El Salvador woman cleared over baby's death says 'justice was done' - BBC News

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A 21-year-old woman acquitted of the aggravated murder of her baby in El Salvador has called on her supporters to fight for others like her.

A judge said there was no evidence that Evelyn Hernández had killed her child, which was found dead in the septic tank of the toilet where she gave birth.

His ruling contradicted that of a 2017 trial, during which Ms Hernández was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years.

Women's groups hope the ruling will set a precedent for other jailed women.

"I ask that justice and freedom be done for the other women," Ms Hernández said, referring to at least 17 women who are currently in jail over similar cases.

El Salvador has one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the world. Abortion is illegal in all circumstances and those found guilty face between two and eight years in jail.

• The mothers being criminalised in El Salvador
• Where women may be jailed for miscarrying

But in many instances, including the case against Ms Hernández, the charge is changed to one of aggravated homicide, which carries a minimum sentence of 30 years.

What was Ms Hernández accused of?

Evelyn Hernández was charged with aggravated murder, with prosecutors arguing that she had killed her baby in 2016.

She has always maintained her innocence, saying that she had been raped by a gang member and had no idea that she was pregnant.

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Ms Hernández says that on 6 April 2016, when she was 18, she experienced severe stomach pains and bleeding while at her home in rural El Salvador.

When she went to the toilet, located in an outhouse, she fainted. Her mother took her to a hospital, where doctors found she had given birth.

She was arrested after the body of her baby was found in the toilet's septic tank.

She was originally charged with inducing an abortion, which is illegal in El Salvador. That charge was later changed to aggravated murder, and she was sentenced to 30 years in prison in July 2017.

Her lawyers appealed against the sentence, arguing that forensic evidence showed that the baby had died of meconium aspiration, inhaling his own early stool.

This can happen while the baby is still in the uterus, during delivery or immediately after birth – casting doubt on the prosecution's argument that the baby had died from inhaling faeces inside the septic tank.

Ms Hernández served 33 months in jail before her appeal was successful and a retrial was ordered. She was released from prison in February pending her retrial.

What happened at the retrial?

Prosecutors argued that she was guilty of murdering her baby "by omission" and asked for an even harsher sentence - 40 years in prison - than that imposed in the original trial.

Evelyn Hernández again maintained that she did not induce an abortion as she had not even been aware that she was pregnant.

She said she had confused the symptoms of pregnancy with stomach ache because she had experienced intermittent bleeding, which she thought was her menstrual period.

"If I'd known I was pregnant I would have awaited [the birth] with pride and joy," she has said in the past. Her lawyers argued she should be cleared.

On Monday, Judge José Virgilio Jurado Martínez said that there was no evidence that a crime had been committed and acquitted Ms Hernández.

The prosecution has 10 days to appeal against the verdict.

What has the reaction been?

Ms Hernández was visibly relieved and emotional after the verdict was read out, embracing her lawyer, Bertha María Deleón, and other activists.

"Thank God, justice was done," she said before thanking everyone who had supported her.

"I also thank my mother for always being with me in everything, I know it's been tough all this time, being there [in the courtroom] and seeing how I was being accused of something I was innocent of," she said in a brief speech outside the courtroom.

"My future is to keep studying and achieve my goals," she said to cheers from those gathered. "There are many women who are still locked up and I call for them to be freed soon, too," she added.

Ms Deleón also called on those gathered outside the courtroom to continue fighting for the release of women convicted under similar circumstances.

"We can't lose sight [of that fact that] there are more women who are being held due to injustice, we are advancing and we want - as we managed to obtain Evelyn's freedom - to continue fighting to free the others," she said.

Human rights lawyer Paula Avila-Guillén, who acted as an advisor to Ms Hernández's legal team, said that the ruling would not only help create a judicial precedent but also "help create a more favourable public opinion, a public opinion that understands the total abortion ban and its wrongful application".

Amnesty International described the verdict as a "resounding victory for the rights of women in El Salvador" and called on El Salvador's government to "end the shameful and discriminatory practice of criminalising women".

