Arusha, 25 June 2021– Today, Judge Vagn Joensen (Denmark) pronounced his Judgement in the case of Prosecutor v. Anselme Nzabonimpa et al. (MICT-18-116-T), convicting Mr. Augustin Ngirabatware, Mr. Anselme Nzabonimpa, Mr. Jean de Dieu Ndagijimana, and Ms. Marie Rose Fatuma of contempt for witness interference.
The Single Judge also convicted Mr. Ngirabatware for contempt on the basis of violating court orders while entering a verdict of not guilty for a co-Accused, Mr. Dick Prudence Munyeshuli, on a single contempt charge for violations of court orders. Judge Joensen sentenced Mr. Ngirabatware to two years’ imprisonment. Mr. Nzabonimpa, Mr. Ndagijimana, and Ms. Fatuma were sentenced to time served, having spent over 11 months in pre-trial detention.
The case against the Accused was principally based on allegations of witness interference from 2015 into 2018 with key protected Prosecution witnesses who testified in Mr. Ngirabatware’s genocide trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (“ICTR”). These witnesses had been relied upon by an ICTR trial chamber in 2012 to convict Mr. Ngirabatware of incitement to commit genocide and genocide.
The witness interference was found to have occurred during preparations for review proceedings requested by Mr. Ngirabatware that sought to overturn his convictions based on purported recantations of these witnesses.
The Single Judge found that the evidence demonstrated that money was paid and offered to witnesses to facilitate recantations of their trial testimonies and that the Accused sought to manipulate and improperly influence potential witness evidence in anticipation Mr. Ngirabatware’s review proceedings. Mr. Ngirabatware, Mr. Nzabonimpa, Mr. Ndagijimana, and Ms. Fatuma were also charged with incitement to commit contempt but the Single Judge entered a finding of not guilty on this charge.
Mr. Ngirabatware was serving a sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment for his genocide convictions when the indictment against him was confirmed in October 2019, while his co-Accused were arrested more than a year earlier on 3 September 2018. The cases were joined in December 2019, and trial was supposed to start in June 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, trial was delayed until October 2020.
During the pronouncement, Judge Joensen praised the ingenuity and dedication of Mechanism staff that allowed proceedings to continue during the pandemic by creating a socially distanced and continuously sanitized court room and for making technical modifications that allowed remote participation in the proceedings from The Hague and Kigali.
Between 26 October 2020 and 9 April 2021, nine Prosecution witnesses and six Defence witnesses, including two Accused, testified in court. Nearly 2000 exhibits were admitted, including the evidence of an additional 37 witnesses whose testimony was provided by way of written procedure. The Single Judge pronounced his Judgement two days after the completion of closing arguments held between 21 and 23 June 2021.
During the course of proceedings, Judge Joensen issued around 200 decisions and orders. Significant decisions included denying a request to transfer the case to Rwanda, and a jurisdictional decision interpreting the scope of Mechanism’s statute to include incitement to commit contempt and dismissing joint criminal enterprise as a form of liability applicable to contempt offences.
The case also involved decisions that affirmed the judiciary’s ability to unconditionally release defendants from pre-trial detention to ensure fair trial rights and evaluated material differences in conducting searches of digital – rather than physical – spaces and how that impacts the proper interpretation and application of warrants for search and seizure.
For a more information on the case, please visit the Nzabonimpa et al. case page to see the case’s information sheet on the Mechanism’s website.
Premier Armin Laschet and President of Austria, Alexander van der Bellen – Picture by Land NRW, Nadine Zilliges.
Thursday, 3 June 2021, Berlin, Germany: North Rhine-Westphalia’s Premier Armin Laschet received the Federal President of the Republic of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen, for bilateral discussions.
The meeting took place at the Representation of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia to the German Federation in Berlin. The two officials spoke about the relations between the two countries, Europe’s way out of the Corona virus pandemic and the fight against climate change.
Premier Armin Laschet: “I thank the Austrian Federal President for this constructive exchange. We have discussed intensively and in doing so have also found many commonalities on the central issues of our time. Austria and North Rhine-Westphalia have chosen innovative ways to combat the pandemic. Austria and North Rhine-Westphalia are also equally guided by the comprehensive consideration and careful weighing of all consequences of the Corona virus policy.”
“Germany and Austria also have in common that we want to combine ecological transformation with economic success. We want and we need more climate protection in Europe and we are aware that this can only be achieved if we use the potential that lies in our companies,” said Premier Laschet as per statement below in the German language.
“The Austrian Federal President Van der Bellen has repeatedly pointed out in the past that ‘more courage for climate protection’ is needed worldwide and that a signal for this must also come from Europe. I have therefore promoted the idea of appointing a European climate envoy to champion this cause internationally.”
President Van der Bellen was likewise received at Bellevue Palace by Federal President Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier as well as by Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel at the Federal Chancellor’s Office. He was accompanied to all meetings by Austrian Ambassador in Germany, Dr. Peter Huber.
On the very spot where guests have been treated to comfort and quality for over 200 years, Patrick Aarsman and his team are proud to make this jubilee year something truly special.
