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Stefan Simanowitz Profile picture
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Feb 13 • 9 tweets • 6 min read
1/. A week ago, 2 powerful earthquakes shook the region near the Turkish-Syrian border, claiming tens of thousands of lives & opening 190-mile-long fissure

Humanitarian crises that result from natural disasters can create human rights issues & exacerbate existing vulnerabilities
2/. After any natural disaster, the free flow of information is critical

So why did the authorities in Turkey restrict Twitter?

According to @IndexCensorship, the Twitter throttling - which lasted 12 hours - “was a direct response to political criticism"
indexoncensorship.org/2023/02/the-sh…
3/. Last week, a 3-month state of emergency was announced which included prison terms for anyone “spreading fake news, exaggerated rumours & news intended to cause panic”.

There have been numerous reports of journalists threatened, harassed, detained or prevented from reporting.
4/. “We call on Turkish authorities to immediately lift the restrictions on access to information & freedom of expression, & ensure that journalists are not blocked from covering the news”

Free speech orgs @EFJEUROPE @ECPMF @article19org @globalfreemedia.
europeanjournalists.org/blog/2023/02/0…
5/. The Turkish govt introduced a smartphone app to report people who are believed to have produced or disseminated fake news or disinformation online

In the days after the earthquake, 302 people had reportedly been investigated, 37 detained & 14 arrested
thearabposts.com/earthquake-hit…
6/. It's not just social media users who've been targeted

There have been reports of journalists being detained or arrested whilst trying to do their work or for social media posts.

Several journalists in Diyarbakır reported that they were blocked from reporting from the field.
7/. Criticism of Turkey's emergency response to the earthquake has been growing with survivors & opposition MPs accusing the govt of slow & inadequate relief effort

There are also mounting questions around historic failures to enforce building regulations spectator.co.uk/article/turkey…
8/. "The scale of damage indicates that buildings didn’t meet safety standards."

Questions have been raised about Turkey's lax enforcement of building regulations, use of the estimated $4.6b proceeds of the earthquake tax, & an amnesty for illegal construction.
#TurkeyEarthquake
9/. In the wake of the earthquake, disturbing unconfirmed videos on social media appear to show violence & torture by security forces & by others against alleged “looters”

@amnesty’s digital verification team are examining some of the footage & @aforgutu put out this thread👇

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More from @StefSimanowitz

Stefan Simanowitz Profile picture
Feb 15
1/. Last Sept, far-right Giorgia Meloni became Italy’s PM

Among her targets are refugees & migrants - a go to scapegoat for populists & neo-fascists

Today a decree will be voted on

If passed it will hinder NGO rescues at sea & result in returns to Libya
2/. The legislation risks resulting in more deaths at sea & is being introduced in tandem with a new ‘distant ports’ policy requiring NGO ships to disembark rescued people far from where they're rescued

The policy was ruled "unlawful" by an Italian court thelocal.it/20230213/itali… Image
3/. #BREAKING: The Italian parliament has approved Meloni's decree which will inevitably lead to more suffering

“These measures are clearly designed to hinder NGOs undertaking life-saving search and rescue missions in the central Mediterranean" @amnesty amnesty.org/en/latest/news…
Read 4 tweets
Stefan Simanowitz Profile picture
Feb 11
1/. “To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects & enhances the freedom of others” (#Mandela)

#OTD 33 years ago, Nelson Mandela stepped out of Victor Verster prison
after 27 years behind bars in South Africa
aljazeera.com/amp/opinions/2…
2/. On that day, no one knew what Mandela looked like let alone what kind of man he had become

Some activists feared that he might have ’gone soft’

Others - reared on a daily diet of fear & propaganda - feared Mandela would be an angry & vengeful figure
3/. In his first speech a few hours after his release, Mandela was statesman-like & dignified

But it was clear he had not ‘gone soft’

He saluted uMkhonto we Sizwe & said:

“The factors which necessitated the armed struggle still exist today. We have no option but to continue"
Read 7 tweets
Stefan Simanowitz Profile picture
Jan 30
1/. On 19 March, it’ll be 20 years since the start of the #IraqWar

50 days before war, #OTD in 2003, Bush said “the 16 words”

“The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa”

It was a lie, based on a forgery
2/. The documents claiming Iraq was attempting to procure uranium from Niger date from 2001 & were obvious forgeries

They’d already been investigated & debunked

The CIA & State Dept had raised doubts about their legitimacy…at least 14 times

The IAEA judged them to be forged
3/. #OTD 2003, a day after his State of the Union speech, Bush met Blair & told him he intended to invade Iraq even if UN inspectors found no evidence of WMD & had considered “flying U2 reconnaissance planes…over Iraq, painted in UN colours” to tempt Iraqi forces to fire on them Image
Read 24 tweets
Stefan Simanowitz Profile picture
Jan 29
#KingCharles inherited 45,667 acres of land (without having to pay inheritance tax)

The Crown owns 226,000 acres across the UK

After the #Queen died, we unveiled our proposal for a new memorial park in London: the #QueenElizabethMemorialGardens

All we need is 2 acres of land👇 ImageImageImageImage
Our vision is to create a place of tranquility in a walled garden carved from a sliver of the 42-acre Buckingham Palace Gardens: a living legacy to #QueenElizabeth

It’ll also be an act of care towards London & its ecosystem #QueenElizabethMemorialGardens
standard.co.uk/reveller/attra…
Originally conceived to to mark the #Queen’s 90th birthday, the idea for #QueenElizabethMemorialGardens has been developed over many years

The gardens would include woodland, wild flowers, a butterfly meadow as well as a statue of #QueenElizabeth.
Read 5 tweets
Stefan Simanowitz Profile picture
Jan 27
1/. This week, in 3 consecutive days, 3 prominent human rights defenders were killed

Rwandan journalist John Williams Ntwali was killed in an ‘auto accident’

Swazi lawyer Thulani Maseko was shot

Cameroonian journalist Martinez Zogo was found by a road theafricareport.com/279711/cameroo…
2/ “Thulani Maseko was not an ordinary human rights lawyer; he was the epitome of human rights law. He humbly lived faithful to his calling until his last breath. His bravery, resilience, humility & humanity will continue to encourage all who knew him” @Follow_SALC #ThulaniMaseko
3/. Cameroonian journalist Martinez Zogo's death was brutal

According to reports, he was forced off the road while driving home by 4 hooded men in a car

He was abducted, electrocuted, sodomised, stripped naked & dumped in a quarry!
#journalismisnotacrime #Cameroon @PR_Paul_BIYA
Read 6 tweets
Stefan Simanowitz Profile picture
Jan 26
Exactly 20 years ago, George W Bush told Saudi ambassador Prince Bandar & that he plans to go to war with Iraq

He only told Secretary Powell two days later

On 20/1/03, Bush signed a presidential directive giving Pentagon control over postwar Iraq
#IraqWar #IraqWar20 #Iraq ImageImageImageImage
#OTD 20 years ago the UN announced

“It would appear…Iraq had decided in principle to…bring the disarmament task to completion…Weapons inspectors have examined 106 locations & found no evidence that Iraq revived its nuclear weapons programme”

No WMDs, no justification for war ImageImage
#OTD 20 years ago, in his State of the Union, Bush said “the 16 words”

“The British govt has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa”

It was a lie, based on a forgery

Even the CIA rprtly thought the claims were "highly dubious" ImageImageImageImage
Read 6 tweets

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