By Sir Ronald Sanders

The announcement by the President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta that his government has nominated the country’s energy minister, Monica Juma, for the post of Commonwealth Secretary-General, has re-opened the contention surrounding “turns” to hold the post.

However, there is no such thing as ‘turns’ in the rules of the Commonwealth. And, the concept of ‘turns’ has never been used as a criterion for proposing candidates for the job.

‘Turns’ is a contrivance utilised by governments of countries in regions of the world that have not held the post. But, the job of Secretary-General has always been open to any Commonwealth citizen qualified for the consideration by Heads of Government. Below, I set out the Secretaries-General of the Commonwealth from the inception of the job; the countries from which they came; the candidates who challenged them to demonstrate that ‘turns’ is a stratagem of recent vintage which, if slavishly followed, would deprive the Commonwealth of the best talents to carry out the vital duties of Secretary-General.

In 1965, when the Heads of Government elected the Canadian Arnold Smith as Secretary-General, there were five other contenders from Australia, New Zealand, Sierra Leone and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). In 1975 and again in 1980, Shridath ‘Sonny’ Ramphal of Guyana was elected unopposed, but he was unsuccessfully challenged by an Indian in 1985. In 1990, Emeka Anyaoku of Nigeria was elected, having fended off a strong contender in Malcolm Fraser of Australia, but term limits were then limited to two; he was re-elected in 1995 when the period of a term was reduced from five to four years. In 2000, the New Zealander, Don McKinnon, was elected but he had to fight off a challenge from Farook Sobhan of Bangladesh. In 2008, the Indian, Kamalesh Sharma, was elected but faced a strong challenge from Michael Frendo of Malta. In 2014, the contenders were Baroness Scotland nominated by Dominica and promoted by Britain where she had been Attorney-General and continues to be a member of the British House of Lords; Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba of Botswana and me from Antigua and Barbuda.

The Secretary-General therefore has come from: Canada, Guyana, Nigeria, New Zealand, India, Dominica. In terms of regions and the contrivance of ‘turns’, this translates into: Canada, Caribbean Arica, Pacific, Asia, Caribbean. But if ‘turns’ were really the criterion, after India (Asia), it should not have been Caribbean’s ‘turn’; it should have been the turn of Europe (either Cyprus or Malta) and if Europe gave-up its ‘turn’, it should have gone to Canada at which point the cycle should have been re-started.

However, the reality is that there is no such criterion as ‘turns’ for the job of Commonwealth SG. And if there is, then the Caribbean jumped its turn in 2015, and it should now definitely be the turn of either Malta or Cyprus before returning to Canada. If not Europe and North America are being denied the chance of nominating candidates for the post. The idea of regional ‘turns’ is limiting and self-defeating.

Some countries in the Caribbean are insisting that it is the Caribbean’s “turn” to hold the post for two terms (eight years). Therefore, even though English Baroness Patricia Scotland was elected, ostensibly as coming from the Caribbean because she was born in Dominica which she left at the age of two, for the term 2016 to 2020, it is contended by her Caribbean supporters that she is entitled to a second term, running from April 2020 to 2024.

The story gets complicated because, the Baroness’ elected-term officially ended in April 2020, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Commonwealth Heads of Government could not meet to consider candidates for the term 2020 to 2024. Consequently, the Baroness was allowed to remain in the post until such time as the election could be held. She has, therefore, not only served the term for which she was elected by a majority of one vote with several abstentions, she has also segued into a further year and six months, so far, into an unelected term.

This period has not been uncontroversial. In February 2020, Boris Johnson, who has been serving as Chair of the Commonwealth since 2019 when he was elected Prime Minister of Great Britain, stated in a letter to all Commonwealth Heads of Government that a majority of them had indicated to him rejection of a plan “to offer Lady Scotland another four years in office”. The leaders agreed only to a short three-month extension of her contract which ended on 31 March, 2020.

As it turned out, the Heads of Government meeting, slated for Rwanda in June 2020, was postponed twice, first to June 2021 and now to later this year.