Patrick Aarsman, General Manager, Leonardo Royal Promenade Hotel, The Hague.
Their annual herring party on the 22nd of June showed their inventiveness in the time of Covid restrictions.
Not one big party for the 150 invitees (mostly ambassadors and other diplomats), but three separate shifts. There was of course plenty of freshly caught and cleaned herring (the quality is superb this year!), which the mainly non-Dutch guests first sampled and then enjoyed with gusto.
The herring was followed by a sit-down lunch at tables for two or four with the mandated 1.5 meters between them. Lunch consisted of a series of very original small dishes that were a delight to the palate and beautifully made up. Chef Sido and his équipe had really outdone themselves in showing what they can do for parties, dinners, and receptions.
What is it, that makes herring so special in The Netherlands and why has it become an almost iconic food here? There are two main reasons. Herring used to be overwhelmingly plentiful in the North Sea close to the Dutch shores and when in season became a prime source of protein for the masses. it was caught in small vessels and immediately put into barrels heavily salted, a layer of salt, a layer of herring, another layer of salt, and so on. The problem was, that while this slowed spoiling, the innards caused an unpleasant flavour.
Then in the 14th century, a method was found to solve that. We claim that it was invented by a man from the province of Zeeland, Willem Beukelszoon. It consisted of using a specialised knife to cut out most of the innards in a single sweep and cut off the gills. The method was called “kaken”. This allowed for storage until the next season and made it a popular food all year round.
John Dunkelgrün, from Diplomat Magazine thanked Mr Aarsman for his continuos support and partnership.
The second reason comes more than a century later. Holland had revolted against Spain and the Duke of Alva was charged with subduing the revolution. He laid siege to the well-fortified city of Leiden and almost managed to subdue it by causing a complete famine. At the last moment, the Prince of Orange and the grand council at The Hague decided to flood the surrounding land by breaking the dykes and sending in boats with troops and food for the city. The food that saved them on October 3rd, 1584 consisted of herring and white bread. It has been the symbol of Dutch resilience ever since
While a sit-down lunch isn’t ideal for networking, everyone was simply delighted at being able to meet in person once again and the sense of re-found freedom was palpable. General Manager Patrick Aarsman proudly announced that in a year that is so special for his Leonardo Royal Hotel he is planning extensive renovations to the ground floor to give their guests a truly world-class experience.
And to make it even more attractive to the diplomatic community, there will be a separate dining room for diplomats only.
Expressing regret that she couldn’t be present due to the Covid restrictions, he honoured Dr. Mayelinne de Lara of Diplomat Magazine in gratitude for the close cooperation in bringing together the Diplomatic Corps at The Hague and the hotel.
Many ambassadors attended the memorable Herring Lunch among them H.E. Mr. Riaz Hamidullah, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and Mr. Md. Jannatul Habib; H.E. Mr. Arnoldo Brenes Castro, Ambassador of the Republic of Costa Rica; Mr. Fery Iswandy, Minister Counsellor, Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia and Etty U. Wulandari; H.E. Mr. Andres Terán Parral, Ambassador of Ecuador, Nicolás Ortiz and Susana Medina; H.E. Mr. Alexander Shulgin, Ambassador of the Russian Federation; H.E. Mr. Jorge Skinner-Klée Are, Ambassador of the Republic of Guatemala; H.E. Mr. Lawrence Lemayapa, Ambassador of the Republic of Kenya and Ms Josephine Opili; H.E. Mr. Mark Anthony Pace, Ambassador of the Republic of Malta and Mr. Rick Bajker; H.E. Ms. Elizabeth Ward Neiman, Ambassador of Panama; H.E. Mr. Naor Gilon, Ambassador of Israel and Mr. Orly Gilon; H.E. Giorgi Nakashidze, Ambassador of the Republic of Georgia; H.E. Mr. Mario Oyarzabal, Ambassador of Argentina; H.E. Mr. Dirk Brengelmann, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany and H.E. Ms Eniola Olaitan Ajayi, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Mr. Adegboyega Oke.
Life is slowly returning to normal and this relay herring party showed that the Leonardo can adapt to unusual circumstances as only a Royal host can.
The USA is ahead of Brazil, which holds the second-highest number of deaths related to COVID-19. The unfortunate record for Brazil is now showing over 500,000 deaths and experts say that it could increase due to the slow vaccination process together with the winter lower down temperatures.
While the virus expands into the country slightly slower than in USA, with a population of over 213 million, the Brazilian Congress is investigating the governmental handing of the pandemic, seeking answers on President Bolsonaro crisis ‘s management.
The health institute Fundación Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, says the situation is “critical”. Only 15% of adults are fully vaccinated. President Bolsonaro has been heavily criticized for not implementing a coordinated national response and for delaying the purchase of vaccines for political reasons, as he has consistently played down the severity of the pandemic.
