ICC; Kenya

Police Violence in Kenya (tax protest)

“Police Fire Arms Amid Tax Protests in Kenya; 5 Reported Killed”

• “Demonstrators breached the Parliament to protest the passage of a bill that raises taxes.”

• “The turmoil over the finance bill, which includes the tax hikes, has shaken Kenya”

  • The bill was “introduced by the government of President William Ruto in May to raise revenue and limit borrowing in an economy facing a heavy debt burden.”

  • Before the protest, there were some precursors such as abduction of prominent critics of the government.

ICC arrest warrants for Russian officials

“I.C.C. Issues Arrest Warrants for 2 Senior Russian Security Officials”

• charges are the strikes against civilians in Ukraine (which is ‘symbolic’ gesture)

  • ICC: ““The expected incidental civilian harm and damage would have been clearly excessive to the anticipated military advantage””

• the context of the strike: “Their ambitious plans to take Ukraine’s capital in several days at the start of the war, which began in February 2022, failed spectacularly. They then sought to defeat Ukraine in what has become a grinding war of attrition, at the cost of at least tens of thousands of Russian soldiers’ lives.”

Guyana - Exxon project

“The giant Exxon project that could create the world’s last petrostate”

• An oil reservoir of 11 bn barrels has already been discovered, leading to $55 bn investment.

• the deal: “The consortium can collect up to three-quarters of revenue from the project until its costs are recouped. The remainder is split 50:50 with the government which also takes a 2 per cent royalty on production from the field — below the level in most offshore oil projects.”

  • The deal is very lucrative (for Exxon): ““The oil agreement we have is a legalised form of highway banditry,” says Glenn Lall, publisher of Kaieteur News, a newspaper in Guyana that has criticised both the government and opposition for mismanaging the relationship with the oil companies and argued that the Guyanese are getting “chicken feed”.”

• Concerns over resource curse: signs of inflationary pressure are already visible, bearing the disturbing resemblance to what happened to the Exxon project in Equitorial Guinea in 1995.

• Environmental regulators seem reluctant to hold Exxon accountable for possible disasters like oil spills.