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[Blog] Risk of prosecution for Israeli soldiers in third countries

guest — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 04:17:29 +0000

[Blog] Risk of prosecution for Israeli soldiers in third countries guest mer 12/02/2025 - 08:17

Last year, on January 26, the international Court of Justice ruled that plausible genocide has been committed by Israel in Gaza. On the other hand, in November last, the International Court of Justice issued arrest warrants against the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, for war crimes an crimes against humanity.

On the ground however , the crimes have been committed by none other than foot soldiers, generals and commanders. According to the latest figures from the Gaza Health Ministry, some 61, 000 people have been killed, 70% being women and children. It is a plain massacre of civilians. In addition, most of the residential blocks have been demolished, cultural centres, mosques and churches have been obliterated, hospitals, health centres and care facilities have been turned into rubble.

Many soldiers have enjoyed participating in the terrible massacre to the extent that they have gone so far as to post their war crimes in social media. In TikToK they could be seen gleefully bragging about their egregious actions, displaying bodies of Palestinians as trophies, destroying toys of children who have been martyred exposing and joking about female victims' garments and underwear before setting fire to homes and apartments. That is why some have called them the Tik Tok soldiers. Little did they realise that these could serve as evidence for their horrific crimes.

In fact , after their round of duty in Gaza, some have gone for vacations to unwind in other countries without realizing that

international law would apply with regards to their loathsome and inhuman actions committed in Gaza. Quite a few have had unpleasant surprises. The first occured in Cyprus. A case was filed against a soldier vacationing there. With mounting public pressure, the authorities started investigations. To avoid being imprisoned and judged, he was deftly smuggled by Mossad out of Cyprus. A similar case was filed against a soldier vacationing in Brazil. When investigations started, he fled to Argentina and from there to Israel. A similar scenario occurred in Sri Lanka and Thailand. Australia, on the other hand, refused visa to an Israeli national who had participated in the Gaza war while New Zealand requires Israeli tourists to declare whether they took part in the Gaza conflagration before any visa is issued to them.

Behind the track of the war criminals, there is an organization, the Hind Rajab Foundation, named after a 6 year old girl whose body was found in a car, together with her relatives , ridden with 335 American- supplied bullets. The Foundation has already filed 50 criminal complaints in different countries around the world for alleged war crimes against Israeli soldiers. It is focusing more on dual nationality soldiers as it is less complicated to bring a case against them in their countries of origin. Furthermore, the activists have compiled a body of evidence such as video images, social media posts, pictures of alleged crimes for 1000 soldiers which they have submitted to the International Court of Justice.

The question is : will Mauritius, being a party to the Rome Statute and the Geneva Convention, exercise its universal jurisdiction by carrying out due diligence while delivering visas to Israeli nationals, especially when we know that all Israeli citizens have to serve in the army as reservists for some time ? According to Kenneth Ross, former director of Human Rights Watch, "Any authorized court anywhere in the world can prosecute them for crimes against international law".

Azize Bankur

[Blog] Friendship beyond cyclones

guest — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 05:31:17 +0000

[Blog] Friendship beyond cyclones guest mar 11/02/2025 - 09:31

Le quai à Port Louis – so sunny in the day and so charming with the hotels’ lights and the guirlands in the evening – is a symbol of city life that warmly welcomes guests from all over the world. It is also a symbol of life that my compatriots – Soviet sailors from the cruiser “Dmitry Pozharsky” and expedition vessel “Sevan” – helped to restore on the island just 50 years ago. It was the first but critical test of our friendship.

“Cette amitié a commence” just after the declaration of the independence of the Republic of Mauritius. On the 12th of March 1968, Moscow saluted the birth of a new independent state – Mauritius. Just in 5 days, on the 17th of March 1968, diplomatic relations were established between l’Union Soviétique et le Maurice. In 1972, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam visited Moscow, and in 1974, when the cruiser “Leningrad” visited Port Louis, “le Premier minister a inscrit très sincèrement” the names of the Soviet sailors in the book of the Honorable guests: “They brought us the friendship of the whole Soviet people, and we have been so delighted with that.”

This is why when, on the 6th of February 1975, le cyclone “Gervaise” stroke its blow against the island – depriving multiple neighborhoods of electricity, destroying the hospitals, killing hundreds of Mauritians, and leaving thousands in despair – we rushed to the rescue. The Soviet government sent a telegram to Port Louis – our deepest sympathies to the families of the deceased and injured. And right after giving orders to the ships' captains in the North of the Indian Ocean – you must urgently save Mauritius. Captains understood that there might not be enough fuel to reach the island and that the refuelers could not arrive on time, but they decided to take this risk. There was no time for hesitation – so they sailed at maximum speed. Mauritius needed their help urgently.