The Government of Kenya now feels that, in so far as it believes ‘turns’ exist, the Caribbean has had its turn, and now it is Africa’s turn. Significantly, African countries did not support the British Baroness at the 2015 election in Malta; they stood solidly behind the Botswana candidate, Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba, in the second round of voting. I was eliminated in the first round because promised African votes went to Masire-Mwamba.

In reality, the notion of ‘turns’ was never a criterion for the job, and persons are only elected for one term at a time. The criterion for the job was – and should be – a Commonwealth citizen with a proven track record of knowledge and experience of Commonwealth affairs; a deep commitment to its values; a vision of the role it can play in effectively serving the interests of each of its 54 states, especially its 32 small members; and advancing the Commonwealth as a force for good in global affairs.

There should be a contest for the post, and outstanding candidates from anywhere in the Commonwealth should contend without restriction.

Responses and previous commentaries: www.sirronaldsanders.com

(The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States and the Organization of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto. The views expressed are entirely his own)

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CNW- A US Haitian legislator has written to United States President Joe Biden, appealing to him to stop the deportation of Haitian migrants and end what he described as “the cruel treatment of Haitians.

“I remain deeply troubled by the treatment of Haitian immigrants arriving at the Texas border as they travel north through South America and are subsequently being deported back to Haiti,” said New York City Council Member Dr. Mathieu Eugene, the first Haitian to be elected to the City Council, in his letter to Biden.

“Since 2010, Haiti has been subjected to several natural disasters, including tropical storms, two catastrophic earthquakes that caused significant devastation, and continued political unrest and socioeconomic instability,” added Eugene, chair of the Council Committee on Civil and Human Rights, who represents the predominantly 40th Council District in Brooklyn.

“With each successive crisis, the rebuilding and recovery process is put into disarray, and the availability of critical resources for the country becomes even more limited.

“As I have stated on many occasions, Haiti is not prepared to handle an influx of deportees,” Eugene wrote in his letter, a copy of which was made available to the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

“The country is hurting, and the Haitian people are struggling every day to cope with a substantial amount of personal loss, including emotional and physical trauma, and financial uncertainty.

“Sending Haitian immigrants back to Haiti will only worsen the ongoing situation and will also increase the burden on their family members living in the United States, many of whom have established careers here,” he said.

“They are doctors, nurses, cab drivers, medical professionals, business owners, teachers and entrepreneurs. Their work has supported our national economy for generations, and they have served a critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic when the labor of our essential workers helped get our city, our state and our country through the darkest days of this public health crisis.”

The legislator said the Haitian refugees, who are traveling through Mexico into Texas, are “enduring extremely unsafe living conditions and are putting their lives at risk.

“They are human beings, and they have embarked on a very dangerous and treacherous journey to reach what they hope is a safe and stable environment. I am urging you to stop their deportation, to help them, and to give Haitian immigrants the due process that they are entitled to.

“It is an important humanitarian gesture to accept Haitian immigrants in the United States because it aligns with the principles and philosophy that this country was founded on. We are known around the world as a beacon of freedom, liberty and opportunity for all who seek it, and it is heart-breaking to witness the violent treatment of Haitian refugees at the border, knowing that this type of attack on human dignity should no longer occur in modern-day America.”

Eugene said he remains confident that the Biden administration will do what is right for these immigrants because this situation is sending the wrong message to the global community about the values that the United States upholds.

Over the last weekend, New York Attorney General Letitia James joined a coalition of 17 attorneys general across the United States in dispatching a letter to President Biden and US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on the situation.

In their letter, the attorneys general are calling on the Biden administration to ensure US federal officials treat Haitian refugees with dignity and compassion.

CMC

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The John A Osborne Airport in Montserrat reopened for normal operations this morning following an incident yesterday with an SVG Islander aircraft which left two passengers injured.

