UN hails Biden’s end to International Criminal Court US sanctions

United Nations welcomes President Biden’s decision to lift sanctions against ICC officials

File photo of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, briefing the UN Security Council on Libya in May 2019.Photo: Loey Felipe/UN

By UN News Service

Move is President Biden’s latest move to end Trump’s isolationist policies

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the decision by the United States to lift sanctions and visa restrictions against officials with the International Criminal Court (ICC).

President Joseph Biden on Friday revoked a Trump-era executive order issued after the ICC announced it was investigating alleged war crimes commit-

ted by all sides in the conflict in Afghanistan, including the US.

Executive Order 13928 of 11 June 2020 imposed economic sanctions against ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and the Head of the Jurisdiction, Complementarity and Cooperation Division, Phakiso Mochochoko. A separate 2019 policy regarding visa restrictions on certain court staff was also terminated.

“These decisions reflect our assessment that the measures adopted were inappropriate and ineffective”, US Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken said in a statement.

In welcoming the decision, the Secretary-General noted that the ICC “plays an important role in advancing accountability

Police escort a group of supporters of former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo outside the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands,

Thursday, February 6, 2020. Photo: Peter Dejong/AP for international crimes”, his Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said in a statement on Saturday.

Ready to re-engage

The Court, which is based in The Hague, in the Netherlands, prosecutes the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

It was established in July 1998 under a treaty known as the Rome Statute, which more than 120 countries have signed. The US is not a party to the treaty.

The ICC also issued a statement on Saturday welcoming the developments from Washington.

“The Court is mindful that the United States has traditionally made important contributions to the cause of international criminal justice,” the statement said.

“The Court stands ready to reengage with the US in the continuation of that tradition based on mutual respect and constructive engagement.”

In the fulfilment of what it called its “independent and impartial judicial mandate” the Court said it “acts strictly within the confines of the Rome Statute, as a Court of last resort, in a manner complementary to national jurisdictions. The Court relies on the support and cooperation of its States Parties, representing all regions of the world, and of the international community more broadly.”

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Legal marijuana and camera surveillance: Five takeaways from the second Brooklyn Park mayoral candidate forum

By Tom Gitaa Mshale

Candidates for mayor of Brooklyn Park took part in a virtual candidates’ forum hosted by Beyond Media Solutions and Mshale. Collins Oppong of Beyond Media and Cynthia Simba of Mshale co-moderated the almost 80-minute session.

Five of the seven candidates in the race participated with Lisa Jacobson and Mark Mata citing a scheduling conflict for their absence.

In-person and mail-in absentee voting is already underway for the April 13 special primary election for mayor. You can find details on the city website at this link.

With just three weeks to the April 13 special primary election, candidates for the first time on Tuesday directly criticized votes or stances taken by their opponents and although this was a forum and not a debate, the criticized candidates did not shy away from responding.

Here are the highlights from Tuesday:

The gloves are off

Until now, candidates have focused on selling themselves and have not called out their opponents positions they agree on, at least not openly. They have left open direct criticism of their opponents to their supporters and surrogates.

However, with three weeks to go and time becoming an issue, the gloves are off.

Benjamin Osemenam who in last week’s forum promised “read my lips, no new taxes,” this week signaled to voters that he is the one looking out for them

About 17 minutes into the forum, he said “At the last forum, it was mentioned that the city does not have money to clean our water. But one of the people that mentioned that, was on the Budget Commission, and the other was a City Council member that voted to give a staff $10,000 raise, but there was not enough money to clean our water. Now, it makes you wonder what are our priorities?”

Osemenam did not mention any names but viewers quickly had any confusion erased about five minutes later when Hollies Winston pointed out he is one of those being referred to when he chose to defend himself.

“I am the guy who sat on the Budget Advisory Commission. Paying someone $10,000 for hard work, is very different than a $20 to $25 million bill to fix hard water, versus investing in public safety and many of the issues that people of Brooklyn Park are concerned about.”

Of the seven candidates in the race, Mark Mata who skipped this forum was the only one in the council when the water issue came up.

Candidates articulate their visions of policing

Throughout the campaign, all candidates have not shied away from trying to prove their public safety bona fides, even as they admit the city’s police department needs to do things differently.

Tuesday was no different but their responses gave additional insight on the candidates’’ different views on policecommunity relations overall.

At the forum, with the exception of Kurdyumova, they all committed to some version of ‘community policing.’

Winston said the officers need to get out of their cars more and understand “What’s going on, on a block-by-block basis.” Him and Russell agreed that the department needs more officers of color.

“I have been here for 18 years; I have not had any problems with Brooklyn Park police. But that doesn’t mean that some resident down the street, or someone who looks like me, who lives across 85th, may (not) have had a problem with the Brooklyn Park police,” said Russell.

Morson reminded viewers of the ongoing Wilder Research study that is evaluating policing, community safety and violence prevention in the city.

In December, the city hired Wilder Research to evaluate policing, community safety and violence prevention for six months. Morson said of the study, after reminding viewers of its existence, that “I am the council member that sits on this particular committee.”