And they did that – on the 15th of February, our ships came to Port Louis. The sailors have been working 24/7 – restoring power lines, “réparant les hôpitaux”, and donating blood for emergency operations. They gave away everything they could – medications, water, and food products from their réapprovisionnement maritime.

Mauritians have been grateful for all that. They applauded the people from un pays du Nord who were helping them. They knew very well that it was a hand of friendship reached despite storms and distance. Mauritians worked hand-in-hand with our guys. There were translators who had studied in Russia, construction workers, and doctors. Our sailors knew neither English nor créole, but they understood each other without words.
Yes, we felt it was our mutual sorrow and rescue operation. For the first time in the Cold War, Soviet, American, and French units rescued the island together.

Now, it has become a symbol that nobody thinks about big politics when an enormous tragedy arrives. Just after the rescue operation had ended, the big powers started thinking that one needed to struggle for influence in the Indian Ocean.

Why is it so important to remember that? Probably because now Mauritius is aiming at reforms de “grande ampleur”. People do not change, and their motives do not change as well. Soviet sailors still remember this rescue operation – crossing the Indian Ocean to help.

We cannot act otherwise. Russians stand for each other, and we have always considered independent Mauritius our friend. Blood donated by our sailors made us brothers whom we are always ready to help.

A 1975 declaration by Sir S. Ramgoolam made at the end of the rescue operation: “Soviet sailors brought us the friendship of the whole Soviet people. We thank them for their assistance and hard work,” it is about friendship tested in actual conditions – not talking but doing.
“C’est pourquoi” the waterfront in Port Louis, with its lights and ships in the water, symbolises this never-ending friendship today.

We filmed a documentary on that – we gathered the memories of the sailors and the locals, found in the archives unique photos and shooting – how we did that. We called this documentary “Friendship Beyond Cyclones”, and it will be our gift to Mauritius and its people for the 50th anniversary of the rescue operation. It was a trial during the great misfortune that we surmounted together.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Mauritius
Her Excellency Mrs. Irada Zeynalova

[Blog] Réforme régionale : Sommes-nous dans la bonne formule ?

Democracy Watch — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 07:56:33 +0000

[Blog] Réforme régionale : Sommes-nous dans la bonne formule ? Democracy Watch jeu 06/02/2025 - 11:56

Texte : Réforme du Local Government Act. Les consultations avec le public ouvertes jusqu’au 31.3.2025 (L’Express du 31.3.2025)

Commentaire de Democracy Watch : Il revient aux fonctionnaires des Administrations régionales (rémunérés par les contribuables) de passer en revue les suggestions publiées et émises, promouvant une meilleure démocratie régionale, de les synthétiser, de pondre ce projet de réforme de notre démocratie régionale et de le soumettre à l’appréciation des forces vives populaires. Trop tard pour les municipales du 4.5.2025. Organisons-les selon les règlements dépassés, mais toujours en vigueur, et préparons immédiatement après la démocratie régionale idéale à mettre en pratique avant 2029.

À propos, la population aimerait savoir si Ranjiv Woochit a lu les œuvres de Chit Dukhira et de Freddy Appasamy sur nos Administrations régionales, les six tomes de l’Histoire de la Corporation municipale de Port-Louis de Rivaltz Quenette, les livres de Lilian Berthelot sur Quatre-Bornes et les BBRH, le discours prononcé par Félix Laventure, à la fin de janvier 1950, à l’occasion du centenaire d’existence de la municipalité de Port-Louis. Est-ce trop lui demander ?

[Blog] Discours-programme quinquennal et non annuel

Democracy Watch — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 05:05:40 +0000

[Blog] Discours-programme quinquennal et non annuel Democracy Watch jeu 06/02/2025 - 09:05

Texte : Discours-programme dévoilé le 24.1.2025. Rupture prônée avec le passé (Défi-Plus du25.1.2025)

Commentaire de Democracy Watch : Les moins jeunes parmi nous se souviennent qu’avant la mi-décennie 1980, le discours du trône (nous n’étions pas république, pour cause de boycott MMM du projet bleu-blanc-rouge, de 1983, de faire de Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, pourtant anti républicain convaincu, par peur maladive des coups d’Etat, notre premier président de République) ce discours inaugural était annuel et non quinquennal. L’objectif était d’informer correctement la population de ce que son gouvernement ferait pour elle pendant l’année en cours. Cela exigeait une clôture de la session parlementaire en fin d’année et l’ouverture d’une nouvelle session au début de l’année suivante. Mais aussi la suppression des sanctions émises pendant la session écoulée. No problem jusqu’à ce que Bérenger soit suspendu (navré pour le pléonasme) au cours d’une des années 1980.