A statement from the airport says on September 29, SVG Islander (BN2) J8VBI aircraft flight 207 with seven people and 1 hour 20 minutes fuel, en route from Antigua, landed on John A Osborne Airport (Montserrat) at 21:33 UTC or 5:33 pm LST and veered to the right, taking it off the runway where it came to rest on the southern embankment.

It said thankfully, no lives were lost, however, two passengers sustained injuries. We hope that all passengers will recover quickly from the distressing event.

The Airport reopened at 8:30 am on September 30 for normal operations. The UK Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) is investigating the cause of the incident and a report will be published once the investigations are completed.

The aircraft is reported to be owned by SVG Air.

The Governor’s Office in Montserrat expressed sympathy to all those involved in yesterday’s incident at the airport and hoped that the two injured passengers will recover swiftly.

The Office said the UK’s Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) have engaged their local Accident Investigation Manager (AIM) to commence the investigation process which began last night.

A report will be published when all investigations are completed.

The Governor’s Office in Montserrat added that such incidents are inevitably traumatic for all concerned but hope the stress will ease soon now that all are safe.

It said that no lives were lost is the most important thing.

The Governor also thanked the emergency services and airport staff who responded swiftly with courage and commitment.

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BOGOTA, Sept 30 (Reuters) – About 1,900 fighters belonging to Colombian rebel and crime groups are operating from Venezuela, where they plan attacks and participate in drug trafficking, the commander of Colombia’s armed forces said.

The Colombian government has long said Venezuela’s leadership grants safe harbor to Colombian armed groups, allowing trafficking of cocaine in exchange for a cut of the profits.

But it is the first time the military has given a figure for the number it believes are operating from the neighboring country.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has denied that Venezuela has provided safe harbor for drug traffickers. But he has expressed sympathy for rebels’ leftist ideology and openly welcomed some guerrilla leaders.

Around half of the 2,350 known combatants from the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group are in Venezuela, along with about a third of the 2,400 fighters who belong to dissident groups of former FARC guerrillas who reject a 2016 peace deal, General Luis Fernando Navarro told Reuters late on Wednesday.

“In total in the (Venezuelan) states of Zulia, Tachira, Apure and Amazonas, we calculate there could be between 1,100 and 1,200 criminals from the ELN and some 700 from the FARC dissidents,” Navarro said.

“It’s a factor of instability that the strategic rearguard of these structures is in Venezuelan border states. This obviously makes it difficult to combat them,” said Navarro, accusing the Venezuelan armed forces of not pursuing the groups.

The Venezuelan government did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.

Colombia’s internal conflict has stretched for nearly 60 years and led to more than 260,000 deaths.

Though the demobilization of some 13,000 members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) under the 2016 accord lead to a reduction in violence, some areas have seen renewed fighting as dissidents, the ELN and crime gangs descended from right-wing paramilitaries battle for territory.

The violence often crosses the border. In Venezuela’s northwestern Zulia state, a local government and a major employer were paying villagers including children to staff narcotics operations, extortion rackets and illegal gold mines, a Reuters report found earlier this year.

Some 80 Venezuelans fight for FARC dissident groups, Navarro said, and some 180 for the ELN.

Commanders from dissident group Segunda Marquetalia, including former peace negotiator Ivan Marquez, Hernan Dario Velasquez and Henry Castellanos are living in Venezuela, he said, as is ELN leader Gustavo Anibal Giraldo, known by his alias Pablito.

The groups attack targets in Colombia and then melt across the border to evade authorities, Navarro said.

One FARC dissident group has taken responsibility for two incidents in June – a car bombing at a military base in the border city of Cucuta which injured dozens, and the shooting of a helicopter carrying President Ivan Duque.

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By Juliana Kochs, CNN

Sao Paulo (CNN)- So-called “vaccine passports” have been reinstated in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, just one day after a local judge suspended them for being too divisive.

At the request of the city government, Brazil’s Supreme Court on Thursday annulled a ruling by Judge Paulo Rangel that had briefly prohibited requiring of proof of vaccination to enter certain public venues.

