Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for September 24, 2022
Newsline: Families of missing students protest outside Israel’s embassy in Mexico City
Relatives of the 43 Mexican students who disappeared in 2014 protested outside Israel’s embassy, demanding the extradition of a former top investigator wanted in connection with the case. Hundreds gathered outside Israel’s embassy in Mexico City, with no visible police presence. Some carried pictures of the missing students while others sprayed graffiti on the embassy walls. Tomas Zeron, who previously led Mexico’s Criminal Investigation Agency, is accused of manipulating the probe into one of the country’s worst human rights tragedies. “Israel is protecting Tomas Zeron, a human rights violator who tortured those he detained at the time to build the ‘historical truth,'” Meliton Ortega, a representative of the students’ families, told AFP. (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/families-43-missing-students-mexico-urge-israel-to-deport-tomas-zeron-protests/) But Israeli Ambassador to Mexico Zvi Tal criticized the demonstrators’ actions. “It is clear to us that the violence displayed during the demonstration, where they left the walls of our headquarters painted with offensive graffiti, here is written ‘Death to Israel,’ has no relation to the Ayotzinapa case,” he said in a video address in front of the embassy. Mexico has repeatedly asked Israel to hand over Zeron, who is accused of kidnapping, torturing suspects and manipulating evidence — allegations he has denied. The 43 teaching students had commandeered buses in the southern state of Guerrero to travel to a demonstration in Mexico City before they went missing. Investigators say they were detained by corrupt police and handed over to a drug cartel that mistook them for members of a rival gang, but exactly what happened to them is disputed. So far, the remains of only three victims have been identified.
Newsline: Ukraine to reduce Iran embassy staff
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the accreditation of the Iranian ambassador will be revoked and Iranian diplomatic staff in Kyiv reduced as a result of Russian forces using Iranian drones to attack Ukraine. Ukrainian forces had shot down a total of eight Iranian-made drones in the conflict so far, Zelenskyy said in a late-night video address on Friday. ”Today the Russian army used Iranian drones for its attacks on Dnipropetrovsk region and Odesa. I instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to strongly react to this fact,” Zelenskyy said in his address. “In response to such an unfriendly act, the Ukrainian side has decided to deprive the ambassador of Iran of his accreditation and also to significantly reduce the number of diplomatic staff of the Iranian embassy in Kyiv,” he said. Oleg Nikolenko, spokesperson for the Ukrainian foreign ministry, said in a tweet on Saturday that in response to the supply of weapons to Russia, “we announced the revocation of accreditation of the Iranian Ambassador in Kyiv, and a significant drawdown of diplomatic personnel at the Iranian embassy”. (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/24/ukraine-to-reduce-iran-embassy-presence-over-russia-drone-attacks) Iran has denied claims by Kyiv and Washington that it had supplied drones to Russia, and officials in Tehran had previously said Iran would not assist either side in the war as it backed its resolution through dialogue.
Newsline: Canada names first female ambassador to China
Canada appointed Jennifer May its first female ambassador to China, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, taking over a role that has been open since December of last year amid ongoing diplomatic tensions with the Asian economic powerhouse. “Ms. May will lead Canada’s important work in standing up for democratic values, human rights, and the rule of law,” Trudeau said. “Her work will be key to advancing Canadian priorities in the Canada-China relationship.” (https://news.yahoo.com/canada-names-jennifer-may-first-135214758.html) May is a veteran diplomat with 30 years’ experience, Trudeau said in a statement. She most recently served as Canada’s ambassador to Brazil, and during her career has worked in the Canadian missions in Beijing and Hong Kong. In 2019, Canada named Kirsten Hillman, another career diplomat, to be its first female ambassador to the United States.
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