SAJ remplaça arbitrairement cette traditionnelle clôture de fin d’année par une simple prorogation parlementaire. Et Bérenger resta suspendu (idem). Depuis, nous subissons un discours, devenu programme, quinquennal au lieu d’être annuel. Meilleur moyen pour noyer le poisson et la population par un flot de promesses ministérielles, n’ayant de valeur que pour ceux qui mordent à hameçon aussi grossier. Dans un discours programme annuel toute promesse doit être tenue dans l’année en cours, sous peine de révolte populaire. Dans un discours programme quinquennal, il y a toujours moyen de s’en sortir par une pirouette : Sa lané la, nou pa finn kapav. Me lane prosainn, sir de sir, nou pou tini promess la…Comme pour la réforme électorale, les réformes constitutionnelles, le Right to Information Act. Et plus le chef est coulant et laxiste sur l’échéancier et davantage ses subalternes négligent un discours programme. Retournons, pour le bon fonctionnement de la démocratie aux discours programmes.

[Blog] Doit-on imposer les réservoirs d’eaux pluviales ?

Democracy Watch — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 04:15:50 +0000

[Blog] Doit-on imposer les réservoirs d’eaux pluviales ? Democracy Watch jeu 06/02/2025 - 08:15

Texte : Ressources en eau : des pistes à explorer. Prem Saddul plaide pour un meilleur captage et stockage d’eaux pluviales, à l’instar de Rodrigues (Défi du 15.1.2025). Un des facteurs clés qui a fait des Etats-Unies un pays riche a été la maitrise de l’eau douce par la construction de très nombreux barrages pour l’agriculture et la production d’électricité) (constat scientifique)

Commentaire de Democracy Watch : Il se peut que la population appréhende davantage les méfaits des prochaines pluies torrentielles qu’un éventuel stress hydrique. Nous ne vivons pas à Mayotte. Ni même sur une de nos îles lointaines. L’eau courante, potable si possible, est une nécessité. Chacun de nous doit en assurer l’approvisionnement adéquat. Sur ce point, nos ancêtres n’ont pu compter sur le gouvernement colonialiste anglais (navré pour le pléonasme) pour étancher leur soif. Depuis, nous avons heureusement dépassé successivement les stades de devoir puiser l’eau à la rivière, au puits, à la fontaine publique, au robinet quand il ne coule pas sec.

Mais il y a encore des frères et sœurs convaincus qu’il appartient au gouvernement d’installer, chez eux, réservoir d’eau et pompes à eau. Prenons Prem Saddul au mot (meilleur captage et stockage des eaux pluviales) et demandons-nous, mais aussi aux princes qui nous gouvernent, s’il serait souhaitable d’amender les règlements, concernant les nouvelles constructions, pour leur imposer, dans leurs plans initiaux, un système de réservoirs souterrains d’eaux pluviales, proportionné à l’ampleur architectural de la construction à entreprendre. Encore un item au sujet duquel la population aimerait beaucoup que les personnes les plus compétentes en la matière éclairent sa lanterne.

[Blog] Nat Turner's revolt against slavery

defimedia — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 09:26:21 +0000

[Blog] Nat Turner's revolt against slavery defimedia mer 29/01/2025 - 13:26

Whenever we speak of the emancipation of slaves and the struggle for their liberation, what comes to our minds most of the time are the names of white abolitionists such as Abraham Lincoln, William Wilberforce, and others. What is less known is that there were black leaders who fought and raised consciousness against this inhuman system of slavery. One of them was Nat Turner.
Nat Turner was born on 2nd October 1800 in Southampton County, Virginia. Although a slave, he learned to read and write and became a preacher.

