The Weekly Lift - February 24, 2022

This week's selection of articles and headlines*:

International Relations: Israel Looks To Increase Trade With Morocco To $500 Million

The Jerusalem Post (Israel) reports that "Israel is targeting an annual trade volume of $500 million with?Morocco, up from $131 million currently as the two countries look to broaden cooperation since they normalized relations in 2020, Israel's economy minister said on Monday.

Orna Barbivai made the statement following talks in Rabat with Moroccan industry and trade minister Ryad Mezzour, with whom she signed a trade and investment cooperation deal.

Under this deal, the two countries commit to facilitating trade and investments in the aerospace, automobile, agri-food, textile and pharmaceutical industries in particular, Mezzour told reporters.

The agreement was part of the implementation of a deal to resume ties brokered by the?Trump administration in 2020.

Earlier in the day, Barbivai discussed with her Moroccan counterpart Nadia Fettah Alaoui future agreements on investment incentives, customs cooperation and double taxation, Morocco's economy and finance ministry said in a statement.

Morocco is also looking forward to cooperating with Israel in fields relating to industrial research and development and the setting up of industrial zones, Mezzour said.

Barbivai's visit to Morocco comes three months after the two countries signed a defense pact."

Politics: Ethiopia Lifts State Of Emergency Early, Citing Calming War

The Globe and Mail (Canada) states that "lawmakers in Ethiopia voted Tuesday to end the country’s three-month state of emergency early as mediation efforts to end a deadly war in the north continue in the Horn of Africa nation.

The vote took place after Ethiopia’s Council of Ministers, chaired by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, decided on Jan. 26 to end the state of emergency originally imposed for six months, citing recent developments in the conflict.

The state of emergency was imposed in early November as Tigray regional forces fighting Ethiopian and allied forces moved closer to the capital, Addis Ababa. The Tigray fighters withdrew back into their region in late December amid mediation efforts and under pressure from a drone-supported military offensive carried out by the government.

Thousands of mainly ethnic Tigrayans were detained under the state of emergency, according to witnesses, lawyers and human rights groups. Many were released after December’s shift in the war.

There was no immediate word Tuesday on when the rest of the people detained under the state of emergency would be released. They include a freelance video journalist accredited to The Associated Press, Amir Aman Kiyaro.

“We urge that this move be immediately followed by the release of all individuals arrested or detained without charge under the state of emergency,” the U.S. State Department said, adding that “the end of these detentions will facilitate an inclusive and productive national dialogue.”

The state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting reported: “The state of emergency investigation board is instructed to finish any outstanding works within a month and report back to the relevant body. Judicial bodies are also instructed to finish emergency law-related cases within the regular judicial process.”

The United Nations secretary-general encouraged Ethiopian authorities to “take further measures to ensure the decision is followed up by the release of those remaining people that are in detention as a result of the state of emergency, or for the reasons of their detention to be regularly reviewed at least by a court and other independent impartial judiciary,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, an advisory committee within the Ethiopian parliament said the lifting of the state of emergency would help revive the country’s economic and diplomatic situation. Parliament speaker Tagesse Chafo said the committee believes the country’s security threats can now be dealt with by regular law enforcement.

The parliament speaker said a new “corrective measure” is being put in place to deal with security threats in the Amhara, Afar, Benishangul Gumuz and Gambella regions and the Wellega area in the Oromia region.

Ethiopia’s war erupted in November 2020 and is believed to have caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people and the displacement of millions. Although the war has subsided in several places, notably within the Tigray and Amhara regions, concerns remain in the northeastern Afar region.

Aid for millions in the Tigray region remains severely limited under what the U.N. has described as a “de facto humanitarian blockade.” On Monday, the World Health Organization said it has been granted access to send medical supplies to Tigray for the first time in six months, but said fuel shortages were hampering its distribution."

Gender Rights: Colombia Decriminalizes Abortion

The New York Times (US) writes that "the decision by the Constitutional Court comes in the wake of similar moves in Mexico and Argentina.

