Scottish lawmakers back independence referendum call

March 28, 2017

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — Scottish lawmakers voted Tuesday to seek a new referendum on independence, presenting the British government with an unwelcome distraction as it prepares to push the European Union exit button.

The Edinburgh-based legislature voted 69-59 to ask the U.K. government to sanction an independence vote that would be held within the next two years. Outside, several dozen independence supporters bearing Scottish and EU flags broke into cheers and tears of joy as they heard the news.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who asked lawmakers to authorize her to request the referendum, says Scots must be given the chance to vote on their future before Britain leaves the European Union.

British Prime Minister Theresa May plans to launch the U.K's two-year process of exiting the EU on Wednesday by triggering Article 50 of the bloc's key treaty. Britain as a whole voted to leave the bloc in a referendum last year, but Scots voted by a large margin to stay.

"Scotland's future should be in Scotland's hands," Sturgeon told lawmakers before the vote. Scottish voters rejected independence in a 2014 referendum that Sturgeon's Scottish National Party called a once-in-a-generation vote. But Sturgeon says Brexit has altered conditions dramatically.

She says there should be a new plebiscite on independence between fall 2018 and spring 2019, when details of Britain's divorce terms with the bloc are clear. Sturgeon said that whatever the final terms, Brexit would mean "significant and profound" change for Scotland.

"That change should not be imposed upon us," she said. "We should have the right to decide the nature of that change." May, whose government must approve the referendum for it to be legally binding, says the time is not right. She says all parts of the U.K. — England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — must pull together to get the best-possible deal with the EU.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson agreed, saying Tuesday that Scots do not want "the division and rancor of another referendum campaign." The Scottish parliament had been due to vote on Sturgeon's referendum demand last week, but the session was adjourned after Wednesday's extremist attack in London.

Sturgeon's referendum call was backed by the governing Scottish nationalists and the Greens, and opposed by the Conservative and Labour parties. It's unclear what could break the stalemate between Edinburgh and London. British officials have indicated they would not agree to another independence referendum until Britain's EU exit is over and done with — a process that could take longer than two years.

David Mundell, the British government's Scotland minister, said the U.K. government would not be "entering into negotiations on whether there should be another independence referendum during the Brexit process."

"It's not appropriate to have a referendum whilst people do now know what the future relationship between the U.K. and the EU will be," he said. Sturgeon said after the vote that she would "seek sensible and constructive discussion" with the British government later this week.

"I hope the United Kingdom government will respect the view of parliament," she said. "This is simply about giving people in Scotland a choice." Should that fail, Sturgeon promised to inform the parliament of next steps after its Easter break next month.

In Edinburgh, supporters of Scottish independence urged Sturgeon to forge ahead. Scott Murray, a 71-year-old music tutor, said the vote for Brexit had changed everything. "I think we should have another referendum," Murray said. "I feel that we are divorced from what happens in the south of England and we should be our own country and stand on our own two feet."

But plumber Brian Hamilton, 45, said he'd be happier if members of the Scottish National Party government "got on with their day jobs" rather than focusing on Europe. "They say they speak for the people of Scotland, but they don't speak for the people of Scotland because they are not representing me whatsoever," he said.

Lawless reported from London.

Poles celebrate EU on bloc's 60th anniversary with march

March 25, 2017

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Thousands of Poles marched through Warsaw on Saturday, waving European Union and Polish flags in a show of support for the troubled European project as leaders in Rome marked the 60th anniversary of its founding treaty.

The rally in Warsaw, which was held under the slogan "I Love You, Europe," was also a strong expression of disapproval for the nationalist and Euroskeptic government in Warsaw, which was recently involved in a bitter standoff with the bloc.

Thousands of people began their demonstration by singing European anthem "Ode to Joy" followed by the Polish national anthem before marching to the Royal Castle in historic town center. Government critics fear that the government policies could ultimately result in Poland leaving the EU.

"We will not let ourselves be led out of Europe," Ryszard Petru, the head of the opposition Modern party, told those gathered. He also said that the ruling Law and Justice party's stance on Europe doesn't reflect the will of the nation, which is overwhelmingly pro-EU. Recent opinion polls put support for the EU by Poles at around 80 percent.

