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Belarusian authorities pressure pardoned political prisoners, rights groups say

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TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarusian human rights activists Monday accused the government of pressuring political prisoners who have been pardoned by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko and forcing them to cooperate with authorities.

During the past three months, Lukashenko has pardoned 115 activists who were convicted for taking part in the protest against his rule.

Those pardoned were a small fraction of more than 1,300 political prisoners in Belarus, according to the Viasna human rights center. They include the group’s founder and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and Polish newspaper journalist Andrzej Poczobut, whose release Poland is seeking. At least six political prisoners have died behind bars, Viasna said.

Viasna and other rights groups said Monday that those amnestied were barred from leaving the country and forced to take part in propaganda videos.

Andrei Stryzhak of the BYSOL rights group said that some of the amnestied had their phones infested with software intended to spy on the opposition. “We categorically condemn the authorities’ pressure on the former political prisoners,” he said.

Viasna representative Pavel Sapelka said the Belarusian law enforcement agencies have threatened those amnestied with repeat conviction or reprisals against their relatives to force them to cooperate with the authorities.

In 2020, Belarus was rocked by its largest-ever protests following an election that gave Lukashenko a sixth term in office but was condemned by the opposition and the West as fraudulent. According to Viasna, 65,000 people have been arrested since the protests began and hundreds of thousands have fled Belarus.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Big NDP names exit before B.C. election. What does that mean for the party?

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VANCOUVER – The New Democrats are campaigning for another term in British Columbia’s provincial election but without many of the familiar faces that have graced lawn signs of elections past.

About a quarter of the NDP cabinet ministers who held a portfolio when the election campaign kicked off in September won’t have their names on the ballot when B.C. residents go to the polls on Oct. 19.

That includes veterans and high-profile politicians who spent decades in the legislature, and who held hefty portfolios. Their departures were announced when the NDP was considered a clear favourite, but the folding of the Opposition BC United campaign at the end of August has led to a tightening of the race with the B.C. Conservatives.

Harry Bains, Bruce Ralston, Katrine Conroy and Rob Fleming were all first elected in 2005 and have served five terms in the legislature, but will not be on the ballot this year.

Neither is George Heyman, first elected in 2013, nor Murray Rankin and Mitzi Dean, who were both elected provincially in 2020.

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad has used the departures as an attack point against NDP Leader David Eby, saying “half of his cabinet has resigned and is not running.” In fact, seven out of Eby’s 27 cabinet colleagues are not standing again.

“He obviously does not have the confidence in his own team to do a cabinet shuffle and put people in position. What does that say about David Eby’s leadership?” said Rustad over the weekend.

University of the Fraser Valley political scientist Hamish Telford said even with the changes, the retiring heavy-hitters come mostly from ridings that are NDP strongholds and are likely to remain that way.

“Recruitment is easier when it’s a strong riding, because if you win the nomination, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll win the election. So, they can recruit good candidates,” he said.

“Those candidates, of course, (it’s their) first campaign, new campaign teams, but they’ll be able to get the information from the old candidates, and because they’re safe ridings it’s usually not too much of a problem.”

Telford said such turnover is common ahead of an election campaign, and it’s not surprising that some ministers would choose to retire after decades on the job.

Ralston, who is retiring as forests minister after representing Surrey, said he felt now was a good time to pass the torch.

“(My) only advice would be to keep the public interest in mind. That’s the most important thing. Respond to what people want and what people need,” he said to would-be legislators ahead of the official campaign.

Environment Minister Heyman said his decision not to run for re-election in Vancouver came after more than a decade in politics and environmental and union leadership.

“I’ll be 75 years old when the election’s held in 2024,” he said in July. “I would like to slow down a bit and spend more time with my family.”

Telford said that among the seats being vacated by sitting NDP ministers, the Kootenay riding of outgoing Finance Minister Katrine Conroy could be more at risk.

“There have been changes in the Kootenay riding boundaries for this time around, and that’s going to be maybe a tougher one to hold. It’s not as safe an NDP seat as say, those ones that have retired in Surrey or Victoria,” he said.

Conroy told reporters on Sept. 10 she was comfortable with her decision to step away, even after the political shakeup when BC United Leader Kevin Falcon suspended his party’s campaign and placed his support behind the provincial Conservatives.

“We also have some incredible bench strength coming in as candidates. The person who’s running in my place is a mayor in our region who has had years of experience,” she said referring to Steve Morissette, the mayor of Fruitvale who is running for the NDP in the new riding of Kootenay-Monashee.

“Yes, things have been turned on their head, but I think you just have to look at what we’ve been doing since we’ve been elected in 2017 and we’re going to continue to support people in this province. That’s our goal.”

Telford said some of the ministers announced their plans not to seek re-election before the collapse of the BC United, at a time when polling suggested the NDP might “run the table across the province.”

Since then, the race has become much tighter between the NDP and the B.C. Conservatives, but Telford said the change puts more pressure on Eby, rather than individual candidates.

