk damaging Haiti’s core democratic institutions,” he added.
The dispute in Haiti stems from Moise’s original election. He was voted into office in a poll subsequently canceled after allegations of fraud, and then elected again a year later, in 2016.
The issue has led to weeks of violent protests on the streets of the poor Caribbean country.
(AFP)
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But, the UN Human Rights Office Concerned Over Attacks on Courts
The United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) says it is “very concerned” over recent attacks against judicial independence in Haiti, as the country is gripped by political and institutional instability.
According to OCHCHR spokesperson Liz Throssell, a judge of the Haitian Cour de Cassation (Supreme Court) was arrested on February 7 “in circumstances that may amount to unlawful or arbitrary arrest and detention.”
Throssell said 22 other individuals were also arrested, 17 of whom still remain in pre-trial detention.
While the judge was subsequently released, the person along with two others were “forced to retire and later replaced, apparently through an irregular procedure”, she said
“These developments cause concerns about judicial independence and have further eroded the separation of powers in Haiti,” said Throssell at a regular media briefing at the UN Office at Geneva.
Throssell stressed that respecting the rule of law and the system of checks and balances at all times is paramount.
“It is even more crucial now given the growing political tensions and the increasing expression of dissent in demonstrations”, she said.
OHCHR called on the Haitian authorities to ensure respect for the established legal and institutional framework, and to comply with their obligations under the country’s Constitution and international human rights treaties, she added.
“We urge the Government and opposition to engage in a meaningful and inclusive dialogue to avoid further escalation of tensions, and to resolve the current political and institutional deadlock in a manner that is both lasting and sustainable”, Throssell said.
She said OHCHR “stands ready to continue supporting Haitian authorities in their fulfilment of international human rights obligations” and expresses its continuing willingness to strengthen its human rights engagement with all sectors in the society.
Earlier this month, the Organization of American States (OAS) said its General Secretariat was “closely monitoring the current situation in Haiti,” and that it was “concerned with the respect for human rights and the independence of powers.”
“The OAS General Secretariat has an essential interest in the protection of democratic institutions and the political rights of its citizens,” said the OAS in a statement. “It is fundamental that state institutions work together to resolve the problems afflicting Haiti.
“We call for democratic structural changes in Haiti through the discussion of a new Constitution and an effective participation in general elections this year,” it added.
The OAS said that its General Secretariat “renews its support for the electoral process as the only option consistent with the Democratic Charter to replace the current constitutional President with another President on February 7, 2022.”
Opposition parties in Haiti had declared 72-year-old judge Joseph Mecene Jean-Louis the country’s interim leader, a day after an alleged coup plot was foiled, as they insisted that President Jovenel Moise must step down.
In a video message, Jean-Louis, the longest-serving judge in the Supreme Court, said he “accepted the choice of the opposition and civil society, to serve (his) country as interim president for the transition”.
Moise, who has ruled by decree since mid-January, has stated he would hand over power to the winner of the elections but would not step down until his term expires in 2022.
But the opposition has rejected his interpretation of the constitution and has insisted his term had come to an end.
“We are waiting for Jovenel Moise to leave the National Palace, so that we can get on with installing Mr. Mecene Jean-Louis,” opposition figure Andre Michel told international news agency AFP.
Former senator Youri Latortue said that the transition period was expected to last around 24 months.
“There’s a two-year roadmap laid out, with the establishing of a national conference, the setting out of a new constitution and the holding of elections,” he said.
Haiti Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe said Supreme Court judge Hiviquel Dabrezil and inspector general for the national police force, Marie Louise Gauthier, were among 23 people who were detained for their role in an alleged plot to oust President Moise.
Meanwhile, the US lawmakers said Haiti remains gripped in “a cascade of economic, public health and political crises.”
The new Joe Biden administration in the United States has called on the Haitian administration to hold talks to resolve the crisis, saying that a newly-elected president should succeed President Moise when his term ends on February 2, 2022.
CMC
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