The Polish government denies that leaving the EU is its aim and insists that it instead simply wants reforms and wants to keep the bulk of power with national governments, not in Brussels. The recent tensions centered around stiff opposition by the conservative Polish government to the re-election of Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, as head of the European Council. Tusk has long been a bitter political rival of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the head of the ruling Law and Justice party and the most powerful politician in Poland.

Before the EU meeting in Rome, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo had also threatened not to endorse the declaration. But on the eve of the summit she backed away from the position and signed it on Saturday.

EU puts pen to paper on unity pledge during 60th anniversary

March 25, 2017

ROME (AP) — With Britain already heading out the door, the 27 remaining European Union nations on Saturday sought to keep the bloc moving forward by enshrining a pledge to give member nations more freedom to form partial alliances and set policy when unanimity is out of reach.

They marked the 60th anniversary of their founding treaty as a turning point in their history in the knowledge that British Prime Minister Theresa May will officially trigger divorce proceedings from the bloc next week, a fact that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called "a tragedy."

Desperately trying to portray that sustained unity is the only way ahead in a globalized world, being able to walk away from a summit without acrimony was already a sort of victory. "We didn't have a major clash or conflict, contrary to what many thought," Juncker said.

EU Council President Donald Tusk said that sustained unity was the only way for the EU to survive. "Europe as a political entity will either be united, or will not be at all," he told EU leaders at a solemn session in precisely the same ornate hall on the ancient Capitoline Hill where the Treaty of Rome founding the EU was signed on March 25, 1957.

To move ahead though, the leaders recognized that full unity on all things will be unworkable. "We will act together, at different paces and intensity where necessary, while moving in the same direction," said the Rome Declaration signed by the 27 nations.

The EU has often done that in practice in the past, with only 19 nations in the eurozone and not all members participating in the Schengen zone of borderless travel. It has already extended to social legislation and even divorce rules among EU nationals.

So German Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to assuage fears that it would lead to a further unraveling of unity. "The Europe of different speeds does not in any way mean that it is not a common Europe," Merkel said after the ceremonies. "We are saying here very clearly that we want to go in a common direction. And there are things that are not negotiable," highlighting the EU freedom of movement, goods, people and services.

In a series of speeches, EU leaders also acknowledged how the bloc had strayed into a complicated structure that had slowly lost touch with its citizens, compounded by the severe financial crisis that struck several member nations over the past decade.

Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, who was hosting the summit, said that over the past dozen years the EU's development had stalled. "Unfortunately, we stopped" he said, and "it triggered a crisis of rejection."

At the same time though, the summit in sun-splashed springtime Rome, where new civilizations were built on old ruins time and again, there also was a message of optimism. "Yes, we have problems, yes there are difficulties, yes there will be crisis in the future, but we stand together and we move forward," Gentiloni said. "We have the strength to start out again."

At the end of the session, all 27 leaders signed the Rome Declaration saying that "European unity is a bold, farsighted endeavor." "We have united for the better. Europe is our common future," the declaration said.

UK set to file for EU divorce, triggering 2 years to Brexit

March 29, 2017

LONDON (AP) — Britain is set to formally file for divorce from the European Union, ending a 44-year relationship following the decision made by U.K. voters in a referendum nine months ago. Prime Minister Theresa May is due to tell House of Commons Wednesday afternoon that she has invoked Article 50 of the EU's key treaty, the trigger for a two-year countdown to Britain's exit.

At the same time, Britain's EU envoy, Tim Barrow, will hand-deliver a letter from May, which she signed Tuesday at her 10 Downing St. office, to EU Council President Donald Tusk. May's office says she will tell lawmakers that the U.K. is embarking on a "momentous journey" and should unite to forge a "global Britain."

Britain and the EU have two years to unpick a tapestry of rules, regulations and agreements stitched over more than four decades since Britain joined what was then the European Economic Community in 1973.