The outbreak in Brazil has been exacerbate by more transmissible variants of the virus, including the latest Delta and one first identified in the Amazon region. An average of 70,000 cases has been confirmed daily in the last week, as of 14 June 2021, 25.98% of the population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
Bayerns Bayerns Staatsministerin fuer Europaangelegenheiten und Internationales Melanie Huml
Tuesday, 22 June 2021, Munich, Free State of Bavaria: Bavarian Minister for European Affairs, Melanie Huml and the Slovenian Foreign Minister Dr. Anže Logar signed the protocol of the ‘Bavarian-Slovenian Intergovernmental Commission’ at the Bavarian State Chancellery after the gathering of the 32nd Permanent Commission Bavaria-Slovenia.
Prior to the signing, Minister for European Affairs, Melanie Huml, received the Slovenian Foreign Minister and the country’s Ambassador in Germany, Franc But for bilateral talks.
The main subject of exchanges were the activities for deepening political and economic relations between Slovenia and Bavaria in the light of the forthcoming Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union that begins on 1 July 2021.
The Permanent Commission Bavaria-Slovenia is a bilateral forum to enhance the relations between the two countries.
The Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands lead by H.E. Mr. Jian Tan,Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China together with the Government of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) hosted a virtual conference named “Xinjiang is a wonderful land” to hear Xinjiang locals sharing their life stories and experiences in the region.
After ambassador’s remarks on Friday June 18, more than a hundred diplomats, academics and journalists joined the discussion in a Q&A online session that lasted an hour.
Xinjiang is located in the north-west of China with 12 million inhabitants, most of them Muslim Uighurs speaking their traditional language. Here one can find also Christians, Muslims Kazakhs and Kyrgyz. Xinjiang has become a hot topic receiving critics on human rights abuses from some 39 countries while 45 UN countries support China policies in the region. Controversies are mostly focused in the Vocational Education and Training Centres located in Xinjiang used to confront anti-Han and separatist movements which started during the 90’s resulting in at least 200 casualties in 2009.
The government of China decided to face the situation by increasing surveillance and installing the education and vocational system where the minorities learn Chinese, and follow vocational trainings to be able to integrate the society as regular citizens preventing itinerancy, terrorism and Islamist extremism.
Many Chinese embassies around the word organised online press conferences and meetings to talk about the issue. On the other hand, more than 50 ambassadors and senior diplomats from Africa, Latin America and Caribbean countries were invited to visit Xinjiang vocational education and training centres in June.
“Our Xinjiang is a wonderful land” is a popular song in China, started Ambassador Tan.
“In the past 60 years, the average life expectancy of Xinjiang’s population has increased from 30 to 72 years, the total economic volume has increased by more than 200 times, the per capita GDP has increased by nearly 40 times, and more than 3 million people have all been lifted out of poverty. The Uighur population in Xinjiang has more than doubled in the past 40 years.”
In 2019, Xinjiang received more than 200 million domestic and foreign tourists
In the past few years, more than 1,400 diplomats, journalists, and religious figures from more than 100 countries have visited Xinjiang. There are also many short videos showing the true face of Xinjiang released by ordinary people in Xinjiang and tourists visiting Xinjiang on social media at home and abroad. In their eyes, Xinjiang is a good place with beautiful scenery, rich resources, brilliant ethnic culture, rapid economic development, and social unity and stability.
“But at the same time, some people with ulterior motives never mention the achievements of Xinjiang’s development and construction, but deliberately spread lies about large-scale violations of human rights in Xinjiang, instigating ethnic and religious contradictions.”
“The essence of the Xinjiang issue is not a human rights, ethnic, or religious issue at all” explained Ambassador Tan, “but an issue of fighting violence, terrorism, and separatism. Xinjiang has suffered from terrorism and religious extremism. From 1990 to the end of 2016, thousands of violent and terrorist cases occurred in Xinjiang, resulting in the killing of a large number of innocent people and the death of hundreds of police officers.”
“These terrorist attacks are bloody, and their impact is as bad as the violent terrorist attacks launched by the “Islamic State” in France, Belgium and other European countries in recent years. Completely different from the practice of some country that have launched anti-terrorism wars, only resulting in more terrorism.
Xinjiang is committed to eradicating the root causes of terrorism by promoting development, poverty reduction, job creation and de-radicalization.
After hard work, there has not been another terrorist attack in Xinjiang in the past four years, and people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang have been able to live and work in peace again.”
“Second, the fundamental purpose of some countries’ hype about the Xinjiang issue is to disrupt Xinjiang and contain China.”
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In the image H.E. Mr. Jian Tan, Ambassador of People’s Republic of China to the Netherlands.
Following the footsteps of Mevlana Rumi in Uzbekistan
By Iris Bezuijen and Sedat Çakır
The Rumi Trail is a long-distance pilgrimage trail that honours ancient Khorasan traditions which travelled with Mevlana Rumi. It starts in the heart of central Asia, and follows the Silk Road, ancient pilgrimage and caravan routes to Mecca and Jerusalem as far as the city of Konya in Turkey. Rumi Trail is suitable for cyclists and hikers.
The underlying philosophy of the Rumi Trail is that of Mevlānā Jalal ad-Din Muhammed Rumi, a thirteenth-century philosopher and poet of Islam, whose wisdom transcended national boundaries, seeking inclusion and peace for all (Mirdal, 2012).
