The Atlas Newsletter - Volume 46

Monday, December 8th, 2024

Good morning everyone,

Let’s jump right in today.

In Europe, the US adds Azerbaijan to its Religious Freedom Watchlist, Russia makes getting citizenship easier, and an ex-Gambian minister goes on trial in Switzerland.

Over in the Middle East, South Africa takes Israel to court over genocide, an ISIS attack in Iran kills almost 100, and Rwanda is accused by an Israeli media company of “secret talks” with Israel.

Meanwhile, in Africa, Senegal’s opposition faces yet more setbacks, the Sudanese government refuses a potential ceasefire, and four African nations are removed from an American economic program.

In the Americas, Colombia announces a successful ceasefire between government forces and the FARC, at least five people have been killed in Mexico in a cartel clash, while an international drug smuggling operation is busted by Colombian and Ecuadorian authorities.

In Asia and Oceania, the Chinese government awards accolades, Japan grapples with it’s earthquake recovery, and tensions on the Korean Peninsula continue to worsen.

All in all, it’s just another day at the office. Let's dive in:

- Joshua Paulo, Sebastien Gray, Trent Barr, & the Atlas team

Chinese Claims of a British Spy

January 7th, 2024: (2 Minute Read) The Chinese Ministry of National Security (Ministry of State Security) has announced that it took “criminal compulsory measures” against a foreign actor in possession of equipment for the technical collection of top secret state secrets. The report from Chinese state-owned media reads below:

“Recently, the national security agency uncovered a case in which the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) used third-country personnel to engage in espionage activities against China. Chinese espionage cases. Foreigner Huang Moumou is the head of an overseas consulting agency. In 2015, the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) developed Huang Moumou and established an “intelligence cooperation relationship.'

Since then, MI6 instructed Huang to enter China multiple times, instructing him to use his public identity as a cover to collect China-related intelligence for British espionage and to identify personnel for MI6 to incite rebellion. MI6 also provided professional intelligence training to Huang Moumou in the UK and other places and was equipped with special spy equipment for intelligence cross-linking. After careful investigation, the national security agency promptly discovered criminal evidence that Huang Moumou was engaged in espionage activities and took criminal coercive measures against him in accordance with the law.

After identification by the confidentiality department, Huang Moumou provided the British side with nine confidential-level state secrets, five confidential-level state secrets, and three pieces of intelligence. During the investigation of the case, the national security agency promptly notified and arranged consular visits, protecting Huang’s legal rights in accordance with the law.” (end statement)

It is not clear if Huang is in the custody of the Chinese government, as there has been no comment from sources other than Chinese state-owned media. It is also not clear what nationality Huang is. The United Kingdom has made no comment as of this publication.

The Chinese Ministry of State Security is the principal intelligence, security, and secret police agency of the People’s Republic of China, responsible for foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, and the political security of the Chinese Communist Party.

The ambiguity within China's political and legal system makes it challenging to know what they consider state secrets. Several consulting and advisory firms have faced scrutiny in the past for obtaining and sharing information that would typically be publicly available, particularly when shared with foreign entities.

Europe

January 5th, 2024 - The US has added Azerbaijan to its “Special Watchlist” for Religious Freedom, following concerns raised by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom about the safety of Armenian Christian religious sites in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), following Azerbaijan’s seizure of the territory and the mass exodus of 120,000 Armenians from the region. The US list, headed by the State Department, maintains two sections. One being Countries of Particular Concern (CPC), and the other being the Special Watchlist. CPC-list countries have sometimes received sanctions for religious persecution. Normally, both the CPC and Special Watchlist remain the same on the list, released annually. Azerbaijan’s addition to the list has been the year's only addition.

January 4th, 2024 - Russian President Putin has signed a decree that quickens the path even more for foreigners serving in the Russian military to attain citizenship. This is not the first time he has done this, with the first in September 2022 shortening citizenship requirements to signing a contract of 1 year or more with the Russian military and participating in active hostilities for at least 6 months, regardless of their competency in speaking Russian or how long they'd lived in Russia for. In May of 2023, Putin signed a decree in which the 6-month participation in hostilities requirement was dropped, meaning those who signed up for a year or more contract could be fast tracked for citizenship, as well as their spouse and children. In today's decree, the decision-making process on citizenship applications for those fast-tracked has been shortened from a maximum of 3 months to a maximum of 1 month. The decree comes amidst Russian efforts to bolster the size of its military as the war in Ukraine continues to drag on.