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2019-08-20 11:12:59Z
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El Salvador miscarriage case: 'Thank God justice was done' - BBC News

A 21-year-old woman in El Salvador whose baby was found dead in the toilet where she gave birth has been cleared during a retrial.

Evelyn Hernández had always maintained she was innocent, saying that she did not know she was pregnant and lost consciousness during the birth.

Prosecutors had asked for a prison sentence of 40 years.

Read more: Evelyn Hernández cleared over baby's death

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2019-08-20 08:10:11Z
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Employee of U.K. Consulate in Hong Kong Detained in Mainland China - The Wall Street Journal

Protesters marched to the British Consulate in Hong Kong in June. Photo: isaac lawrence/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

By

Natasha Khan

Natasha Khan
The Wall Street Journal
• Biography
• @natashakhanhk
• natasha.khan@wsj.com

Updated Aug. 20, 2019 2:01 am ET

HONG KONG—A member of the British consular staff in Hong Kong has been detained in mainland China after a trip to the neighboring city of Shenzhen.

“We are extremely concerned by reports that a member of our team has been detained returning to Hong Kong from Shenzhen,” a spokesman for the U.K.’s Foreign Office said in a statement. “We are providing support to his family and seeking further information from authorities in Guangdong Province and Hong Kong.”

On Tuesday, local media outlet HK01 reported that Simon Cheng, a trade and investment officer at the consulate, attended an Aug. 8 business event in Shenzhen. Mr. Cheng had planned to return to Hong Kong the same day but couldn’t be reached after expressing concern to his girlfriend at the border, HK01 reported.

It isn’t known what travel document Mr. Cheng was using for the trip to Shenzhen.

Hong Kong, a former British colony that was handed back to China in 1997, has been rocked by 11 weeks of unrest against Beijing’s increasing encroachment on the city. In a 1984 accord with the U.K., China agreed to guarantee the city’s rule of law and safeguard rights and freedoms until 2047.

Officials from Beijing and the U.K. have exchanged barbs over the protests, with Chinese officials warning their British counterparts to stay out of Hong Kong politics.

U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, on Aug. 9 to raise his concerns about the situation in Hong Kong and express support for the right to peaceful protest, according to a British summary of the call. The following day a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said it was wrong for Mr. Raab to directly call Mrs. Lam to exert pressure. China “seriously urges the U.K. to stop its interference in China’s internal affairs,” the spokeswoman said.

According to HK01’s report, Mr. Cheng texted his Taiwanese girlfriend on the night of Aug. 8 to say that he was on a high-speed train ready to cross the border back into Hong Kong. He hasn’t been in contact since.

Border checks for the high-speed train service are conducted by mainland officials at a joint checkpoint in the terminus in Hong Kong, the mainland side of which is legally considered mainland Chinese territory.

—Eli Binder contributed to this article.

Write to Natasha Khan at natasha.khan@wsj.com

Copyright ©2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

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2019-08-20 06:01:00Z
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Hong Kong protests continue for 11th weekend as demonstrators demand democratic reform - CBS News

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2019-08-19 18:56:29Z
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Facebook and Twitter Say China Is Spreading Disinformation in Hong Kong - The New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO — China has aggressively stirred up anti-Western and nationalist sentiment using state and social media as part of an information war in the Hong Kong protests.

On Monday, Facebook and Twitter said they had found evidence of just how active China has been in trying to sow discord.

The social media companies said they had discovered and taken down networks of accounts that had originated in mainland China, where both Facebook and Twitter are blocked. The accounts had posted that the Hong Kong protesters were acting violently and accused them of ulterior motives. One Facebook post likened the protesters to ISIS fighters.

Facebook and Twitter said they had taken down the accounts. Facebook said it removed seven pages, three Facebook Groups and five accounts involved in the disinformation, while Twitter, which has served as a gathering place for protesters, took down 936 accounts. Twitter said it would also ban state-backed media from promoting tweets after China Daily, and other state-backed publications, placed ads on the service that suggested the Hong Kong protesters were sponsored by Western interests and were becoming violent.