The history of the new pilgrimage trail is part of the discussion, as we explore the traditions, languages and cultural heritage of the peoples along the way. Modern-day pilgrims can walk or cycle the entire route. They are issued with a Rumi Trail travel passport (credential) and receive stamps from locals, recording their progress. In the end, they will be issued with the Parendelik Certificate in Konya. A special Uzbek certificate will be issued in Termez after completing the Uzbek part of the Rumi trail.
Traces of past civilizations are evident along the route such as Uzbek including Timurid and Khorezm, Afghan, Persian, Arab, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman heritage. Some villagers are still familiar with the concept of pilgrimage, and they treat travellers with reverence as harbingers of good fortune.
Following the footsteps of Rumi in Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Palestina, Israel, Syria, Turkey. Future connections may include Tajikistan and Turkmenistan as well.
Mevlānā Jalal ad-Din Muhammed Rumi
In the early thirteenth century, the brutal Mongol conquest of Central Asia led to major disruptions, with many people fleeing west including the young Mevlānā Jalal ad-Din Muhammed Rumi (born in 1207, in Balgh), known to the world now simply as Rumi. The young Rumi travelled with his illustrious father, the Islamic scholar and jurist entitled Sultan al-Ulama (Sultan of Islamic Scholars), although his real name was Baha ud-Din Walad.
Rumi, his whole family including a group of their clan disciples, left their home in Balgh in Persia (but now part of Afghanistan) to travel to Baghdad, Mecca and then via Jordan and Syria to arrive in Konya in what is now Anatolia in central Turkey. As a boy, he was already acknowledged as a great talent. While on a stop-over in Nishabur (Iran) he met with a famous mystic poet from Persia, Attar, who presented young Rumi with a copy of his book Asrarnama, a treatise on the precarious position of the soul in the material world.
Once settled in Konya, he became a well-known scholar, visited by many of his peers and seekers of all descriptions. When he was in his mid-thirties, he had a second, even more significant meeting, now with Shams-e Tabrizi, a famous mystic on 15 November 1244, which changed his life completely. It unleashed his poetic talent, and he became the Sufi as we know him today, through two of his masterpieces, the Mathnawi (a poem written by Rumi) and the Ghazaliyat-e Shams-e Tabrizi (Poems written by Shams-e Tabrizi), his philosophy in the form of lyric love poetry.
The teachings of Rumi, in this pilgrimage context, shows its dynamic nature, allowing cultures and time to make their own interpretation:
‘Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing, there is a field; I’ll meet you there.’
‘Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.’
‘You were born with wings. Why prefer to crawl through life?’
‘The wound is the place where the Light enters you.’.
Rumi is described in an UNESCO publication (2007) as an eminent philosopher and mystical poet of Islam who advocated tolerance, reason and access to knowledge through love. His mystical relationship to Islam produced masterpieces that well beyond the borders of Turkey have marked Islamic culture and devotion.
Furthermore, UNESCO regards Rumi as one of the greatest comprehensive thinkers and scholars of Islamic civilization and culture. He addressed humanity as a whole: ‘I do not distinguish between the relative and the stranger.’ That is also the extent of his thoughts and teaching. He connects directly to the divine, and through his honesty he knows no boundaries, connecting humankind. He embraces inclusivity, searching for the truth, love and unity, in order to strive to become a perfect human being. Rumi was buried side to side with his father in an elaborate shrine, in a historical garden, now part of a museum. His epitaph reads (in translation): ‘When we are dead, seek not our tomb in the earth, but find it in the hearts of men of knowledge.’ (UNESCO, 2007) Which are all winning arguments for any pilgrimage trail.
We develop hiking and cycling trails with a deeper meaning for travellers to experience. The Rumi Trail starts in Nukus, the old land of Khorasan Saints. It’s these oases that still hold the stories we love to hear, the people we love to meet and the land we love to see. Rumi’s work, poems and life has travelled already over the complete globe, is beyond time and space and has touched countless hearts. To be able to go there by means of slow travel is the goal we set for developing the cycle road. To make a cycling route we first have a logistic and technical part where we cycle the route, from Nukus to the three UNESCO world heritage cities: Khiva, Bukhara, Samarkand via Shahrisabz to Termez at the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan border. Length approx. : 1,500 km.
Uzbekistan has always been the heart of the Silk Road, important in all era’s and of course is the home of art and culture as we know today woven into our daily lives. We are developing hiking and cycling trails to get close to these traditions, people and nature that carry treasures for our own wisdom, health, fitness and on top of all this the mystical adventure being on the land of such great artists, scholars and the wise people helping us through life’s challenges.
Nukus, the capital of Karakalpakstan Republic, is the start point of the Rumi Trial in Uzbekistan. Nukus is home of the Savitsky Collection in the Karakalpakstan Museum of Art. With the world’s second-largest collection of Russian Avant-garde Art. It is also a good starting point for excursions to the Aral Sea and neighbouring Kunye-Urgench in Turkmenistan.
Since Rumi Trail is designed as green, inclusive and resilient tourism it will bring a lot of green type of industry and industrial activities to the region e.g. bike shops, bike factories, bike tourism related activities with little to none carbon footprint.