Deep in his bones, he felt the scathing inhumanity of the institution of slavery and vehemently resented the insane brutality and violence that it represented. He believed that the only way to make the white slave owners take cognizance of the inhumanity of their actions was through "revolutionary violence." The dehumanizing system had to be assailed. To attain this objective, Nat Turner felt that he had to begin by regrouping his fellow slaves and sensitizing them on the need to revolt against this abhorrently unjust system. For this purpose, songs in indigenous languages were used (reminding us of sega). According to Terry Bissoon, "one of the ways Turner summoned fellow conspirators to the woods was through the use of particular songs."

After brooding on his project for several years, he initially decided to execute his plan on Independence Day, 4th July 1831. But on that fateful day, he fell ill, and as he was a deeply religious man, he decided to wait for "certain divine signs" before moving forward. Those, according to him, came on August 13 in the form of the Virginia sun appearing as "bluish-green." In fact, it was a result of a volcanic eruption in Ferdinandea Island in Sicily. Nat Turner felt that the propitious time had come. He launched the revolt on August 21.

Armed with knives, hatchets, and blunt instruments, Turner and his fellow slave comrades rumbled on to attack the slave owners. With the rage for freedom fuming within them, they moved from house to house, killed the white slave owners together with their families, and liberated the slaves. They, however, spared the poor whites as the latter "thought no better of themselves than they did of negroes." Around 55 whites were killed in what is considered "the deadliest slave revolt in US history."

The retaliation was swift and brutal. The whites, having twice the manpower of the slaves and equipped with artillery, formed militias to hunt down the rebels. By August 22, the rebellion was quelled, resulting in the death of some 120 slaves. However, as rumors proliferated regarding the spread of the rebellion in Alabama, North Carolina, and other Southern states, the repression redoubled with white violence. The blacks were attacked on "flimsy pretenses," and Richmond Whig reported "the slaughter of many blacks without trial and under circumstances of barbarity." According to The New York Post, the exact number of black victims would never be known.

Nat Turner himself was captured on October 30, tried, and sentenced to death on November 5. Some say that, to set an example, he was beheaded. His body was dissected and "flayed." His skin was used to make souvenir purses, and his skeleton was kept as a "medical specimen" as further humiliation to the slave community.

For most of the time, Nat Turner had historically been regarded as "a symbol of terrorism and violent retribution." However, viewed from the perspective of African Americans, he was considered a hero of resistance, "avenging the sufferings of slaves." According to James H. Harris, Nat Turner's Revolt "marked a turning point in the black struggle for liberation." By the late 20th century, his name was rehabilitated. In 1988, the book Nat Turner: Revolt Leader by Terry Bissoon was included in the Black Americans of Achievement biography series. In 2012, L. Bunch, the director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, stated that "the Nat Turner Rebellion is probably the most significant uprising in American history."

Norman Finkelstein, the famous Jewish historian, compared the 7 October Hamas attack to Nat Turner's Revolt. When asked whether he condemned it, he replied: "Imagine a woman being humiliated, beaten, and brutalized every day. One fateful day, she just took a kitchen knife and stabbed the husband. Would you condemn her?"

In Mauritius, Nat Turner reminds us in a certain way of Ratsitatane.

Azize Bankur

[Blog] An Open letter to President Trump

Dr Michael Atchia — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 04:11:15 +0000

[Blog] An Open letter to President Trump Dr Michael Atchia lun 27/01/2025 - 08:11

President Donald TRUMP,

From all over Planet ‘America’ (sorry, Planet Earth) millions saw and listened to your inauguration and first political speech as 47th President of the USA, on the 20th of January 2025.

As a group for the defence of Democracy, we congratulate you on getting down straightaway to business in the defence and rebuilding of your own country, and in declaring yourself a man of peace, hence willing to intervene to stop the wars raging at present and any future ones. Too many Heads of State and Governments move too slowly, even hesitantly, with implementing the necessary reforms to make this world a better place, preferring the status quo, an easy option! BUT behind these rapid, first day decisions of yours, there SHOULD have been science and research, in-depth consultation and discussion. Otherwise, such decisions may be trial and error, failure, or could even arrive at results opposite to those intended (making this world a better place for all).

There may be decisions taken too fast without the research needed to support THEIR VALIDITY. The host of top-level professors and researchers in your country can propose ways to make this world a better place for all to live in. It is a sign of profound ignorance about the world to limit your knowledge to what you have gleaned from television or from your businessman friends.

For example, your announced decision TO INCREASE not drastically decrease the production and use of petrol, hence of the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, is totally contrary to what the planet and ALL its 8 billion inhabitants need and contrary to what USA needs !!With that proposed decision you climb to being public enemy NUMBER ONE of Planet Earth.

