New Cold War.org Information Bulletin, Vol 1 #16, Dec 15, 2016
Ukraine-Russia-Europe:
Kiev continues policy of ideological detachment of Donbass from Ukraine ― Russian envoy to OSCE, TASS, Dec 15, 2016
Zakharchenko says offered POW exchange options at meeting with Nadiya Savchenko in Minsk, DAN News, Dec 15, 2016
Donetsk activists pass documents on Ukrainian war crimes in Donbass to International Criminal Court, DAN News, Dec 15, 2016
Donetsk Peoples’ Republic opens second representative office, in Turin, Italy, DAN News, Dec 15, 2016
Turkey-Syria-Middle East and Caucasus:
ISIS manufactured weapons in Mosul with equipment bought from Turkey, Rudaw News Agency (Iraqi Kurdistan), Dec 14, 2016 (see also report here in The Independent)
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – ISIS militants were making their own weapons in their Mosul stronghold on an industrial scale, according to a report by the London-based Conflict Armaments Research.
The arms watchdog determined that ISIS had maintained a “robust and reliable” supply route from Turkey which enabled it to produce tens-of-thousands weapons. They arrived at this conclusion after their researchers studied the ISIS weapons found in the facilities and on the battlefield as the Iraqi ground offensive advances deeper into that city…
Turkey’s constitutional courts refuses to annul article that punishes ‘insulting Erdogan’, Turkish Minute, Dec 14, 2016
Mainstream media using children in Western information campaign against Syria, video news report by RT journalist Murad Gazdiev, Dec 15, 2016
World:
Banned by 119 countries, U.S. cluster bombs continue to orphan Yemeni children, by Alex Emmons, The Intercept, Dec 14, 2016
Canada will not follow U.S. in restricting arms sales to Saudi Arabia, by Steven Chase, The Globe and Mail, Dec 13, 2016
Canada will not follow the United States in restricting arms sales to Saudi Arabia – such as a $15-billion Canadian combat-vehicle deal – even though Barack Obama’s administration has just curbed some weapons exports to the Mideast kingdom because of the number of civilians the Saudis are killing during strikes in Yemen.
Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion said Canada has asked the Saudis to be careful how they use some of their more controversial weapons in Yemen…
Colombia: Peace in the shadow of genocide, by Dan Kovalik, CounterPunch, Dec 14, 2016
Cops of the Pacific? The U.S. military’s role in Asia in the age of Trump, by Tim Shorrock, TomDispatch, Dec 13, 2016
U.S. urges Taiwan to increase defense spending given China threat, Reuters, Dec 13, 2016
Philippines’ Duterte admits personally killing drug suspects while mayor, by Ed Adamczyk, United Press International (UPI), Dec. 14, 2016
U.S. aid package to Philippines deferred amid drug crackdown, by Felipe Villamordec, New York Times, Dec 15, 2016
Judge certifies $600M lawsuit for mentally ill inmates allegedly mistreated in Canada’s prisons, by Alex Ballingall, Toronto Star, Dec 14, 2016
A $600-million class-action lawsuit was certified in an Ontario court this week, opening the door for thousands of prison inmates with diagnosed mental illnesses to seek compensation for their alleged mistreatment in federal jails. The lawsuit alleges Canada’s federal prison agency fails to properly care for mentally ill inmates, relies too much on the “cruel and unusual punishment” of solitary confinement, and neglects to adequately train its staff…
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association and John Howard Society launched their own lawsuit in 2015, alleging the use of solitary confinement in federal prisons violates prisoners’ charter rights to life, liberty and security of the person.
In Ontario, the issue caused a storm this fall when the province’s human rights commissioner revealed how Adam Capay, a 24-year-old with mental illness who is charged with murdering another inmate, was kept in solitary confinement at the Thunder Bay Jail — a provincial facility — for almost four years. The United Nations considers 15 straight days of solitary confinement to be a form of torture…
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