Kurdyumova supports legal marijuana

Candidates were asked to list two priorities for reform in the city and supporters of legalized marijuana discovered they have a friend in Yelena Kurdyumova.

Kurdyumova came out in support of Minnesota House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler’s legislation introduced on March 5 that would legalize the adult use of cannabis. Rep. Winkler when introducing the bill said the “legislation is the result of months of public discussions on how to responsibly legalize and regulate cannabis.” Among the provisions in the bill, if it becomes law, is the expungement of most cannabis convictions. In April 2020, the American Civil Liberties Union released a report that showed Black people are 5.4 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession in Minnesota, despite comparable usage rates.

On Tuesday, in publicly supporting the legislation, Kurdyumova said “When it passes and becomes the law, it will open new, legal opportunities for Brooklyn Park’s small businesses, marijuana dispensaries, residents won’t have to go to other states like South Dakota to buy cannabis, but will buy locally and leave their money in the city where they live.”

Morson digs in on the Green Light Project

In the first forum, Morson shared his vision of a camera surveillance system to fight crime in the city modeled after Detroit’s Green Light Project.

On Tuesday, he reiterated his commitment to the surveillance project saying “It has reduced crime in Detroit.” Morson said his version of surveillance will be in conjunction with “A community radio patrol, where our volunteers would be our neighborhoods, our own people from our community, donating and give and volunteer and hour or two hours of their own time, to patrol their own neighborhood.”

Osemenam is of a different mind when it comes to the Green Light Project although he does support some type of surveillance. He said that his version of surveillance will be “the establishment of public-private, citywide, surveillance system, linked to the police, that is not similar to what you have, you know, for the Green Light in Detroit. But something that is done in conjunction with our Toward Zero debt.”

Agreement on immigration

Three of the five candidates at Tuesday’s forum are immigrants and the other two, Morson and Winston, have longstanding relationships and support within the immigrant community.

Therefore, it was not surprising that there would be general agreement and support for issues of particular concern to immigrants.

Even with the broad agreement among the candidates, Osemenam made a statement worth noting when he said “As your next mayor, I will work with the police chief to sign off on all V visas, which protects immigrants from harm against them. In fact, as I mentioned earlier, that V visa is part of my Toward Zero Police Incident and Crime program.”

Osemenam was probably referring to the U visa and not the V visa which is how the police chief will be involved. The U. S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services defines the U visa as “U nonimmigrant status (U visa) is set aside for victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are helpful to law enforcement or government officials in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity.”

Brooklyn Park mayoral race enters critical final week ahead of special primary election

By Tom Gitaa Mshale

As Brooklyn Park voters enter the final week of the special primary election campaign for mayor, early in-person voting and mail-in absentee voting has been off to a slow start.

Just 487 people had voted as of Wednesday afternoon (March 31), according to the city clerk Devin Montero. When polls opened in last November’s general election, the city’s 24 precincts had 47,520 registered voters. In terms of population the city is Minnesota’s sixth largest.

There are seven candidates on the ballot for the April 13 special primary election. Three of the seven currently serve on the city council and one is a former council member.

As of this writing, the candidates have had two candidate forums, which you can watch here and here.

The mayor’s seat became vacant after former Mayor Jeff Lunde was elected to the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners last November.

How to vote before the April 13 special primary election

Through April 12: You can vote in-person at City Hall, Monday through Friday between 8am-4:30pm. City Hall is at 5200 85th Ave. N.

Saturday voting in-person: If you can only vote in-person on a Saturday, you can do so on Saturday, April 10 from 10am to 3pm.

By mail: If you have not already mailed your ballot, you might want to do that as soon as possible, ideally by April 6 because of the well-publicized postal challenges. If you have not already downloaded and filled out your ballot, you can do so at this Brooklyn Park city website.

The special primary election for mayor of Brooklyn Park will be held on April 13. The primary will narrow the field to two.

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Governors Walz and Pawlenty receive COVID vaccine together

From Pg. 1

eligible, was joined by former Republican governor Tim Pawlenty to receive their single shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine alongside each other at the Vikings’ practice facility in Eagan.

Former Vikings linebacker EJ Henderson joined the two governors in receiving his shot at the facility.

“I was excited to receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine today, alongside my friend and former Republican governor of Minnesota Tim Pawlenty,” said Governor Walz. “It doesn’t matter where you live or who you vote for, we can all agree we need to end this pandemic. The vaccines are how we get there. So roll up your sleeves, Minnesota, the end is in sight.”

State health officials have warned that even though eligibility has been opned to all, there is still not enough vaccine to accomodate everyone.

This is expected to change however in the coming weeks as the vaccine allotment to the state increases.

As vaccination rates increase, there is still the threat of new variants that are already in the state such as the UK and Brazil variants.

Minnesotans are still urged to exercise caution even after they have been vaccinated to protect the unvaccinated.

Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty (in red polo shirt) and current governor Tim Walz receive their shots of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on March 30, 2021 at the Vikings practice facility in Eagan. March 30 was the first day that all Minnesotans were eligible to receive the vaccine. Photo: Office of Governor Tim Walz