We mourn the 46,500 Palestinians, including 17,500 children, killed in the last 15 months, also more than 109,196 people injured, and the more than 11,160 missing. We also mourn the toll on Israelis killed, numbering 1,139. And we are grateful for the release of hostages held by Hamas, as well as political prisoners from Israeli jails, which started on 19th January.

We witness the 10,000+ Palestinians going on foot, donkey carriages, lorries, vans, and cars back to their villages or towns to see their houses. In 80% of cases, destroyed and reduced to rubble by Israeli bombs and missiles. A sad tragedy of human wickedness. All perpetrated using arms and missiles provided by your country, plus billions of US dollars gifted to Israel.

All states must now support and indeed put pressure on Israel and Hamas to fully implement this ceasefire and agreement and let the rebuilding and reconstruction of Gaza start, now that we see the end of an attempted genocide in Gaza. From 2023 to 2025, there was an attempted genocide by Israel of the Palestinian people in Gaza, when Israel destroyed most schools, hospitals, housing, roads, agriculture and factories, while attempting to starve the population. Gaza/Palestine can now reconstruct and rebuild their homeland.

(This is the latest crime of genocide this world has known. After Nazi Germans exterminated more than five million Jews during WWII, after the Hutus massacred 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda in 1993).

Please join us in condemning war “AS A TOOL OF POLITICAL ACTION”. Invite all nations to use negotiation and where necessary arbitration- when or friction arises-instead of USING missiles, tanks and bombs or hostages as “arguments”. So, on the positive side we appeal to you to immediately open negotiations with President Putin, with Xi, Von der Leyen, with President Volodymyr Zelensky and the UN Secretary General, for a ceasefire, for stopping the war and start the rebuilding of the destroyed nation of Ukraine. An occasion of doing something good for the world!

At a time when entire sectors of the planet are roasting under extreme heat or freezing under extremely low temperatures, with droughts, floods, intense hurricanes and fires increasing in frequency and intensity, all STATES on earth have got together to combat and save it from climate change and global warming, which could render the Planet unsuitable for human and animal life. We have done so at the UN COP meetings, though to a limited extent, insufficient as per scientific assessment. We know the measures needed to control and limit climate change by 2030/40, and we all must start implementing them fully. Scientifically advanced countries, including Russia, and the USA should contribute a maximum to research to achieve this climate aim.

Your decision to come out of the Paris agreement under COP 25, and to increase (not decrease!) production and therefore use of fossil fuels is completely against what all scientists, leaders, and citizens of the earth are now embarked on doing to save this planet. Your decision if upheld will constitutes an absolute crime against humanity.

Please show respect for the UN Charter and the sovereignty of all 192 members of the United Nation. So, on trade, free trade, ALL nations have rights. Defending the USA is of course your goal and aim. But again, verify the facts before pronouncing! At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, in Davos, you repeated false claims about the European Union. “They don’t take our, essentially, don’t take our farm products, and they don’t take our cars.” Neither are true, European import of American farm products is huge. All 192 nations also place their own state FIRST. So, world trade, an essential system in this planet of limited resources and 8 billion people, CAN ONLY THRIVE through co-operation, give, and take.

Saddam Hussian justified Iraq’s occupying Kuwait in 2001, on the totally false basis “that Kuwait was a province of Iraq”. Nor can one claim back territory long settled and won legally and correctly. Is Russia for example going to claim back the biggest state of the USA (Alaska), purchased from it in 1867 for the bagatelle sum of 7.2 million US$ - now worth probably 7 trillion dollars?

Panama is not a province of the US!! The USA cannot claim part of it, nor indeed can Britain reclaim the Eastern seaboard of America, including the state of New York where you were born!

Dr Michael ATCHIA
For Democracy Watch Mauritius.
25th January 2025
mklatchia@intnet.mu

[Blog] Air Mauritius : message du chairman aux employés

defimedia — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 06:36:43 +0000

[Blog] Air Mauritius : message du chairman aux employés defimedia jeu 23/01/2025 - 10:36

Le chairman du board d’Air Mauritius, Kishore Beegoo a adressé un message aux employés de la compagnie d’aviation nationale le 22 janvier. Son premier constat depuis qu'il a pris ses nouvelles fonctions : “The Head Office is a Chinese wall. I am not using a metaphor but in the true sense of the word. If somebody would survey the number of walls and doors of the offices in the building, we would probably have the biggest castle in Africa. Everyone has carved a corner sitting on a throne with so many corridors, walls and doors that reaching him or her is a ‘parcours de combattant’. Yet, we are supposed to be in a highly competitive Customer-focused, agile industry requiring exchanging ideas & moving at lightning speed. To visualize what I am saying, take 326 passengers sitting in one of our A350 aircraft and 326 staff in the Air Mauritius Head Office with plus 2000 square metres of walls”.