Having an abortion is no longer a crime under Colombian law, the country’s top court on constitutional matters ruled on Monday, in a decision that paves the way for the procedure to become widely available across this historically conservative, Catholic country.

The ruling by Colombia’s Constitutional Court follows years of organizing by women across Latin America for greater protections and more rights, including access to abortion, and significant shiftsin the legal landscape of some of the region’s most populous countries. Mexico’s Supreme Court decriminalized abortion in a?similar decision in September and Argentina’s Congress?legalized the procedure in late 2020.

The ruling means that three of the four most populous countries in Latin America have now opened the door to more widespread access to abortion.

“This puts Colombia on the vanguard in Latin America,” said Mariana Ardila, a Colombian lawyer with?Women’s Link Worldwide and a part of the coalition that brought one of two cases challenging the criminalization of abortion.?

“This is historic,” she continued, “and it means that many women, girls and adolescents who were risking their lives in unsafe places, who were being criminalized, will now be protected.”

The Colombian court’s decision decriminalizes abortions in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, and means that any woman should be able to seek the procedure from a health professional without fear of criminal prosecution. It also sets the stage for the Colombian government to regulate the process further.?

Until now, abortions had been legal only in limited circumstances, laid out by a 2006 Constitutional Court decision: when a woman’s health was at risk, when a fetus had serious health problems or when a pregnancy resulted from rape. Anyone else who had an abortion — or who helped a woman obtain one — could be sentenced to 16 to 54 months in prison.

Colombia’s nine constitutional court magistrates voted five to four in favor of decriminalization.?

In an interview following the vote, Judge Alberto Rojas Ríos, who co-wrote the ruling in favor of decriminalization, called the decision “a symbol of the eternal fight for women’s freedom” and a step toward “self-determination” for Colombian women.

Abortion rights activists often said that this legal landscape created a two-tier system: Wealthier women in cities could acquire an abortion because they knew how to use one of the exceptions laid out in the law, while poorer women with less education had limited knowledge of how to do so.

Prosecutors in Colombia open about 400 cases each year against women who have abortions or people who help them, according to the attorney general’s office. At least 346 people have been convicted in such cases since 2006. Illegal abortions can be unsafe and cause about 70 deaths a year in Colombia,?according to the country’s health ministry.

A recent survey?by the nonpartisan firm Ipsos found that while 82 percent of Colombian respondents supported abortion in some circumstances, just 26 percent supported it in all cases — and the court’s decision is likely to cause friction as abortion rights activists, policymakers, health care providers and others determine how it should be carried out.

The decision cannot be altered by other legal bodies.

Colombia’s Constitutional Court is considered by many legal experts to be more liberal than the country at large, and many recent liberal shifts, including the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2016,?resulted from the court’s decisions.

The court is also considered a legal trendsetter in the region, said Francisco Bernate, a law professor at the University of Rosario in Bogotá, and the decision is likely to attract the attention of judges across Latin America.

Activists in the United States are also following the changes in the region. “These struggles are connected,” said Serra Sippel, the chief global advocacy officer at Fos Feminista, an alliance of reproductive rights groups that works around the world, including in the United States. “We in the U.S. can really learn a lot.”

Environment: In Sweden, Green Re-Industrialization Is Accelerating

Le Monde (France) reports that "the country's industrial jewels have announced huge investments to decarbonize their production, as new companies arrive on the market.

While the first electric battery cells came out of its giga-factory in Skelleftea, northern Sweden, at the end of December 2021, the Swedish company Northvolt announced on February 4 the construction of a second plant in Gothenburg, on the west coast of the country, as part of a partnership with the manufacturer Volvo Cars, which fell into the fold of Chinese Geely in 2010. The plant will equip half a million cars with the brand and is expected to create 3,000 new jobs.

For the new Minister of Industry, interviewed by?Le Monde, there is no doubt: Sweden is experiencing?"an industrial green revolution".?Appointed on November 30, 2021, Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson headed Sweden's largest trade union center, Landsorganisationen i Sverige (LO), between 2012 and 2020. He who deplored the country's deindustrialization just a few years ago now believes that?"the prospects for Sweden's reindustrialisation have never been as good as it is today".