“We know how campaigns go provincially, all the focus is on the leader, and so, it’s really going to be down to David Eby and his team. I think that’s where the real risk comes for the NDP,” he said.

“David Eby is running his first campaign. He didn’t have to campaign hard to get the leadership of the party and now he’s running his first provincial election campaign, presumably with quite a few new advisers in place.

“And I think that’s probably more of a challenge than losing these cabinet ministers. Cabinet ministers are locally well known, but at the provincial level they are not especially household names.”

Telford said removing the BC United Party as a contender could make it easier for the NDP to hold on to some of its strongholds.

“As long as they’re solid NDP ridings, it should not be a problem, and it may have been more of a challenge in places if it had turned into a three-way race with (BC United), Conservatives and the NDP, because in a three-way race funny things can happen,” he said.

In addition to the exiting ministers, at least five other sitting NDP legislators are not standing for re-election. Former cabinet minister Selina Robinson, who quit the NDP in March, citing antisemitism in the caucus, and now sits as an Independent but is not running again.

Fleming, the outgoing transportation minister, said he would continue to support the New Democrats after retiring from his riding in Victoria.

“I never thought I would actually be a member of the legislative assembly for 20 years. That wasn’t the game plan,” he said on Sept. 12.

“So, when is the right time for anybody in public life who still enjoys it, and I still do, to leave? I don’t know, but it felt about right.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2024



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Steward Health Care CEO files a lawsuit against a US Senate panel over contempt resolution

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BOSTON (AP) — Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre filed a lawsuit Monday against a U.S. Senate committee that pursued contempt charges against him for failing to appear before the panel despite being issued a subpoena.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, named nearly all members of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, who chairs the committee which has investigated Steward’s bankruptcy.

The lawsuit claims that the lawmakers are unlawfully violating de la Torre’s constitutional rights.

It alleges that the members of the committee, by trying to compel de la Torre to answer questions about Steward’s bankruptcy, are “collectively undertaking a concerted effort to punish Dr. de la Torre for invoking his Fifth Amendment right not to ‘be compelled . . . to be a witness against himself.’”

De la Torre is asking the court to declare that all actions related to enforcement of the subpoena are invalid and unconstitutional — including the vote of the committee on Sept. 19 approving the criminal contempt resolution and its decision to present the resolution to the full Senate for a vote.

The Senate approved the resolution last week.

“No one can be compelled to testify when they exercise this right under these circumstances. Nor does the Constitution permit Congress to punish and intimidate him, or any other American, for exercising these rights,” William “Bill” Burck, a lawyer for de la Torre, said in a statement.

Anna Bahr, communications director for Sanders, dismissed the lawsuit.

“Democrats and Republicans on the HELP Committee came together and unanimously voted to hold Dr. de la Torre in contempt of Congress, as did the entire U.S. Senate,” she said in a statement. “This case has no merit.”

The lawsuit comes a day before de la Torre is set to step down as CEO of Steward.

De la Torre has overseen Steward’s network of some 30 hospitals around the country. The Texas-based company’s troubled recent history has drawn scrutiny from elected officials in New England, where some of its hospitals are located.

A spokesperson for de la Torre said Saturday that he “has amicably separated from Steward on mutually agreeable terms” and “will continue to be a tireless advocate for the improvement of reimbursement rates for the underprivileged patient population.”

Sanders said earlier this month that Congress “will hold Dr. de la Torre accountable for his greed and for the damage he has caused to hospitals and patients throughout America.”

Steward has shut down pediatric wards in Massachusetts and Louisiana, closed neonatal units in Florida and Texas, and eliminated maternity services at a hospital in Florida.

Democratic Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts said that over the past decade, Steward, led by de la Torre, and its corporate enablers, “looted hospitals across the country for profit, and got rich through their greedy schemes.”

Alexander Merton, an attorney for de la Torre, has said the fault instead lies with “the systemic failures in Massachusetts’ health care system” and that the committee was trying to frame de la Torre as a criminal scapegoat. Merton has also said that de la Torre would agree to testify at a later date.

On Friday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey announced her administration had formally seized a hospital through eminent domain to help keep it open and transition to a new owner. St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Boston was one of a group run by Steward. Operations will be transferred to Boston Medical Center.

Two other Steward-operated hospitals in Massachusetts were forced to close after qualified buyers could not be found during the bankruptcy process.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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McMaster Children’s Hospital to resume tonsil surgery after review into deaths

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McMaster Children’s Hospital says it will resume tonsil and adenoid surgeries next week, almost four months after two children died following the procedure.

Hamilton Health Sciences says that an external review launched in June did not find any specific issues that directly or indirectly led to the deaths.

Pediatric tonsil and adenoid surgeries were paused at the institution on June 4 after one child died the day after surgery and another died nine days after their procedure.

The chief of pediatric surgery at McMaster Children’s Hospital called the deaths “tragic” and “very rare” in June.

The hospital is in the process of scheduling surgeries that were postponed by the pause.

Surgeries will resume Oct. 7.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2024.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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