Voici son message dans son intégralité :

22 January 2025

Dear Colleagues,

I am confirming most of the points we discussed & or raised by you / me in the different groups I have met since my appointment as Chairman. Since last week, I have been having numerous meetings to understand the financial situation of the Company, unravel the ownership structure, convince our shareholders to support us and it has all been more than a fiery hectic start. When one of Mauritius's biggest and vital enterprise has not yet had its financial statement for the year ended March 2024 signed by its auditors, it must already ring alarm bells. The figures cannot be released until we have the audited ones, but at first sight, they are extremely alarming. We are in desperate need of cash injection as equity, not loans. As the link between the Company and the shareholders, since 3 weeks I and a team working with me have spent our time to secure financial support for the Company so that we start on a good footing and a strong balance sheet. Hopefully, we shall be able to breathe soon.

My first few days with you has been to understand, get briefings and decision papers to support Management to take some urgent major decisions which are required to positively impact our next BOP and the future.

My first impression.

The Head Office is a Chinese wall. I am not using a metaphor but in the true sense of the word. If somebody would survey the number of walls and doors of the offices in the building, we would probably have the biggest castle in Africa. Everyone has carved a corner sitting on a throne with so many corridors, walls and doors that reaching him or her is a ‘parcours de combattant’. Yet, we are supposed to be in a highly competitive Customer-focused, agile industry requiring exchanging ideas & moving at lightning speed. To visualize what I am saying, take 326 passengers sitting in one of our A350 aircraft and 326 staff in the Air Mauritius Head Office with plus 2000 square metres of walls.

It sums it all up. Some of us have lost the sense of ‘appartenance’ to a family and the drive is not to fight for the Company but for oneself, protecting one’s boundaries from intrusion by our internal and external customers. We have been doing the wrong things right. I understand the frustration some of you have ,when you find people with less capabilities than you, have been parachuted over your heads with such salaries and solid contracts that must make the beneficiaries themselves ashamed. We shall be tackling them as soon as time permits.

Some words about myself:

I was an Executive Director of Air Mauritius till 2001, when I had had to resign because I had refused to do what some politicians wanted me to do. In 2005 I was called back as Board Director by the Government and stayed till December 2014.

In 2015, I was politically targeted to be killed financially / mentally / reputationally with the press splashing an alleged scam of Rs 320 million through my company Cargotech with a ‘rapport bidon’ fuelled by some of our own staff. It is good for you to know that I was never called by the Police even though I offered to go to the ‘Casernes Centrales’. I took the matter legally before the Arbitration Tribunal where Air Mauritius offered and agreed by me, for a settlement . An agreement was signed in October 2018.

Again I have now been asked to come back as Board Director and Chairman. Though I was at first reluctant, I was convinced by the shareholders and agreed to take up the challenge.

I have already made, as I had also done in the past, a ‘Declaration of interests’ as Managing Director of Cargotech & EV Cargo in Mauritius and Madagascar and will not participate in Board sessions when there could be a perception of conflict of interest. Furthermore, I have asked the Company Secretary to ask me to withdraw from sessions in meetings he feels such perception may arise. This is exactly as required by the laws of the country.

So, I am here now working with Management and liaising with the Board and shareholders. I have also had meetings with the different units within the Commercial Department which is at the centre of our existence. I was more than badly surprised at its alarming decrepitude with each unit sitting in its well defended silos. Remember profit is to business what breathing is to life. I shall spend more time supporting Management and the Commercial units to become super aggressive instead of waiting to be shot by our competitors.

However, history must be looked into to understand how, why and what brought this Company to its knees which is impacting the employees, families, customers, shareholders, and the Mauritian public at large. Each major past decision will be investigated so that we understand why such decisions were taken and their impact on our future.

Last item. The Board.

There are questions on social media platforms about the number of Board Directors. The number of Board Directors is written in the constitution of the Company, and we must abide by the Constitution to have a quorum to run the Board. On remuneration, an Air Mauritius Board Director is among the lowest paid based on the size of the Company and the responsibility.