With local people, Rumi trail will participate in community based tourism projects such as homestays, small bike rentals, home made dishes for cyclists and hikers etc.
After Nukus, we pass alongside the Amu Darya river to continue to Khiva. First UNESCO city on the Rumi trail in the Khorezm Region.
The ancient caravan oasis holds many impressive sights like the Itchan Kala (castle) the
Central walled city of Khiva– is stuffed with mosques, madrasas and mausoleums e.g.
Alla Kouli Khan Madrasa (school), Pakhlavan Makhmoud Mausoleum, Islam Hoja Minaret, Muhammad Amin Khan Madrasa and Kalta Minor. The whole town is an open air museum and every corner will bring you stories from an ancient past. In the region there is a trail of desert fortresses.
After Khiva, we pass the mausoleum of Sheikh Mukhtar Vali and leave the fertile delta of the Amu Darya and cycle five days in the desert before reaching Bukhara. In the desert you will feel the wide openness of the film scenes in deserted areas. The nights in the desert are spectacular and will show the stars in their full glory without the city lights interfering as in dense cities around the world. It’s great to see NASA’s Earth’s city lights as you can then see you are in the perfect region for stargazing. It’s often said the more hardship the bigger the satisfaction, this will most certainly apply for a desert ride. A long distance route and being in this case in the desert, seeing the stars this way certainly gives an incentive to be on this bicycle in the middle of nowhere.
The second UNESCO Silk Road city on the Rumi Trial is Bukhara. The main highlights in Bukhara are:
Ensemble Lyabi Hauz (Nadir Divanbegi Madrassa, Khanaka, Kukeldash Madrassa and the monument of Khodja Nasreddin);
Magoki Attari Mosque is one of the oldest mosques survived in Bukhara from the time before the Mongolian invasion;
Abdullakhan’s Tim with numerous handicraft shops of souvenirs, ceramics, national clothes, and carpets;
Caravanserai Sayfuddin (the Center of Handicraft Development of Bukhara);
There are three trading domes or so-called covered bazaars Toki Sarrofon, Toki Telpak Furushon and Toki Zargaron preserved from the XVI century and these bazaars were centres of silk trade, selling jewellery and even for money exchange. Today as well, one can enjoy and purchase different souvenirs in a wide range, from small souvenir magnets to the famous Bukhara carpets; Visit Ulughbek and Abdulazizkhan Madrassas or so called Kosh (pare) madrassas opposite each other with distinctive style of facade ornamental decoration;
Poi Kalon Square with Kalon Minaret and Mosque, Mir Arab Madrassa – the heart of Bukhara, a monumental complex impresses the imagination of every visitor;
Ark Fortress – the oldest citadel dating back to 1. Century BC where anyone can feel the history of the great fortress covered in beautiful legends and myths.
Seven important Naqshbandi Sufi orders can be found in Bukhara city and surroundings, including the shrine of Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari, founder of the order.
The third UNESCO Silk Road city on the Rumi Trail is Samarkand. Maybe the most image appealing city of the Silk Road is Samarkand. Who doesn’t have this on their bucket list? It’s indeed the “pearl of the silk road” as said in the lovely composed book Uzbekistan, pearl of the Silk road by Burhanettin Carlak.
Sightseeing starts in Registan Square. Being in the presentence of so many important scholars is indescribable, it’s an experience to have. We just tip the list of names as you will need at least an extra day to even see all these important world heritage sites .
Bibi Hanim Mosque, Gur-Emir Mausoleum, Hazrat Hyzr Mosque, Khodja Akhrar Ensemble, Madrasah Tilla-Kori, Mausoleum Ishratkhana, Mausoleum of Imam al-Moturidi, Mausoleum of Khoja Abdi Darunee, Mausoleum of St. Daniel, Observatory of Ulugbek, Rukhabad Mausoleum, Settlement of Afrasiab, Shakhi Zinda Necropolis, Sher-Dor Madrasah, Siab Bazaar. Then off course there is more: museums, parks, landmarks and factories reminding you of the silk road activity and bygone ages. Just cycling or hiking through the great ones of earth will give us a wind of good fortune and most likely a privileged feeling of having been there in your lifetime.
The mausoleum of Imam al-Bukhari is one of the main pilgrimage sites in Uzbekistan. The visiting of three shrines in Samarkand – the mausoleums of al-Bukhari, Shakhi-Zinda and Rukhabad – within one day, is called “small Hajj”.
These two cities are the most significant sights of Uzbekistan & the whole world knows Uzbekistan pretty much because of them. Sky-blue Samarkand & sandy holy Bukhara are more ancient than anything in Uzbekistan, they’ve seen many historical events, with great people participating in.
Shahrisabz is being the birth city of Timur Lenk of course including in the Rumi Trail. We now cycle through more mountainous areas and will intensively look for small little shops in this area. This is the part where cyclists will stock up for their journey. There are many dustroads and one highway leading to the border with Afghanistan. For the Rumi Trail we will try to combine the two and possibly make an alternative route for people who like to take it slow or take the highway.