Residents will again be required to prove they’ve been vaccinated in order to attend events and enter communal facilities such as gyms, museums and tourist venues.

Rangel had described the requirement as “tyrannical.”

“The decree [to implement vaccine passports] divides society into two types: the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, preventing the unvaccinated from circulating freely,” Rangel said.

Over half a million Brazilians have died in the pandemic — the highest death toll in the world after the United States. Today, some form of vaccine passport is in place in more than 200 other towns and cities across Brazil, including in the country’s biggest city, Sao Paulo. Each regional authority decides on its own regulations.

Rio’s vaccine pass system was introduced in mid-September under Mayor Eduardo Paes. Without mentioning the suspension directly, Paes tweeted: “Sometimes I wonder how some people can accept that smoking is banned in the office, mall, subway… and also accept that the use of seat belts is mandatory! Do these people not feel restricted in their individual freedoms? Just to reflect….”

But Rangel is hardly alone in his doubts about the system. President Jair Bolsonaro — who has long downplayed the severity of Covid-19 — has battled such precautions and openly criticized the idea of a vaccine passport.

Bolsonaro personally flouted vaccination rules at the United Nations headquarters in New York earlier this month, addressing the global body in person despite not having received the vaccine.

“Why do you take a vaccine? To have antibodies, right? My antibodies rate is really high. I can show you the document,” said the president, who recovered from Covid-19 last year.

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GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Ecuador on Thursday sought to identify the remains of the 116 inmates killed during a riot at one of its largest prisons earlier this week, the latest bout of violence authorities have linked to gangs vying for control of drug trafficking routes.

Dozens of relatives of inmates at the Penitenciaria del Litoral in the country’s largest city of Guayaquil gathered outside a morgue seeking information on loved ones, after the deadliest outbreak of prison violence in Ecuador’s history on Tuesday in which 80 people were also injured.

Police investigators asked family members for photographs of inmates or details of features like scars or tattoos to help them identify bodies.

Police commander Tannya Varela told reporters that the casualty count could rise, as officers were still investigating. Earlier on Thursday, the national police sent 400 officers to regain control of the detention center. Soldiers also entered the prison to maintain order.”We have not yet completed the intervention in the penitentiary, so it is possible that there are other bodies inside, and some of the injured could die from their wounds,” Varela said.

The violence came after 79 and 22 people died in prison riots in February and July, respectively. Authorities linked the earlier clashes to rival local gangs with ties to transnational criminal groups battling for control over Ecuador’s drug trade.

According to Mario Pazmino, a colonel and former intelligence director for Ecuador’s army, the clashes have increased and grown bloodier recently as Mexican drug cartels, such as the Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generacion cartels, have formed alliances with local gangs.

While not a large drug producer, Ecuador is a major transit hub for cocaine from neighboring Colombia and Peru bound for the United States and Europe, much of it concealed in legitimate container cargo departing from Guayaquil’s port, according to a U.S. State Department report from March.

“This presence of drug trafficking is reflected in a permanent fight over pathways and territory from where drugs leave, and that is what is being replicated in the detention centers, as well as cities where score-settling and assassinations take place,” Pazmino told Reuters.

Asked on Wednesday night whether this week’s clash was linked to drug trafficking, Fausto Cobo, director of Ecuador’s Center for Strategic Intelligence, said the violence was “connected with other serious problems.”

“This is a problem that goes beyond an issue with the penal system,” Cobo told reporters. “It is a threat against the Ecuadorian state.”

‘THIS CANNOT KEEP HAPPENING’

Outside the morgue in Guayaquil, Paola Moreira awaited news of her 24-year-old brother Bryan, who was set to be released from the Penitenciaria del Litoral in just one month.

“He called me on Wednesday at noon and asked me to please help, that everyone from section five had been killed and only two were alive, but our hands were tied and we could not do anything for him,” said Moreira, 26. “So I have come here to wait.”