I hope that I have been able to impart some of my thoughts and how the Board under my Chairmanship, Management and employees intend to work together in cohesion as a family. Those who will not fit in or not work towards the common goal for the good of the whole Air Mauritius family will have no place in the organisation. Therefore, I appeal to you that before you make any request to Management, ask yourself the question:

Will this be beneficial for my own selfish group at the detriment of the whole MK family ?

We cannot continue to work as a legacy airline continually demanding State financial support. Asking the Government for cash means we are taking the Mauritian public money. We must make sure that public money does not continue to go in a black hole. Together, we must garner energy, enthusiasm, willingness, drive and defend with as much firepower we can muster, so that we become part of a viable airline and to be viable, we must be profitable.

I am sure with the support of each team member we shall soon be back flying high and proud to be part of the MK family.

Thank you

Kishore Beegoo

Chairman

[Blog] Gaza: the end of an attempted genocide and the reconstruction of a nation begins

Dr Michael Atchia — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 04:02:15 +0000

[Blog] Gaza: the end of an attempted genocide and the reconstruction of a nation begins Dr Michael Atchia mar 21/01/2025 - 08:02

A historical moment this mid-January 2025: the end of an attempted genocide and, hopefully, the start of the rebuilding of a nation.

What is genocide? It is the deliberate and systematic destruction, completely or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group. It is inhuman, immoral, illegal, and completely unacceptable. It involves violence against people simply because of their difference.

1945: After Nazi Germans exterminated more than five million Jews during WWII, from 1941 to 1945, the Jewish people settled in Palestine and built a strong, new state of Israel.

1993: After the Hutus massacred 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda in 1993, the Tutsis rebuilt Rwanda as one of the cleanest and best-run African states.

2025: After the attempted genocide by Israel of the Palestinian people in Gaza, from 1948 till now, but mainly during the last 15 months when Israel destroyed most schools, most hospitals, most housing, most roads, most production systems, and attempted to starve the population, Gaza/Palestine can now reconstruct and rebuild their homeland.

Now we witness the end of the continued non-recognition of Palestine by Israel. The ‘imprisonment’ of the Palestinian people till today, denied return to their land, denied the two-state solution—one being an independent Palestine. A process of independence for Palestine, Gaza, and the West Bank. A difficult process that needs the support of all states of the region, USA, EU, China, and India. A process that Hamas can help by dissolving itself under its present armed forces constitution and reforming itself as, for example, the PPP (Palestine Political Party), devoted entirely to rebuilding Palestine and its efficient governance.

We mourn the 46,500 Palestinians, including 17,500 children, killed in the last 15 months, also more than 109,196 people injured, and the more than 11,160 missing. Including the murder by Israel of eight more people and 25 injured after the agreement on the ceasefire. We also mourn the toll on Israelis killed, numbering 1,139. And we are grateful for the release of hostages held by Hamas, as well as political prisoners from Israeli jails, which started on 19th January and is to be followed for the next six weeks. We witness the 10,000+ Palestinians going on foot, donkey carriages, lorries, vans, and cars back to their villages or towns to see their houses. In 80% of cases, destroyed and reduced to rubble by Israeli bombs and missiles. A sad tragedy of human wickedness. Now, of course, the UN agencies and all nations in the area (Egypt, Doha, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and others) as well as those outside are starting a huge help movement to feed the Gaza people (reduced to starvation by Israel in its genocide attempt) and start the reconstruction of habitats, schools, hospitals, production and commercial structures, roads, and communications, etc. In fact, to rebuild all.

All states must now support and indeed put pressure on Israel and Hamas to fully implement this ceasefire and agreement. The rebuilding of Gaza must start now.

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For the future: What to do to prevent such wars and genocides

Peacekeeping: In practice, the peacekeeping forces of the United Nations are not always effective, but these must be improved and deployed fast into any area at risk.

Love one another: Today we must pray for those being persecuted. We must protest by word and deed, including at the political level through our voice at the United Nations.

We must teach in our schools the culture of peace and, when conflict arises, that of reconciliation and forgiveness.

And most importantly, we must attempt to resolve differences between states and between peoples by negotiations and arbitration—not by using guns and missiles as arguments.

On the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, Pope Francis urged reconciliation. He said, "Reconciliation and the healing of wounds must remain the priority in Rwanda.”