Bakhshi Festival April 2019, Termez, Uzbekistan Photography by Beckhzod Abdudjabbarov
The Rumi Trail in Uzbekistan ends in Termez. It holds a lot of sightseeing pearls like the bridge of friendship and the Kirk-Kiz fortress. It’s known to be very hot and being the only river crossing bridge it’s always been a hot place in many ways. The name Termez (tara-crossing; maiθa-place) can be translated in old Iranian to “a place of transition” with the rich history that you will find here it’s on a high note or hot spot were we end the Uzbekistan Rumi part and invitation to explore more at the same time.
During the development of the Rumi cycling trail we make pictures, record videos and most importantly collect stories from people who still are like treasure maps. Every human is like a source or library, we often say. The collection of information in one single human is like a treasure map. Being on a slow pass means you have time to find these old stories, record and bundle them in books, movies and off course pictures. There are countless examples of how one person, picture, book and film can be life changing.
We however keep it simple and just cycle, record our findings, make the maps for cyclists so many people can enjoy these mystical adventures in the land of 1001 nights and the stories we love so much. Together with a group of mapmakers we use OpenStreetMap to record our detailed findings and also enhance the maps. As it’s open source it’s a powerful tool to immediately map your cycle and also hiking routes. In the guidebooks we use these maps that have all the valuable information for hikers and cyclists that are mostly only available after they are added to the map.
The goal is to get as many enthusiastic eco-tourists to enjoy these hiking and cycling trails. The cycling theme following Rumi’s way gives you more depth of the land and cultural heritage. Cyclists need small things like shelter for the night, food and a fairly nice route but a well kept and marked route can bring a big impact on the region or country. We know the success stories of Camino the Santiago that now hosts thousands of pilgrims every year.
The simple way of traveling makes you receptive to the knowledge and wisdom that comes your way.
The inspiration for the Rumi Trail is credited to Mohammed El-Fers, who wrote a mini-biography of Mevlana Rumi. His journey in 1978 was retracing the route of Mevlana Rumi. The Rumi Trail map is also by his design.
Conclusion for the Rumi Trail cycling route is that it aims to develop a sustainable cycling route enhancing the connection between the major UNESCO silk road cities and the little villages, even including a small cabin in the desert as one united trail with all the environmentally friendly aspects. Long distance hiking and cycling trails spread the economic improvement of all connected to the trail rather than the concentration of one city or object. It improves community based tourism and creates resilient communities with better future prospects.
Laura Codruța Kövesi, is the European Chief Prosecutor, head of the newly established Luxembourg-based European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which started operations on 1 June 2021.
The EPPO have the capacity to conduct cross-border investigations as an independent body set up to prosecute and bring to justice offences affecting the financial interests of the European Union, such as certain forms of subsidy fraud, corruption and cross-border VAT fraud.
Sven Lilienström, founder of the Faces of Democracy initiative, spoke with Laura Codruța Kövesi about democracy, the newly established European Public Prosecutor’s Office and her fight against corruption, bribery and money laundering in the EU member states.
Ms. Kövesi, you are the head of the newly established European Public Prosecutors Office (EPPO). Our first question is: How significant are democracy and democratic values to you personally?
I grew up in a communist regime and I have still very vivid memories of what life was like. And then I was lucky enough to be part of the long transformation process of Romania into a democratic society, of which the accession to the European Union was one of the culminating points.
This is why for me democracy is not an abstract definition that I could have learned in school, together with a set of values upon which it is founded. It is a praxis, an engagement. I have a personal experience with how fragile and precious this way of organizing human society is, how hard we need to work to preserve it. So, to answer your question: to me, democracy is fundamental, just as the air I breathe.
The EPPO is the first supranational public prosecutor’s office in the world. When you took office, you spoke of a “historic moment”. Why does Europe need its own public prosecutor’s office and how will its citizens benefit from it?
For the first time, a European Union body will investigate, prosecute and bring to trial criminal offences. There is no precedent for this. No one but the EPPO can prosecute fraud against the EU budget committed after 1 June 2021 in the 22 participating Member States.
The establishment of the EPPO has many wide-ranging implications. For instance, I have no doubt that it will trigger further harmonization in the field of criminal law, which is at the core of national sovereignty.
From a citizen’s perspective, the EPPO is a concrete answer to an old grievance: by opening the borders, we have not only allowed people and companies to thrive, we have unfortunately also allowed criminal organizations to develop their operations and grow. The EPPO is the first adjustment we need to do in this respect.
We want to make the EPPO a center of excellence for the confiscation of criminal assets. I am convinced that the EPPO will be a game changer in the fight against cross-border VAT fraud.
Beyond its contribution to increasing the general feeling of security, the EPPO is the first really sharp tool to defend the rule of law in the EU. By applying the very simple principle of equality before the law, the EPPO will play a crucial role in making the trust of the European citizens in the Union stronger than ever.
Until 2018, you were the head of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) in Romania. How exactly do you intend to fight corruption, bribery and money laundering in the EU member states?
