Daily Report
ISIS franchise claims Nigeria massacre
At least 81 people were killed in an attack by militants on the village of Mafa, in Nigeria's northeastern Yobe state. A statement listing grievances against the village was left at the scene in the name of Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a Boko Haram splinter group. The Sept. 1 attack appears to have been in revenge for villagers alerting the military to the insurgents' presence in the area—which lies on a smuggling route to ISWAP bases in the Lake Chad region. (Al Jazeera, TNH, NYT)
Regional powers vie in Somalia
Tensions are ratcheting up in the Horn of Africa over the deployment of Egyptian troops to Somalia. Ethiopia, Somalia's neighbor, isn’t happy. It has soldiers in Somalia acting as a buffer against al-Shabab insurgents, but now Mogadishu has asked them to withdraw. High-stakes strategic interests are at play. Ethiopia and Egypt have been locked in a long-standing dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Egypt regards as an existential threat. Meanwhile, landlocked Ethiopia has also enraged Somalia over its determination to find a port to lease. It has turned to the breakaway region of Somaliland, dangling the prospect of recognizing its independence—an absolute red line for Mogadishu. The new defense agreement between Egypt and Somalia has underlined just how serious the tensions are. Egypt is planning to send 5,000 soldiers to Somalia to join a new-look African Union force, with a separate 5,000 stationed on the Ethiopian border.
Pocast: rage against the technocracy II
Amid global protests over the genocide in Gaza, the hypertrophy of digital technology and its colonization of every sphere of human existence continue to advance, portending the ultimate eclipse of human culture and real life, the death of literacy, and the hegemony of saturation propaganda. While the Arab Revolution of 2011 was facilitated through social media, those same platforms are today being used as conduits for propaganda and disinformation lubricating the reconsolidation of dictatorships. This is all about to get much worse—with propaganda especially getting exponentially more sophisticated—through the advent of artificial intelligence. What is urgently mandated—ultimately, even to be able to effectively oppose genocides and dictatorships—is a revolution of everyday life, reclaiming human reality from digital totalitarianism. The uprising in El Salvador against the mandatory imposition of Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021 still stands as a glimmer of hope, pointing the potentiality of this kind of revolution—even if the aspiring autocrat Nayib Bukele, who made Bitcoin a national currency, put down the uprising and is now consolidating an authoritarian regime. Bill Weinberg rants against the digital Borg in Episode 242 of the CounterVortex podcast.
Lebanon, Cyprus violate rights of Syrian refugees: HRW
Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Lebanon and Cyprus of violating the human rights of Syrian refugees with indirect financial support from the European Union (EU). In a report released Sept. 4, HRW detailed how both countries have intercepted and forcibly returned refugees to Syria in a coordinated effort to prevent them from seeking asylum in Europe.
US indictments, sanctions target Russian propaganda network
The US Department of Justice on Sept. 4 announced the seizure of 32 internet domains linked to an alleged Russian government-backed disinformation campaign aimed at influencing US and global audiences. According to the DoJ, the operation, known as "Doppelganger," sought to sway public opinion in favor of Russian interests and interfere in the 2024 US presidential election. The campaign was allegedly orchestrated by several Russian organizations under the supervision of Sergei Kiriyenko, a senior official in the Russian Presidential Administration. These organizations utilized the domains to distribute pro-Russian propaganda and undermine support for Ukraine. The operation used deceptive methods that violated US "money laundering and criminal trademark law."
Cambodia: citizens detained for protesting mega-project
At least 94 people have been arbitrarily arrested in Cambodia since late July for expressing public criticism of the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area (CLV-DTA), Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said in a joint statement Aug. 28. The human rights organizations believe at least 59 of those arrested have been unlawfully detained by Cambodian authorities, and called for all charges in these cases to be immediately dropped.
Hong Kong court convicts journalists of sedition
The Hong Kong District Court on Aug. 29 found Best Pencil Ltd, the parent company of now-shuttered Stand News, along with former chief editors Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, guilty of "conspiracy to publish and/or reproduce seditious publications" under the colonial-era Crimes Ordinance. The case centered on 17 articles the website ran concerning protests, activism and elections. The two journalists face up to two years each in prison. (Jurist, IFJ) Since the crackdown following the 2019 protests, some 10 media outlets have been forced to close in Hong Kong, with over 1,000 journalists thrown out of work. (PRI)
Pakistan: new escalation in Baloch insurgency
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan expressed concern over the deteriorating security situation, rampant rights abuses and ongoing political dysfunction in Balochistan province in a statement issued Aug. 30.
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