All religions teach the culture of peace and, when there has been conflict, the principle of reconciliation.

Dr Michael Atchia

(Past Programme Director, United Nations)

mklatchia@intnet.mu

20th January 2025

[Blog] Prayers for Dr Hussam Abu Safiya

guest — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 04:05:04 +0000

[Blog] Prayers for Dr Hussam Abu Safiya guest ven 17/01/2025 - 08:05

Since the murderous onslaught on Gaza, Israel has killed more than 1000 health workers and abducted several hundreds of others. One of the last to be abducted is Dr Hussam Abu Safya.

Dr Safiya is a pediatrician working for MedGlobal, a Chicago- based humanitarian organization providing health services in zones wracked with conflicts. He was the director of Kamal Adwani Hospital, the last medical facility that was still doing its best to cater for the sick and wounded in North Gaza. It was targeted a number of times by the Israeli forces. On 25 October 2025 they carried out a brutal intimidation campaign. They surrounded the hospital, bombed adjacent buildings, stormed into the wards and detained medical staff as well as a number of patients. Dr Safiya was ordered to

evacuate and threatened with dire consequences but he adamantly refused to abandon his patients. As he related "they demanded that I evacuate the hospital completely but I refused ...57 of the medical staff were arrested...so we are suffering from a severe shortage of doctors, especially surgeons. It is a huge challenge to work under these circumstances. I refused to leave the hospital and sacrifice my patients." (Frontline Defenders).

Instead of abandoning his patients, he seized the opportunity to make videos of the Israeli morbid dance of infusing fear, intimidation, brutality, humiliation and terror among the staff and patients. In one video he shows the blown out windows of the ICU Unit where shrapnel had blown a nurse's skull while attending to patients. In another are shown robots equipped with

explosives detonating buildings while in others one can see quadcopter drones dropping Usa - supplied bombs.

For his heroic stance of standing with his patients and staff, he was "rewarded" with the death of his son. Fifteen year Ibrahim was smacked by an Israeli drone while sheltering with the family in the compounds of the hospital, deemed to be protected under international law. It is not difficult to imagine how shattered was the father and the pangs and sorrows he went through.
Then came the ultimate attack on 27 December 2024. Backed by tanks, drones and quadcopters, the Israeli forces surrounded the hospital, killed five staff members and gave the seriously ill, the wounded and those about to give birth only 15 minutes to "unhook their drips, get out of their sick beds, and walk out to

the rubbled yard". The last one to leave was Dr Safiya. He could be seen still dressed in his white coat, walking with dignity towards a tank ready to shell and waiting for him. That was the last public image of the doctor. Then the soldiers set fire to the hospital.

Dr Safiya disappeared in limbo as Israel denied any knowledge of his whereabouts. Under international pressure, however, it later admitted that the doctor was being detained incommunicado.

Luckily, a CNN reporter managed to lay hands on a freshly released Palestinian detainee who confirmed that Dr Safiya was being detained at the notorious Sde Teiman detention centre. He related that when the doctor arrived, he was in a very bad shape and could hardly speak. He further described the horrible conditions prevailing at the detention center: "limbs

of prisoners amputated due to injuries sustained from constant handcuffing, medical intervention performed by unqualified medics, air filled with the odour of neglected wounds left to rot", deprivation of food and sleep and subjection to severe cold. Torture was the order of the day: detainees were forced to sit continuously in painful positions, pepper was regularly discharged in the eyes of prisoners, ferocious dogs were unleashed at them and physical and verbal abuse were common.

It was at this hellish center that a Gazan detainee was gang raped by Israeli soldiers. It was so terrible that even an Israeli guard acted as a whistle blower to denounce the horrible conditions at Sde Teiman. All this is reminiscent of the notoriously famous Abu Gharib prison where American soldiers tortured, abused, sexually assaulted and even raped Iraqi prisoners of war.

The abduction of Dr Safiya has been denounced by Amnesty International, WHO, UN and several humanitarian organizations. The fear is that he might end like his colleague, Dr Adnan Bursh, head of the orthopedic section of Al Shifa Hospital, who after a detention of 4 months at the Israeli Ofer prison, was dumped by the guards in the yard, "naked from the waist, bleeding and unable to stand". He did not survive a few days more.

What Israel is doing in Gaza is a relic of another period, of horror of another age, of actions of tyrants of the past such as Atilla , Genghis Khan, Nero, Caligula and other blood-thirsty monsters.

Azize Bankur