“Covert, manipulative behaviors have no place on our service,” Twitter said in a statement.

Facebook said it had been tipped off to the activity by Twitter. “We’re constantly working to detect and stop this type of activity because we don’t want our services to be used to manipulate people,” Facebook said.

The actions follow another march in Hong Kong on Sunday, which organizers said had brought out 1.7 million people, or nearly one in four of the island’s total population of more than seven million. It was the second-largest march of the movement, after a protest by nearly two million people on June 16.

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2019-08-19 19:04:52Z
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Iran warns US against seizing oil tanker - Aljazeera.com

Iran has warned the United States against attempting to seize an Iranian oil tanker that set sail from Gibraltar after being impounded for six weeks. 

The Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, headed east into the Mediterranean Sea on Monday hours after authorities in Gibraltar rejected a request from Washington to hold the ship.

Its destination was the Greek port of Kalamata, according to shipping data. 

Abbas Mousavi, spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry, told a news conference that any attempt at seizing the vessel, which has a cargo of 2.1 million barrels of crude oil, would have "grave consequences". 

"If such an action is taken or even if it is stated verbally and not done, it is considered a threat against the maritime security in international waters," said Mousavi.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has given necessary warnings to the US officials through official channels, especially the Swiss embassy in Tehran, not to commit such a mistake because it would have grave consequences."

The British Royal Marines seized the ship on July on suspicion it was shipping oil to Syria in violation of European Unionsanctions. 

Iran tanker departs after Gibraltar rejects US demand (2:20)

Iran had denied the tanker was ever headed to Syria.

The British move triggered a sharp deterioration in relations between Iran and the United Kingdom, and Tehran subsequently detained a British-flagged tanker in what was seen as a tit-for-tat move. 

Gibraltar's Supreme Court ordered the release of the Iranian tanker last week after authorities in the British overseas territory said it had received written assurances from Iran that the ship would not be headed to countries subject to EU sanctions. 

Tehran denied it had made any promises about the ship's destination to secure the release.

'Blow to US unilateralism'

In a last-ditch effort to stop the release, the US unsealed a warrant on Friday to seize the Adrian Darya 1 and its cargo, citing violations of US sanctions as well as money laundering and "terrorism" statutes.

The unsealed court documents argued that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which Washington has designated a "terrorist organisation", are the ship's true owners through a network of front companies.

But Gibraltar's government rejected the request, saying it could not seek a court order to detain the supertanker because US sanctions against Iran were not applicable in the EU.

The row comes amid a growing confrontation between Iran and the US after President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers over a year ago. The pact's remaining signatories - UK, France, Germany, Russia and China - oppose the US move and have pledged to protect Iran from sanctions reimposed by Washington.

Mousavi said the Gibraltar court order for the release of the oil tanker was a blow to US "unilateralism". 

He also denied any link between the seizure of the Iranian tanker off Gibraltar and the British-flagged tanker in the Gulf. 

"There have been two or three maritime violations made by that ship," he said, referring to the Stena Impero held off the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.

"The court is looking into it. We hope the [investigation] is completed as soon as possible and the verdict is issued."

Separately, a senior Iranian legislator said the crisis in Iran's ties with Britain would not be over until the Adrian Darya 1 reached its destination. 

"Until the Iranian oil tanker arrives at its destination the British must help end the crisis," Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, a member of parliament's national security and foreign affairs committee, was quoted as saying by the semi-official ISNA news agency.

"This means that the crisis with Britain is not over. Britain has the primary responsibility for ending the oil tanker crisis," Falahatpisheh said.

The final destination of the supertanker remains unclear, with authorities in Greece yet to confirm that it is expected to dock there.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

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2019-08-19 14:22:00Z
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What a wedding massacre says about Trump's plan to leave Afghanistan - CNN

Officials say at least 63 died -- the bride and groom survived -- but relatives think the death toll may be higher. Violent death is an everyday occurrence in Kabul, but this attack shocked many with its sheer savagery. "Before the blast we were so happy, all our family, relatives and friends were at the hall and we were enjoying the wedding," Basir Jan, a brother of the groom, told CNN. "When the blast happened, I saw dead bodies of my relatives and friends. Eight of my close friends were killed in the blast. It was a scene I will always remember."