January 8th, 2024 - An ex-Gambian minister is set to stand trial for crimes against humanity in Switzerland on Monday in a trial that is set to end on the 30th. The former Interior Minister, Ousman Sonko, will stand trial on charges including torture, murder, and multiple rapes between 2000 and 2016 in Switzerland’s second-ever trial regarding crimes against humanity. Sonko served under ousted Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh, who led Gambia as its second-ever president from November 6th, 1996, to January 19th, 2017. A key plaintiff is Binta Jamba, who claims that Sonko raped her multiple times after killing her husband following an alleged coup attempt. Sonko, however, claims that he was out of the country during the rape accusations. Sonko was arrested in Switzerland after he attempted to attain asylum following President Jammeh’s 2017 election loss.

Middle East

January 2nd, 2024 - The Israeli government has stated its intention to fight a court case brought by Africa to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which accuses Israel of genocide for their actions in Gaza. Both Israel and the US have altogether dismissed the case, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stating, “No, South Africa, it is not we who have come to perpetrate genocide; it is Hamas. It would murder all of us if it could," and US State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller referred to the case as “meritless, counterproductive, and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever”. South Africa stated they filed the case under their obligations as a “state member of the genocide convention" and that the genocidal “acts in question include killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, and inflicting on them conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction," which would be in violation of the Genocide Convention.

January 3rd, 2024 - ISIS has claimed responsibility for a bombing in Iran that has left at least 90 people dead and over 280 others wounded. The attack took place during a memorial service for former IRGC General Qasem Soleimani in Kerman, Iran. The memorial service was being held on the four-year anniversary of Soleimani’s assassination by a US drone strike. The attack was carried out by two suicide bombers, one of whom Iran identified as a Tajik national. Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence announced they had arrested 11 people in connection with the attack.

January 5th, 2024 - Rwanda's government has denied claims by several different media outlets that they were holding secret talks with Israel in order to facilitate potentially receiving "tens of thousands" of migrants from Gaza. The claim first originated from Israeli news company Zman Yisrael and has since been reported by several other outlets, including Middle East Eye, Quds News Network, and several more. Rwanda’s government statement said, “No such discussion has taken place either now or in the past" and referred to the report as “disinformation”. The claim from Zman Yisrael also stated that Israel was in talks with Chad over the same issue and had similarly approached the DRC, which it says hesitated on the offer. The alleged deal would facilitate the emigration of Palestinians from Gaza to Rwanda and give a "generous financial grant" to any Palestinian who chooses to take part, in addition to giving aid to the receiving country.

Africa

January 5th, 2024 - Ousmane Sonko, the primary Senegalese opposition leader to President Macky Sall, has faced yet another setback in his presidential bid, which may have solidified his ineligibility to run for office in February 2024's Senegalese presidential election. On Friday, Senegal's top court upheld a defamation conviction brought against him by a government minister, which, according to Senegal's electoral code, makes him ineligible to run for president. While technically speaking, the final decision lies with the Constitutional Council, which rules on the candidates, hopes are not high for Sonko's team. Sonko’s lawyer, following the trial, stated, “I realize that Mr. Sonko’s opponents have succeeded in eliminating him from the Feb. 25 Presidential Election”. Ousmane Sonko has faced a years-long legal battle during his presidential bid, which he claims has been politically motivated.

January 5th, 2024 - General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of Sudan's military government, has stated he will not accept negotiations with the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group the Sudanese government has been at war with for nine months now. Burhan accused the RSF of war crimes and crimes against humanity, citing these as the reasons for his refusal to negotiate. Burhan's rejection of the potential ceasefire comes only a few days after RSF leader General Mohamad 'Hemedti' Hamdan Daglo met with a Sudanese civilian group and announced his willingness to sign an immediate ceasefire with the government. It also comes as the government and RSF are supposed to sometime soon meet face-to-face in a meeting organized by the East African bloc, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), for peace talks. The peace talks were originally set for December 28th in Djibouti, but were postponed until "early January 2024" for "technical reasons". No new date has been set for the IGAD meeting, despite being more than a week into January.

January 3rd, 2024 - The US has officially removed Uganda, alongside three other African nations, from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) after deeming they "do not meet the requirements". Their removal from the act, which grants eligible Sub-Saharan African nations the ability to export over 2,000 different products to the US duty-free, was announced by US President Joe Biden several months ago. In Uganda’s case, the US threatened to remove them from the act after Uganda passed the “Anti-Homosexuality Law”, which placed further restrictions upon Uganda’s LGBT community by criminalizing “aggravated homosexuality”. Homosexuality was already criminalized within Uganda, however, the bill worsened certain sentencing for pre-existing crimes (including adding the death penalty to several) and introduced fines for individuals, businesses, publishers, and writers found to be “promoting homosexuality”. The Central African Republic, Niger, and Gabon were also removed from the deal.