First, it needs to be well understood that the competence of the EPPO is limited to corruption, bribery and money laundering in the participating Member States when affecting the financial interests of the European Union only! Furthermore, we have a complex structure and have to operate as a single office in 22 different judicial systems, according to 22 different criminal laws and criminal procedural laws. This to say that we have huge challenges ahead of us.
My experience as a prosecutor can be boiled down to a few simple principles: work hard, never give up, and always abide by the law. Only by working professionally, being consequent and by respecting the law all the time, you can gain and keep the trust of the citizens. I will follow these principles in my role as European Chief Prosecutor. The good thing is that, in fact, you are never alone. At the EPPO, just as at the DNA, I have a good and motivated team of courageous prosecutors.
At least some of the population wishes for more isolation and national autonomy. What do you say to people who maintain that prosecutorial investigations are the core of national autonomy?
Yes, they are. But we need to evolve if we want to be credible and efficient. Read the reports from Europol, talk to the practitioners about the practical difficulties they encounter in the fight against cross-border crime in general, and economic and financial criminality in particular.
What good does it make to keep these powers at national level when criminal organizations have reached turnovers comparable to those of the biggest global corporations? The truth is that we are badly behind the curve. Now we can either try to catch up or continue to pretend there is no problem.
Hungary, Poland, Denmark, Sweden and Ireland form a group of countries that refuse to cooperate with the EU’s public prosecutor’s office. Is the EPPO in reality merely a “toothless tiger”?
This is not accurate. These Member States did not join the enhanced cooperation establishing the EPPO, so they are not part of EPPO. This does not mean that they refuse to cooperate with the EPPO.
We will work very closely with their respective national prosecution services. We are in touch with all of them and have, for example, already concluded a working arrangement with the Office of the Prosecutor General in Hungary. We can still investigate citizens and companies from those countries if they have committed crimes in a Member State that does participate in the enhanced cooperation of EPPO.
The actual power of the EPPO has to be measured against its action in the participating Member States. I am sure you will soon see that we are anything but a “toothless tiger”.
In your inaugural speech, you also stressed that fraud with public funds is “a serious threat to democracy”. Where exactly do you believe the danger lies and do you think it is underestimated?
White collar crimes are under-reported, underestimated, often even tolerated, to the benefit of organized criminal organizations that aspire to subvert and replace legitimate authorities. In certain circumstances, these organizations do not shy away from resorting to extreme violence. It is not by coincidence that, when giving solemn in front of the European Court of Justice, I had invited representatives of the families of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova. What these journalists were uncovering is the aspiration of fraudsters to capture the State. Once the State is captured, its institutions stop working for the common good, and democracy is subverted. This threat is very real, and very common.
I think it is underestimated because in most of the cases, it is not obviously violent. And also, because, culturally, we have grown accustomed to be more tolerant with corruption.
Before starting our operations, we did a survey among the participating EU Member States about the number of investigations within our scope of competence they have conducted in the last 4 years. In some countries there are hundreds, even thousands. In other countries, there are close to none. That makes me wonder about the priority given to this fight. Because I know that there are no clean countries.
Ms. Kövesi, our seventh question is always a personal one: what do you like to do most of all in your leisure time and what objectives have you set yourself for the next years – professionally and privately?
Professionally, I have to admit that my current job is the most challenging I had so far. I want to put all my professional experience and energy in a successful mandate as European Chief Prosecutor: to win the trust of the citizens proving that EPPO is an independent, strong and efficient institution and that the law is equal for everybody.
For my private life, I would like to spend more time with my family.
Was the, with little expectations, but a lot of combinations and nervousness, awaited summit of the Presidents of America and Russia, a failure? It was not. And can it be described as a success, as a breakthrough from the winter of a renewed Cold War? Again – no! So what was this summit then, what – if anything – did the Geneva meeting bring?
It was an attempt that could not be written off as a complete failure, it was an indication that – as President Biden said – there is no alternative to face-to-face talks. And it was a hint of hope that the two great powers, one a superpower and the other much more than a regional power, as President Obama mockingly called it, might be able to set out to identify common interests and work together in those areas, as well as find ways and methods. to resolve what is in dispute in their relationship. Where we should not forget the saying by Lev Tolstoj, quoted during his press conference by President Putin: “In life there is no hope, there is only a promise of hope.”
And it is that promise of hope, what we can call the only tangible result of the summit which lasted about three and a half hours, instead of the announced five to six. Of course, this will fuel new speculations and different interpretations from those that Biden was tired and lost the concentration, to the one that the participants reached a deadlock but – not wanting to make things even worse, than they already are – simply stopped.
Of the concrete results, the world has learned only one, just one: two states are returning their ambassadors to their places: the Russian ambassador is returning to Washington, and the American to Moscow. Everything else remained in the domain of what Biden defined, correcting one journalist who aggressively asked him: “And how can you be confident, that . . .?”. He said, namely: “I did not say I’m confident, but we ‘ll see.” And what we should see is the continuation of talks on the control and hopefully arms reduction (nuclear in the first place), the formation of a working group between the two countries that would deal with the cyber attacks, so-called hacking. Then (and again the announcement!) the possibility of talks on the exchange of arrested American citizens in Russia, ie Russians in America, as well as the approach to the problem in Ukraine based on the agreement from Minsk (confirmed by both presidents!). And what is particularly important: a joint effort to achieve strategic stability.