EU officials are due to circulate draft negotiating guidelines within days, and bloc leaders — minus May — will meet April 29 to adopt a common position. Britain says it's not turning its back on its neighbors and wants to remain friends. May has said that the U.K. will become "stronger, fairer, more united and more outward-looking" and will seek "a new, deep and special partnership with the European Union."

But many British businesses fear the impact of leaving the EU's vast single market of some 500 million people. Senior British officials say they are confident of striking a close new free-trade relationship with the bloc — but a successful outcome to the complex and emotionally fraught negotiations is far from certain.

Brexit has profound implications for Britain's economy, society and even unity. The divisive decision to leave the EU has given new impetus to the drive for Scottish independence, and undermined the foundations of Northern Ireland's peace settlement.

It's also a major blow to the EU, after decades of expansion, to lose one of its largest members. Anti-EU populists including French far-right leader Marine Le Pen hope the impulses that drove Britain to turn its back on the EU will be repeated across the continent.

Belarus' police arrest protesters at banned demonstration

March 25, 2017

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Police in the Belorussian capital have begun wide-scale arrests protesters who had gathered for a forbidden demonstration that they hoped would build on a rising wave of defiance of the former Soviet republic's authoritarian government.

About 700 people had tried to march along Minsk's main avenue, but were blocked by a cordon of riot police wielding clubs and holding shields. After a standoff, arrests began. "They're beating the participants, dragging women by the hair to buses. I was able to run to a nearby courtyard," demonstrator Alexander Ponomarev said.

There were no immediate figures on how many people were taken into custody. Earlier, police raided the office of the human-rights group Vesna. About 30 of its activists were detained, said Oleg Gulak of the Belorussian Helsinki Committee.

In the days preceding the demonstration, more than 100 opposition supporters were sentenced to jail terms of three to 15 days, Vesna reported before the raid. Prominent opposition figure Vladimir Neklayev reportedly was pulled off a train by police during the night while trying to travel to Minsk.

Belarus has seen an unusually persistent wave of protests over the past two months against President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled since 1994. After tolerating the initial protests, authorities cracked down. Lukashenko this week alleged that a "fifth column" of foreign-supported agitators was trying to bring him down.

Saturday's demonstrators shouted slogans including "shame" and "basta (enough)" and deployed the red-and-white flag that is the opposition's symbol. The flag was first used by the short-lived independent Belorussian People's Republic in 1918 and again after independence from the Soviet Union, but was replaced in 1995 after Lukashenko gained power.

In his 23 years as president, Lukashenko has stifled dissent and free media and retained much of the Soviet-style command economy. The protests this year initially focused on his unpopular "anti-parasite" law that calls for a $250 tax on anyone who works less than six months a year, but doesn't register with the state labor exchange. But the protests broadened into general dissatisfaction with his rule, which some critics have characterized as Europe's last dictatorship.

Protests attracted hundreds on Saturday in Brest and Grodno, two other large cities. No arrests were immediately reported.

Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.

Bodies of American, Swedish UN experts found in Congo

March 29, 2017

BENI, Congo (AP) — The bodies of an American and a Swedish investigator with the United Nations and their Congolese interpreter were found in Central Kasai province, authorities said Tuesday, more than two weeks after they disappeared while looking into recent violence there.

"After tests ... it is possible to identify the bodies as the two U.N. experts and their interpreter as being found near the Moyo river," Congo government spokesman Lambert Mende said. Investigations will continue to seek other missing Congolese colleagues, he said.

Michael Sharp of the United States and Zaida Catalan of Sweden, along with interpreter Betu Tshintela, driver Isaac Kabuayi and two motorbike drivers, went missing March 12 while looking into large-scale violence and alleged human rights violations by the Congolese army and local militia groups.

Congo's police inspector general, Charles Bisengimana, said the bodies were found Monday between the cities of Tshimbulu and Kananga, the provincial capital. The confirmation came a day after Sharp's father, John Sharp of Hesston, Kansas, wrote on his Facebook page that the bodies of two Caucasians had been found in shallow graves in the search area, saying there was a high probability the dead were his son and his son's colleague.