In the north of the country alone, where 500,000 people currently live, there is now talk of 100,000 job creation by 2030. Some of the biggest investments come from the flagships of Swedish industry and aim to decarbonize their production. The others come from new players, such as Northvolt, who chose Sweden because of the abundance of green electricity, especially in the north of the country.

For industrial giants, there is no time to lose: the country of 10 million inhabitants has committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2045. However, its industry, which accounts for nearly 20% of its gross domestic product, is now responsible for a third of its CO2 emissions.?Of all the projects, the transformation of the LKAB mining company, which supplies 90% of the iron ore produced in Europe, and that of the steelmaker SSAB already promise to be the most ambitious.

By 2045, the LKAB group, 100% controlled by the Swedish State, intends to decarbonize all its operations and produce iron without any fossil energy, for the manufacture of zero-carbon steel. Cost of the operation: 400 billion crowns (38 billion euros) over twenty-five years, one of the largest industrial investments ever made in Sweden. According to its boss, Jan Mostr?m, it should allow LKAB to double its turnover by 2045 and continue its production until at least 2060.

In addition, the mining company has partnered with electrician Vattenfall and steelmaker SSAB to produce low-carbon steel, as part of an initiative called Hybrit. In addition to a pilot plant in Lulea, in northeastern Sweden, where the direct reduction of iron ore using natural gas and then hydrogen supplied by Vattenfall will be tested for four years, the three giants have invested nearly one billion euros in the construction of a demonstration plant in the municipality of G?llivare, 250 kilometers to the north.

For his part, the steelmaker SSAB, who had decided to replace his blast furnaces with electric furnaces by 2045, announced on January 28 that the conversion would finally take place fifteen years ahead of schedule. The investment, at four different sites, is expected to exceed €4 billion and will allow?"Sweden?to?reduce its total CO2?emissions by 10%?and Finland by about 7%,"?recalled SSAB CEO Martin Lindqvist.

The steelmaker will have to count on a newcomer to the market: launched in 2020, the start-up H2 Green Steel plans to produce 5 million tons of carbon-free steel by 2030, in Boden, in northeastern Sweden. Among its founders, the investment company Vargas Holding is also one of Norhtvolt's largest shareholders. Its CEO also chairs the boards of directors of both companies.

Why Sweden? Industry Minister Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson sees three reasons:?"We have raw materials, abundant and cheap green electricity, especially in the north, and an innovative climate in industry.?The constraints imposed on companies, including the carbon tax, also played a role, according to him:?"Companies had to take action to limit their emissions and they took the lead. ?

Director of the Fossilfritt Sverige agency, responsible for?supporting Sweden's ecological and energy transition, Svante Axelsson also mentions the role of unions,?"very oriented towards technological development and not afraid of change, if it improves the competitiveness of industry".

On the financing side, the State has set up several grant programs for research and development, as well as guaranteed loans. Between 2021 and 2022, the Swedish Energy Agency was allocated the equivalent of €150 million to finance initiatives in the context of the industry transition.?"The involvement of the State, far upstream, even if limited, has given credibility to the projects,"?says Mr. Axelsson.

But this green revolution presents significant challenges for the Swedish economy. In terms of recruitment, first. A national coordinator has been appointed to support municipalities in dealing with the rush to the Far North. The government has also put in place a retraining system that allows Swedes to take training for one year by receiving 80% of their former salary. Companies also look abroad to hire specialists.

Another challenge: access to electricity. The transformation of LKAB mines alone will require 55 terawatt hours, or a third of current consumption in Sweden. Production capacity will therefore have to be drastically increased. Before the September general elections, the right campaigned for the construction of new nuclear reactors, while the left highlighted the role of wind power."

Human Rights: Kuwait Overturns Law Used To Prosecute Transgender People

The New York Times (US) reports that "the country’s constitutional court said the law, which criminalized “imitation of the opposite sex,” violated Kuwaitis’ rights to personal freedom.

