Dear Members and Friends,
1° Middle East
At our last general assembly in May, André Barthélemy presented our analysis of the situation, noting that both Hamas and Israel can be accused of war crimes punishable by the International Criminal Court. In line with our constant fight against impunity, Vivere naturally supports the idea that any violent transgression of international law should be judged by the competent authorities and that those responsible should be rigorously sanctioned. André concluded his speech with the following words: “The two-state solution is the only reasonable and realistic perspective, despite its apparent utopian nature in these times of killing.” For this utopia to have the slightest chance of becoming reality, civil society can and must demonstrate massively. We invite you to join 1.55 million citizens worldwide who have signed this petition launched by our friends at Avaaz:
To the leaders of all UN member states: we ask you to recognize the Palestinian state as a sovereign state and to reaffirm the rights of the Palestinian people. It is time to turn the page on decades of suffering and failed peace talks, to end the occupation, and to pave the way for lasting peace.
2° Syrie
In August, our team took charge of 21 new babies, in addition to the 14 beneficiaries from previous months.
Among them is little Layss, malnourished and periodically monitored at the hospital, shown in this photo in the middle of the single dilapidated room which serves as a refuge for his family of 7 people:
3° Aid to Ukrainian Refugees
We continue to provide basic aid for the most vulnerable families, working with our local partners on three fronts. The beneficiaries are often single mothers with children. We provide food, medicine,and hygiene items. The average cost is CHF 14.86 per person (€15.79).
In Poland, from January to April, 105 people we provided assistance to came from Kyiv, Ternopil, Odesa, Dnepro, Irpen, Kharkiv, Zaporozhye, Donetsk, Mariupol, Luhansk, and Mykolaivsk.
- In Transnistria: 43 people were given assistance from January 1 to June 30, 2024. In
- Montenegro: December 2023 to August 2024: 174 people. In the last two months: 99 people ,originally coming from: Luhansk, Dnepro, Kharkiv, Odessa, Zaporoje, Vinitsa, Donetsk, Ternopil, Nikolaev, Zaporozhye, Krivoy Rog, Irpen, Sumi, Mariupol, Kyiv, Kherson, Sumy, Cherkasy, Poltava.
To put this into context: During a visit to Ukraine, the head of UNHCR , Filippo Grandi,made a plea for help in preparing the population for a third winter of war.
“Kharkiv holds a special place in our efforts to support the Ukrainian people. I have personally witnessed the impact of the ongoing attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and their consequences for millions of civilians. But I have also witnessed the tireless efforts of reconstruction and rehabilitation, further proof of the strength and resilience of the Ukrainian Government and its people. We cannot take this for granted. International support remains essential to meet the needs and demonstrate our continued solidarity with the Ukrainian people.”
For more details, you can consult the article on the United Nations website
4° The fight against Slavery
The IRA, our partner in Mauritania, published the following narrative entitled: A case of child slavery-how it was legitimised
Nouakchott, September 13, 2024
“The alleged perpetrators are Maïma mint Lou Ould Bahi and her husband Baba Mohamed, all of the Rgueybat tribe and natives of Galb Jmel. This area, close to the department of Oualata, 200 km from Néma, capital of the Hodh Charghi region near Mali, is 1,200 km from the capital, Nouakchott.
The alleged victim is a boy, Barka Ahmed, born in 2012 in Galb Jmel.
When Maïma mint Lou Ould Bahi went to visit her in-laws in Galb Jmel, they gave her the enslaved child, Barka Ahmed. This has been customary practice amongst the noble families of the Arabo-Berber ethnic group since time immemorial.
Maïma and her husband settled in Zouérate, a city approximately 2000 kilometers away, in the far north of Mauritania. The Société nationale industrielle et minière (Snim)has its headquarters here. The woman appeared in public with the young black boy who served her, which looked suspicious to IRA activists in the area. After investigation and cross-checking, a delegation of activists went to the police station on 08/14/2024 to report a suspected crime.
The crime was immediately evident: Upon the arrival of the investigators, the boy was doing housework for the aforementioned woman. When the police officers asked her about Barka’s identity and the nature of the relationship between them, Maïma replied that her own husband had brought him there. The couple was immediately arrested. It should be noted that the Prosecutor Mohamed Vall Mouchteba and the Commissioner Mohamed Mahmoud Tiyib Bowba showed considerable leniency towards the accused, even allowing the woman to spend the night at her home before returning the next day.
Barka Ahmed’s father was brought from Oualata to Zouérate, and appeared before the authorities on 08/20/2024. When questioned, he denied any tribal connection with the individuals under investigation and inferred that no slavery had taken place. This type of testimony is generally pre-arranged by mutual agreement between the protagonists. Under pressure from the officers conducting the interrogation, he claimed to have entrusted his son to benefactors who were supposed to send him to school. The skeptical prosecutor ordered that the Inspection des affaires socials be granted custody of Barka Ahmed under the supervision of his father.
On 08/22/2024, the prosecutor decided to place the latter under judicial supervision and sent him back to Néma. However, he then proceeded to release the couple without explanation.
The public prosecutor’s office, the gendarmerie, the police, the territorial administration, and the magistrates vye with each other to be ever more zealous in attempting to deny the facts; they collude with each other to carry out sham interrogations with the parents of the victims, who are victims themselves. This is how they maintain the façade of the rule of law, by using the increasing number of anti-slavery laws to their advantage, increasing the number of courts supposedly dealing with these cases but not actually enforcing the law. Those guilty of slavery end up being able to act with impunity. Ultimately, the old reflexes of self-defense and solidarity still prevail. This is how justice functions in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, the famous country of minarets and scholars.
We thank you for your attention to this work and this news, and remain at your disposal for any further information.
With our best regards,
The Vivere Committee