The devastation represents a personal tragedy the families who were targeted in Kabul at the weekend. But it also provided a bloody backdrop to the final stages of peace talks being held now between the Taliban and the United States.

The US top negotiator, Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad, tweeted shortly after the bomber walked into the celebration: "We must accelerate the #AfghanPeaceProcess including intra-Afghan negotiations. Success here will put Afghans in a much stronger position to defeat ISIS."

It's a tweet that manages to be both startlingly opportunistic, flawed but largely accurate at the same time. Accurate, since a peace deal between the US and Taliban would enable both to focus on ISIS -- a comparatively tiny, yet brutal part of the insurgency raging in Afghanistan now. Flawed, because a peace deal would not guarantee the Taliban didn't pursue its main enemy, the Afghan government first, before getting around to ISIS. Opportunistic, as the tweet also exposed the "deal at all costs" attitude behind the talks now: The massacre is a reflection of how badly Afghanistan has collapsed, not of how well the proposed peace deal might fix it. Trump wants out of Afghanistan, that much is clear, despite saying last year he would win. But how much of an inglorious an end to America's longest war is he prepared to countenance to make that happen?

To recap. Some months ago the United States made a key concession with the Taliban, agreeing to direct talks that excluded the Afghan government from the table -- something the insurgents always wanted.

Sources close to the talks say they are 99% resolved around a deal between the US and the Taliban that would involve a reduction in American troops, and more importantly a ceasefire between these two combatants.

That ceasefire would not necessarily bring an end to fighting between the Taliban and Afghan government forces -- only remove the US's airpower from the battlefield. The Taliban and Afghan government would then begin separate peace talks, the sources say. Afghan critics of the plan worry that as those peace talks inevitably stumble, Kabul government would begin to lose territory to the Taliban, abandoned by Washington and with American firepower sitting idly by.

The counter-narrative to this bleak assessment is threefold. First, the Taliban knows it must join forces with an internationally recognised government in order to qualify for foreign aid, so a return to the atavism of the 1990s is unlikely. Also, the US must eventually leave Afghanistan one way or another, or at least reduce its expenditure there. And finally that violence has rocketed these talks progress -- both sides trying to assert dominance on the battlefield -- and that peace and a reduction of violence has to be the only priority.

This conclusion is valid, yet misses one point -- the reason why the United States went into Afghanistan in the first place. Al-Qaeda hasn't vanished. In fact, when the longtime Taliban leader Mullah Omar died, his successor Mullah Habitullah made the ranking AQ leader in the Afghan insurgency, Sarraj Haqqani, the commander of his military operations. Habitullah's son reportedly also became a suicide bomber in Helmand in 2017. This does not represent a moderate dilution of the Taliban, as some of their speeches would like to suggest. And al-Qaeda may lying low right now, but are still very much in the picture. They were the guys behind 9-11, by the way.

The details of the deal are set to emerge in the next week or so. It looks likely that it will involve a reduction in US troop levels and limit what the US can do on the battlefield, while the Afghan government and those behind the insurgency come to their own accommodation. It will also run into presidential elections in Afghanistan, usually a compromised and scatty affair, which are due on September 28. Afghans will elect a president just as a wobbly peace agreement lurches into view.

President Trump may sell it as a historic deal. But only in the months ahead will we learn if it gives al-Qaeda more room to grow, and what it spells for the hundreds of thousands of Afghans who fought for the Americans and for the way of life America offered them.

For Afghans, it is a matter of life and death, a far more serious proposition than that which America risks: The possibility its longest war ends with a betrayal, and the possibility the enemy they sought to vanquish flourishes again.

"I want peace for my country," says Basir Jan, the brother of the wedding attack groom. "But we never get it."

Ehsan Popalzai contributing reporting from Kabul

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2019-08-19 14:21:00Z
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