"All other words fail me," he wrote. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the world body would conduct an inquiry into what happened to the two experts. He said the cause of their deaths hadn't yet been determined.

"Michael and Zaida lost their lives seeking to understand the causes of conflict and insecurity in the DRC (Congo) in order to help bring peace to the country and its people," Guterres said in a statement, sending his condolences to their families.

Sharp and Catalan's disappearance is the first time U.N. experts have been reported missing in Congo, Human Rights Watch has said, and it is the first recorded disappearance of international workers in the Kasai provinces.

Parts of Congo, particularly the east, have experienced insecurity for decades, but violence in the Kasai provinces in central Congo represents a new expansion of tensions. The Kamwina Nsapu militia has been fighting security forces since last year, with the violence increasing after government troops killed the militia's leader in August. More than 400 people have been killed and more than 200,000 displaced since then, according to the U.N.

When asked earlier Tuesday whether the investigators' disappearance could be a turning point in the U.N. sending experts to the region, Guterres' deputy spokesman, Farhan Haq, said: "We hope that we could continue to send experts to do their necessary monitoring activities wherever they need to go. Of course, that needs to be undertaken with full respect and understanding of the security condition on the ground."

Associated Press writer Al-Hadji Maliro reported this story in Beni and AP writer Saleh Mwanamilongo reported from New York. AP writers Carley Petesch in Dakar, Senegal, and Jennifer Peltz at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Congo must help search for missing UN experts: Rights group

March 25, 2017

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Congo's government must cooperate with United Nations efforts to locate experts who have been missing in the violent Kasai region for nearly two weeks, Human Rights Watch said Saturday.

Uruguayan peacekeepers and Tanzanian special forces who deployed to find the six people, including ones from the United States and Sweden, have faced a lack of cooperation, the rights group said. The U.N. mission in Congo said its movements have been restricted by security forces in Kananga, the provincial capital of Kasai Central.

Saturday's statement comes after the U.N. reported the discovery since January of more than two dozen mass graves in three Kasai provinces. And five videos have emerged in recent weeks that appear to show Congolese soldiers firing on militia members — a spike in deadly violence in recent months in the formerly quiet region.

"The missing U.N. team reflects a bigger picture of violence and abuse in the Kasai region," said Ida Sawyer, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch. She called on the U.N. Human Rights Council to establish a commission of inquiry into abuses there.

Michael Sharp of the U.S., Zaida Catalan of Sweden, interpreter Betu Tshintela, driver Isaac Kabuayi and two motorbike drivers went missing March 12 near a remote village south of Kananga. They were looking into recent large-scale violence and alleged human rights violations by the Congolese army and local militia groups.

Their disappearance is the first time U.N. experts have been reported missing in Congo, Human Rights Watch said, and it is the first recorded disappearance of international workers in the Kasai provinces.

Parts of Congo, particularly the east, have experienced insecurity for more than two decades since the end of the Rwandan genocide led to the presence of local and foreign armed militias, all vying for control of mineral-rich land.

But the Kasai Central province where the U.N. experts were abducted represents a new expansion of tensions. Large-scale violence erupted in the Kasai region in August when security forces killed the leader of the Kamwina Nsapu militia. More than 400 people have been killed and more than 200,000 displaced since then, according to the U.N.

Human Rights Watch said it has received reports of scores of people killed in recent weeks. While the violence is linked to local power struggles, there are also clear ties to Congo's political crisis, according to Human Rights Watch. Anger has been growing in the country at long-delayed presidential elections, and dozens were killed in December amid protests as President Joseph Kabila stayed on past the end of his mandate. A deal reached between the ruling party and opposition to hold elections by the end of this year, without Kabila, remains fragile as the U.N. urges its implementation.

The rights group said security forces have been known to back local leaders seen as loyal to Kabila. Meanwhile, militia groups support those who are believed to support the opposition. Militia members have recruited large numbers of children, and using crude weapons have attacked security forces and some government buildings in Kasai, Kasai Central, Kasai Oriental, Sankuru, and Lomami provinces, Human Rights Watch said.