February 2 – Europe / International Organizations:
RUSSIA / EUROPEAN COURT of HUMAN RIGHTS (ECHR)
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) orders Russia to pay opposition activist Alexei Navalny $68,000 in compensation for violating his right to peaceful protest, unlawful arrests, and other rights violations.[1] Alexei Navalny is Russia’s most prominent anti-corruption activist and critic of President Vladimir Putin and his regime. (February 8): A court in Russia finds Alexei Navalny guilty of embezzlement and sentences him to a suspended five-year term. This is a retrial and repeated sentence of the 2013 trial, which was annulled after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the Russian court had violated Navalny’s right for a fair trial. The sentence bars Navalny from running for president in 2018. He calls the sentence politically motivated and says he will pursue his presidential campaign despite the conviction.
February 8 – Africa: SOMALIA
In the second round of voting, Members of the Somali parliament elect former Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo as the country’s new president over incumbent President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Because of security concerns, the election takes place in a heavily guarded converted aircraft hangar at the Mogadishu airport complex. The terrorist rebel group Al-Shabab staged several mortar attacks around the venue before the election.
Map of Somalia – who controls which parts of the country.
February 9 – Africa / International Organizations:
KENYA / SOMALIA / UN HIGH COMMISSIONER for REFUGEES (UNHCR)
Kenya’s High Court blocks the government’s effort to close the country’s largest refugee camp in Dadaab. It rules that targeting just one group of people, in this case the Somali refugees, is illegal, discriminatory, and in violation of international law. The government planned to close the camp claiming that the camp has become a haven for terrorists. Dadaab camp was founded in 1991 to accommodate Somali refugees escaping civil war in their home country. Today, it hosts more than 256,000 refugees, making it the largest refugee complex in the world.[2] It is run by UNHCR and funded by foreign donors.[3]
“Life in Dadaab: three generations of refugees isolated from Kenyan society” from The Guardian.
February 13: East Asia: NORTH KOREA / MALAYSIA
Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is killed by poison at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The surveillance camera shows two women attacking Kim and smearing his face with cloth with what the autopsy later revealed is the deadly VX nerve agent. Two women, Vietnamese and Indonesian nationals, are arrested and charged with murder. They say they were paid to do it in what was described to them as a reality TV prank. Malaysian authorities are looking for seven other North Korean suspects in the murder, including a diplomat. Kim Jong-nam was once considered next in line to assume North Korea’s leadership, but after falling out of favor he was passed over to the benefit of his younger half-brother. He has since lived in exile.
February 15 – Europe / North America:
EUROPEAN UNION / CANADA
The European Parliament approves the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA), a new free trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Canada. The EU national parliaments must approve CETA before it can take full effect. After CETA comes into effect, custom duties (taxes) on 99 percent of the Canadian and the EU exports will be lifted. After seven years, customs duties on industrial products will be also lifted. Proponents of the trade deal say that CETA will increase exports of goods and services, boosting growth and jobs for both sides. At the same time, CETA will reduce Canada’s dependence on the U.S. export market. But CETA has also been controversial, sparking protests across Europe. The opponents argue that the deal will have negative effect on labor laws, environmental standards, and will empower corporations at the expense of ordinary Europeans.
More about CETA
February 16 – North America: UNITED STATES
During his first four weeks as president, Donald Trump signs about two dozens executive orders. They include a withdrawal of the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, cutting business regulations, resuming the construction of two controversial pipelines (the Keystone XL and Dakota Access), terminating a regulation that was aimed at protecting waterways from coal mining waste, freezing federal government hiring, and instructing federal agencies to weaken the Affordable Care Act (ACA) commonly referred to as Obamacare. His most controversial executive action is the travel ban that includes ban on anyone arriving from seven Muslim-majority countries (Libya, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and Sudan), suspension of refugee program for 120 days, and indefinite ban on Syrian refugees. This executive order that was not coordinated with other agencies causes chaos and confusion at airports in the U.S. and around the world, with some travelers detained and deported. It also sparks protests across the country. Dozens of lawsuits are filed against the order, with federal judges issuing temporary injunctions in several states to stop the deportations. The suits argue that the travel ban targets Muslims and is unconstitutional. (February 17): A federal judge in Seattle issues a temporary nationwide restraining order stopping the travel ban executive order.
What are presidential executive orders?
February 20 – Africa / International Organizations:
SOUTH SUDAN / UN WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP)
South Sudan and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) declare famine in South Sudan’s several counties, with 100,000 people affected. They also report that another 1 million people are on the brink of famine and another 5 million urgently need food, agriculture and nutrition assistance.[4] It is estimated that more than one million children are currently acutely malnourished across South Sudan.[5] South Sudan has a population of 12.5 million people.[6] This famine is man-made exacerbated by three years of violent conflict that disrupted food production and by economic crisis.