Wednesday, 15th September, 2021b

Page 2
This man, a shopkeeper, believed he would
be safe from the Taliban, sources said
The BBC has found that
at least 20 civilians
have been killed in
Afghanistan's Panjshir
Valley, which has seen
fighting between the Taliban and
opposition forces. Communications
have been cut in the valley,
making reporting difficult, but
the BBC has evidence of Taliban
killings despite promises of
restraint.
Footage from a dusty roadside
in Panjshir shows a man wearing
military gear surrounded by Taliban
fighters. Gunfire rings out
and he slumps to the ground.
It is not clear if the man killed
was an army member - combat
uniforms are common in the
region. In the video a bystander
insisted he was a civilian.
The BBC has established there
have been at least 20 such deaths
in Panjshir.
The number of extremely
hot days every year
when the temperature
reaches 50C has doubled
since the 1980s, a
global BBC analysis has found.
They also now happen in
more areas of the world than
before, presenting unprecedented
challenges to human health and
to how we live.
The total number of days
above 50C (122F) has increased
in each decade since 1980. On
average, between 1980 and 2009,
Climate change:
World now sees twice
as many days over 50C
One of the victims was a
shopkeeper and father-of-two
called Abdul Sami.
Local sources said the man
would not flee when the Taliban
advanced, telling them: "I'm
just a poor shop owner and have
nothing to do with war."
But he was arrested, accused
of selling sim cards to resistance
fighters. Days later his body was
dumped near his home. Witnesses
who saw his body said it
showed signs of torture.
When the Taliban swept to
power last month, just one region
held out.
The Panjshir Valley has long
been a focal point for resistance
in Afghanistan. Under the opposition
commander Ahmad Shah
Massoud, the region repelled both
the Soviet forces and the Taliban.
Mountain peaks surround the
valley making it difficult for anytemperatures
passed 50C about 14
days a year.
The number rose to 26 days a
year between 2010 and 2019.
In the same period, temperatures
of 45C and above occurred
on average an extra two weeks a
year.
"The increase can be 100%
attributed to the burning of fossil
fuels," says Dr Friederike Otto,
associate director of the Environmental
Change Institute at the
University of Oxford.—BBC
DAILY ANALYST Wednesday, 15th September, 2021
one trying to capture it.
Massoud's son Ahmad led the
resistance against the Taliban the
second time they took control of
Afghanistan, but last week the
militant group declared victory,
posting footage of their fighters
raising their flag.
The resistance forces have
vowed to fight on, with Ahmad
Massoud calling for a "national
uprising" against the Taliban.
Now attention is turning to
what happens next in Panjshir,
as elsewhere in Afghanistan,
with the Taliban back in charge.
When the Taliban entered the
valley, they encouraged residents
to carry on as normal.
"They should come out, do
Dominic Raab has been
urged to block the appointment
of a Rwandan
diplomat in London
for his alleged role in
detaining a government critic.
Paul Rusesabagina, who was
portrayed in the Hollywood film
Hotel Rwanda, used his Kigali hotel
to save hundreds of ethnic Tutsis
during the 1994 genocide.
Last year he was tricked into
flying to Rwanda to face terrorism
offences.
Rwanda's proposed new high
commissioner has insisted his role
in getting Mr Rusesabagina to the
country was legal.
Johnston Busingye was, until
recently, Rwanda's justice minister.
A spokesman for the Rwandan
government said Mr Busingye had
"served with distinction" in his
former roles" and added that Mr
Rusesabagina's arrest for terrorism
offences "complied with all domestic
and international law".
In August 2020, Mr Rusesabagina
- who had been living in exile in
the United States - got on a private
jet in Dubai thinking it was heading
for Burundi.
Instead the flight actually
landed in Rwanda - something
his supporters have described as a
kidnapping.
In an interview with Al Jazeera
in February 2021, Mr Busingye said
"the government paid" for the flight
taking Mr Rusesabagina to Kigali
and paid for the individual who
tricked him onto the plane:
"The payment was to facilitate
the transportation of that man… to
facilitate the plan of this man to
transport Rusesabagina to Rwanda,"
he said.