About this and only about this, not about the whole meeting, a joint statement by the two Presidents was published: “The extension of the New START agreement demonstrates our commitment to the control of nuclear weapons. Today, we reaffirm the principle that nuclear war cannot be won and that it must never be fought . “It may not seem like much, but it is. Today, it is!
Both sides agreed, and the two presidents held separate press conferences, that the talks took place in a constructive atmosphere and that there were no threats from either side. Putin described Biden as a sensible and experienced politician, and Biden skillfully avoided journalistic insistence on how he explained to Putin why he called him a killer : “My explanation was good enough for him and that’s enough for me.” On the other hand, the pragmatic Putin indirectly referred to Biden’s statement, quoted so many times, that, looking Putin in the eye at a previous meeting, he concluded that he had no soul. “We do not have to look each other into eyes, searching for the soul, nor do we have to make eternal friendship”, said Putin.
A confirmation that it was a summit convened with no great expectations is the fact that neither Putin invited Biden to Moscow, nor was Putin invited by Biden to Washington. But, and again, even a little more than nothing, is much, especially when we take into account the circumstances in which the Geneva summit was held and all that happened in previous years.
Of course, the US side “recited” their compulsory program of complaints regarding Russia’s violations of human rights, including the statement that the deaths in jail of opposition leader Navalny would be “a disaster” for relations of the two countries. In doing so, Biden went a little too far, arguing that the struggle for human rights is something that is part of the American being, “it’s us,” consciously forgetting that the United States from their beginnings until the sixtieth of the last century denied basic human rights, initially even freedom, to all its colored citizens, that the first unit composed of colored Americans enlisted in the U.S. Army only in World War II (but separately from whites) , and that cases of racial discrimination even today happen practically on daily basis.
Putin, as it could have been expected, used this at his press conference to counter every question related to the human rights in Russia (what was by CNN, not denying anything of what Putin said, proclaimed as a return to the methods of Soviet propaganda). Too bad no one remembered to ask what the consequences would be and for whom if Julian Assange would die in jail.
Almost “under the radar” passed a significant concession made by the United States, ie the deviation from their previous position. The intention (however, this is just the announcement) to form a working group of the two countries to deal with the cyber attacks means that in silence the accusations that such attacks were staged by Russia, the Russian secret services, and even Putin himself, were abandoned.
The atmosphere, not only the one in which the Geneva summit was held, but the one in the Western world, could be deduced the most from the behavior of journalists who were questioning the two presidents. It is neither uninteresting nor unimportant to mention that American journalists could have been present at Putin’s press conference, while Russian journalists were banned from Biden’s press conference. But it was these American journalists who behaved at both press conferences like barking dogs (which is not to say anything bad about dogs). In their questions they insisted on confrontation, on the continuation of confrontation ( “Have you threatened to use military force?”, was one of the questions to Biden).
One of the most evident examples of pre-prepared questions, no matter what, and certainly regardless of the facts, was the one about Russians demanding that journalists of Radio Liberty (the Russian version of Radio Free Europe) register as “foreign agents “. Putin, namely, previously explained, and it is a matter of common knowledge to anyone who is familiar in the media scene, that it were the Americans who first demanded that Russian journalists in the United States register as foreign agents. Then, and only then did Russia introduce the same for the American journalists working there.
But obviously it is true that what one can do, another cannot do. Along with the sad statement that a large part of the journalists in the West, consciously or not, accepted to be turned into a propaganda weapon of the ruling.
So it is not at all impossible that Biden, although “secured” by the presence of his experts, from the Secretary of State to the Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as with a separate press conference, will experience in America something similar , albeit in a milder form, to what befell Trump after his talks with Putin in Helsinki. Obviously, there are strong forces in the United States (which then influence the behavior in the first place of the Atlantic Pact, but then the European Union too), which are not interested in peace and understanding, which base its existence on confrontation, on the existence of enemies. Real, or imaginary – it doesn’t matter. And obviously there is a propaganda apparatus that serves them. They simply cannot like Biden’s statement that his agenda is not against Russia, but for American people.
But if that statement becomes what will make the summit memorable (in the city of peace, as the Swiss president said while welcoming Biden and Putin), then it is entirely justified to say that the meeting, which was by no means spectacular, which lasted shorter than it was expected, which did not result in any key breakthroughs in any area, was not in vain. Because, if there is a President in the White House whose program is not to “work against Russia” and if Putin knows that now, then there is a chance that the world will move away from the edge of general chaos into which it is inevitably pushed by the worsening American-Russian relations. Then there is, as Tolstoy would say, a promise of hope.
About the author:
Author is one of the most influential Yugoslav and Croatian journalists, who is covering the international relations for over 50 years and who served as Foreign policy Advisor to Croatian President Stjepan Mesic (2000. – 2010.).
The first superpowers summit that, Mr. Jakic personally covered was a Carter – Brezhnev meeting in Vienna 1979.
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