In a statement posted on Twitter, Ecuador’s chief prosecutor’s office said it was still working on identifying the victims – at least six of whom it said on Tuesday had been decapitated.

Prison overcrowding and underfunding is a major problem across South America and has contributed to riots in recent years in Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela, as well as Ecuador. President Guillermo Lasso said on Wednesday he would free up funds and send additional security forces to prisons.

“They have killed so many young men, this cannot keep happening,” Moreira said.

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GENEVA/NAIROBI, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Only 15 of Africa’s 54 nations have fully vaccinated 10% of their populations against COVID-19 and many frontline health workers remain at risk, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Council of Nurses (ICN) said on Thursday.

They called for speeding up distribution of doses to those at risk on the continent amid what the WHO called “opaque delivery plans” and “bottlenecks” in the rollout of vaccines in Africa.

The WHO had called for vaccinating at least 10% of health workers in every country by Sept. 30 – a target met by nearly 90% of high-income countries, the United Nations health agency said.

Half of the 52 African countries that have received COVID-19 vaccines have fully vaccinated just 2% or less of their populations, WHO’s regional office in Brazzaville said in a statement.

Howard Catton, chief executive officer of the Geneva-based ICN, told Reuters that it analysed data from nine African countries.

It showed that approximately a third of health workers were still waiting for their first dose of vaccine and only about 10 percent had been fully vaccinated.

“Despite the promises, we are not seeing the delivery And this is a health and a human rights crisis,” he said. “Today nurses and health workers are still going to work knowing that they are at higher risk, but not having the protection of vaccine.”

In the meantime, some rich countries are already administering booster shots and vaccines to youth, he said.

“You know, we have just seen a billionaire send a healthcare worker into space, yet, here on earth, we have millions of healthcare workers still waiting to be vaccinated. They shouldn’t have to wish on a star for a vaccine, they should be prioritized,” Catton said.

Richard Mihigo, coordinator for the WHO’s Immunization and Vaccines Development Programme Africa, told a briefing: “What the data is showing us – in the 39 countries where we were able to collect that information, 8% of all the doses administered in those 39 countries were administered to healthcare workers.”

Some healthcare workers in remote rural areas have not been reached, he said.

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World  Summary

Oct 1 (Reuters) – Australia will lift one of the toughest international border restrictions on its citizens next month, while neighbouring New Zealand logged more Delta coronavirus infections in its capital city. read more

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

EUROPE

* Pupils will from Oct. 4 no longer have to wear protective face masks in French primary schools in areas with a low COVID-19 infection rate, according to a government decree. read more

* The European Union will extend a mechanism to monitor and potentially limit the export of COVID-19 vaccines from the bloc, an EU official said. read more

AMERICAS

* A U.S. judge upheld the University of California’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement against a challenge by a professor who alleged he had immunity due to a prior coronavirus infection.

* United Airlines has trimmed the number of employees who are facing termination for defying the company’s vaccine mandate. The Chicago-based carrier said 320 U.S.-based staff are now not in compliance.

* Los Angeles officials on Wednesday signalled they would vote next week to prohibit unvaccinated people from entering most businesses in the United States’ second-largest city. read more

ASIA-PACIFIC

* South Korea extended social distancing curbs for two weeks, offering more incentives to people to get vaccinated as it battles thousands of new cases each day. read more

* Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical said that “human error” caused metal contaminants to get into Moderna vaccine doses, leading to a recall. read more

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has eased restrictions to the lowest alert level, as the country looks to open up its economy ahead of the summer holiday season. read more

* Egypt on Thursday received 1.6 million doses of the vaccine produced by Pfizer as a gift from the United States as part of the COVAX initiative, the first batch of a total of 5 million doses. read more

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Malaysia has given conditional approval for a vaccine made by China’s Sinovac to be used on young people aged between 12 and 17. read more

* It is safe for people to receive a COVID-19 vaccine and a flu shot at the same time and it does not negatively impact the immune response produced by either, a British study has found.

WORLD STATS

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