Kuwait’s constitutional court overturned a law on Wednesday that authorities had used to prosecute transgender people, saying the statute violated Kuwaitis’ right to personal freedom. Activists hailed the decision as a landmark for transgender rights in the Middle East.

The law, known as Article 198, had criminalized “imitation of the opposite sex,” giving Kuwaiti authorities free rein to stop, arrest and prosecute people whose appearance did not match the gender marked on their official identification card.

Transgender Kuwaitis and Kuwaiti activists say that the police often detain transgender people at security checkpoints after inspecting their papers, sometimes for little more than a man having what the officers consider a feminine voice. During interrogations, they say, the police often sexually harass or physically assault them and then jail them.

Wednesday’s ruling stood out as a rare advance for sexual rights in a region where being gay or transgender, if not expressly against the law, is usually treated as such. In most Arab countries, traditional attitudes about gender norms merge with strict religious beliefs to make sexual variations largely taboo.

As a tiny, oil-rich city-state in the Persian Gulf with slightly more open politics than its authoritarian neighbors, Kuwait is not necessarily a bellwether for the region’s sexual freedoms.

Still, Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, welcomed the ruling as a “major breakthrough.” But she called on Kuwait to ensure the law was fully repealed and to end the practice of arbitrarily arresting transgender people.

“Article 198 was deeply discriminatory, overly vague and never should have been accepted into law in the first place,” she said in a statement on Wednesday.

The law was passed in May 2007, when Kuwait’s National Assembly amended the penal code to criminalize “indecent” gestures in public and impersonating the opposite sex, punishable by a maximum of one year in prison and a fine.

Thirteen years later, it touched off a controversy beyond Kuwait’s borders when a Kuwaiti transgender social media influencer posted a series of Snapchat videos accusing police officers of arbitrarily detaining her for seven months in 2019 under Article 198. She was held in a men’s prison and officers raped and beat her, she said.

“All this because I’m trans?” the woman, Maha al-Mutairi, cried in one of the videos, accusing police officers of repeatedly abusing her for “imitating the opposite sex” even though she had tried to bow to their demands by cutting her hair short, binding her breasts and dressing in a dishdasha, the traditional white robe worn by men in the gulf.

“God made me like this,” she said. “I wish that I felt like a man deep inside. I’d pay all the money in the world to feel like a normal man. Why would you do this to me?”

The videos earned Ms. al-Mutairi a summons from the authorities. But they also spurred some Kuwaitis to defend her, and drew international condemnation of Article 198.

Yet in October, citing Article 198 as well as a telecommunications law, a court sentenced Ms. al-Mutairi to?two years in prison and a fine. She was released on appeal last year, according to Human Rights Watch.

But?Ms. al-Mutairi's case, as well as those of many other transgender Kuwaitis, helped galvanize transgender activism in the country, and the constitutional court agreed in December to hear a challenge to the law.

Transgender rights are not nonexistent in the Middle East. Islamic authorities in Egypt and Iran issued fatwas in the 1980s authorizing transition surgery. And though transgender people are not specifically mentioned in the Quran, some Muslim religious scholars have suggested they are simply born in the wrong body.

But in practice, even transgender people who have undergone surgery have enormous difficulty achieving legal recognition of their identities. Although only Oman directly prohibits transgender people from expressing their identities, laws are often interpreted in ways that enable the authorities to target transgender people. For example, several other Arab countries forbid men from wearing women’s clothing to enter women-only areas.

Discrimination is also rampant. Because transgender Kuwaitis have no way of changing their legal gender, most have trouble accessing health care, housing, jobs or services requiring their identity cards.

Many transgender women dress like men and hide their hair to evade scrutiny, but still face arrest simply for having feminine-sounding voices or smooth skin, according to activists, transgender women and research compiled by Human Rights Watch. Thirty-nine of the 40 transgender women Human Rights Watch interviewed in Kuwait in 2011 reported having been arrested under Article 198, some as many as nine times.

Shaikha Salmeen, a lawyer and activist who worked on Ms. al-Mutairi’s case and the campaign against Article 198, said Wednesday’s ruling was a step “in the right direction.”

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