The Americas

January 5th, 2024 - A ceasefire between the Colombian government and a dissident group known as the Estado Mayor Central (EMC) of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which was signed in October, successfully halted kidnapping operations, reduced clashes between the EMC and government forces, and led to the release of 10 hostages, a government official told the press on Friday. The ceasefire has been the latest attempt by Colombian President Gustavo Petro to bring peace between the Colombian government and the various paramilitary groups that operate within the nation’s borders and bring an end to the 60-year conflict, which has led to the deaths of an estimated 450,000 people. Further talks between the government and the EMC are set to begin on January 9th and will continue until the 20th, talks that many hope will result in the disarmament and disbandment of the EMC. Despite the ceasefire between the government and the EMC, clashes have continued between the EMC and rival armed groups as they fight for control of territory used for illegal mining operations and drug trafficking.

January 5th, 2024 - At least five people were killed in Mexico’s south-western state of Guerrero on Friday following an alleged clash between the rival cartels, Familia Michoacana and Los Tlacos. Investigators stated that five heavily burned bodies were discovered stacked on top of a burned truck. The discovery comes after a drone attack by Familia Michoacana cartels that targeted Buenavista de los Hurtado on Thursday, according to the human rights organization, Minerva Bello Center. The center further claimed that at least 30 people had been targeted in the attack, while the center’s president and director, José Filiberto Velázquez, stated the victims were most likely killed. Guerrero state spokeswoman, Rene Posselt, stated the attack is thought to have been aimed at Los Tlacos members and not the community itself. Footage shared by alleged members of the Familia Michoacana showed men dressed in military uniforms piling dead bodies, some missing limbs, into a pile before placing a severed head on top of the pile.

January 7th, 2024 - An international drug smuggling group was busted in a joint investigation between the Colombian and Ecuadorian governments, which culminated in the arrest of the two Colombian brothers who led the criminal operation. The criminal organization known as Los Curva had generated over $2 billion a year while smuggling upwards of five tons of cocaine a month into the United States and Europe before the year-long operation brought the brothers, Hader and Dairon Cuero, to justice. The national director of anti-drug investigations for the Ecuadorian police, General William Villarroel, stated that the organization utilized speedboats and Mexican-flagged vessels to transport the drugs into Mexico and then across the US-Mexican border. Police further stated that Los Curva worked with the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel as well as criminal groups in the Balkans to aid in the distribution of cocaine.

Asia and Oceania

January 7th, 2024 - The Chinese government has awarded the title of “role model of the times” to the ship and crew of the Nanchang for it’s efforts in projecting Chinese military influence throughout it’s claimed territorial waters. Despite the guided missile destroyer only being commissioned in 2020, it has participated in several confrontations with foreign navies in a display that has the ruling Chinese Communist Party praising it’s performance. In more than three years of service, the Nanchang has logged over 100,000 nautical miles (185,200km) and fulfilled more than 10 major missions, including a voyage into the Bering Sea, combat patrols in the Pacific and exercises around disputed islands in the South China Sea, according to state-owned media. The ship is part of the strike group led by the country’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning.

January 7th, 2024 - A week after the seismic activity on New Year's Day shook Ishikawa Prefecture, the Japanese Meteorological Agency issued a warning regarding the potential for additional powerful earthquakes in the region during the next month. The number of individuals reported missing saw a significant increase in recent days, more than tripling from 103 to 323. Authorities clarified that the surge in the number of people whose safety was yet to be confirmed could be attributed to an extensive search for information, leaving room for the possibility that some individuals might have relocated and were inaccessible but still safe. The death toll from the earthquake also rose, reaching 168.

January 8th, 2024 - The South Korean military stated that the agreement signed between North and South Korea in 2018, which designated certain areas as no-hostility zones, is no longer in effect. This decision was made in response to North Korea firing artillery in the maritime no-hostility zone off its western coast from January 5 for three consecutive days. Consequently, the South Korean military declared its intention to resume shooting drills and other exercises in the previously restricted land and sea areas, doing away with the buffer zone established by the 2018 agreement. “North Korea has demonstrated through its actions that the cease-fire zone no longer exists by firing at the western sea cease-fire zone for the past three days after the declaration of the termination of the 9-19 North-South military agreement,” the Korean military stated.

• Burundi attack leaves 20 dead - Sebastien Gray

• Maduro declares victory after British naval withdrawal - Tessaron

• Maine removes Trump from 2024 Presidential ballot - Tessaron

• ISIS attacks down globally in 2023 - Atlas

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