Asked if this was legal, Mr Busingye
replied: "Yes."
After spending eight years at
the Justice ministry, Mr Busingye
was abruptly removed from his
post earlier this month by Rwandan
President Paul Kagame, only weeks
before a court in Rwanda is expected
to rule on the charges against Mr
Rusesabagina.
Mr Rusesabagina, a Belgian
citizen now but with US residency,
has been a vocal critic of Rwanda's
authoritarian president.
The 66-year-old former hotel
manager, who is reportedly in ill
health, faces various charges of
terrorism and founding an armed
group responsible for terror attacks
Global News
Taliban kill civilians in
resistance stronghold
their daily activities," said a
spokesman, Malavi Abdullah
Rahamani.
"If they are shopkeepers they
can go to their shops. If they
are farmers, they can go to their
farms. We are here to protect
them, their lives and their families."
But instead of this, footage
from the ground shows oncebusy
marketplaces deserted. People
have been trying to flee, with
long lines of vehicles forming
below the valley's craggy peaks.
There have been warnings of
shortages of food and medicine.
The Taliban has denied targeting
civilians. But coming after
reports of a massacre of members
in Rwanda.
Prosecutors have asked for a
life sentence, but Mr Rusesabagina
supporters dismiss the proceedings
as a "sham trial".
The Lantos Foundation, a
prominent human rights organisation
in the US, has already urged
the US authorities to impose socalled
Magnitsky sanctions against
Mr Busingye for the "significant
role" they claim he played in "grave
human rights violations".
But now the foundation - set
up by the late Tom Lantos, the only
Holocaust survivor to become a US
Congressman - has also written to
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab
urging him to reject the credentials
presented by Mr Busingye
and impose UK sanctions on the
former minister.
'Shameful'
Dr Katrina Lantos Swett, president
of the foundation, said: "President
Paul Kagame may believe that
by sending Johnston Busingye to
London, he can divert the focus
from the former justice minister's
shameful actions and the way he
brazenly violated the basic human
rights of a humanitarian hero.
"But nations who respect human
rights cannot allow Kagame
to try and sweep these violations
under the rug by simply assigning
Mr Busingye elsewhere."
She said the foundation called
on Mr Raab to refuse to accept Mr
Busingye as Rwandan ambassador.
"Furthermore, the British
of the Hazara minority and the
killing of a policewoman, it is
a further sign that the reality
on the ground differs from the
Taliban's promises of no revenge
attacks.
"These kind of reports seem
to fall in to a pattern that we've
already documented throughout
Afghanistan," said Patricia Grossman
of Human Rights Watch.
"As the Taliban made their
way towards Kabul through
July and August we had similar
reports and we were able to
document summary executions
of former security personnel, former
members of the government
and civilians often in revenge
killings. This looks to very much
be the same pattern."
UK urged to block Rwanda
diplomat’s appointment
government should seriously
and thoroughly investigate the
circumstances of Mr. Rusesabagina's
kidnapping and Mr Busingye's
involvement in these events," she
added.
Under the Vienna Convention,
ambassadors and high commissioners
can take up their posts at
the Court of St James only if the
Foreign Office formally gives what
is called its "agrément".
Only then can the appointment
be approved by the Queen.
All applications are considered
on a case-by-case basis and a
number of factors are taken into
account before a decision is made.
The Foreign Office refused to
comment but it is understood that
it has yet to grant its agrément to
Mr Busingye.
Yolande Makolo, a spokesperson
for the government of Rwanda,
said: "Johnston Busingye, Rwanda's
high commissioner-designate
to the United Kingdom, has served
with distinction as justice minister
and attorney-general since
2013, and previously as a president/
judge of the high court and principal
judge of the East African Court
of Justice.
"Paul Rusesabagina's arrest on
an outstanding warrant for terrorism
and related offences complied
with all domestic and international
laws, and he has since received
a fair and transparent trial along
with 20 co-accused of the FLN
armed group which he led."—BBC
Paul Rusesabagina, portrayed as a hero in a Hollywood movie
courtroom, in Kigali